ETHICS TRAINING
A company is not carved in stone, but rather in a constant state of change. This poses a challenge for all functions which must provide adequate training for the entire workforce.
Mandatory training creates awareness on topics like ethics and compliance. The clear message must be that every person is responsible for their own actions and decisions. A positive attitude toward ethics and compliance may not develop immediately, but rather remains in the mind to protect employees from certain pressures and temptations. Though employees might not have faced certain situations, they may face them in the future. If that happens, they should remember example cases discussed in training them and use as a blueprint for how to respond. Attitudes are deduced from an individual’s values and learned behaviour patterns. To be effective, training must be repeated from time to time. This theory has been confirmed by Oliver Sheldon and Ayelet Fishbach’s study for Rutgers Business School, which noted: “If people want to avoid unethical behavior, it may help to anticipate situations where they will be tempted and consider how acting upon such temptations fits with their long-term goals or beliefs about their own morality.”
Most companies operate under the ‘four eyes’ principle, whereby important decisions need to be approved by two employees independent from each other. In many cases, even more approvers are required. Such processes reduce the opportunity and temptation to carry out malicious or malfeasant acts.
Oct-Dec 2023 Issue
Patrick Henz