Sustainability
Sofia Polhem, Legal Counsel and Compliance Officer at Coor, wants the compliance function to have high visibility in the organisation. The more people in the Group know about compliance, the less risk there is that the company’s employees will cross the line of what is acceptable.
We restructured our internal framework of policies and guidelines to make it easier for our employees and managers to find what they need. For the past couple of years, we have had a popular game-based training programme on our Code of Conduct, but it has not proved to work equally well for all employees. So we have now developed a video-based version of the programme for our service staff. To be able to do the right thing, you need to not only know and read the rules but also understand them, so I devote a lot of my time to identifying and filling knowledge gaps.
Coor is considered by external analysts to be a company with low risk exposure, partly because we operate in the Nordic region, and we share this assessment internally. But even if the risk of corruption, for example, is low, we cannot completely dismiss it. That’s why it is important for me to be visible in the organisation and to educate and remind people about our business ethics perspective and Coor’s regulations. The more visible I am, the more recognised the compliance function becomes, which leads to increased awareness and more people contacting me proactively.
For a number of years, we have had an externally provided whistleblower portal that allows for full anonymity and confidentiality, where employees, customers and suppliers can report suspected misconduct. If we decide that a case is a whistleblowing case, we investigate it promptly. Any action we take depends on what the investigation reveals; it often involves adjusting internal processes, providing additional training on key governing documents and putting compliance issues on the agenda in the organisation.
One challenge we face is reaching all our staff, who are on different levels in terms of language comprehension, for example, or ability to participate in training programmes. Yet, we are also seeing that our efforts to make compliance visible and to tailor training activities for different target groups are leading to greater participation. This has been particularly successful at the managerial level, with close to 100 per cent of all managers having completed our Code of Conduct training course. We are also exploring what we can do with AI when it comes to languages and translation.
Coor has a decision-making body, the Compliance Forum, which works across the Group and includes the company’s CEO, CFO, Head of Sustainability and Compliance Officer, among other members, and which meets one or two times a year.
The company also has a Compliance Network in each country, which meets regularly to discuss Group-wide and local compliance issues and ensure implementation of the Compliance Forum’s decisions throughout the organisation. These networks are made up of representatives from the country organisations, including the President, CFO and HR Director, as well as the Group Compliance Officer.
Compliance means following the rules that govern a company’s
activities. It is about ensuring that the organisation complies with external requirements, such as applicable laws and industry rules, as well as internal requirements, such as policies and ethical guidelines.
Effective compliance reduces the risk of rule violations and strengthens the trust of customers, investors and other stakeholders.
