Business Ethics Practices Your Company Should Adopt

A business's public includes customers, employees, vendors, and stakeholders. This public has become more demanding of businesses in terms of their accountability and behavior. In the past, some business leaders and business practices did not display much respect of justice or morality. Business Ethics are standards all can agree on as right for the public, local or global.

Transparency
A publication of best practices and ethical guidelines provides the public with a significant level of trust. It adds value to the company by underscoring reliability, continuity, and accountability. When the standards are published in Annual Statements, on company websites, and in corporate communications, the guidelines serve as benchmarks. Trust grows as people see those benchmarks met and surpassed. And, if trust is a business's core strength, it is also central to its success.

Accountability
People need to know where accountability lies more than they need to know the table of organization. When something goes wrong, swift and responsible action goes a long way to reassuring the public of the business product's value. This is where a strong management team comes in. Ensuring that this team includes one or more people with a background in organizational leadership as well as at least one person with a Human Resources degree will solidify the team. However, there needs to be accountability for the higher ups as well. Precise and decisive communication that includes a message on reclamation and recovery demonstrate the leadership's accountability. This extends to financial processing and record keeping. Accountable leaders understand quickly that there is no more certain index of questionable practice and behavior.

Risk prevention
Ethical practices reduce litigation against the business from consumers and employees. By reducing the option of special deal making, the business lowers the chance of discriminatory practices, conflicts of interest, and fraud. While much of this is discernible through financial audits, there is a character and power issue that requires clarification to secure and sustain loyalty on the part of inside and outside customers.

Branding
Ethical practices become a part of the brand. They become part of the reputation that differentiates the product from competitor products. This often requires businesses to make financial investments in and decisions for actions not immediately profitable. The link to ethics becomes a value-add for many customers.

A business makes a turn in the right direction when it accepts that business ethics are not a burden. Best business ethics practices drive professional, social, and moral responsibility without negative impact on profits and growth. This cost decision requires that the move occur from the top down. Leaders and officers must model the behaviors systematically and thoroughly. They must show little tolerance for deviation and discipline transgressors as a risk to the entire venture. It becomes less a question of the ethics practices a company should adopt and more of the ethics practices a company must adopt.

Dee enjoys freelance ghost writing and also does some guest blogging/writing as well. She writes mostly about current events or trends in various industries.