Is your business operating under high ethical standards? The culture and values of your business should guide how your employees are expected to conduct themselves in the workplace.
Those same values also often determine appropriate behavior and how your customers, vendors, and other stakeholders are treated.
Employees who also work in ethical companies usually feel more valued, maintain quality collaborations, and are more productive. They also have a greater sense of personal well-being.
All of these efforts will help employee retention and recruitment as well as the overall reputation of your business.
As we wrap up National Ethics Awareness Month – take some time to review and assess whether your company is living up to the highest ethical standards.
Here are three ways your company can promote an ethical workplace.
Prioritize workplace ethics
In a highly ethical workplace, leadership and human resources set the expectations for the company. Create and follow a code of ethics. Add it to your staff onboarding process, make it available to all staff via your company intranet, and update it annually. Be sure to include applicable laws/industry regulations that pertain to your business.
Establish a reporting avenue
Ethical individuals who work for ethical organizations must feel comfortable reporting behaviors and/or actions that would fall outside your company’s code of ethics. Empower your employees to communicate unethical practices without fear or repercussion. Leadership should establish a reporting system and offer ways for an employee to document specific concerns anonymously. This system will further build trust and keep your employee committed to your organization.
Define consequences
Your company’s code of ethics should outline what happens when an employee exhibits unacceptable behavior. The levels of discipline will vary depending on the issue’s severity. Use verbal and written warnings for less severe instances. Also, consider further training/education for the employee to help them better understand ethical behavior. If the unacceptable behavior persists or worsens, it may be time to discuss suspending or exiting the employee.
Let LSI Staffing help your company navigate the challenges of today’s workplace.