There is a dearth of ethics in the current business culture. The National Business Ethics Survey results have shown that employees’ perceptions of senior executives and supervisors declined last year.
Confidence in senior leadership fell to 62 percent. Only 1 in 3 employees believes their direct supervisors act as ethical leaders.
Earlier this year, a high school principal resigned for allegedly creating a false identity on Facebook to spy on students. A major CEO allegedly fabricated his academic credentials. Hardly a day goes by without some mention of an ethics violation.
If someone asked you, “Are you an ethical person?” I’m willing to bet that you’d answer with a strong, “yes!”
But if we examine our day-to-day practices, and truly critique our behavior, I believe our resounding, “yes” response would change to a whispered, “I think so.”
It’s imperative that leaders of organizations display ethical behavior at all times. It’s required in policy, corporate culture and individual actions. It’s easy to forget that employees watch how you act and judge how you behave. Employees are also sharp enough to know that if the owner or the leader of the organization deals unethically with other stakeholders, the same unethical treatment might be used on them.
How does a company become more ethical? Ethical behavior must be driven into the corporate culture. It must be seen, believed and applied. To create an ethical culture, consider doing the following:
Set the tone at the top
Your leaders must espouse ethical behavior and place it above profitability. Have a written document of your values and policies. They should state clearly that the company will have an ethical culture that’s the foundation for business processes.
It’s essential that the CEO reinforce the ethical culture regularly via written materials and public comments. When public displays of unethical behavior make the newspapers, the CEO should discuss the story with employees and point out that the company won’t tolerate that type of unethical behavior.
Expect ethics from stakeholders
If they can’t operate ethically with your organization, then they shouldn’t be associated with your company.
Don’t simply tolerate bad behavior because you can’t sever the relationship. Educate stakeholders, show them your ethics policy, explain your key values and reinforce them on a regular basis.
Train employees
To encourage all employees to act ethically, hold training sessions regularly on your professional code of ethics, the history of ethics, organizational ethical practices, and current news events regarding unethical practices. Remember, ethics training can be fun, improve the overall morale in an organization and result in higher profits.
Recognize good behavior
When the company or an employee resolves a dilemma ethically, celebrate it.
For example, if the company discontinues a relationship with an unethical customer, explain why. When the company makes a mistake and must honor commitments, recognize ethical obligations and fulfill them. That’s particularly challenging when the business is facing financial hardships.
Use resources
Take advantage of excellent resources to help convey ethical behavior. The National Business Ethics Survey is published bi-annually by the Ethics Resource Center at http://www.ethics.org/nbes/. The survey reports on many current trends in corporate ethical behavior. Discuss them at staff meetings and let employees know, for example, that ethical behavior increases during a recession and then regresses during a recovery.
Finally, include ethical issues when evaluating current employees and interviewing job applicants.
Remember, ethical organizations will be more profitable organizations. A company that stoops to unethical behavior to make a profit has no business being in business. n
Jim Lindell is president of Thorsten Consulting Group Inc., a Wisconsin-based provider of strategic and financial consulting, professional speaking, training and executive coaching. He has worked with a variety of industries including manufacturing, health care, not for profit, distribution and food processing and chairs two groups for TEC Wisconsin.
