During her 31-year career at the fast food giant, Haydee Ortiz Olinger rose through the ranks to serve as McDonald’s global chief compliance officer. She is credited with an instrumental role in the company’s entry into, and ongoing growth in, multiple foreign markets.

Olinger’s experiences include developing and deploying compliance and privacy programs designed to better manage enterprise-wide financial, legal, and reputation risks in response to regulatory and enforcement trends. Her blueprint for success: increasing policy adherence, achieving operational consistency, and bolstering financial results.

Sher also developed McDonald’s first comprehensive program to ensure compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and local anti-corruption laws around the world. Under her watch, the company reached the highest score in its sector on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

With a record like that, what to do for a follow-up? Olinger recently joined the advisory and coaching division of BarkerGilmore, a New York-based boutique executive search firm. She joins a team of former Fortune 500 general counsel and chief compliance officers focused on leadership development, succession planning, and strategic counsel the firm provides to legal and compliance departments, CEOs, and boards.

Robert Barker, managing partner of BarkerGilmore, offered some effusive praise for Olinger: “She is widely recognized for transforming business operations by successfully creating and implementing best-in-class compliance and ethics programs that elevate business standards, ensure performance uniformity, and reduce vulnerabilities.”

We spoke to Olinger about her new job, lessons learned from three decades at McDonalds, and advice for those who follow her path.

Can you tell us about your new position?

In my capacity, I am hoping to provide coaching and advisory services to current or new compliance officers and/or their staff as well as compliance program assessments and executive search services. Our advisory and coaching services will allow leaders to leverage the skills and experiences of proven professionals to enhance their own effectiveness.

Seeking advice from individuals who have been in their shoes and have experience navigating through the corporate environment is a great way to advance your own career and ensure success of your business goals. I am hoping that I can help compliance officers optimize their program and role within the organization or assist in assessing potential candidates for chief compliance officer opportunities.

Among the expertise you bring to the table is regarding succession planning. What challenges do modern companies face when it comes to succession planning?

Large organizations face a variety of challenges when it comes to succession planning.

Finding the right talent is a challenge, and there appears to be a shortage of certain technical expertise and a high demand for individuals by many organizations. Having a plan in place to develop your current employees or to replace them can no longer be a “nice to have.” It must be considered a necessity to compete in the marketplace today.

Finding the right talent is a challenge, and there appears to be a shortage of certain technical expertise and a high demand for individuals by many organizations. Having a plan in place to develop your current employees or to replace them can no longer be a “nice to have.” It must be considered a necessity to compete in the marketplace today.

Haydee Ortiz Olinger, Advisory & Coaching Division, BarkerGilmore

Keeping top talent is another challenge. Companies need to make sure their employees are aware that they are valued and that the company intends on developing them to advance to the next level. If this doesn’t happen, you risk losing talented employees.

Defining critical roles and ensuring their workforce can fill those roles. That is another challenge.

Is succession planning even more important amid regulatory demands for business continuity planning?

Of course, it is very important that companies have talent in place to ensure there is no disruption in the business. If a key employee suddenly departs from the organization, you have to be prepared to put someone in that role as quickly as possible. Failure to do so may result in loss of confidence from your shareholders and stakeholders.

A succession plan is not just an exercise, it should be a system that permeates throughout the entire organization so that the company knows who is ready to take over or who may be ready in the next six months to a year. This allows flexibility to move individuals to various parts of the business as the need dictates without losing momentum.

How does a company not only keep pace with regulatory change but optimize their efforts, increase revenue, and do so within an ethical culture?

A compliance officer must understand the business and the regulatory landscape affecting the business. A compliance officer needs to continuously be aware of which laws and regulations affect their business and they must assess how his/her program is addressing them. Networking with other compliance professionals; participating in compliance associations; and subscribing to compliance journals and publications, law firm updates, and news feeds are an excellent way to stay abreast of any changes.

A company can optimize its efforts by conducting regular compliance program assessments. There are so many things to be concerned with as a compliance officer that you may become complacent with your program or you may have a false sense of security that your program is effective enough to address the changing regulatory landscape. Conducting ethical culture surveys or having a third-party review the program can help provide more independent feedback.

