Question: If you are a manager, rest assured that unless you are totally committed to the goal of creating and maintaining an ethical workplace, you will not succeed in achieving it. In addition to your attitude toward ethics and your conduct, two other factors help to create an ethical workplace environment: a written code of ethics, or policy statement, and the effective communication of the firm's ethical policies to employees. Finally, you should provide employees with a way to make anonymous complaints about unethical behavior on the part of their co-workers or supervisors. The Role of Management As mentioned in this chapter, management's behavior is crucial in establishing the ethical tone of a firm. Managers must make it clear, both in their words and by their conduct, that unethical behavior is not acceptable. If an employee persists in unethical behavior, you should consider discharging the employee as a clear example to other employees that you will not tolerate unethical actions. Studies have shown that employees quickly adapt to the "rules" of their workplace environments, but it is up to the company managers to let employees know what those rules are-and to enforce them.
Instruct Employees in Ethical Standards A written ethics code or policy statement helps to make clear to employees how they are expected to relate to their supervisors or managers, to consumers, to suppliers, and to other employees. Above all, it is important to state explicitly what your firm's ethical priorities are and make sure that the firm's employees are aware of those priorities. A good way to communicate these priorities to employees is by implementing an ethics training program, in which managers discuss with employees-face to face-the firm's policies and the importance of ethical conduct. Ethics seminars should be held at routine intervals so that employees have an opportunity to discuss ethical problems as they arise. Another effective technique is to periodically evaluate the ethical performance of each employee. Employees should also be instructed in how they can anonymously report unethical behavior. For publicly traded companies, federal law now requires the establishment of confidential reporting systems for this purpose. This can be accomplished through a Web-based reporting system, as described earlier in this chapter, or by using a company "hot line" installed for this purpose.
CHECKLIST FOR THE BUSINESS MANAGER
1 Make sure that management is committed to ethical behavior and sets an ethical example.
2 Create, print, and distribute an ethical code clearly stating your firm's ethical goals and priorities, as well as what behavior is expected of employees in their areas of responsibility.
3 Implement an ethics training program to communicate your firm's ethical policies to employees.
4 Devise a method, such as an ethical checklist, for evaluating the ethical performance of each individual employee.
5 Provide a mechanism through which employees can anonymously complain about unethical behavior in the workplace.