An Investigation into the Relationship Between Diversity and Compliance in Irish Organisations

 

Date: 07th March 2023

Della Hunter, Fellow of the Compliance Institute (FCI), Vice Chair of the Institute’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Data Protection Officer, Teagasc.

An Investigation into the Relationship Between Diversity and Compliance in Irish Organisations

An article by Della Hunter, Fellow of the Compliance Institute (FCI), Vice Chair of the Institute’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Data Protection Officer, Teagasc was published in the 5th edition of DBS Business Review. The DBS Business Review is an open access, annual academic journal published by Dublin Business School. The journal is a cross institutional, international endeavour which features peer reviewed articles from arrange of academic contributors including undergraduate and postgraduate students alongside faculty, submitted from a cross the sector.

In her article ‘An Investigation into the Relationship Between Diversity and Compliance in Irish Organisations’ Della's investigation into diversity and compliance, sought to discover the extent to which regulatory changes relating to diversity were being reflected in compliance programmes.

Organisations both in the financial services sector and the public sector, constantly face pressure to improve their levels of compliance. The aim of this research was to investigate the perceptions of senior compliance professionals in Irish organisations regarding potential connections between the area of diversity and compliance plus, whether actions taken to increase diversity and create an inclusive work environment are an avenue which can help achieve this objective.

The following themes emerged from the results found:

    • Diversity is not a topic in Compliance Programmes and companies are largely not making the link with improvements in diversity having a positive effect on compliance.
    • In terms of risk culture, financial services companies are aware of the changing regulatory environment and are taking diversity into account in their approach to their Compliance Programmes.
    • A collaborative leadership model is conducive to an inclusive culture where diversity can be embedded.

In conclusion, the future focus now needs to move from not alone having diversity in the workplace but to the proactive inclusion of those diverse people in the organisation.

To read the article in full please click on the link below: 

DBS Business Review