There was a long road of research and discussion to achieve ECI’s vision for the High Quality Ethics & Compliance program assessment.
The Assessment Protocol
This assessment protocol was developed by a working group of ECI members and is based on the principles of high-quality programs found in ECI’s 2016 Blue Ribbon Panel Report. This independent study defined the practices and strategies that are indicative of transformative E&C programs.
The Measurement Framework
As this multi-year project progressed, ECI shared a copy of the Measurement Framework with officials at the Department of Justice, along with a companion report that summarized the work of the organization to define and measure an HQP.
The HQP Assessment is a systematic way for ethics & compliance officers to demonstrate the success of their programs, define areas that may need improvement and provide evidence of continued program advancement.
Related Reports and White Papers
The following reports and white papers describe our development process, and outline the components and framework toward HQP.
This resource identifies the key metrics that ethics officers can use to measure the quality of their ethics & compliance programs. The HQP Measurement Framework gives organizations of all sizes a program maturity model to determine the progress of programs against an established standard of success.
Gauge the progress of your programs against this benchmark.
With more and more organizations committing to higher quality programs, it begs the question: does it make a difference when a company dedicates more resources and heightens the priority of their E&C efforts?
To find an answer, we asked employees about the presence of an E&C program in their workplace. We also inquired about the quality of that program, if it existed.
Corporate ethics and compliance (E&C) programs are playing an increasingly important role in the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) civil and criminal enforcement policies. This role reflects DOJ’s growing recognition that effective E&C programs can benefit companies, their stakeholders, and the public through the prevention, early detection, and resolution of misconduct.
View ECI’s Recommendations.
Prepared by a Blue Ribbon Panel of prominent ethics and compliance practitioners, academics, white collar and whistleblower attorneys, as well as former enforcement officials. The HQP report provides detail about organizations with ethics and compliance programs that go beyond the minimum standard.
This 2016 report introduced the Five Principles of HQP for E&C program development and review.