Pennell Hart: Women in Compliance

SO: For many people the  route into compliance is nonlinear, can you tell us how you entered the profession and what motivated you to pursue this career path?

HA: I had just graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and was getting ready for law school. I had decided to work for a year or two before continuing my studies, I landed an internship with General Electric for a Compliance and Legal fellowship and that is where I completely fell in love with compliance. I decided to continue working on myself to develop my compliance knowledge and ensure I am able to develop a true and proper business enabling function.

My main motivation is obviously my ability to work in the healthcare world, being part of patient care and help creating a world where HealthCare has no limits is directly linked to creating an ethical healthcare ecosystem. Be it in purchasing decisions, business dealings or patient experience, clean and compliant interactions is at its core.

SO: What are some of the common misconceptions about compliance, and how do you work to dispel them?

HA: One of the most common misconceptions is that compliance is a business deteriorator, that is especially the case when I meet new people and introduce myself and what I do.

I would say I am lucky to work in an organization that puts integrity at its core of its business practice and truly understand how much of a competitive advantage being known as a compliant company is.

One of my favorite examples to dispel this misconception is an example where in one of the countries we operate in, a new government had recently came into power with a promise to fight corruption. In one of their first acts in office, they had decided to cancel a multimillion dollar deal due to claims of corruption and awarded the deal to another company than the others, it was known in the market for its ethical dealings and compliant processes, hence they would align with a well reputable company.   

In today’s world, ethical practices are at the core of many purchasing bodies and governments, and ensuring we share that knowledge is vital and knowing how to articulate both externally and internally the strength of its advantage is critical to its success.

SO: What do you think are the most important qualities for success in compliance, and how can people develop these traits?

HA: In my opinion the most important quality for a successful program is operationalizing the program and make it a core aspect of business dealings.

If an individual understands the business they then can assess business risks and will have the ability to articulate it. Once you develop the business acumen and partnership, you become a sounding board for new strategies and ideas, and by doing so, you can mitigate and assess future risks.  

SO: What type of company culture is conducive to driving an effective compliance program? 

HA: The culture of transparency, trust and courage. Without those, building a compliant culture is very difficult. In my opinion, this is the only way to drive a proper running organization and not only an effective compliance program. 

SO: Tell me something about yourself that has nothing to do with compliance…

HA: I am a mother of a 3 year old girl “Laila” and expecting my second daughter in the summer, I enjoy baking and binge watching Netflix series 😊