These excerpts are taken from our interview of Roy Snell, a former compliance officer and CEO of HCCA & SCCE.As past president, and now CEO of this organization, I have talked to thousands of compliance officers, many of whom are frustrated, and they ask what they can do. The problem is they can’t facilitate change. My answer isn’t, “go study the law”; they already know the problem. The answer is frankly a difficult one. If you can’t get these people to listen to you, and if you can’t facilitate change, then you’re probably in the wrong profession.
Because compliance and ethics frequently involve laws, rules and regulations, employers assume that the best background is a legal background. The problems brought to our attention (and that we’re trying to fix) don’t require as much understanding of the law as they do an understanding of human nature and the challenges associated with getting high-ranking officials to do things differently. It requires administrative experience, administrative savvy, leadership skills, communication skills, negotiation skills, and collaboration skills.
…I would say 90% of the challenge of the compliance job has nothing to do with understanding the laws. Furthermore, you have a legal department, you have an outside legal department; there’s a plethora of people who can help with the legal analysis.
Roy Snell's interview is included in Working for Integrity: Finding the Perfect Job in the Rapidly Growing Compliance and Ethics Field.
(All interviewees spoke to us about their own personal experiences and opinions; interviewees were not acting as a spokesperson or otherwise representing their current or former employers.)
