In a competitive business environment, there is often temptation among companies, their employees, and executives to cut corners to further their own interests.
In the short term, bad actors may see their efforts rewarded; however, in the long term, most are found out, and the consequences can be tremendous, including bad publicity, fines, and even criminal prosecution.
Make Business Ethics a Priority
Employees pick up very quickly on what company policies need to be followed and which are essentially only meaningful on paper. If companies want ethics to genuinely be a part of their company culture, they need to make time to focus on the issue. This includes regularly offered training.
Use Real-Life and Timely Examples
Like anything else, training on ethics is most effective when trainees have context around which to build their understanding and appreciation of the key concepts, principals, and rules related to ethical issues.
There are numerous contemporary examples of real-world ethical issues that can serve as teaching tools, including the Wells Fargo fake account scandal, the Volkswagen emissions scandal, and the Mossack Franseca Panama Papers scandal.
Real-world examples are valuable teaching tools because they provide contextual situations employees can see themselves in and allow them to apply sometimes nebulous concepts to concrete situations.
Walk the Walk
A company that encourages business ethics will have a hard time getting real results, unless employees can see examples of sound ethical practices modeled and coached from the top levels of the organization. If the company as a whole, or individual leaders, demonstrates questionable ethics, it will be challenging to convince everyone else in the organization that ethics are truly important.
Cultivate a Culture of Ethics and Trust
Ultimately, companies should strive to develop a culture in which ethics are valued and seen as the norm. An ethical lapse in an unethical company can easily be ignored. An ethical lapse in a company with a strong culture of ethics stands out and can be dealt with swiftly.
Trust is a key component of an ethical culture, as well. Employees need to trust that they will not face retaliation for reporting ethics violations.
Busines ethics might not sound like a profit-maximizing element of a business strategy. But in the long term, maintaining an ethical culture can not only avoid costly regulatory and legal malfeasance but also promote strong public relations and brand image.
For these reasons, it makes sense for all companies to include ongoing ethics training as part of their overall learning and development strategy.