Compliance, its personal

We have it ingrained in our psyche, in our culture, that to get compliance, we need to make rules. Maybe this is true, but one thing is understood: the rules need to be personal.

Compliance, we have to make it personal.

It’s widely reported in the literature that drivers, when stopped on the road and requested to report a traffic sign that they just passed, can do it correctly more often if the sign is of significance to them.

They also reacted more positively in response to the requirements of the sign if it meant something to them personally.

Interestingly, this highlights that the challenge for road safety organisations and the traffic sign system they use is in getting drivers to adhere to these warning signs.

What they’ve realised is that our responses are mainly due to motivational and behavioural factors.

We still largely underestimate, or worse, ignore the human element to governance, risk and compliance and remain instead focused on policies, procedures and controls.

If we want our staff, employees and dare I say it, senior management to comply, to observe and respond to the regulatory risks, we need to make the signs relevant, significant and personal.

This way, they will respond assertively and with precision.

Want compliance? Make it personal. Think of the human.