Tips on supporting a culture of compliance

Enhesa works with VelocityEHS to combine expert verified regulatory content with industry-leading EHS and sustainability software to deliver custom compliance insights for major industry leaders around the world. In a recent webinar hosted by VelocityEHS, we had the opportunity to talk with Jean Edwards – an EHS Professional at Siemens USA – about challenges and vital solutions for EHS regulatory compliance and reporting.

One major talking point of this webinar was around ways to encourage EHS compliance growth by fostering a culture of compliance in the workplace.

The landscape of sustainability and EHS regulatory compliance is constantly shifting to reflect new expectations and rules. Businesses across the globe may find themselves suddenly at the mercy of a huge manufacturing dilemma in response to a proposed legislation. Or suppliers may unexpectedly be subject to tighter scrutiny on their products and chemicals. If organizations can foster a culture of compliance, their business will be able to combat these challenges as a harmonized team.

Read on for our top takeaways.

How do you foster a culture of compliance across diverse teams and locations?

Firstly, to begin fostering such an environment, companies need to devise an approach that management can implement across the business which provides all colleagues with the tools to succeed. The first step to achieving this is through harmonization.

Harmonizing your business

Communicate clearly your business’ goal(s) and ensure everyone is aware of what they are trying to achieve. Standardize your internal processes by having everyone actively work towards meeting the same goal. Promote the use of similar language across diverse teams and locations, and involve other stakeholders such as software providers, content providers, and third-party suppliers to ensure all aspects of your company’s functionality are aligned. With one clear goal in mind, all members of a company can strive to employ the same tools to reach their target faster.

Lead by example 

For this to succeed, a large commitment from leadership is vital. Employees work from example, so it’s important for management to clearly advocate for a harmonization of tools. The ‘message’ of your company’s sustainability goals and EHS compliance expectations needs to be endorsed from the very top of the business. 

Further, businesses need to ensure they clearly publicize employee rewards and recognition when goals are met, or necessary steps are taken to achieve sustainability reporting ambitions. Empowering employees could be overlooked, but providing colleagues with a clear understanding of the benefits of centralizing their workload plays a big role in getting everyone on board.

Assess and manage

Continuously assessing and managing your ESG risks, compliance monitoring, and auditing helps businesses to identify areas of improvement. These insights could then be shared publicly across the company, keeping all teams informed.

How do you encourage companies to adopt a globalized system?

Encouraging companies to adopt a globalized system of compliance, rather than relying on the tools they are most familiar with, is no easy task. Change is notoriously difficult for anyone to embrace.  

First, you need to identify your needs as a business, and understand how to meet, or exceed, them. Once you know what your driving goal is, and how to achieve it, you can then devise a suitable tool to expedite those needs.  

Second, communicate the benefits of transitioning to this single globalized solution. Outline how it will streamline processes for all, reduce duplication, and enhance collaboration across teams. It may also be helpful for employees to understand how this new system relates to your strategy, overall values, and how it will help overcome challenges or concerns.  

Third, ensure there is a ‘super user’ available within your company, who has a detailed understanding of the system that unconfident colleagues can ask for training or help.

What are the advantages of standardization?

Standardization is invaluable from both a corporate point of view and an employee perspective. Creating and fostering a centralized approach to meeting business needs gives you access to a holistic view of the organization, enabling you to visualize your company’s complete compliance status. From here, you can also more accurately pinpoint the programs you need to focus on improving next. 

Not only is standardization helpful for companies to monitor their compliance, it’s also necessary for employees to function as a cohesive unit, completing tasks more quickly, and therefore saving on company costs.