Unless the corporation is very large and has their own in-house ethics subdivision that feels comfortable doing its own leadership development many companies find it practical to bring in an external Ethics Consulting firm to help establish an ethics program. Many times companies work with the same companies that help Government agencies modify or establish their ethics programs. Some of the most common services offered by these consulting firms are business ethics training, drafting iron-clad values statements and codes of ethics, creating risk management resources and leading motivational meetings on leadership and ethical decision making. The first step in the process is to do an evaluation or evaluation of the current company culture and determine what the current exposures to risk are and employee’s suggestions to make things better. This can be done easily with an anonymous survey.
To achieve the professional development objectives of a values-based ethics program organizations
establish comprehensive in-service training as well as new recruiting and performance-management systems that stress character and competence. It is extremely important that these leadership training
programs promote ethical consciousness, commitment, and decision-making competence and establish an initial and ongoing assessment and auditing process of personnel and training programs.
Depending on the size of the organization there are different approaches companies are taking to implement a values based approach to their ethics, compliance and risk-management indicatives. While expensive, many times established organizations find it important to bring in keynote speakers to build buy-in from those who may not see the personal, professional value of ethics education. Keynotes are different than ethics training. Trainings are designed to equip leaders in a organization to address your most pressing issues, learn to manage risk, team-building, and create an ethical work culture. There are other trainings that are for a select group with-in an organization with the purpose to train others about ethical decision making and climate change.
To battle the risk compliance-based approaches present lots of leaders of industry are switching to a values-based ethics approach to incorporates the Six Pillars of Character. Fortune 500 companies are designing programs to have a significant, quantifiable, and sustainable affirmative impact on the corporate customs. For the utmost risk management companies need the programs to be focused, omnipresent, and reliable.
Dozens of these values-based ethics programs have the identical objectives. They feel like their organization s to r remain among the world’s most flourishing and trustworthy. They support the organization to train, advance, attract, and retain a management and employee base with an extraordinary commitment to integrity and ethics. These companies attempt to have management and employees understand their legal (compliance) and moral (ethical) obligations and are committed to assuring that all actions and decisions comply with the letter and spirit of laws and regulations, internal policies, codes of conduct, and ethical standards.
It is vital for businesses to make an atmosphere where leaders don’t just make first-class decisions but they craft exemplary decisions. Ethical and winning decisions diminish risk while minimizing rewards. Regrettably the rates college alumnae who believe it is sometimes alright to cheat or lie in order to be successful are rising with each graduating class. To fight this most companies favor a compliance-based approach to ethics. Ironically, an extreme focus on compliance is itself a risk to your organization. It can lead to a narrow view. “As long as it’s officially permitted, it’s correct.”
