What to do when staff don't follow compliance policies

Make sure the policy can actually be followed

Before treating non-compliance as a people problem, check the process itself. A procedure that's buried in an old intranet, runs to dozens of pages or asks for the same information three times will get skipped, even by well-meaning people. If it's clear and easy to follow and people still aren't doing it, that's when a firmer approach is needed.

Look for the pattern before the person

A little analysis up front saves a lot of difficult conversations. Is it one person, one team or a habit spreading across the firm? Who do they report to? The answers usually tell you more about the cause than any single missed step.

From there, have an honest conversation. Be clear that this is something the firm needs from them, and ask why it isn't happening. Go in ready for any answer, because the reason is often something you can fix, like an unrealistic workload or a manager who has quietly told the team to cut corners.

Borrow the structure HR already uses

When support has been offered and nothing changes, the most effective firms treat it as a performance issue rather than a compliance one. If someone isn't able to meet the standard, that's a capability matter. If they're choosing not to, again and again, it's a disciplinary one.

This is the step many law firms avoid, and it's often where non-compliance quietly carries on. A close relationship between compliance and HR makes a real difference, especially when HR understands the SRA principles and code of conduct well enough to see repeated non-compliance as a conduct issue. In smaller firms without HR, the same applies to whoever manages people, such as a managing partner or practice manager, so compliance isn't left to handle these conversations alone.

Get the partners or the board firmly behind you

None of this works without senior backing. Compliance officers often sit in the middle, passing the board's expectations down and taking the pushback coming back up. If someone doesn't like compliance's answer, they'll often ask again or go to someone more senior.

When people know they'll hear the same message wherever they go, they soon stop trying. That's why it's worth having a frank conversation with your firm's partners, or board, about backing you in public, with any sensitive conversations about individuals kept private.

How the message is framed matters too. Presenting the process as "the way we do things here", because the firm takes its obligations seriously and wants to protect its people, lands far better than a rule to be obeyed.

Handled this way, dealing with people who don't follow policies stops being a choice between being liked and being effective. It becomes a fair, consistent approach that everyone in the firm understands.