ABOUT HAYDEE ORTIZ OLINGER

Haydee Ortiz Olinger was McDonald’s global chief compliance officer, and served the restaurant chain in a variety of posts for more than three decades. She recently joined the advisory and coaching division of BarkerGilmore, an executive search firm. 
As McDonald’s Corporation’s Global Chief Compliance Officer, Olinger had an impeccable track record of successfully developing and implementing best in class compliance and ethics programs.
Olinger’s accomplishments during her time as global CCO at McDonald’s includes developing and deploying a broad-sweeping compliance and privacy program to better manage enterprise-wide financial, legal, human resources and loss of reputation risks in response to regulatory and enforcement trends.
Her initiatives had global impact: increasing policy adherence, achieving operational consistency, and bolstering financial results. She developed McDonald’s first comprehensive program to ensure compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as well as local anti-corruption laws around the world. During her tenure, McDonald’s reached the highest score in its sector on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for Code of Conduct, and was a finalist for Corporate Counsel magazine’s Best Legal Department Award.
At McDonald’s, Olinger is credited with playing an instrumental role in the company’s entry into, and ongoing growth in, multiple foreign markets. An effective business strategist and masterful negotiator, she has successfully directed organizations through a myriad mix of complex and challenging legal circumstances. 
An accomplished and effective public speaker, Olinger has delivered many keynote speeches including: Dow Jones Global Compliance Symposium, American Bar Association’s 30th Annual Forum on Franchising, Corporate Wavelength Web Conference, and University of Illinois Lecture Series.  She has served on a variety of boards including as Advisory Board Chair of the DePaul University Institute of Business and Professional Ethics, and as a board member of the Illinois State Lottery Control Board, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics/Healthcare Compliance Association (Minnesota), and National Hispana Leadership Institute (Virginia).
Source: BarkerGilmore

What challenges did you face as an architect of McDonald’s compliance and ethics culture?

McDonald’s culture was built by Ray Kroc, who had certain enduring principles and values for the company that still are the basis of its leadership throughout the organization as well as in the compliance and ethics area. Ray said, “The basis for our entire business is that we are ethical, truthful, and dependable.”

When I became the compliance officer, these internal principles were already in place at all of our locations around the world. In fact, when traveling to other markets, there were large posters throughout the local McDonald’s offices that expressed those sentiments.

The challenges I experienced were the same as most global compliance officers’ face: ensuring the program is consistent with local laws and regulations; ensuring all employees worldwide understand the company’s expectations for ethical behavior; communicating with employees in their language and making sure they know that management supports the compliance and ethics initiatives; identifying risks and putting programs in place to mitigate those risks; and balancing business judgment with overseer responsibilities.

Also, having the compliance function viewed in a positive light rather than a necessary evil.

What was it like to manage compliance within an enterprise that is both iconic and truly global?

Ensuring alignment with employees in all of the local offices—given the varying cultures, languages, business practices, and laws—posed a unique challenge. It’s important to have a consistent message across all of your markets worldwide, so being physically present and engaging local employees in discussions about the company’s values and business practice expectations was critical.

At the same time, it was easier to explain the reasons behind the compliance and ethics expectations because they knew that being a leader in the industry meant having more responsibility to protect the brand.

Were vendors and third parties a particular challenge?

Vendors and third parties were definitely challenging. We worked very hard to make sure that our employees understood the risks that might be posed by engaging a vendor or third party that had not been properly vetted.

Companies that do not have a program for conducting a thorough review of the third parties they engage are putting their head in the sand. Knowing who you are engaging to provide services and products is as critical as entering into a long-term partnership.

Any one group or organization can ruin your reputation, so why wouldn’t you invest time and effort to make sure their values and business practices are consistent with your commitment to conducting business ethically?

What about language barriers?

Yes, language differences can complicate the implementation of a compliance and ethics program. It’s important to have your code of conduct reviewed locally to confirm consistency with local laws and to determine how best to ensure that the translation is accurate or at least conveys the underlying principle. Conducting training in the local language is important as well, so training a local employee to conduct these sessions will help ensure that the message is delivered accurately.

What advice might you impart on younger compliance officers, especially if they face the challenges of an ever-expanding, global footprint like you did at McDonald’s?

Build strong relationships with top management and their colleagues. They should all be aware of the compliance and ethics mission and vision and how this role helps advance business goals and objectives.

Know your business. If you are new to the organization, understand how the organization makes money. With whom does the company do business? What are the critical functions within the organization? What risks are your business leaders worried about? Where are your employees geographically located? All of these will help you in identifying the risks you should be focusing on in the development of your program.

Listen to your employees who may challenge the work you are doing. You might find gaps in your program that aren’t practical in implementation or where you aren’t being clear enough about the corporate expectations.

Communicate, communicate, communicate. The more the enterprise understands why you are making certain changes within the organization or why certain policies are in place, the more apt they will be to help you achieve your goals and the collective goals of the company.

Influence, don’t demand. Use facts and logic to explain the reason behind a decision. You should never push a policy or additional process through to the business without an explanation for the change and without allowing for feedback on its practicality. Understand their concerns and address them appropriately.

Establish trust and respect throughout the organization.

Engender confidence with the board of directors by understanding their concerns. They should be assured that you are executing on a compliance and ethics business plan designed to protect the organization and mitigate critical enterprise risks.

Don’t be complacent with your program. Use audit and assessment processes to help you improve and enhance its implementation.

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