By Sean Freidlin, Ethics and Compliance Marketing Manager at SAI Global
In my interactions with compliance officers and the E&C community over the years, there has been one constant narrative that I’ve observed. The job of an ethics and compliance professional, while constantly evolving, is consistently difficult, stressful, risky, and often thankless.
In fact, a survey conducted in 2012 by the Health Care Compliance Association revealed that 58% of compliance officers polled are so stressed out that they’ve woken up in the middle of the night in a state of anxiety.
To their co-workers who may not understand the daily responsibilities of a Chief Compliance Officer and their team, or who may be too bogged down with their own challenges at work to even think twice about it, compliance is often thought of as the “bonus prevention department” or the fun police, if they’re thought of at all. This is something that my colleagues at SAI Global and I are determined to change.
Compliance can be fun while also being educational. Ethical behavior can lead to bigger bonuses and better financial performance. Doing the right thing doesn’t always mean doing the boring thing.
In 2016, we created Compliance Officer Day, an annual holiday on September 26th, as a way of shining a positive spotlight on the compliance community. It is so important to recognize the work these professionals do to protect their colleagues and cultivate ethical cultures in their organizations. The event stands as a platform to provide resources and tools to help compliance professionals practice wellness, mindfulness, and self-care. It’s also an opportunity for anyone and everyone to simply thank their compliance officer for the work they do.
Sometimes a little acknowledgement can go a long way in making someone’s day or week (or month) easier at work.
When we hosted a webinar (and wrote a whitepaper) around the event with members of the E&C community to learn what they do to fight stress and battle burnout, an overwhelming amount of participants replied that they use adult coloring books to cope with the occasional anxiety of a rough day at work or late-night emergency email.
It turns out it’s not just compliance officers who turn to coloring books when they need to unwind. Reports from Medical Daily, CNN, and Huffington Post reveal that coloring can be a legitimate therapeutic tactic to help us all fight anxiety and stress, relax, and unlock creative parts of our brain.
Based on that feedback from our community, we’ve devoted time over the past few months to our latest initiative to support the mental and physical wellness of compliance professionals, and it’s finally ready.
Today, we are proud to release the first ever Compliance Coloring Book, created and illustrated by us to be an ethical escape from stress and burnout for you.
It includes 13 original illustrations based on common themes and risks that E&C professionals deal with. It’s printed, bound, and completely free to anyone who wants a copy. Simply visit our website, provide your preferred mailing address, and patiently wait 10 – 15 business days to receive your own package of fun, creativity, and peace of mind. (Optional based on editorial decision you make)
This story was originally published on LinkedIn
