Have you ever wondered why some organizations have more harmonious work environment than others? Studies have shown that organisations that have strong ethical standards as part of their tenets of professionalism that drives the culture of the organization outperform those without in many areas, by one to four percentage points. They have higher employee retention, boosted consumer confidence, fewer potential lawsuits and less financial liabilities.
Being ethical can generate greater profits, as well as fewer losses, in the long term. According to JUST Capital, the most ethical companies generated 3.5% higher 5-year returns on invested capital. Organisations that employed a code of conduct for their employees experienced fraud losses that were 56% less costly in comparison to those without a code of conduct (ACFE 2018 Report to the Nations). And according to the Corporate Executive Board, there are ten times more instances of misconduct experienced in companies with weak ethical cultures than in those with strong ethical cultures.
There are complexities to the workplace that have its own ethical and unethical inclination that are not applicable elsewhere. This is further complicated based on the culture and rules of the company and that of the country it resides in. Having the company’s ethical policy be clear cut could provide assistance to the employees as to their expected behaviour and can further give guidance on important decision-making moments. From a small start-up to a large multinational, having an ethical foundation that everyone conforms to can help build a more transparent culture within the business and its overall trustworthiness.
For example, Costco, one of the largest retailers in the United States, is well known for its ethical policies. It demands of its employees to always maintain high standards as mandated by their code of ethics. They pay their employees around 40% more than their closest rival, in addition to providing more benefits, but this in turn has helped them to have a comparatively low employee turnover and theft rates, which is a common issue for their competitors. And where others mark-up product prices as much as fifty percent, they make sure to not go over fifteen percent. Even so, their business model has brought them a yearly revenue growth of about 7.1% and as of December 2015, a market capitalisation of $73.6 billion.
Comeandsee Global provides easily digestible online courses on the concepts and application of ethics in any workplace. Case studies are used to showcase possible workplace scenarios that may occur, and steps are discussed to assist in the ethical decision-making process. With ethical training, the impact can go beyond workplace behaviour, and will benefit employees in their personal lives as well.