The following is a guest post from Lindsay Walker, Corporate Journalist at Customer Expressions Corporation and maintains the company blog at i-sight.com.
Maintaining an ethical corporate culture is a challenge. In some organizations, policies are written, executives make statements pledging their commitment to ethics, employees receive training and then no one ever hears about ethics again. Sound familiar? Just like people, companies can get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life and wander off the “ethical path”. This doesn’t mean that your company is doomed, but in order to maintain an ethical corporate culture, everyone needs to work together and stay committed to making a positive change.
Paving the way
As legislation surrounding ethics and compliance becomes a focus in many countries, it’s clear that it needs to become equally important in the workplace. Just last week New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered his staff to take part in an ethics training program, demonstrating that now is the time for change.
Want to take the reigns on developing an ethical culture in your organization? Here are some of the key elements of an ethical corporate culture:
1. Tone at the Top:
An ethical corporate culture starts at the top and works its way down through the organization. If there are any interruptions along the way, it’ll be difficult to get everyone on board. Leaders should be carefully selected, and new hires should demonstrate an ability to fit in with the desired corporate culture. If possible, it’s recommended to create a Chief Ethics/Compliance Officer (CECO) position. This person would be responsible for maintaining and executing ethics and compliance related activities (policy development, training, policy enforcement, program monitoring) to ensure company compliance with laws and regulations.
2. Decision Making:
Treat others the way you want to be treated. It’s a lesson many of us are taught before we enter preschool, but it also seems to be long forgotten by the time school is finished and it’s time to enter the workplace. When making decisions, don’t just think about yourself, think about how your decision will impact the entire organization – this goes for all employees. When making a decision, I often suggest that you ask yourself how you would feel explaining your decision to your boss, to the public and to your family. If you would hesitate discussing your decision with any of these groups, you might want to rethink your choice.
3. Bring policies to life
Policies are pieces of paper or electronic documents. Your employees read them and then what? As the saying goes, “don’t just talk the talk, walk the walk”. Your employees will know if you’re being genuine or not, so if you truly believe in doing the right thing, show it. Be the living version of your corporate ethics policy. Use actions and words to engage employees in conversations, meetings and ethics training sessions.
4. Keep it fresh
Update your ethics policy to keep it current. Over time there are different issues and threats your policy must address. You’ll also want to update your training program not only to reflect the changes in the policy but also to offer training in creative formats. Think about using different types of media and training that is broken down into smaller chunks of time. Exposing employees to ethics conversations on a regular basis keeps these types of issues on the top of their mind, rather than getting filed behind all of the other information they consume. Consider using newsletters, video messages, an internal blog and other unique ways to reach out to your employees.
5. Talk about it
Make examples out of those who violate the company ethics policy and make sure they face the consequences outlined in it. If you don’t, employees won’t take you seriously. Use real-life examples of past ethical dilemmas to tell the story about why ethics matters in your organization. Include these examples in company policies, monthly newsletters and daily workplace communication – but leave out names. This shouldn’t be done for the sake of office gossip, but to make the stories “hit home” for employees. Share news stories about companies under fire for ethical lapses. The reality of these stories and conversations will make employees think twice before making an unethical decision.
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