4,000 ambassadors
Compliance is an issue that makes many people uneasy – it is seen as something that is hard to define and difficult to achieve, and carries an air of danger. In actual fact, however, compliance simply means following the rules. For us, this means complying with our processes and legal requirements that ensure that our business is safe, and fair, for everyone.
To use a fictitious example: an employee discovers that it will not be possible to meet a delivery deadline if they process the order in line with the mandated procedure. It would simply take too long to complete the necessary tasks. The employee talks with their colleagues about what they could do to meet the delivery deadline, and it occurs to them that they could shorten the process. Seeing as the last two batches had been produced without any problems whatsoever, the employee decides to simply leave two steps out of the order process, allowing them to deliver within the prescribed period.
Raising awareness
Later on, the employee wonders if it was really such a good idea to leave out those two steps of the process. If they really weren’t necessary, they probably would not be performing these tasks every day otherwise. Even so, at least they managed to solve the deadline problem quickly. The employee wonders who they should speak to about this – isn’t it a good thing if they are able to solve problems quickly and easily? Dorothee Timmermann, Vice President of Legal & Compliance: “Fast solutions really are a good thing, and we are proud of the way that our employees stay solution-focused. At the same time, it is important for KAMAX that we comply with legal requirements and our standard processes.” After all, we have selected our work steps – and the order which they are performed – for a reason: they are intended to protect our employees against industrial accidents and ensure that KAMAX does not suffer production delays or quality problems.
“Every report is worthwhile and important.”
Dorothee Timmermann, VP Legal & Compliance
The goal: 4,000 compliance ambassadors in the KAMAX Group. Being aware and alert is important – the team wants to dispel the myth that “compliance is only for office workers.” According to Isabelle Schlenstedt, who is responsible for compliance communication: “We need everyone to display a healthy skepticism, and to make sure that no one has the attitude that ‘this is the way we’ve always done it.’”
Our Compliance colleagues Isabell Schlenstedt & Iris Stehr.
Every report is worthwhile
Ideally, the first thing that the worker from our example would do would be to speak to their manager. Or they might bring up the issue at their team meeting. If they are unable to get anywhere in this way, they can take advantage of our system for compliance questions and whistleblowers. This is anonymous and confidential. Reports can be general in nature or may concern specific categories, including product and occupational safety, theft, harassment or discrimination in the workplace, information security, or the environment. Dorothee Timmermann explains: “Any time that a report is submitted anywhere in the world, it will at first only be seen by me and my team in the central Compliance Office in Homberg. We look at every message personally, research the matter, and decide whether, for example, we should involve the Local Compliance Officers (LCO) who are active at every one of our KAMAX locations.”
Very rarely are there any crimes involved. Instead, most questions and reports that we receive help us to improve our processes. For example, we have introduced communication channels in various departments that allow employees to work with the relevant decision-makers to quickly find solutions that are in compliance with our processes – even under extreme time pressure. Dorothee Timmermann is emphatic: “When it comes to taking advantage of our system for compliance questions and whistleblowers, there are no useless queries. There are no stupid questions. Every report is worthwhile, and important.”
Trainings
| Training | Year | Target group | Success rate |
| Anti-corruption | 2021 | All employees with customer/supplier contact | 94% |
| Antitrust law | 2021 | New hires | 100% |
| Exchange of sensitive information | 2021 | All employees with customer/supplier contact | 94% |
| Information security & data protection | 2022 | All employees | 100% |
KXpress
