What measures could be put in place for controlling unethical behavior in ict

Unethical behaviors can plague a workplace, whether an executive steals money from the company or an associate falsifies documents. Unethical behaviors can damage a company's credibility, causing the business to lose customers and ultimately shut down. However, business owners and their management teams can work with employees to prevent unethical behaviors.

Create a Code of Conduct

A written code of conduct provides employees and leaders with an overview of the type of conduct and behaviors the company expects. It outlines what behaviors are unacceptable and what measures are taken if an employee violates the code of conduct.

Sexual Harassmen and Bullying

An employee could commit unethical behavior by sexually harassing co-workers. This could involve making lewd comments, touching inappropriately or making unwanted sexual advances. Bullying typically involves attempting to intimidate a co-worker by making demeaning comments about him, spreading gossip or even making verbal or physical threats. In general, a bully attempts to make the workplace as uncomfortable as possible for a co-worker. In some cases, ongoing bullying can escalate into violence in the workplace.

Lead By Example

Employees look to business owners and leaders for direction on how they should conduct themselves. As a business owner, make ethics-based decisions and monitor the individuals you put into leadership roles at your company for the same values.

Reinforce Consequences

Business owners must hold their employees accountable when they act unethically. Start by informing new employees of the rules during their orientation sessions. If an employee acts unethically, refer to the code of conduct and take the necessary measures to warn or terminate.

Show Employees Appreciation

Loyal employees feel that a company values the hard work they put into accomplishing tasks on a daily basis. A loyal employee is less likely to act unethically. Show appreciation to the employees for work well done on a regular basis to encourage loyalty.

Welcome an Ethics Speaker

Schedule an ethics trainer to visit your work site to discuss ethical behavior and explain why it is important in organizations, regardless of the size or industry. Ethics trainers use role-playing, motivational speaking, videos and handouts to illustrate the importance of ethics in the workplace.

Create Checks and Balances

Rather than putting related responsibilities in the hands of one employee, create a system of checks and balances to minimize the opportunities for unethical behavior. For example, a sales associate rings up customer purchases, while an accountant balances the books to ensure that all payables are received and documented.

Hire for Values

When business owners hire employees, many seek to bring on individuals who have the education and experience that prove they are skilled workers, capable of handling the tasks at hand. Employers who want to prevent unethical behavior also look at candidates' values to ensure they mesh with the company's culture.

While risk avoidance is impossible, here are a few things you can do to lessen the chance of being a part of the latest scandal.

5 Ways to Manage Ethical Risk

1. Promote your values and lead by example

Most organizations have a list of values with the words “honesty”, “integrity”, or “accountability”. It’s good to have these written down, but the words are meaningless if the policies aren't followed: you must do more than use them in the company description.

Make sure that leadership behaviour supports the organization’s values—workers will be more likely to follow them if they know they are expected to and they have someone to model their behaviour after. An unethical boss is not likely to inspire ethical employees.

2. Provide ethical training

Employees cannot always be blamed for an unethical action. Not everyone has the same sense of “right” and “wrong”, so they should be instructed at the beginning of employment what behaviours are unacceptable.

Some actions may be blatantly unethical, but those more subtle or specific to your organization should be explored so employees can recognize when they are in a risky situation. Employees must also be trained on how to avoid the unethical behaviour and what course of action they should take instead.

Another important part of training is ensuring that employees understand the consequences of their actions. It is easier to act in an unethical fashion if you don’t think of all the people it could impact. Instruct employees on how these behaviours can hurt not only themselves, but their coworkers, the business, or your customers.

3. Implement a system for reporting unethical behaviour 

If an employee knows or suspects that someone within their organization is behaving unethically, they must have a way to report it.

It’s important to keep in mind that many people would not be comfortable just going to their manager – perhaps it is a superior performing the action, previous reports have been ignored, or the employee fears that the wrong-doer will discover who reported them.

For these reasons, every organization should implement an anonymous reporting system. Ideally, an external third party should manage this system so employees will feel comfortable reporting specific incident details.

Ethical risk management is nearly impossible without this, as even regularly occurring incidents may not be reported.

4. Use your organization's structure to deter unethical activities

People typically behave in unacceptable ways when they feel they will not be discovered or held responsible. Under-managed teams, remote locations, or individuals whose work is never questioned are excellent places for unethical behaviours to develop.

Ensure that appropriate management and checking systems are in place to deter employees from believing an unethical action will go unnoticed. 

5. Respond

It is important to follow through on every spot check and report to quickly determine when unethical actions are occurring in your organization. When they are discovered, respond efficiently and fairly.

Have a predetermined and publicly known list of consequences, so that there will be no debate over whether an action should result in a reprimand, probation, or being let go.

Don’t publicly berate the employee; if details of the incident must be shared, keep it professional and use it as an example for the organization to learn from in the future.  

The biggest key through all of these mitigation measures is consistency: follow your values, teach your employees to behave appropriately and report someone who isn’t, and respond in a standard fashion to all unethical activities.

Doing so will make employees and customers view your organization as accountable, trustworthy, and honest, meaning they are more likely to abide by the rules that will maintain this image. Hopefully, these steps will turn the risk of ethical disasters from frightening to minor.

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