Newsletter - How to Enforce Your Standard of Ethics

Are you facing an ethics crisis?

You own a business, or run an organization, and have a code of ethics that you hold dear. You hire an employee, however, for some reason he/she just doesn’t seem to understand your way of thinking.

This situation can be avoided

Applying guidelines developed from psychologist Dr. Lawrence Pfaff, can align you on the right track. Here are some very useful steps to keep you focused and headed in the right direction.

First, make sure that your code of ethics and values are very clear to your employees, and sales representatives. This can be achieved by creating a mission statement that supports the importance of your values. Include your code of ethics into a written code of conduct that each employee or equivalent must read, sign, and emulate. This can be supported by the employee’s code of conduct, which will define how employees are to act in compliance with the value statement. Make sure that this is paired with a unified disciplinary process that matches your values.

Enforce your standard of ethics

Conduct training classes, and implement role-playing for your employees. This will teach your employees the ethical behavior that meets your expectations. Not only is this a fun way to teach, but also the interaction will give your employees a very personal accountability factor in the area of understanding your standard of ethics. This will also challenge them to keep focused on the key areas that matter most to you, and your company. If your ethics are an important part of how you do your business, it should be an important part of how you train your employees.

Great ethics training will create a culture of accountability. This will result in your employees being able to make the right decisions when any question of ethics comes into play, and maintain a very productive work environment.

Positive results

By having clear objectives, and educating your employees on what your expectations for ethics are all about, you will lay a very strong foundation for a positive working environment. You will create an environment where employees will ask, “ what would the boss want me to do in this situation?” and the tools to arrive at the right answer. The result will be a climate in which great employees will flourish.


» Click to return to Newsletters.