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When employees are asked to disclose conflicts of interest (COI’s) in orientation or refresher training, or receive regular email requests from HR or Compliance, the ease with which such enquiries are dismissed can be quite alarming. The assumption that since they’re doing nothing illegal or wrong, they have no COI’s is often the hardest obstacle to overcome in COI management. It is the potential for impropriety that carries the risk in terms of both compliance and damage to the company’s reputation, regardless of whether any action is ever taken on that potential. On that basis, there are five signs to look for in assessing the effectiveness of your COI management policies:
COI’s and the dangers of perceived impropriety should be addressed in detail at both new hire orientation and refresher training sessions. Ideally, that training should include industry/business specific examples to ensure that employees fully understand how quickly COI’s can develop in regular business practice.
Post-training acknowledgments and regular reminders from HR/Compliance can provide evidence of comprehension of the importance of COI disclosure, but to be truly effective, employees should be disclosing concerns of their own volition, even if those concerns do not turn out to be formal COI’s.
When employees are responsive to potentialCOI disclosure requests, an effective COI protocol should ensure that they receive a timely and detailed response, even if that response is a request for further clarification before a decision can be made. Requests for disclosure should also clarify the potential outcomes of the disclosure, including clarification that there is no COI, acknowledgment and agreed monitoring of the disclosed COI, and a formal request of recusal to avoid the COI entirely.
Any audit will request all relevant documentation pertaining to a COI. The chain of evidence has to include everything from the initial disclosure request up to the last renewal, including all supporting documentation and review and approval paperwork from assigned personnel.
Over an extended period, devoting attention to potential outcomes that never materialize can get tedious, leading to the risk of automatic disclosure renewal without investigation. An explicit commitment to comprehensive risk assessment, preferably by a third party organization, can ensure that disclosed COI’s, especially for the more senior members of the leadership team (who are more likely to serve on other boards or advisory committees), are examined thoroughly before renewal.
Our Conflict of Interest Disclosure Software on SharePointoffers the functionality and security needed to maintain a fully compliant and proactive COI management policy. Integrating with Microsoft Active Directory ensures that all new employees receive COI disclosure notifications and are assigned to new hire orientation. Comprehensive automation capability allows detailed task assignment and notification with escalation capability for the procrastinators on your team. Role-based access restricts document viewing privileges to assigned personnel only, and the real-time dashboard makes sure that all assigned tasks are managed in a timely manner.
If you’re ready to implement a truly effective COI policy, request a free no obligation demo now, or download the whitepaper here.
Thinking about automating your COI Management process? Download our free datasheet and get a quick overview of ConvergePoint’s Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure Software, available on Microsoft’s SharePoint and now as hosted solution on Azure.
After investing time and resources creating these policies, make sure employees read, understand and apply them to their daily job responsibilities! How? Read the Guide on How to Ensure Employee Accountability & Compliance through Effective Policy Management.
Disclose alumni contributions, hiring practices, partnership details, and promotional endeavors.
Oversee disclosure conflicts, employee hiring practices, contributions from outside organizations, and legal ties.
Manage conflicts of interest, employee investments, familial ties, and competitor links.
Supervise stakeholder ties, employee investments, corporate contributions, and political connections.
View ownership interests from employees, financial contributions, family connections, and legal involvement.
Handle employee connections with board members, corporate gifts, political connections, and environmental regulations.
Outline conflict of interest protocols for third-party providers and brokers, upper management, and mitigate driver and pilot COI breaches.
Visit our resource library for industry best practice tips and for case studies on how our software has helped clients in your industry.