A compliance officer is an individual who makes sure that a firm adheres to external, internal policies and legal requirements. A compliance officer has the role of ensuring that management and staff commit to underlying rules to identify and manage regulatory risks (Svejenova & Alvarez, 2017). Some of the qualifications of a compliance officer are: they should have good knowledge of legal procedures and have a known two-year experience in a compliance officer role. A compliance officer is also required to have strong ethics, critical thinking skills, good relationship building, be attentive, and practice independence and autonomy (Krambia-Kapardis, 2019). The above job requirements of a compliance officer can earn one a job in related fields such as financial services, healthcare, and communications.
Job Description
Required is the position of a quality improvement manager with over two years’ experience, who can oversee, plan, mentor and manage staff towards creating better compliance plans. A certificate or degree in a compliance field is also mandatory and the quality improvement manager should be able to work with a monthly salary of $100. The job requirements in this case relates to issues at a medical facility where I am a compliance officer where staff members are not washing their hands, and employees do not know how to use fire extinguishers (Flodgren et al., 2016). An experienced quality improvement manager can apply for the position to help with compliance issues within the firm.
Compliance Plans
The issues at the firm are a danger since employees lacking knowledge of how to use fire extinguishers can cause eye, skin, and respiratory problems when they poorly handle fire extinguishers. On the other hand staff member who are not washing hands between patients risk transmitting infections and creating unhygienic conditions. To sort the issues, the firm should create two compliance plans which are employee monitoring and education. Education of employees ensures that the fire extinguishers are appropriately used, while a monitoring plan ensures employees wash their hands while handing different patients.
Employee Benefits
Various elements constitute a good compliance plan that the employees should follow to ensure a firm runs smoothly. Some of the critical factors in a program, in this case, include monitoring, discipline, communication, education, and response. Employees should support the principles since they have various advantages and ensure a swift flow of work. For example, when an employee is disciplined, they love the work environment and create a conducive environment for the other employees (Weller, 2020). Another benefit is educating employees on compliance plans also plays an essential role in the sensitization of policies and their consequences.
An employee should also champion to be responsible since it is another crucial role in a compliance plan. A high-level responsible employee has better chances of being given promotions, added salary, and given tokens of appreciation for following a compliance plan (Moses & Jones, 2019). Such an employee should take the mandate such as hiding a firm’s private data, using resources sparingly to help support the compliance plan, and setting an example for other colleagues. Following a compliance plan also ensures time is saved and work is done appropriately.
Communication is also vital, and a compliance officer should assess whether employees champion proper communication channels. On an appropriate communication channel, employee support dispels rumors and enables information to flow from subordinates to the insubordinate staff. With efficient communication, employees are better positioned to share various ideas and ensure a better work output. Lastly, monitoring enables the employees to gauge themselves and align with the set rules and regulations. When employees support auditing, it is easy to engage them based on score sheets and know which employees to train, fire, promote, and reward.
References
Flodgren, G., Gonçalves-Bradley, D. C., & Pomey, M.-P. (2016). External inspection of compliance with standards for improved healthcare outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Web.
Krambia-Kapardis, M. (2019). the skillset of an effective compliance officer. In Financial Compliance (pp. 187–203). Springer.
Moses, R. E., & Jones, D. S. (2019). Health care fraud: Developing a basic compliance plan for your practice. Official Journal of the American College of Gastroenterology, 114(7), 1020–1021.
Svejenova, S., & Alvarez, J. L. (2017). Changing the C-suite: New chief officer roles as strategic responses to institutional complexity. In New Themes in Institutional Analysis. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Weller, A. (2020). Exploring practitioners’ meaning of “ethics,”“compliance,” and “corporate social responsibility” practices: A communities of practice perspective. Business & Society, 59(3), 518–544.