22/10/24
International award for Connie reveals an appetite for change in ethics and compliance
We’re delighted that our “What would Connie do?” project with The Wellcome Trust was crowned the winner of the European Compliance & Ethics Awards by public vote on 16th October.
After judges selected our project as one of the three finalists from 30 entries across Europe, we had the opportunity to do a pitch in a TV studio at the European Compliance & Ethics Conference in Munich, for live broadcast to a virtual audience of over 6,000 leaders and professionals.
The ECEC Award celebrates an exceptional project which meets stringent criteria, including exceptionality, innovation, scalability, sustainability, ability to inspire the wider community and impact.
So what’s different?
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation, where ethics, governance and risk are a crucial strategic imperative for strong relationships and reputation. So Wellcome needs colleagues to understand that it’s not just WHAT they do, but HOW they do it that matters.
Working with Wellcome’s Fraser Simpson and his team, we’ve pioneered a new approach to helping people to do the right thing. Rather than asking employees to do an annual training course in the Code of Ethics, or read it cover-to-cover, instead we’ve focused them on a specific action: when faced with a dilemma, pause and ask your conscience - “Is this ok?”.
The face of the campaign is Connie – a real pink-haired puppet who represents your conscience. Connie is memorable, recognisable, funny, and helps to embed a habit – prompting everyone with the question “What would Connie do?”
Connie was featured in a launch campaign for the new Code of Ethics, and has been a huge hit ever since.
To bring Connie to life, we’ve given them an identity: recruiting them as a Wellcome employee with an email address and intranet profile. Colleagues can ask questions of Connie on Teams (using an AI chatbot). And regular monthly ‘Connie’s Ethics Gym’ email dilemmas are sent to all colleagues, helping them to keep ethics front of mind.
Connie’s popularity
The impact has been stunning. Everyone at Wellcome loves Connie! The launch video was watched an average of three times each per employee, Connie’s posts are among the most popular on the intranet.
Quotes from colleagues include: “Connie cuts through the noise and grabs attention.” “Connie has made the whole building smile.” “Connie is an inspired way to bring ethics to life.” “I love the inclusivity.” And much more!
An appetite for change
Beyond Wellcome, Connie has resonated globally with experts in L&D, communications and compliance. Many major organisations have commended it and asked to learn more. The approach has translated across cultures, with brilliant feedback from China and Uzbekistan to Costa Rica, the USA and Brazil.
But beyond the excitement of the award, we’re genuinely delighted that this response, reinforced by the public vote for the project at the ECEC award, seems to indicate an appetite for change in how organisations want to engage employees with ethics and compliance.
Instead of heavy-duty training which is quickly forgotten, people are telling us that they find the campaign appealing because:
- We’ve identified a simple habit that everyone can use.
- We’re motivating them by connecting that habit to things employees care about.
- We’re prompting them to act through an ongoing creative campaign.
This approach makes ethics and compliance tangible, accessible, engaging – and most importantly – actionable.
Congratulations to the team
It goes without saying that we’re utterly thrilled with the ECEC award. A huge congratulations to Fraser Simpson and team from Wellcome, and James Woodman, Jara Brasa and colleagues at Acteon for leading such an innovative project that does ethics and compliance in a meaningful and human way.
Find out more about the project here.
And please drop us a message on hello@acteoncommunication.com if you’d like to learn more about innovative approaches to compliance and ethics.
