The ROI on Ethics Education/Training in 2017 depends on………………

1.       Making clear the differences and likenesses between compliance and ethics, including the different approaches to training/education of each.

2.       Compliance training needs to be ongoing, so must the approach, financial investment and how ethics compliments the compliance training initiative.

3.       The understanding and the reality that compliance experts, have their hands full regarding compliance regulations, implications and safeguards. With this in mind, how can ethics education/training maintain “equal footing” with compliance, particularly without an ethics expert to help the compliance expert by taking off the pressure of trying to train in both areas effectively.

4.       The active involvement, support (including financial), encouragement of senior leaders who see the value of ethics equally as important as compliance in their organizations.

5.       The necessity of re-defining, re-evaluating and re-doing the organization’s code of ethics. This presumes that there is a code of ethics that is not misconstrued as a code of conduct. If there isn’t a code of ethics, now would be the time to put considerable effort in developing one. Keep in mind that a code of conduct reflects compliant behavior. A code of ethics reflects the spirit, importance, reasons and motivation that complements the code of conduct.

6.       Spend time evaluating how your organization’s values are being stated, reinforced, modeled and part of your ethics education initiative. If there is no such attitude, commitment, or follow through, the values are meaningless.

As 2017 rapidly approaches, please consider some/all of these suggestions as programs, conferences, meetings, etc. are all planned.

fbucaro

Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries. With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down. His goal is to help organizations to: a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation. b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage. c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development. Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level. Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!