GACO Webinar 23rd May: Why Soft Skills are the key differentiator of Extraordinary Compliance Officers?

In light of tighter regulation in almost all industry sectors and not only financial services, the role of a compliance officer is a big deal. They’re responsible for keeping the ethical integrity of your company intact and handling any breaches of regulation. A top compliance officer will make sure that all business activity is carried out within a regulatory framework by using a defined and particular set of skills. As well as having the technical know-how and experience, soft skills are arguably more important in identifying an exemplary compliance officer over a regular one. 

Soft skills are vital in some capacity in all industries and roles. They help a professional do everything from selling a product, right through to managing their time effectively. While being a compliance officer involves staying in-tune with the latest regulation and legislation from around the world, enforcing categorical changes to processes and managing tough scenarios requires soft skills.

Here are a few examples of these all-important attributes: managing conflict, risk assessment, problem-solving, ability to connect with other professionals, attention to detail, integrity and business support. 

After all, what good is a compliance program that solely exists within the bounds of the compliance department? If a compliance officer cannot work with the lines of business, cannot communicate effectively or train a team without inducing a collective coma, then no matter how good the compliance initiatives look on paper, efforts toward building an enterprise-wide compliance program are doomed to fail.

Yes, your job within Compliance may be to draft policies and procedures and the business must follow them, but if the rules don’t make sense to the business, or aren’t reflective of the business that you’re in, or if the business doesn’t understand them, or if they are too afraid to have this conversation with you because you’re the boss, that’s not a desired outcome. Compliance officers, especially those newer to the profession, can be downright dogmatic in their approach to the rules, policies and procedures. In the absence of significant experience or understanding of the rules, they often see things in black and white terms. 

The soft skills of compliance are just as important as your subject matter knowledge. After all, anyone can learn a body of law or regulation. What is more difficult is teaching understanding, empathy, and the importance of communicating effectively.

Charles Thomasse, a highly skilled specialist in Compliance Matters

GACO is very happy to have engaged Charles Thomasse, a highly skilled specialist in Compliance Matters and required Soft Skills linked to Compliance Officers duties and obligations. 

Charles is a former lawyer called to the Bar of Lille, France. In his most recent professional activity he has implemented the Anti-Bribery & Corruption Program for Electro Depot (Électro Dépôt is a French discount store brand specializing in leisure , multimedia and household appliances . The concept is based on the technique of wholesale self-service ( cash and carry) and twin merchandising. In October 2022, the Electro Dépôt brand had 109 stores in Europe: 90 in France, 13 in Belgium and 6 in Spain). He is entrusted as well with the internal Compliance & Risk Monitoring activities. You will be able to view Charles' professional profile under the following link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-thomasse-cv/?locale=en_US

Charles will during his very interesting presentation highlight which are the relevant soft skills that you need to acquire, further improve and perfection in order to truly become and exceptional Compliance Professional and to make sure you are a business enabler and solution providers for the businesses you are acting for whilst fully complying with legislative and regulatory environments.

If you are a senior board member, a company executive, an MLRO, a Senior Compliance Officer, an employee in Compliance or aspiring to become so, you shouldn't be missing this webinar. Any professional wanting to improve their soft skills, will be welcomed as well. 

Type: Online Webinar
Date: 23rd May 2024
Time: 09.30 - 11.00hrs (including Q&A)
Fee: £35 GACO Members; £50 Non-GACO Members