Navex Ethics Report. Courtesy of Navex Global.

While shaping an organization's culture doesn't normally fall under the purview of the legal department, most in-house counsel surveyed in a new report released Tuesday ranked culture as one of the most important factors affecting their companies' ethics and compliance programs.

The 2017 Ethics & Compliance Benchmark Report for Legal Professionals looks at challenges in-house counsel will face in 2018 and explores how to confront them. It is the first role-based report by NAVEX Global Inc., an ethics and compliance software company.

“The report gives general counsel the ability to look across a bunch of in-house counsel in different industries and find out what they are focused on,” said NAVEX Global general counsel Shon Ramey in an interview.

And what they are focused on seems to be helping their organizations make smarter business decisions. More and more, Ramey said, the legal department “is being pulled in to help the business side protect the company from reputational risk, so it doesn't end up as the next lead story in The Wall Street Journal.”

He said the report confirms for general counsel that demands they are likely seeing in their own companies are being experienced by in-house counsel across the board and across industries.

The report is based on responses from 427 in-house legal department professionals, mostly general or senior counsel, who were surveyed about policy and procedure management, third-party risk management and employee training by NAVEX Global in 2017.

Ramey said he found it a little surprising that the report showed that 42 percent of respondents said their organization's approach to policy and procedure management was either reactive or basic. Additionally, 22 percent said their organizations only review applicable laws and regulations “reactively” when a potential issue is raised.

Speaking of being reactive, Ramey explained, “I used to be a runner. And I always went by the mantra that if you are thirsty then it is already too late to take a drink.”

If you are reacting to a bad situation, he said, “then that's probably part of the reason you are in the soup that you're in.”

Ramey encouraged general counsel to embrace their new role as guardians of the company's reputation and proactive protectors against risk.

“Take it upon yourselves to educate the business on where these risks can be,” Ramey said. “Identify them, prioritize them, and address them with procedures and training.”

In other findings, the report said:

* The majority of respondents said the legal department has “process ownership” for ethics and compliance training (80 percent), policy and procedure management (95 percent) and third-party management (79 percent).

* The top two ethics and compliance objectives were “complying with laws and regulations” and “creating a culture of ethics and respect.”

* The top three challenges for ethics and compliance training include insufficient resources, limited hours and coverage of all necessary topics.

Navex Ethics Report. Courtesy of Navex Global.

While shaping an organization's culture doesn't normally fall under the purview of the legal department, most in-house counsel surveyed in a new report released Tuesday ranked culture as one of the most important factors affecting their companies' ethics and compliance programs.

The 2017 Ethics & Compliance Benchmark Report for Legal Professionals looks at challenges in-house counsel will face in 2018 and explores how to confront them. It is the first role-based report by NAVEX Global Inc., an ethics and compliance software company.

“The report gives general counsel the ability to look across a bunch of in-house counsel in different industries and find out what they are focused on,” said NAVEX Global general counsel Shon Ramey in an interview.

And what they are focused on seems to be helping their organizations make smarter business decisions. More and more, Ramey said, the legal department “is being pulled in to help the business side protect the company from reputational risk, so it doesn't end up as the next lead story in The Wall Street Journal.”

He said the report confirms for general counsel that demands they are likely seeing in their own companies are being experienced by in-house counsel across the board and across industries.

The report is based on responses from 427 in-house legal department professionals, mostly general or senior counsel, who were surveyed about policy and procedure management, third-party risk management and employee training by NAVEX Global in 2017.

Ramey said he found it a little surprising that the report showed that 42 percent of respondents said their organization's approach to policy and procedure management was either reactive or basic. Additionally, 22 percent said their organizations only review applicable laws and regulations “reactively” when a potential issue is raised.

Speaking of being reactive, Ramey explained, “I used to be a runner. And I always went by the mantra that if you are thirsty then it is already too late to take a drink.”

If you are reacting to a bad situation, he said, “then that's probably part of the reason you are in the soup that you're in.”

Ramey encouraged general counsel to embrace their new role as guardians of the company's reputation and proactive protectors against risk.

“Take it upon yourselves to educate the business on where these risks can be,” Ramey said. “Identify them, prioritize them, and address them with procedures and training.”

In other findings, the report said:

* The majority of respondents said the legal department has “process ownership” for ethics and compliance training (80 percent), policy and procedure management (95 percent) and third-party management (79 percent).

* The top two ethics and compliance objectives were “complying with laws and regulations” and “creating a culture of ethics and respect.”

* The top three challenges for ethics and compliance training include insufficient resources, limited hours and coverage of all necessary topics.