Creating ethical business Standards: adopt a modern ethics policy and make it public.

• Author: Waller, Jeff
• Position: LEGAL SPEAK

A business that does not provide specific ethics guidance to its employees is inviting its personnel to decide what is best for the business based upon each individual's own ethics, rather than the business' core values. A business can only act through its personnel. Most businesses would not be comfortable allowing their personnel, at any level, to set the ethical standards by which the world will view the company. But without an ethics policy, this is exactly what is occurring.

With today's nearly instantaneous media, and the ability of the public to text, blog and tweet to hundreds and thousands of consumers about any questionable behavior of a business, more and more companies are developing their own ethics policy to protect their image. The news is filled with stories of Ponzi schemes, payments of outrageous bonuses and shady behavior from businesses across the nation alienating customers and vendors alike. Nothing injures a business faster than a perceived lack of integrity or allegations of unethical behavior.

MODERN POLICIES

Adopting an ethics policy, including placing the policy on the company Web site, allows a business to show its personnel, customers and competitors a serious commitment to more than a minimum standard of conduct. Modern ethics policies allow a business to inform the world of its integrity and establish a level of commitment to a higher business ethics culture.

Unlike some archaic policies of conduct, modern ethics polices set forth the expectations and culture of the business in everyday, easy-to-understand language. It used to be that an ethics policy was as complicated and as user-friendly as the United States Tax Code. Most often, the convoluted policy did little to educate employees. Now, the focus of a policy is to guide and inform so that personnel from top to bottom have a clear understanding of what is expected.

KEY ELEMENTS

Ethics policies, large and small, have several key elements, including a statement of core values and purpose, code of conduct, Internet use guidance, reporting provisions, including protection for any personnel reporting a violation, and penalties for enforcement of the policy. Considering the broad scope of an ethics policy, it should be tailored to work in concert with any existing employee handbook, sexual harassment guidelines, safety handbook and other policies.

The statement of the core values and purpose begins the policy and allows the business to inform its personnel and...