Effectively Managing Business Ethics
Effectively managing business ethics in the workplace can be highly beneficial to your organization. An ethics-based approach allows for optimal working conditions and performance from employees. Having set codes and procedures will act as a compass to direct you and your team during an ethical dilemma.
Implementing and Managing Ethics:
Ethics is crucial to an organization’s behaviors and decision making processes. It can impact both internal culture and public perception. Every organization should have a Code of Ethics, a Code of Conduct, and a Policies and Procedures manual. Prioritizing ethics in your organization can improve employee morale and prevent future issues. The following are some tips for implementing and managing ethics in the workplace:
- Give it time. Managing ethics is a process-oriented activity that requires time and constant assessment. Invest in the time it takes to develop an ethical code.
- Focus on behavior. Give clear requirements for the ethics of your organization; use ethics management to positively impact behavior in the workplace.
- Avoid problems. Having clear codes and policies set now will prevent ethical dilemmas from escalating in the future.
- Be open. Involve everyone in your ethics program and make decisions public. Always aim to be transparent and open to feedback.
- Integrate ethics. Ensure all management programs have ethical values that are consistently looked to for guidance.
- Accept the learning curve. Refer to ethical codes when training employees and allow for learning opportunities when mistakes happen.
Roles and Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities necessary to effectively implement workplace ethics will vary with each organization. A manager should oversee the ethics program, but should be supported by other positions. While smaller organizations may not need to fill all of the roles listed below, it is important to take the time to determine what your company needs when executing an ethics program. Examples of roles in an ethics program include:
- Chief Executive Officer: The CEO of every company must lead by example in supporting business ethics.
- Ethics Committee: An ethics committee is responsible for developing and supervising the program.
- Ethics Management Team: Senior managers can be tasked with implementing ethics programs and training employees.
- Ethics Executive: An ethics executive or officer is trained to resolve ethical problems in reference to the organization’s code of conduct.
- Ombudsperson: Interprets and integrates values throughout the organization
Putting your Ethics Program into Action
Strong and consistent business ethics are essential to the long-term success of an organization. By taking the time to develop and communicate an ethics program to your team, organizations can be prepared to quickly respond to an ethical dilemma in a way that best aligns with their values. To learn more about implementing your own ethics program, check out our Business Ethics Course or download a free sample of our training course kits today!
Posted by Zachary Myers on