Amy Bell

This morning I was looking at a post on LinkedIn which generated a lot of comments and interest. The post is about a mobile phone policy which a content marketing business felt it needed to implement, apparently written, according to the managing director, by the younger staff, and not by management.

Now, reading the comments, it’s suggested by some that this is a clever piece of content marketing to demonstrate the businesses ability to get engagement, but whether it is or not, I’ve seen that policy before, often, in law firms.

“Failure to close the photocopier lid is a disciplinary offence.” “No more than 1 person in the kitchen at any one time.” “The toilet roll is kept in the managing partners office and must be returned after use.”

These examples of policies are not made up for clickbait. They are policies which were in place in the first law firm I worked in. Now we’re talking 22 years ago, but just last year someone sent me a picture of a sign on the back of a bathroom door (which clients can use) which said in red capitals – DO NOT LEAVE THIS TOILET WITHOUT CHECKING IT HAS FLUSHED PROPERLY. IF NECESSARY, FLUSH AGAIN.

I find myself reflecting on what is happening in these businesses to motivate people to write such things, what are their frustrations, concerns, worries? Worries about productivity, wasted costs, cleanliness, and in respect of the mobile phone policy, possibly security. These are absolutely legitimate issues which need to be addressed, but I would suggest that sometimes the ways these policies are written is counterproductive.

Whilst the policy or notice itself may have the desired effect – we never left the photocopier lid up for example, what does this do for morale, and culture. Now this isn’t my area, I know people much better placed to talk about culture, but I do know about policies, and I would urge anyone writing them to think about the unintended consequences. Whenever we introduce controls, unless people properly understand the rationale, there is a risk they won’t comply. That they’ll dismiss it and will work around it.

Also consider how the policy might be interpreted. Avoid writing them when you’re frustrated! In one of the comments the MD of the company with the mobile policy was asked did it apply to him, and he said, he needed his mobile phone on the desk, and he could “restrain himself” from getting drawn into social interaction during the day.

I recently caught a Simon Sinek (who I love!) video about allowing our children access to mobile phones is damaging them and ultimately causing a problem for managers in the work place as people are addicted to them. I don’t disagree with him, but dismissing this as – they can’t restrain themselves, so I am going to threaten them with a ban – doesn’t seem to me to be the best way of tackling this.

Communication, explaining the impact, understanding why it is an issue, and arriving at a negotiated solution is going to be much better than issuing policies which can alienate people, breed resentment, and cause exactly the lack of productivity you were afraid of in the first place.

Be mindful when writing your policies, leave aside for a moment what your intention is, and put your self in the mind of the reader. Am I saying what I mean, will they understand why we need it to be this way, will they feel talked down to by the language? The more engaged the reader is, the more likely they are to comply.

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If you’d like help with your policies and procedures, simply get in touch with one of our helpful experts today.

At the recent Teal Annual Conference, I spoke to the delegates about Technology in Compliance. I’d like to pose some of the questions we talked about during the session. How would your firm answer?

1. How do your current systems and processes work for you?

2. As a firm, are you all working on the same system or is it a mix?

3. Are you confident that all your employees are using the same versions of documents such as your Client care letters and Terms of Business?

4. How often do you review your systems and processes?

The answers to the above questions are fairly self explanatory when it comes to assessing how effectively a firm is using technology to support their compliance function.

There are common themes for the majority of firms I meet. Firstly, there are still many firms that do not have a case management system (actually there are a lot) and who operate with a “S – Drive” where everyone can access and save documents. Secondly, there are those that have a mixture of different systems, and different levels of take up of those systems depending on the department.  There are of course some firms that use their CMS to the best of their advantage. This takes a significant amount of work, but the firms that make the effort, reap the rewards. Personally, I would like to see compliance embedded into the IT systems and processes within all firms.

By investing in people, processes and systems it allows compliance to become second nature, providing an additional layer to internal risk management, and an audit trail if something were to happen.

In addition, it can also help increase profitability – so what is there not to like?

With so many different systems on the market, if you do not have a system, or are looking to change, how do you choose the right one for your firm? Here are some pointers:

• Select the project team in-house – have a mix of staff covering support staff, fee earners, IT, management. You need to have a complete overview from all perspectives. Also ensure you include different disciplines, as each will have their own requirements.
• Scope the list of features you must have, should have and would like to have. A project cannot always be completed in one hit, and taking a phased implementation approach is often more successful.
• Do your research into providers or bring in an independent consultant who can assist. It is not a case of one size fits all.
• Know your budget – there is a vast difference between “out the box” and custom built.
• Shortlist the systems that you consider will assist you in your business and arrange a beauty parade.
• Have a selection of staff at demonstrations.
• Take your time to work through the pros and cons.
• Consider the change management that will be needed within the firm to implement the new system.

As a starter for ten, here are some of the features which you should consider embedding into your systems:

• Conflict checks
• AML – check the integration with AML providers
• Streamline your systems and have mandatory workflows to embed compliance
• Versioning control
• Workflows
• File reviews
• KPIs
• Key dates
• Client feedback
• Risk assessments
• Outlook functionality
• HR plugins
• Office manual
• Training and development
• Risk register

I am strongly of the view that we can effectively use technology within our compliance systems to minimise the risks involved in running a law firm. Why make things more difficult for yourselves, your firm, your staff, and your clients than they need to be!

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Teal Compliance offers a compliance technology platform which is built specifically for law firms. Find out more about Teal Tracker, or alternatively contact one of our helpful advisers.

At the start of 2018 most us will have sat down and set personal new year resolutions. There are two questions I would ask:

1. How many of those resolutions are you maintaining?

2. Out of those resolutions, were any of them business focused?

Whether you are the decision maker in the firm or an employee it is always good to have goals to focus on.  Compliance underpins both the individual and firm wide goals, without it you are almost certainly not going to succeed.

At the very least whilst you may think you are succeeding without compliance, it will only take one complaint that leads to a negligence action or a rogue fee earner that will bring the walls tumbling down.  The foundation of any law firm is Compliance – how good would it be to achieve all your goals and sleep at night without the worry of “what if”?

Even in the most compliant firms partners will still at one time or another have that feeling of something going wrong, usually in the middle of the night.  At Teal we are here to make sure that those 3.00am wake up calls are few and far between.

Prevention is better than cure and sometimes the not knowing how to deal with something is far worse than the issue itself.

If you were building a house or a block of flats, you would not do so without the appropriate planning permission or foundations.  Building a block of flats on the same foundations as a single or double story house is a risk that we can all see.

You may not be able to see the risks in your own firm, which is where Teal can assist.  We know what to look for, how to deal with the warning signs and put systems in place.  We will set goals for you which we know you will be able to achieve.

Compliance is not about setting people up to fail, it’s about being realistic in training your staff, so they know what to look out for and question.  It’s about being preventative and having the knowledge of what is truly happening in your firm.  Not turning a blind eye because that fee earner bills a higher amount.  It’s about the culture and fit of the employees within your firm.  It’s your integrity, ethics and your reputation.

So, if we were to look at your compliance goals – what would they be?

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We can help you achieve your compliance goals through a range of services we have to offer. Simply get in touch with one of our experts today to find out more.