How Does a Code of Ethics Impact Your Work Practices?

A code of ethics is a set of written principles a company desires employees to follow. LRN, a corporate ethics program company, found by survey that 62 percent of employees think ethical codes altered their behavior or helped direct decisions.

Facts

• Writing an ethical code, in and of itself, does not typically impact a company. Owners, directors and managers must apply the code to their strategies, goals and business practices to experience an impact. For example, avoiding foreign suppliers who use child labor is putting ethical codes into action.

Functions

• Companies must find ways to get employees to think ethically. Paul Liebman, compliance director at Temple-Inland, uses ethical situations in movies to get employees thinking about how they would handle a given situation. This promotes the application of ethical principles in the work environment as employees compare fictional situations to life.

Considerations

• While leaders have the responsibility to lead by example when promoting the code of ethics, a review process can help evaluate the company-wide application of the ethics. For example, interviewing operational managers and conducting ethics audits reveal whether employees are following the ethics code.