Avanos Medical Inc.

10/04/2023 | News release | Archived content

A Commitment to Compliance: Small Steps, Big Impact

by Michelle Scharfenberg, Senior Vice President, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer

This year, Avanos launched a three-year plan to reimagine our business, prioritizing product innovation, supply chain effectiveness, and commercial and financial optimization - all with the goal of furthering our vision of getting patients back to the things that matter.

This post is part of a series by Avanos senior leaders discussing the company's transformation.

One of my favorite paintings is "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" by Georges Seurat. This well-known work of art was created from more than 200,000 small dots of color - an art form called pointillism. It reminds me of another favorite - a quote attributed to Mother Teresa: "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

So often, we want to do something BIG by painting the canvas of life with large, attention-grabbing strokes. But this approach isn't how you transform a world, a culture, or a company.

Instead, it's reinforced actions and consistency that brings about change: a commitment to values, to a focused mindset, and to your moral compass. It's making sure every action and every decision is done to make a positive change for a greater purpose.

This principle also holds true for compliance in the business world. I frequently encounter people who believe that they don't need to think about ethics and compliance in their everyday conversations because "when the time comes, people will do the right thing."

In reality, every day is "the time," because every day we make decisions that impact our company ethically and ensure that we remain legally compliant. Submitting an accurate expense report, being kind to a fellow employee, following a process when it is so much quicker and easier to cut a corner: these are examples of everyday decisions that support our ability to "do the right thing."

These principles also apply to a company in transformation. Evolving into a solid and well-respected company requires a strong ethical foundation, and the only way to achieve that is to faithfully lay every brick of that foundation with ethical decisions, built by one conversation, one decision, and one relationship at a time.

Think about this: Making one wise and ethical decision every day equals 365 opportunities to do something good at home, at work, or in your community each year. So, here's my challenge for you this week: For each decision or action you make, ask yourself if this is a good, wise, and ethical decision that can serve as a dot on the canvas - a small thing that, when multiplied, can lead to a big impact.

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