Count Your Accomplishments

What a year this has been! Rules and regulatory concerns keep coming - and coming, and coming. In fact, some of us have so much on the plate that we don't dare look at the horizon to see what is coming. There is no way to plan ahead when you are overwhelmed.

Supposedly, it is summer out there. (Has anyone looked lately?) Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxation and recovery. It is the break from the past busy year and the preparation by quietude for the coming business.

This year, at least for compliance people, the time of relaxation didn't happen. There has been too much to do: the FACT Act, Check 21, CIP, CRA proposals, BSA developments - to name a few.

Feeling overwhelmed?

No matter how you feel, it's a good time of year to focus on the positive. Whether you are at the beach, in the mountains, or sitting at your desk staring at new regulations, you need to take time to think about the positive side of your work. After all, it has been an overwhelming year and someone needs to give you a pat on the back - even if it's yourself.

When it comes to compliance, we tend to concentrate all attention on the negatives. We talk about regulatory burden. We talk about common violations. We worry about any violations. We keep a tally of exceptions. We measure time by when the examiners are coming. We think about all the things we haven't done yet.

This is not a positive way to look at life. No wonder so many compliance managers get in the dumps sometimes!

When was the last time you took a good look at the positive aspect of what you have accomplished? When did you last measure how well everyone is doing? Is 90% good enough? After all, getting one out of ten wrong means that nine out of ten were correct. Have you ever considered how that happened?

Assets are very important to financial institutions. Assets are how financial institutions measure almost everything: success, size, growth and more. With this in mind, when did you last think of yourself and the compliance function as an asset?

Where would your institution be without what you do? How satisfied would your customers be with the service and products that they get - or don't get - without compliance?

The compliance officer is the corporate conscience. Now, admittedly Jiminy Cricket was a bit of a nuisance. But he came through in the end, and so should the compliance manager. Where would Pinnochio be with Jiminy Cricket?

So always remember your value in addition to the nuisance factor that others are quick to cite. And keep sight of your accomplishments. That list is much longer than the to-do list or even the oops list.

The stress management gurus advise that when you feel overwhelmed, you should look at the positive. And you should reduce overwhelming tasks to manageable bits. There's another principle that they don't always recommend - but in the compliance world it is critical: delegate!

Compliance involves everyone. That means they share the burden. It also means that you should, from time to time, give others positive feedback - after you pat yourself on the back.

Now that you are feeling better, spread the cheer. For example, if tellers placed 30 holds correctly, congratulate them. Even if they got one wrong, that's 30 correct and only one error. That's not easy to do and they should feel appreciated. If you audit loan files and find no Truth in Lending errors (we can always dream, can't we?) then make sure that your lending staff knows they did well. And best of all, make sure management knows how much everyone did. And then ask for lots of money in your training budget!

Copyright © 2004 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 9, No. 9, 9/04