Ethisphere’s best practice report asks who should own ethics

In an effort to address growing concern over public distrust in corporate leaders, the Ethisphere Institute released a report on May 7 that highlights strategies and tactics for using ethics and integrity to differentiate companies’ brands. The report cites key insights shared at the second annual Best Practices in Ethics Communications Workshop held last October at the New York Stock Exchange.

The 2014 Ethics communications best practices report offers perspectives from recognized industry experts and  corporate governance leaders, communicators, academics, and legal and compliance professionals, including leaders of Emory University’s Ethics and Servant Leadership Program and the Arthur W. Page Society, a major global professional association for senior public relations and corporate communications executives.

Overall, the report underlines emerging trends in the governance industry,  stressing the importance of tone in the middle. ’While the board sets the tone for general corporate behavior, management should serve as the conduit for promoting an ethical culture across a company’s operations,’ the report quotes Holly Gregory, partner at Sidley Austin as saying. 

Transparency remains a priority issue, and the report suggests that an emphasis on ethics communications can drive greater profitability and mitigate risks.  ’While a focus on ethics within internal and external communications is the right thing to do, it is also critical to the life of your organization,’ said Paul Gennaro, AECOM’s chief communications officer. He added that the current state of trust within organizations presents an opportunity for the entire C-suite -- including communications, compliance, governance and legal professionals -- to rebuild public confidence.

According to the speakers, compliance and governance professionals should keep in mind the following key findings: 

• Communicating across cultures. Leaders need to be sure they are communicating effectively across different countries and cultures, which can define ethics very differently. Multinational corporations need to understand these differences and communicate accordingly.
• We all own ethics. No one person in an enterprise owns ethics, just as no one person owns trust. While compliance officers can help lead the dialogue, it is everyone’s responsibility to spark conversations around ethics, regardless of his or her role in the enterprise.
• Reputations are not managed, they are earned. Companies need to understand that today’s marketplace is drastically different from even five years ago, when enterprises relied purely on operational data to measure success. To thrive today, companies need to be strong from a communications, trust and ethical standpoint.
• Communications must be bold, deliberate.  You can’t take ‘no’ for an answer if what you propose is the right thing to do. Communication requires courage, especially in today’s transparent environment.