As it turns out, everyone takes pride in their way of getting important things done. With organizations, this may even be recognized as a company signature. After all, the way that a service is delivered by an organization to its customers reflects the organization’s commitment to its customers.
However, are the many organizations queried enough on whether their business success has always been ethically obtained? Or should organizations be transparent to everyone of the intrinsic values that their companies are made of, and through its Code of Business Ethics?
So, what is a Code of Business Ethics? And how does an organization invest in its effectiveness?
A Code of Business Ethics is a company statement that emulsifies a set of acceptable behaviors with the company's own value system in order for its employees to grow into or retain and comply with whenever they are getting things done for the company.
An actively inclusive Code continuously raises awareness on building a culture of integrity. This is assuring to a company’s many stakeholders of its commitment to practicing fair and transparent business ethics only.
For the Employees
The Code should be written in a way that the organization’s values are clearly identifiable and the `ways of doing things’ are easily understood. When it is constructed with sentences that are short, concise and have a serious tone, it can be well-resonated with. This is exactly what the leadership of an organization should accomplish to cultivate a compliance culture.
Employees become self-governing and they too expect their peers to be compliant likewise. This shared value system (or the Code) creates a work environment that is within safe boundaries when applicable laws and good ethics are being observed.
For the Company
Companies in the same marketplace are a dime a dozen. But having a strong conviction in ethics and integrity does set a company apart from its competition that has none. A company whose Code is made known right away attracts global customers, clients or investors who keep a look out for ethical companies to work with, given their strict compliance to legislations that have extraterritorial reach on anti-corruption, human rights, fair trade, data protection, anti-competition, etc.
Practicing the Code of Business Ethics
The Code is meant to be read, understood and applied within the organization. An organization’s Leadership or Management Team has a significant role in being an exemplary model that upholds the company’s core values, makes business decisions taking into consideration the Code and continuously has the highest standards in business conducts. Employees are inclined to emulate their leaders’ behavior and most of all, if they are people managers, will ensure that their staff are complying to the Code. Both accountability and transparency are the responsibilities of each employee.
The co-existence of ethical values and business sense in good ethical companies will help them redefine their position in increasingly regulated markets – they are the next best fit for long-term business partners, investors’ portfolio, new hires’ employer choice, banks’ preferred customers, etc.
Communication
It is not enough that the Code is available as a paper policy just to be attested by every employee. An organization must further invest time in communicating the why’s and how’s of the Code. Other than the usual attributes of what a training session brings, there are opportunities for the employees to ask questions about the to-do’s and must-nots surrounding their business-related activities, and the compliance officer to clear any doubts during training sessions. When done well, all employee levels can come together to innovate best practices across their organization, such as making the right policies, taking pre-emptive actions and regularly assessing control measures.
Regular training in fact supplements the Leadership’s direction and it adds much more value to the entire scheme of building a new relationship with any recent work culture that is being introduced.
The Leadership team needs to rationalize the Code frequently, for example, at a monthly/ quarterly updates meeting, a kick-off meeting, a townhall address, etc. Employees who are consistently engaged and connected to the Leadership's vision, are more collaborative to achieve the company's goals.
Be bold enough to articulate a Code for your organization - focus on the core values that the organization embraces and commits to. Be ready to see to your organization's best days yet - protect your people and your business reputation.
Reach out to wtjen.siow@amsc-my.com.
Post Tags: Code of business ethics, code of conduct, compliance program, compliance culture, compliance, anti-corruption, anti-bribery, leadership's commitment, communicationIs this article helpful? Share this post.
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