Ethical policies versus ethical practices

By Scott Tackett

February 03, 2012

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The Ethics Resource Center recently conducted a Business Ethics Survey for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

In this survey it was reported that three out of four respondents work for organizations that have written standards of ethical business conduct. At first glance I found this to be an impressive statistic, giving me hope for the future of ethical conduct and performance in the workplace. However, my hope was short lived.

The report went on to indicate that "more than half of the survey respondents said that they observed conduct within their organizations during the past year that they believed violated the law or the organization''s standard of ethical business conduct." Furthermore, over 47 percent of these employees indicated they felt at least some pressure from other employees or managers to compromise their organization''s standards of ethical business conduct.

The report identified five main types of workplace misconduct that most often occur:

1. lying
2. discrimination
3. time card cheating
4. withholding of needed information
5. abusive or intimidating behavior toward other employees

Obviously, a written policy does not ensure ethical behavior. Therefore, it is my belief and experience after 35 years in business that we the leaders of organizations need to do more — much more — if we have any hope whatsoever of creating conditions in our organization where valid ethical behavior occurs as part of “normal workplace performance”.

Levi Strauss & Co. has a very strong view when it comes to ethical behavior. CEO Robert Hass directed his staff to discard the corporation''s thick ethics rule book because "it didn''t keep managers or employees from exercising poor judgment and making questionable decisions." In its place the company now focuses on core ethics principles, conducts extensive employee training, and ensures that everyone follows through with appropriate behavior each and every work day.

While I don’t advocate that you go so far as to toss out your ethics policy, it is my belief that you must have both a policy and ethical behavioral practices in place to be successful in ensuring and maintaining ethical conduct in your workplace.

To create a successful ethical environment you must communicate to all members of your organization the impact of ethical or unethical behavior on the company and its employees. Ethics are found in phrases such as honesty, integrity, fairness, and justice. True, sincere ethics involves not only the communication of these "values", but the real day-to-day application of them — starting with ourselves. The only means to achieve an ethical environment is for managers to lead by example and to hold ourselves accountable to the highest ethical standards possible.

As business leaders we need to govern ourselves through analysis of our own behavior and the behavior of others, not from a service prospective, but from a standpoint of what is right. Maybe the answer is as simple as what I was taught several years ago: the true definition of ethical business behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching.

Scott Tackett has a 32-year background in manufacturing, human resource management and organizational leadership. He is currently a Business Development Advisor for Violand Management Associates (VMA) where he works closely with business owners and their key management staff as both a business consultant and an executive coach. To learn more about VMA’s services and programs, visit violand.com or call (330)966-0700.