Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi everyone. You've got questions and we've got answers. Welcome to another Bella Asks episode of the Ethicast.
Here at Ethisphere, we believe there is no competition in compliance. That's why we're using this show as a platform to answer high level questions about business integrity that have been posed to us by members of of the Business Ethics Leadership alliance, or Bela. Bella is a global ethics and compliance community that provides exclusive access to helpful data, benchmarking events and other resources to advance your E and C program.
It also provides a concierge service by which members can submit questions around best practices and our internal experts will provide an answer plus helpful resources with more information.
Many of these questions are particular to a specific company's needs, but many more of them speak to challenges or opportunities facing ENC professionals everywhere. So in this episode we're going to answer one such question as part of our ongoing mission to make the world a better place by advancing business integrity.
Joining us once again to answer your questions is Bella chair Erica Salmon Byrne. Erica, it's good to see you again, especially after seeing each other in person at the Global Ethics Summit.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: Bill, it is good to be back in our boxes together, although it was a lot of fun to see you in person, but it's always good to be back on.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Bella asks, well, we have another question for you and this is a case reporting question and I'm going to read the question in full because it was so beautifully worded and it reads, I'm currently on a fact finding mission regarding case reporting practices. Specifically, I'm curious whether others use the date a case is opened or the date it is closed when presenting case volume data for board reporting. In our organization, we've been using the date a case is closed, but I've noticed it limits our ability to connect cases to key events. For example, if I host a training and we receive several cases from that location the following week, using the date open helps tie the cases to the training. But the date closed might be weeks later, making the connection more difficult. So the big question really comes down, Erica, is when should I date my case volume data?
[00:02:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And Bill, I apologize in advance to all of our listeners who are going to be like Erica, come on with that answer. But my answer is it depends on and here's the reason why the, the, the person who wrote this question in gave us two use cases for the data.
She, she or he originally asked about it in the context of board reporting. Now, from a board reporting perspective, what the board is most interested in is volume.
The board is interested in volume. The board's going to be interested in type of case. The board's going to be interested in substantiation rates, the board's going to be interested in anonymity rates. The board's going to be interested in days to close, and the board is going to be interested in discipline. Right. Those are the things the board is interested in because the board, from a case perspective, is looking at what's happening across the organization and, you know, where, where is the risk profile emerging? So the board is not really going to care what date you choose.
Although close date obviously is important because you are going to want to be reporting on how quickly you're able to investigate issues and resolve them. That is a, you know, kind of a key process metric.
The, the person asking this question also raised a different use case for dates, though, and that is tracking the effectiveness of some of your other formal systems. So it is absolutely an excellent practice to be asking yourself, what are the things that I can track that are going to allow me to identify who's paying attention to my training and my comps? And we see case volume issues raised as a very, very common. In fact, almost 100% of the data set, when we look at the data is tracking. I do a training or I'm on the ground for a site visit. What does my volume look like in the three, four, five, six weeks following that? So that is a use case for tracking open dates.
Now, the good news is most case management systems at this point are going to allow you to track both. So the question really is, what are you reporting on? And I would encourage anybody listening to you and I bill to report on both, because each piece of information has something valuable to a different audience. So if you are going into the board, for example, and you are talking about whether or not your training and your communications programs are working, right. Are they engaging your employees? Are they providing them the information that they need to be able to do their job effectively? Are they thinking, you know, causing them to think about what they might be seeing across the organization?
Those kinds of things are things that the board's going to want to know. How do you know it's working? That's a, that's a question we get all the time you're putting in all this energy, you're putting in all this effort. How do you know it's working? Well, one way you know it's working is you train somebody on proper handling of competitive information and two weeks later you get a note from them. Saying, hey, I'm on my way to a trade show and I have a question, right? That is a sign that the person that you were talking to two weeks prior was actually listening to what you were saying. And they're putting that information to work for you. So tracking that piece of it, incredibly important.
But the board is also going to want to know who, how quickly are you resolving issues? Are you resolving them in a timely fashion? Because one of the things that we know from our data is that investigations that take forever cause people to not want to speak up. So the short answer is it depends on the audience, depends on what you're using the data for. So, Bill, this is one of the things that I thought was so interesting about one of the panels that we had at the Global Ethics Summit. And for anybody listening to you and I, Bill, this was a main stage panel, so we did record it. So it is available on demand. So if you want to go back and take a listen to this one, it was about board reporting and it was specifically about how do I engage my directors.
And the point that was made from the main stage was think about the story you're asking the data to tell, right? What, what purpose is the data serving?
And the purpose the data is serving is going to give you your answer as to what particular pieces you should be tracking.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: Thank you so much for weighing in on this question from the Bella community. I know our members appreciate it. I certainly appreciate it. More importantly, it's really great to share your knowledge with a wider ethics profession. So thank you so much.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Well, Bill, thank you so much for having me. Anybody listening in to Bill and I, I strongly encourage you to go check out that board reporting panel that I mentioned. It is available on the platform on demand from the Global Ethics Summit, as well as, you know, all of the other content that Bill and I produced together last week and that Bill actually recorded a record 32 episodes of the Ethicast at the Global Ethics Summit. So we have a ton of content coming your way. And to all those Bella members out there, I said it in person last week. I say it at the end of every Bella asks. I mean it. I really do.
Please keep the questions coming because as Bill said, there are no bad questions. But this community in particular brings us really, really good ones.
[00:07:04] Speaker A: To learn more about Bella, visit ethisphere.com bella that's B E L A to request guest access to the resource hub and to speak with a Bella Engagement director. If you have a question that you would like answered on this program, contact the Bella Concierge Service, and we'll get to work on it for you right away.
This has been another Bella Asks episode of the Ethicast. Thank you so much for joining us. We hope you've enjoyed the show. For new episodes each week, be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. And if you haven't already, please follow at the sphere on LinkedIn to learn more about how we help organizations measure and improve their ethics and compliance programs. Together, we can make the world a better place by advancing business integrity. That's all for now, but until next time, remember, strong ethics is good business.
