The Navy SEALs are better than you at compliance.

Wells Fargo - I've caught your attention. Unfortunately for the wonderful people that I know at that institution, Wells Fargo has become the poster child of compliance failure. And while the media would like to lay the blame in the laps of those evil sales people, that narrative is simply not accurate. The sales people are simply an easily targeted symptom of a structural flaw in that organization. It's very possible that your organization has the same flaw and that you're blind to it.

I'd rather have an ok plan executed well than a perfect plan executed poorly.

When it comes to compliance, you need fix your technology AND your team. Yes, you absolutely should use technology to automate the parts of your compliance program that make sense. That’s what we do for you at Trust Exchange. We love the subject and continue to have great success at it. But today, rather than the usual money, time and penalty-saving pitch, let’s talk about your people instead, the people who are tasked with properly executing your compliance program – your team. More specifically, let’s discuss the structure of your compliance team. In my time away from the SEAL Teams, I’ve talked with hundreds of organizations in many highly-regulated industries. Time and time again, one glaring issue arises across all of them. Your corporate structure, which for most of you is a variation of the traditional hierarchy, dooms you to trouble when applied to both internal and external compliance.

Who does your compliance work? For many of you we’re talking about one or more departments of specialists that sit apart from the revenue-producing operations of the organization. Have you ever watched a cop show? Does a beat cop love and trust internal affairs? Do they readily cooperate with an Internal Affairs investigation? Why not? The same situation applies here. When compliance is the domain of specialists from a perceived outside position, human nature defaults to distrust rather than cooperation. People do NOT communicate well nor give trust easily to those that do not share the same experiences. It’s a form of Professional Bias. How do you get around that?

How do SEALs get around Professional Bias? It starts with a career path that has quite a few mandatory waypoints and ninety-degree turns. If a SEAL wants to advance, they will all be required to rotate through various administrative positions and at some point in their career AND perform well while executing the duties of that position.

Who trains Navy SEALs? Navy SEALs.

Who monitors safety for Navy SEALs? Navy SEALs.

Who oversees Operational Risk Management (ORM) for Navy SEALs? Navy SEALs.

Who oversees the professional AND ethical development of Navy SEALs? You guessed it, Navy SEALs.

You think you have a challenge keeping your personnel on track with compliance? SEALs, especially the younger ones, are infamous throughout the entire US Military for resisting or disregarding “admin.” We’ve almost eliminated Professional Bias because we had to. Much of the administrative mandate, stuff that will make blood squirt out of the eyes of the average, action-addicted SEAL, is directed by other SEALs. There is a trust, a recognition of position and an understanding of behavior that only comes through shared experiences and a shared background. The driest of administrative tasks are completed accurately and on time, because their peers direct it and EXPECT it. Are there still failures? Absolutely, but they're expected, quickly recognized, and then immediately dealt with at the lowest possible level. Compliance surprises rarely happen. This can only occur in an environment of shared experience. How do you build that environment?

Cellular Organization Structure

In recent years, the Teams have moved away from the term “cell,” even though the structures remain primary in executing command goals and requirements. There are two ways to think of a cell. In the SEAL Teams, a cell may consist of an ad hoc group operators and support staff that are drafted in from their primary duties in order to fulfill a specific set of challenges, then disbanding. Many of you would think of this as a “working group” or even a “Tiger Team.” A cell may also be a permanent structure within the organization that personnel must rotate through at some point in their career in order to fulfill an important ongoing requirement for that command. What makes the cell structure powerful in either instance is that the members of the cell are a combination of generalists and specialists from various duties and departments from around the command. In both instances, knowledge, procedures and requirements are passed through trusted teammates, rather than by the dictation of perceived outsiders, better ensuring buy-in and compliance by all departments. Two other benefits appear with the cell. First, there is an aggressive cross-pollination of knowledge and procedural methods. Second, and probably most important, is that familiarity is built throughout the larger organization. That nerdy, rule-following technician from Supply is named Emily and she drinks Bourbon and throws hatchets in her free time. That loudmouth from Operations is named Jake and he grows his own vegetables for making Mexican food. Now we’re talking about a team! Now we’re building trust.

A generational fix

Sorry, you can’t make your EVP go back for a tour in the Compliance Cell. What you can do is build a professional development pipeline for your employees that includes compliance duties – puts the weight on their shoulders for a period of time. Reward effective participation in the Compliance Cell with pay and a very public move closer toward promotion. It doesn’t need to be mandatory for promotion, but it should make promotion more likely. The need for career compliance professionals does not disappear either, it is enhanced. They are still required to train and focus the members of the cell(s), maintain the regulatory standards for the organization, and keep the organization in front of the endless changes in the regulatory environment. They should not be the enforcers though, leave that to the cell.