Ethical culture: building a culture of integrity
The first paper in our new ethical culture guidance series is
aimed at helping CII members to embed a culture of integrity within
their organisations. To do so, it builds on research conducted by
the authors - the Real Integrity research project.
This guidance proposes a ten-part framework for promoting
integrity, which is built around the central principles of setting
the right tone, supporting ethical decision-making, promoting
openness and managing incentives. The following specific techniques
are discussed in detail:
• setting the right tone from the top;
• developing and embedding an effective value statement;
• promoting an open culture within the organisation;
• developing a whistleblowing procedure;
• providing impartial, confidential advice on ethical issues for
employees;
• developing and embedding an organisational code of
conduct;
• training staff in ethics;
• rewarding ethical behaviour;
• ensuring disciplinary procedures are effective;
• monitoring organisational integrity, and the effectiveness of
techniques.
An organisation which is serious about developing an ethical
culture will need to pay attention to eachof the above techniques,
and to the way they potentially interact with each other.
Responsibility for the implementation of the framework primarily
lies with the organisation's leadership, though there is also a key
role for Human Resources departments.
The CII is grateful to Jim Baxter of the Inter-Disciplinary
Ethics Applied (IDEA) Centre at Leeds University, who drafted the
content.
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