The Official Broadcat Guide to Creating an Ethics Ambassador Program, Part III

Look at you! You’ve made it this far: You have the general idea (Part I); you’ve set your goal and selected your people (Part II). Now, it’s time to set them free! Our third and final installment of our guide to creating an Ethics Ambassador (EA) program is all about releasing it into the wild; i.e., empowering your ambassadors to do what they’ve trained for. ✨

They're readyyyyyy 💃 | Source: Netflix’s Mr. Inglesias via Giphy.com

But don’t get too comfy resting on those laurels—your work isn’t done yet. A program can only succeed if ambassadors are supported. Their role is both visible and influential, so giving them the right guidance, tools, and recognition is essential to maintaining credibility and impact.

Onboarding and Quarterly Meetings

How you onboard your ambassadors sets the tone for the program, so don’t take up too much of their time—you want them to be excited by this role, not bored by it! A half-day session led by a compliance professional or a seasoned alumni ethics ambassador should do the trick. Be sure to cover program expectations, relevant policies, and the helpline process. Include practical exercises (e.g., how to submit concerns via phone or online) to help EAs understand the employee experience. 

To make things easy, check out our Ethics Ambassador Onboarding deck. It covers all the important parts of the role and you can quickly adjust it to fit your program.

Once onboarding is complete, keep the momentum going with shorter quarterly meetings. These gatherings can be in-person, virtual, or a mix of both. The goal is to educate ambassadors on new or revised topics, preview the next quarter’s focus, and provide a forum for sharing successes and challenges. Peer learning is particularly powerful: Hearing what worked or didn’t work from another ambassador can spark fresh ideas and strengthen engagement.

Create a Communication Cadence

You’ll need to decide how often ambassadors communicate to their teams and which topics they’ll cover. (Again, don’t create extra work for them!) A monthly cadence works well, as it keeps ethics visible year-round without overwhelming employees or EAs with a one-day, everything-all-at-once training.

Say “no” to overwhelm! | Source: OWNER’s CONTENT via Giphy.com

A solid approach is matching your messaging to seasonal risks for your org. For example:

• September: Business-travel risks
• October: Cybersecurity
• November: Gifts and hospitality
• December: Bribery and fraud

Another option is to align your topics with the order of your code of conduct. That way, your training will reflect this guiding document rather than some arbitrary order based on vibes. 😵‍💫 A sample calendar might look like:

• January: Speaking up
• February: How the helpline works
• March: Non-retaliation
• You get the picture…
  
  

Of course, you might have one of those folks in leadership who says, “Oh, hey, Data Privacy Week is coming up. Why don’t you do training that week?!” 🙄 While we don’t LOVE the idea of doing compliance training on some random made-up holiday, sometimes you just can’t avoid it. If that's the case, you might want to re-order the comms calendar to appease the powers that be. (More on the compliance holiday conundrum—and constructive ways to lean into it—right here.)

No matter what topics you pick, make sure the materials and talking points you share are relevant to the everyday tasks and challenges of your different audiences. If the content isn't immediately useful for their work or doesn't speak to their specific needs, the message probably won't land, and that puts your ethics ambassadors in a tough spot. So, think about all the different teams who will see each communication and give your EAs some direction or options to make it relevant to the people they are speaking to.

Help Them Help You!

Your ethics ambassadors volunteered for an extracurricular activity that wasn’t listed in their “day job” description when they applied, right? That’s why it’s on you to give them EXACTLY the materials they need, when they need them. Plus, providing ambassadors with consistent, ready-to-use materials ensures messaging uniformity across departments.

Here are some tools to consider using for your program: 

• Slide decks or handouts for lunch-and-learns that are ready to go with specific helpline numbers and translations
• Bulletin boards or digital displays in break rooms help ensure employees with limited computer access aren't left out.
• Don’t forget, people actually need to know who their ethics ambassadors are! Add a removable sticker with the local ambassador's contact information to the back of employee badges and speak-up posters (that way you can easily update it when needed). Design a graphic ambassadors can add to their email signature and print wallet cards for them to hand out to their peers. 

Incentives and Recognition

We’ve covered A LOT of info, so let’s take a minute to appreciate how much work these EAs do! Make sure they feel the love. 🫶 

Source: NBC’s The Office via Giphy.com

Face Time

Regional or global retreats provide in-depth training, networking opportunities, and exposure to senior leaders or board members. Now, before you groan at yet another boring work conference, take it from me: This was an effective strategy at one of my previous organizations! When done well, and when leadership takes the time to participate meaningfully, these meetings show your EAs that they serve a valuable role in the org. Leadership can participate by:

• Short presentations on their vision for their respective area, upcoming changes, opportunities to lead, and ways EAs can support these objectives
• Hosting small break-out group discussions where EAs can ask questions and get face time with senior level leaders they wouldn’t otherwise get to meet with 
• Sharing stories about an ethical dilemma they’ve faced and how they handled it (the good and the bad!)

Also consider making participation in your EA program part of your annual performance evaluation. This approach not only reinforces that your company takes compliance seriously, it formalizes the role, creating a positive impact on career growth. 

Lastly, access to education and growth can be a great incentive for employees to join the EA program. Mentorships with a member of the Ethics Alumni Association (covered in Part II) or another leader can help them grow in their understanding of ethics and compliance and the business.

Good, Old-Fashioned Money

Need I say more? If it’s in your budget, pay your folks for their work. Just make sure to adjust compensation according to location. Think about it this way: In the states, $500 USD looks a lot different than it does in Vietnam. 

Or, if you have a corporate giving program, consider making donations in your ambassadors’ names. Pro tip: To prevent donating to any causes that don’t match your organizational values, give EAs a pre-approved list of organizations to choose from. 

• Bonus PTO: One or two extra days
• Small token gifts: EA program branded swag
• Exclusive professional development opportunities (guest speakers/webinars/access to courses)
• Occasional activities outside of work like theme park meetups, happy hours, 5k run, community volunteer projects 
• Opportunities to present to senior leaders

Just Say, “Thank You”

Beyond formal incentives, highlighting ambassadors’ contributions in internal communications from a member of leadership solidifies their participation and shows employees that the organization values their roles. 

The Wrap-Up

You’re not done yet! At the one-year anniversary of launching your program, it’s time to celebrate with data collection!

Did someone say party? | Source: OWNER’s CONTENT via Giphy.com

First, send an anonymous survey to your EAs to understand what’s working well, and where you can improve. Ask them things like:

• Is there anything specific you would like to know more about?
• How can we better support you?
• What’s your favorite part of being an EA?
• And, don’t forget to leave opportunities for them to provide free-form feedback on anything else they’d like to share.

It’s also important to understand the effect the program is having on employees. Is it beneficial? Do they feel supported by their EAs? Quick surveys—distributed via QR codes, forms, collaboration tools, or intranet polls—capture feedback from employees to determine the effectiveness of your program.

And that brings us back to the beginning! Now that you know what works and what doesn’t, it’s time to iterate. The good news? Now you have a gold-star team of ambassadors ⭐ to help make your program even better.