HOW TO REINFORCE ETHICS

CEO tolerance of ethics violations is a slippery slope
Establishing an Ethics Platform requires clear boundaries. When boundaries are blurred or poorly defined, cultural-values slip to ‘what the company tolerates’. CEOs must work diligently to close the tolerance gap. Executives, managers and supervisors must be taught then held accountable to deliver an immediate performance redirection session based on an enforced platform of zero tolerance towards ethics/values violations.
by LSI publisher Art McNeil
When an ethics violation occurs, it should ALWAYS deliver a consequence. Initial violations (typically) will result in a simple but for4mal performance redirection session–but repeated or severe violations do not t result in termination, corporate ethics become null and void. It’s that clear. Your cultuarl values and ethics are not what is said on the wall or in the manual…they are what the CEO tolerates.
To establish a zero toleranceattitude towards ethics violations, the company must be clear about and commited to its ethics platform. Everybody must appreciate why ethical boundaries must be a “game changer”. I call action-oriented approaches to reiforcing ethics a “PLATFORM”… it’s what the company has chosen to stand on (for). When an ethics platform is nonexistent, unclear, or not reinforced – so goes the company’s reputation, and eventually its wealth.
Following are the cultural-values and related ethics platform (behvioral lines in the sand) that I’ve used for myself, my family, and my companies.
Integrity:
We never fail to tell the whole truth or keep a commitment.
Quality:
We will not release sub-standard work or present ourselves poorly.
Responsiveness:
We do not pass on opportunities to delight customers.
To live declared cultural-value, a company (led by its CEO) must draw a demarcation line in the sand that clearly establishes non-negotiable behavioral boundaries.
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