101: Workplace ethics
International think tank The Ethisphere Institute again recognized the world's most ethical companies earlier this year. “Companies find that ethical business practices increase their competitiveness,” said the institute's Alex Brigham to Forbes.com. (Intel Corp., which has a Hudson office; Symantec, with offices in Framingham; and Cisco Systems, with a Boxborough site, made the list.) Here are three ways ethical practices make good business:
Ethical companies produce staff loyalty. “Studies show employees increasingly want to work for organizations that align with their own personal values. They are more loyal to such organizations,” Brigham says in the Forbes.com article. He adds: “These companies also understand that a strong culture of ethics is also key to helping drive financial performance.”
Ethical higher-ups consistently analyze their stance. To be fair, executives in ethical companies should beware of becoming too hard line. “They are open-minded; willing to admit they are wrong and, where appropriate, they change their positions and beliefs,” Michael Josephson writes at JosephsonInstitute.org.
A strong ethics culture empowers employees and frees up managers. “Ethical guidelines benefit organizations by steering employees away from ethical risk-taking and into more productive and appropriate kinds of risk-taking,” says Gretchen Winter of Baxter International, in an article at www.ASAECenter.org. By making ethics policies clear, she says, busy executives can give employees the tools they need to make many more decisions themselves.
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