Page 242 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

blowers” treated after they come forward? What kind of retaliation-prevention training is in
place for all managers and executives? What is the corporate response to an employee con-
cern regarding public safety? In what way are you as a leader responsible for this? How do
your current policies and practices support competitive corporate governance? Are there any
gaps between your policies and practices? As an HR credible activist, how can you influence
the necessary decision and policy makers in your company to ensure that all of the stake-
holders of the company are protected by competitive corporate governance practices and
operating in all ways within legal and ethical compliance?
How does your company prevent fraud? What is in place systemically? How might a
concerned employee come forward with suspicions of fraud? How might your company
respond to that employee? Who is responsible for preventing fraud? In what way are you as
a leader responsible for this? How do your current policies and practices support competi-
tive corporate governance? Are there any gaps between your policies and practices? As an
HR credible activist, how can you influence the necessary decision and policy makers in
your company to ensure that all of the stakeholders of the company are protected by com-
petitive corporate governance practices and operating in all ways within legal and ethical
compliance?
As you consider the answers to these questions regarding your company’s corporate
governance practices, ask yourself how at risk your company might be for winding up in the
headlines. Find out how many charges or claims exist against your company historically.
You don’t want to be the HR director or vice president for the next Enron. There is no
justification or reason for costly, preventable errors. Compliance violations, safety viola-
tions, harassment and discrimination lawsuits, fraudulent activity, false claims cases,
accounting scandals, and financial mismanagement are all extremely costly, but most impor-
tant is that they are preventable. Anything that is preventable and costly is fat. Anything that
prevents unnecessary cost is muscle. The most perceptive workplace leaders and HR credi-
ble activists will implement competitive corporate governance in order to survive and thrive
in this recession and beyond.
More and more companies of every stripe are retaining the services of firms that
encourage employees to come forward with knowledge of liability risk. Government agen-
cies have inspector generals, the U.S. Attorneys’ Office, the FBI, and attorney generals at
their disposal for public employees to report noncompliance of any kind. Increasingly, per-
ceptive leaders demand the implementation of formal processes and internal controls to
ensure sound reporting, investigating, tracking of, and responding to violations. In addition,
many companies recognize the need to prevent retaliation against employees who come for-
ward by implementing strict and protective policies. Internal controls and processes are no
longer considered by smart leaders to be invisible and insignificant. How things are done or
not done can make or break a company. Perhaps most poignantly, the seemingly insignifi-
cant events that ultimately result in huge plaintiff awards, government fines, and/or CEO
perp walks also significantly contribute to the condition of the current economy.
Irresponsible corporate governance and noncompliance—whether detected and pun-
ished or not—ultimately contribute to preventable wrongful termination lawsuits, preventa-
ble EEO lawsuits, governmental regulatory fines, individual bankruptcies, shareholder
losses, unemployment, underemployment, disability, pension and retirement fund decima-

CHAPTER 14 • What Matters? Accurately Discerning Muscle from F at 225