Trust plays big role in corporate culture.

• Author: Szews, Charles L.
• Position: Ethics Corner

* Customers, suppliers and employees seek to work with companies that sustain a strong reputation built not only on the quality of a company's products and services but also on the trust that in every interaction, a company will "do the right thing."

The impetus to do the right thing becomes that much stronger when the company is engaged in the provision of products to warfighters. In the defense industry, doing the right thing protects American lives and has national security implications.

This reality is at the heart of the National Defense Industrial Association's Code of Ethics, which it created as a best practices guide for its membership. Creating a company culture to "do the right thing" doesn't happen by chance but by design, and the code provides a solid first step for any company as it designs its ethics and compliance program.

But a strong ethical corporate culture doesn't develop without the active engagement of strong leaders designing the processes that foster the right culture. It takes commitment from company leadership and a willingness to drive that throughout an entire organization. It can't be just a slogan or "flavor of the week." It requires executive leadership exhibiting ethical behaviors and actions. It demands resources, repetition and a pledge to use a variety of media to reach the hearts and minds of all employees. But, the payoff is engaged employees doing the right thing for the warfighter, suppliers and each other.

The culture is known as "The Oshkosh Way." Employees are proactive with frequent communications and in-person training, including code of conduct training tailored to the needs of our team members. For example, training is tailored for specific functions like procurement, sales and finance, and by business and country to address specific types of transactions or risks. The goal is to reach the hearts and minds of our employees to do the right thing in their language, wherever they are around the world.

If they are exposed to the values enough, they will embrace them and model those values. The message of doing the right thing is seen and heard throughout the company through a variety of communications. We embed messages in our new hire orientation, all employee meetings, each segment's newsletter, staff meetings and email. As team members embrace the commitment to not simply be compliant, but do what's right, they act in accordance with the values. Moreover, by watching other team members' model...