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If you were to ask 100 people to define ethics, you would likely get 100 different answers. The struggle to define ethical behavior trends back throughout history and was a cornerstone of Greek philosophy. Merriam-Webster defines ethics as a set of moral principles, the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. They define culture as the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize an institution or organization. Ethics drives behavior within an organization so when faced with difficult decisions what does an organization use to guide the decision process?
Many companies project a brand image that is consistent with their mission, vision, and values of being an organization that strives for excellence and positive social impact. However, they act in a counterintuitive manner to those values. Why are companies ethical on the outside yet dishonorable just below the surface? The dichotomy of perception and reality is seen across many industries and many countries yet most recently have been seen through the actions of FOX News.
Bill O'Reilly was ousted recently by Fox News on the heels of several accusations of sexual harassment charges; these charges were not new to O'Reilly who in conjunction with FOX News has settlements with multiple women over several years to cover up similar actively. The firing of O'Reilly may look like a win for social justice, but the decision was made only after many advertisers pulled their ad spends from his show. Has Fox sent the message that their ad revenue is more important than the safety and wellbeing of their employees? If their leaders and public face of the organization act in a reprehensible manner what message does that send throughout the organization?
So, why do companies compromise their ethics for shareholder return? Should there be a stronger focus on the triple bottom line; economic, social, and environmental returns?
To address the immediate internal social impact of a company's culture there needs to be a highly visible ethical framework in which the culture is built upon. Including enforced updated policies to curb bullying and harassment. All employers are responsible for providing a safe workplace where employees are free from harassment. Having a comprehensive anti-harassment policy, and providing training to managers and the rest of employees can help keep harassment out of the workplace. This only takes root if the employees feel comfortable to come forward when such instances occur.
Here are four pillars steps of ethical culture to implement in your organization.
1) Top management needs to be a visible role model for frontline employees to look up to. Employees look to the behavior of senior management for what’s acceptable behavior in the workplace. When leadership is viewed to take the ethical high road, it sends a positive message to all employees.
2) Communicate ethical expectations throughout the organization. Ethical vagueness can be minimized by creating and disseminating an organizational code of ethics. It should include the organization’s primary mission, vision, values and the ethical standards that employees are expected to follow. Remember, this code of ethics becomes empty if top management fails to abide by it.
3) Offer ethics training. Facilitate, workshops, review potential scenarios of where values can be compromised and develop a training program. Maximize these workshops to reinforce the organization’s code of conduct, showcase best practices and address possible ethical dilemmas.
4) Provide your employees protective communication mechanisms. The organization needs to provide formal mechanisms so that employees can discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical behavior without fear of reprimand. These tools may go beyond an anonymous hotline or make an appointment with HR and should include the access to the internal general council as well as support services.
Providing employees, a positive place to work and investing in their wellbeing drives ethical behavior throughout your company culture. Engaging employees in developing strategies to improve employee experience provides a way for employees to be included in the process of ethical culture development. Engagement must be created, measured, and monitored at the organization, team, and individual levels.
Now that Fox News has a magnified glass on them how will they react to change the status quo? Will they try to brush this aside like past behavior suggests or will they engage their workforce to find solutions from the frontline and offer those a voice who were too afraid to speak up to be part of a culture shift.