Having a code of conduct for employees is an important foundation for ethical behaviour, but, in a way, only a starting point. Institute of Internal Communication Chief Executive, Steve Doswell discusses how to embed an ethical culture throughout the organisation.
Codes of ethics and conduct are essential foundations for sustainable ethical practice within an organisation and are documents with which most organisations are familiar. However, they are just a starting a point, in terms of creating a strong ethical culture within the workforce. Ethical crises typically begin with seemingly minor violations that spiral into something bigger. Most people are not evil; good people sometimes do bad things because they feel detached from the impact of their actions. Despite the risks this can bring, communications programmes surrounding ethics policies have often not been highly proactive. In fact, a lot of people would probably identify with the experience of simply being introduced to relevant codes at induction, receiving an employee handbook and little more being said on the subject.
It will be difficult to get staff commitment if senior managers are not demonstrably living the values of the organisation’s ethics policy, day in day out. Staff will look to them as role models and feel resentful if they believe that there is one set of rules for themselves, and another for their bosses. Senior managers can make a significant positive impact by building the issue of ethics and its importance into their communications and presentations on a regular basis. Some members of the Executive team might not recognise that ethics warrants such a communication commitment. So one of the earliest communication tasks is to obtain their full buy-in. As part of this process, it is important they understand that an ethical code is not simply a nice-to-have or window-dressing; performing consistently well in this area actually contributes towards the achievement of overall business objectives and protecting the future stability of the organisation. In turn, leaders must make it clear to their own reports what is expected of them in terms of ethical stance and promoting appropriate behaviours to their teams.
Conventional documents relating to ethics policy could seem rather dull and abstract to employees, who may find it difficult to see how some elements relate to them. Having to ‘comply’ with something can seem like a bit of a chore but it will be easier to get employees fully behind the ethics policy if the communications programme also shows how this is part of and supports the core business values of the organisation, and the way in which everyone adhering to an ethical policy will actually protect the business and its stakeholders. At the most basic level, there should be a code of conduct supporting the ethics policy that is concise and easy to understand. Any communications programme must also support an ethos of two-way communication and collaboration, rather than simply ‘telling’ people things; the former approach is more engaging, creating an environment in which employees feel they can comment on all aspects of the policy, rather than their contribution only being required to report wrongdoing. Like anything else, an ethics policy should undergo a regular cycle of review to establish if changes are needed in light of new challenges and expectations. Employees can provide invaluable input for this process on how things could be working better, specific issues they are facing and feedback about the organisation they are receiving from stakeholders.
As IBE data has shown, employee reluctance to pass on concerns about something that is happening is common and a potential weakness for the effective implementation of an ethical policy. Reassurance, therefore, needs to be given in relation to ‘whistleblowing’ that safe mechanisms are in place, whether via an anonymous hotline, suggestion boxes or one-to-one meetings, to feedback on concerns. While an ethics policy should not be about catching people out and crowing about resulting action, to avoid cynicism employees do need to feel that the organisation is not just paying lip service. Periodic reporting on the type of ethical issues that have been dealt with can help in this area. It is also important that ethical values are seen to be applied to the whole organisational ‘family’, including suppliers and distributors. No ethical code can provide a cast-iron guarantee against wrongdoing. However, ensuring that your organisation’s people accept high ethical standards as a relevant and important part of their everyday working life will go a long way towards minimising risks and retaining the goodwill and support of both internal and external stakeholders.
