Business ethics are the moral principles that guide an organization. The ethical code of a business, and its adherence or non-adherence to it can make or break the business. Some parts of the world are still relatively unethical in the business space, but you should maintain an ethical business in order to act as inspiration for the global community.
In today’s fiercely competitive business environment, it’s imperative that an organization has clear moral principles and abides by them in order to ensure its position in the marketplace.Â
These are some tips for building an ethical business:
- Clearly Define The Moral Principles Of The Business
People may not be motivated to engage in ethical actions if the business hasn’t outlined its principles. It’s important that a business has a clear outline of its ethics. These should be written down in clear, unambiguous terms, and should be accessible to staff. They should include the ethics of all possible relationships in the workplace, such as client-employee relationships, relationships among employees themselves, relationship of employees with suppliers, and so on.Â
The mission statement should include a precise summary of the ethical code. The code itself can be made available as a pamphlet, file, or booklet that’s easily accessible for reference during day-to-day duties. This code of ethics should be consulted whenever business decisions are made, or even just for input in employee-employee interactions.
For example, if a new social media campaign is launched, reference to the code of ethics should be made to make sure the company keeps within the ethical guidelines in all aspects of it, such as the design, staff interaction with clients online, nature of adverts, and so on. This will ensure that the company always does business in an ethical manner, and is actively engaging in fraud management or prevention.
- Ensure Staff Understand The Moral Principles Of The Company
Management should be well-versed in the ethics of the company, such that they can train or teach staff how to apply them to their daily duties and responsibilities. This can be done through staff meetings in the office, workshops, team building activities, and various other methods.
The method chosen should be effective in educating the workforce in such a way that they embrace it as the ‘normal’ way to do business or conduct themselves. Measures should be in place to test that, indeed, employees understand what the company expects of them. This can be in the form of questionnaires or discussions of given scenarios that could actually occur in the workplace.
- Adherence To Ethical Principles Should Be Measurable
Management should have a way of assessing how well the business is doing in maintaining ethical standards. This can mostly be garnered from feedback provided by clients. Customer satisfaction is quite a good measure of good ethical conduct. Complaints should be taken seriously and assessed for breaches of the moral principles.
Action to rectify errors should then be taken. Assessment of employee relations will also provide a good measure of whether or not the staff are treating each other in an ethical manner. Furthermore, assessment of human interaction, as well as ethical interaction with any other entity, is essential in justifying the importance of business ethics for the planet as a whole.Â
- Motivating EmployeesÂ
Feedback should be given on a regular basis to staff to inform them of how they’re doing in terms of upholding the company’s ethics. This feedback should be accompanied by incentives to ensure that employees find it worth their while to uphold moral principles. Incentives can range from simple acknowledgment of good work, to bonuses and promotions. Ultimately, the aim is for good ethical conduct to become second nature to staff so that it just becomes the norm in the business.
- Having Clear Consequences For Failure To Adhere To Ethical Conduct
All staff members must have a clear knowledge of what will happen to them if and when they break the rules of ethical conduct. The business must ensure that such consequences are meted out at all times when deserved and done so without fear or favor.
- Adapting To New Business Environments
Change is inevitable in the business environment. For example, changes in technology may result in the need to update the guidelines and rules. Expansion into new markets may mean doing business in a different culture and differences in what’s considered moral in that particular market. Therefore, modifications may need to be done to the ethical guidelines.
Make Your Business Ethical
Building an ethical business is a journey of its own because the world is changing, and new discoveries on what’s ethical and what’s not come to light every day. Understanding ethical standards and why being ethical sells is the first step to take when building your business. These tips may further assist you in getting started with the building of your ethical business.
