Comply in compliance

- Mom always said, don't play ball in the house. I had the Brady Bunch quote running through my head as I looked at my mom's glass angels shattered in a million pieces. She was gone to buy groceries and I wanted to play indoor soccer in the living room. All was fine until one super powerful kick went airborne and knocked off one of her favorite angels from the shelf. I knew that she had made the rules for a reason. And because of my lack of compliance and absolute inability to hide any trouble I made as a kid, I knew I was about to be held accountable for my actions. I disobeyed mom. The government, industries, and organizations make similar rules, standards, and expectations for good reason, and keep us accountable to those expectations. Not abiding by these expectations and standards could be crippling to your company, almost as crippling as breaking my mom's glass angel was to me. And this brings me to another important HR guideline that you should be considering for your organization. You need to comply in compliance and to hold your organization accountable to the high standards set. Bob Proctor writes that, accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the result. Here we are held accountable to upholding the expectations and standards that we agreed upon. It's where the rubber hits the road. Compliance is multilayered in three large overlaying rings. First, comply within government regulations. If you are out of compliance at a government level, then your company could risk being shut down, heavily fined, or you could even risk imprisonment. For example, the government prohibits against child labor laws, and violating this law could have serious implications for your organization. Including, but not limited to, imprisonment and disbandment of the organization. There are many laws from the government that set expectations for our working conditions and standards. Take a look at the compliance laws and regulations from the government to make sure that you are within the law, and take precautions to make sure that you stay acting within the law. Comply within government laws. Next, comply within industry regulations. Being out of compliance within industry expectations, typically doesn't mean that the organization will be damaged as severely as a lack of compliance in government regulations. But, it could result in consequences that could damage the reputation of the company or organization. For example, if a university doesn't meet the compliance standards to stay accredited, then it risks losing accreditation. Without accreditation, the university will still exist and be acting within governmental law. But it will no longer have the high standard as an accredited university. See what additional compliance measures that you will need to take within your organization to stay within industry compliance. Comply within industry regulations. Next, comply within organizational regulations. Organizations hold expectations and standards within the company. Here, the leadership, departments, or employees can have individual consequences, but not necessarily have implications organizationally. For example, if an organization has a policy of continuing education and training, then the employee can have a consequence if they do not comply within the expectations. While government and industry compliance is external expectations, HR can enforce internal expectations of compliance, such as this. To best act on internal compliance, clearly communicate expectations, and document when those expectations have, and have not been met. I may have not gone to prison for a broken angel, but my internal or organizational punishment was real. Why? Because there were clearly communicated expectations. And I broke them. Comply with organizational regulations. Compliance can seem daunting at first. So, here's what I want you to do. First, identify your compliance expectations for your organization, and then come up with a plan to meet those expectations and document your compliance to show accountability.