Why are so many companies putting ethics and compliance training at the top of their priority list? The truth of the matter is that they are doing it because they have to. There are many state and federal legislations and regulations that are providing whistleblowers with the protections that they need, to come forward when they see wrong doing and when you think about the generous awards that can go with it, you'll find that ethics and compliance have become a real issue in the corporate milieu. Employers are realizing that their company might hinge on the conduct of a single employee, and in a place where things are questionable; the risk factor goes much higher.
The interesting thing is that the issues of ethics and compliance are coming through loud and clear when you are thinking about going to work on a global level. These training initiatives that are hoping to instill a sense ethics into the global market are taking of. Large multinational companies like General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Dow and Chemical are all putting extensive resources into making sure that their employees know what is going on and how they can move forward. Making sure that your employees know what they are doing and how they can act in a correct fashion is an important priority.
Many companies find that they are moving through what feels like an ethical quicksand. They certainly cannot completely control their employees when it comes to keeping them straight and narrow; this means that their effectiveness is going to be in a bad place. In the past, there was a focus on a consequence that could be quantifiable. People would ask things like ''what would this cost the company?'' or what kind of trouble would this cost?'' These days, more people are asking ''Is it ethical?'' A strong ethics program can do much better for keeping your employees in a good place than a simple equation of cost!
How can you make sure that you are getting the right kind of results out of your employees, and what can you do to make sure that you are getting the kind of results that you need? Take some time to make sure that you are in a good place and that your work is protected in this strangely vulnerable area.
