Creating an Ethical Culture for your Business

The regulatory oversite of various government agencies at the federal, local and state level, administer and enforce the laws that govern any number of illegal activities that may occur in the workplace. While laws and regulations may persuade or even dictate certain behaviors and business practices, every organization should still integrate a code of ethics. The moral standard by which our conduct and behavior is judged, is something that stretches beyond the protection of legal system therefore it must be controlled and governed by ourselves.

Conducting business through the use of ethical guidelines translates into an organization based on social responsibility, and a culture of morally conscientious staff that exhibit honest and respectable behavior for one another. The ethical culture of an organization can often be determined by the measure of loyalty employees have toward the organization how committed they are to achieving its goals. It’s important to remember that an ethical culture isn’t established simply because of some predetermined policy or an employee handbook. Ethical cultures are created as a result of the accountable actions of management and leadership’s ability to demonstrate ethical and social responsibility.

Exceptional leaders pattern their behavior according to the values, moral standards and principles of ethical conduct, and do so with an expectation that their behavior will be emulated throughout the entire organization. When employees, or even management sees a leader who demonstrates the ability to motivate and inspire those around him, it’s due to the personal characteristics that all successful leaders possess. When they see a leader who is open and honest, who shows accountability for mistakes, or commitment to the same goals, then employees to will commit themselves to the ethical behaviors that leadership has exemplified.

As a Human Resources Manager, one of my most important responsibilities was to ensure new employees were familiar with Intel’s code of ethics along and what types of behaviors were acceptable and which ones were considered to be unproductive or detrimental to the culture Intel has established. To maintain an ethical culture requires the right style of leadership who can perpetuate the set of moral guidelines that will create the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior and business practices.

During the recruitment and hiring process, ethical policies should be clearly communicated as part of orientation procedures. During interviews, competent management should evaluate an employee’s character to assess any moral ambiguity or apprehension about ethical business practices. The final decision to hire a job candidate should include an ethical assessment. Furthermore, company training programs should be developed according current social values and evaluated often to adjust and make changes as trends in morally acceptable behavior tend to shift about every five to ten years.

Leadership positions must demonstrate the ability to inspire and motivate employees into a loyal commitment so they value the long-term success of the organization. Loyalty tends to translate into ethical behavior which will help establish an ethical culture within the organization. Strong, effective leaders can create trust between management and employees. However they must always be transparent and open about strategy and performance expectations. They have to accountable for the promises they make, and be forthright when accepting the blame for their mistakes. In middle management, my responsibility to lead by example and represent the code of ethics for Intel, meant constantly demonstrating respect and adherence to the principles and acquiesce for ethical integrity.