By Zahn Alimbay in Culture — Nov 21, 2023

Integrity Ambassador Network is an invaluable asset worth having.

The first step in instilling a culture of integrity in an organisation is to ensure employees know what your organisation stands for, are aware of the expectations, are guided and supported on their journey, and, importantly, feel they are listened to and heard.

But what do you do if your organisation has large numbers of employees across many geographical locations and various business units? How do you reach across the organisation without overstretching your limited compliance resources?

My solution is to build an Integrity Ambassador network.

What’s their role?

Over the years, I observed that employees are more likely to ask for advice or share observations with a trusted colleague. By identifying and equipping such employees committed to doing what’s right, you are effectively getting a helping hand on the ground. They can also assist in identifying problem areas and culture anomalities.

The Integrity Ambassador network can help larger organisations reach employees in every business unit and location, however remote or small it is, and be the Ethics & Compliance Function’s “eyes and ears” on the ground, supporting colleagues in solving ethical dilemmas.

What’s their role?

Facilitating conversations on ethics and identifying ways to solve ethical issues when they arise.
Raising awareness of the organisation’s ethical standards and policies among their colleagues.
Providing guidance and support to employees who have ethical questions or concerns.
Acting as role models of ethical behaviour and reinforcing corporate values.
Acting as a feedback channel for the ethics and compliance teams: providing local knowledge and insights and serving as a sounding board for messaging and compliance initiatives.

What are they not? They are not there to substitute compliance professionals or business leaders.

Okay, but where do I start?

Start with a plan. A well-designed Integrity Ambassador Program has the potential to become the backbone of the Ethics & Compliance engagement strategy. These are the principles I follow when devising and building a program like this:

The Integrity Ambassador's most important role is to be a values and ethics advocate.
Aim for diversity and representation – recruit members from different backgrounds, life paths, seniority and tenure, locations, and business units.
Look for recommendations from leadership and vetting by HR.
Most essential characteristics: credibility, reputation for fairness and objectivity, and respect among colleagues.
Set clear objectives and clarify expectations.
As those are voluntary roles, be mindful of the workload and time constraints.
Provide onboarding and periodic subject-matter training.
Ensure Integrity Ambassadors are given resources and tools and provided with ongoing support.
Time limit the appointment, typically two years, and allow for rotation.
Give the opportunity to learn new skills and competencies. Focus on soft skills.
Rewards and recognition are important factors. Leadership needs to play a role.
Ensure facetime with senior leadership.

The Integrity Ambassador program hinges on recruiting employees committed to doing what’s right. These enthusiasts will champion the cause across the organisation.

Fostering collaboration.

These tips helped me to get the most out of the Integrity Ambassador initiative:

Whether your Integrity Ambassadors succeed or fail is in the hands of leadership. Leaders are your key stakeholders. Work with them to help Ambassadors succeed in their role.
Use the network to preview compliance initiatives. As frontline employees, they can provide valuable insights on what will resonate with their teams.
Use them as your “eyes and ears” on the ground, but do not allow for a shadow escalation process or replacing managers in making decisions.
Employees are likelier to ask for advice or share observations with a trusted colleague. They can assist in identifying problem areas and culture anomalities.
Ensure Ambassadors are recognised and rewarded for their work through performance management and career progression.
Set clear boundaries. Ambassadors are not there to replace managers but to support them.

Supporting your ambassadors.

Remember, as with any engagement initiative, it is a two-way street. You need to support your ambassadors and provide them with the tools they need to do their job.

Build an Ambassador Toolkit: Provide Ambassadors with the resources (presentation materials and scripts) - the “WHY” and the “HOW” materials they can use in their engagement sessions.
Provide training and development opportunities. Focus on soft skills.
Assign a Program Coordinator within your E&C team to ensure Ambassadors have a point of contact ready to help.
Do a monthly Ambassador “Get together”: No agenda needed, but coffee and pastry are a good starting point. Allow for sharing of experience and common learnings.
Objectives and KPIs are important but remember, it is a voluntary role, and they have a day-to-day job to do.
Get Ambassadors in front of leaders. Ask them to co-facilitate Integrity events.
Recognition is a powerful motivator. Use it.

These tips worked for me. But every organisation is different. Try and see what works for your organisation, monitor the impact and adjust as required.

By building an Integrity Ambassador network, the Ethics & Compliance Function gets access to employees at every level of the organisation and an effective communication channel. Importantly, it creates a feedback loop that allows the organisation to hear back from employees.

If you would like to have a further discussion on any of the above, please get in touch. I will be happy to help.

See you in two weeks!

Comhla Intelligent Compliance

At Comhla, we are driven by a mission to revolutionise the way organisations approach compliance and misconduct prevention. We leverage cutting-edge applied research in behavioural science, actionable data insights, compliance, internal controls and regulatory expertise to help our clients identify and target conduct risks before misconduct occurs. We believe that each organisation should be proactive about maintaining business integrity. By going the extra mile to provide evidence-backed solutions tailored to our customer's unique needs, we enable them to maximise Compliance ROI while increasing the effectiveness and impact of the prevention strategies.

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