Just for Show

I’m serious. I mean really serious here. I don’t know quite how to explain it. How to put it into words.

But I’ll give it a try.

I am a compliance officer here. I am well trained, highly educated, thoroughly serious about the work I do.

But – and it’s a major issue in my life – I don’t think anyone here cares.

I know that sounds bad. Really bad.

It’s not what I thought when I started working here. Everyone welcomed me, helped me to fit in, encouraged me. I felt good about the new job.

Everyone seemed to know what I was there for. I felt my coworkers helped me to learn the ropes – understand how things worked – start to fit in.

Those early days felt good. I got a feel for the company, the way things worked, what really mattered.

I settled in fast. I felt at home right away, as if I’d found the right place, the right people, the right workplace.

That was at first. When I started. The early weeks and months.

I felt accepted, part of the company, a person of worth and value.

But gradually, I began to realize something didn’t feel right. I felt welcomed – at first.

I felt included – at first.

I felt that I fit right in – at first.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

When I did training sessions, or when I tried to change the way some things were done, or when I sent around updates on procedures, nobody cared.

That sounds harsh. I know. But it got more and more clear to me.

My efforts to update staff on rules were met with shrugs. When I wanted to meet with a senior executive, no one seemed to have the time.

It was as if nobody was willing to learn new rules or change how things were done or pay any attention at all to me or the job I was hired to do.

Nobody actually said it, but nobody seemed willing to learn new rules or accept changes or acknowledge laws.

Why hire a compliance officer and then not let him do his job?

Why fuss over me — the new guy – and then ignore everything I said or did? Was it possible that I did something wrong that made people not want to interact with me?

But then, why wasn’t there a compliance officer here before I came? Had there been one who left or what? Nobody would tell me anything. But I knew this was an industry that had had compliance troubles before. Did they forget that?

So, why hire me as a compliance professional, but then ignore everything I say and do?

And, for me the larger question is this, why am I here?

Did they hire me for show? Just to claim they had a compliance officer? Was I just supposed to pretend to be a compliance officer?

This is not what I expected. Not what I thought would happen. Not the job I signed up for.

So, the question for me is this – now what? What do I do now?

Do I stay and pretend I’m doing the job?

Do I leave and find a place where they actually want a real live compliance officer?

Do I stand up here and fight for the right to do the actual job I was hired for?

I don’t know if anyone here – anyone at all – cares whether I stay or go.

What now? How do I handle this? What do I do about it?

I don’t have a clue what to do.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Should he stay and fight?

Or should he pack up and leave?

How would you handle this?

Looking for more compliance stories? Karen M. Leet’s new book, Voices in Compliance: Stories Inspired by The Front Line of Compliance and Ethics, brings together a collection of stories inspired by the people, challenges, and dilemmas faced by compliance professionals every day. Available now on Amazon in ebook and paperback formats. Read a sample chapter and order your copy here.

These are stories (usually fictional, but not always), based on insights and experiences from the world of compliance & ethics.