Culture of Ethics: Why and how to foster integrity in the organization

What is a Culture of Ethics?

A culture of ethics is a culture at work that encourages employees to do the right thing by cultivating a focus on integrity and trust. Company culture is shaped by the shared beliefs, attitudes and norms followed at a company. Promoting a culture of ethics is an important step in ensuring compliance and transparency when it comes to company operations. 

Key Takeaways

• Fostering a culture of ethics starts with company leadership 

• A culture of ethics encourages employees to act with integrity, trust and transparency

• Company culture is shaped by shared beliefs, attitudes and norms

• There are common core values between having a culture of ethics and corporate social responsibility

Leadership and Fostering a Culture of Ethics

Company culture is formed from the top down. If leadership does not encourage and follow the culture that they preach, how can they expect their employees to follow the same standard? It’s important that management leads by example and that they share a clear vision of what ethical behavior looks like at their company. In short, when leaders show a dedication to transparency and ethics, it signals to other employees that these are important values that the company has a whole follows.

The Link Between Culture of Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate Social Responsibility is when companies make an effort to operate in ways that improve society and the environment as a whole. Both CSR and culture of ethics share common themes of core values such as integrity and respect, while also being forward thinking towards the future. Fostering a culture of ethics at your company can help lay a foundation for corporate social responsibility and to drive CSR initiatives.

Conclusion

Creating a culture of ethics means encouraging your employees to act ethically and with integrity, trust and transparency. Company culture is shaped by shared beliefs, attitudes and norms and starts at the top with management and leadership being an example of company values. Fostering a culture of ethics can help your company to lay the groundwork of some of the core values that help build corporate social responsibility.