Cindy Daigle, Director of Compliance at U.S. Renal Care, shares her thoughts on hiring best practices. Compliance Team hiring practices plays into the long term success of the organization as well as driving the company’s compliance.
1. How do you hire the right person for the job?
I believe the most important first step is to have the role well defined with your leadership and team members. If the role is ambiguous, then you will not be able to pinpoint the person who can be successful. Once you have this clearly defined, then the job description needs to reflect the actual duties of role. Once these criteria are met, it is critical you know where to search for the right candidates. You have to know your industry and be aware of what sites/methods highly qualified candidates utilize to search for jobs. Also, when candidates are identified, multiple interviews with candidates are necessary to identify the best fit for your current team, the best fit for a culture of compliance and the best qualified.
2. How do the individuals you hire help to contribute to the organization’s long-term success?
Our team is built on mutual respect and support. It is important to our entire team to work together to be successful in each of our individual roles. We have bi-weekly meetings to discuss the challenges and the successes of our individual projects. We also have an active culture of providing assistance to one another across job duties and cross training. Due to the nature of the responsibilities of our department, most decisions, projects and initiatives have an impact on every single facility in our company.
3. How do you build trust and connection with your team?
For my management style, it is important I understand each team member on a personal level – what motivates you, what is a reward for you, what are your stressors, what makes you feel most accomplished, etc. We are people first and then employees of our company. We start each of our bi-weekly meetings with 10-15 minutes of chat about us outside of work – vacation plans, family life, funny stories, etc. If someone has great personal news it’s fun to share it or if someone is having difficulties, it’s nice to have support of people you spend so much time with every week. When people feel supported and valued there is trust and cohesion. For my team, a sense of humor is very important. We are in a highly stressful field and laughter helps to keep things in perspective. I also believe as a team leader, you must put the well being of your team first.
4. Do you have any suggestions for training tips, how to build leaders and how to keep great employees happy?
Training Tip: Make sure the method you use to train is one that particular employee responds to best. Some people are visual learners while others respond better to auditory training.
How to Build Leaders Tip: Identify team member’s strengths and have them become subject matter experts for the company in the identified area. Make sure your team (not you) is recognized for their accomplishments.
How to Keep Great Employees Happy Tip: Have fun with your team. Reward great work. Make executives aware of individual accomplishments and expertise. Give positive feedback. Encourage an environment of open communication and trust.
5. How does HR help to build and drive a healthy compliance culture?
HR builds and supports a healthy compliant culture by advertising and implementing an Open Door culture. Employees feel safe and supported to speak to HR regarding any known or suspected wrongdoing.
6. How should organizations build trust and avoid whistleblowers?
I believe organizations build trust and avoid whistleblowers by living a culture of compliance. Some companies pay lip service to compliance but take no real action. Our company truly lives an active culture of compliance. Reporting of concerns is encouraged and supported. There are multiple ways to report concerns: to their direct supervisor, to Regional Oversight, to Human Resources, to the Compliance Office, or to the anonymous Compliance Hotline. All of these methods are advertised to employees in multiple ways: posters, policies, Code of Ethical Conduct, and training.
Experienced compliance professional with success in: managing daily operations of compliance program; managing compliance hotline and investigations; providing training and education; conducting compliance site visits; performing compliance oversight and risk mitigation; managing compliance staff; Code of Conduct revisions; medical staff credentialing oversight; and implementation/oversight of employee and physician license monitoring program and sanction/exclusion monitoring program.
