Are ethics programs important?

Excerpt:
... an ethics program can't just exhort employees, "Be ethical!" An organization needs to articulate a vision of what ethical behavior means to the company (or nonprofit) as a whole, in a way that is integrated with the overall business strategy. Ethics may be articulated as an inherent goal of the company, as a way of improving relationships with various stakeholders, or even as a way of creating uniform procedures in the company. As the noted ethics consultant David Gebler has pointed out, honesty is a highly effective and parsimonious management tool; instead of having to craft an elaborate story for each individual and department, just have everyone tell the truth! This vision then needs to be given form in specific directives: for example, avoiding conflicts of interest, forbidding the misleading of customers, and so on. Finally, there needs to be a compliance program to avoid what Gebler calls the "behavior-standard gap." Employees have to know that toeing the line on the ethics program is an integral part of their performance, and will be evaluated as such.

(A)n ethics program will be close to useless if it isn't built on a careful assessment of the ethical challenges and goals of the company.

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