By Margaret Scavotto, JD, CHC
President, Management Performance Associates
www.healthcareperformance.com
Last week, I flew on an airplane for the first time in two years.
My family went to the beach and spent seven days soaking up the sun – with no work. I made a promise not to open my laptop, and I kept it.
But while waiting for our return flight at the Sarasota airport, compliance found me.
I was sitting in the rows of seats at Gate K8, waiting for our flight to board and listening to my eight-year-old daughter argue the merits of purchasing a neck pillow from the airport’s news and gift kiosk when compliance found me via an unattended airline kiosk screensaver.
The screensaver occupied a desktop computer normally used by airline personnel to help passengers with their flights, and it said:
BUSINESS INTEGRITY HOTLINE
ANONYMOUS AND CONFIDENTIAL
The screensaver included online and telephone hotline options, and encouraged employees to report code of conduct violations.
What a great idea!
Every single time airline employees log on to these kiosk desktops, they are reminded:
- They should report misconduct.
- They have multiple options for reporting misconduct.
- They can report anonymously.
- Reports will be kept confidential.
- Their company thinks reporting is important enough to put on a screensaver.
- If they ever need to report misconduct, they can easily find out how via their screensaver.
It also showed passersby at the airport that the airline takes compliance seriously (or maybe just passersby who work in compliance). Still, putting the hotline information on the screensaver shows a commitment to internal reporting and a respect for employee feedback.
Compare this screensaver example to the organization that tells employees about the hotline during new employee orientation, at annual compliance training, or via a fading poster tacked on to the over-populated bulletin board by the time clock. Which message gets noticed or remembered? Which message shows a stronger commitment to compliance? And which is more helpful to employees?
After two years of pandemic, there’s some good news. For some, vacations are back. And there is still inspiration to be found for compliance, even when you least expect it. How will you show your employees their opinion matters to you? How can you make your message accessible, easy, and helpful?
And for the record, my daughter did not convince me to buy her the pillow. I just hope she didn’t call the helpline about me.