Corporate Ethics Is a Journey, Not a Destination… So Wear Comfortable Shoes
Like many parts of a business, an ethics program is not immune to ongoing challenges. The assaults against stability are continuous, diverse, and often far outside your control. In the world of ethics, as in life, it seems that the only certainty is uncertainty, and the only constant is change.
Juneteenth
Most days of remembrance are fairly distant from the world of ethics and compliance. Some have historical significance or honor great people of history specifically. Some have a religious orientation, and we can connect the dots to religious discrimination or bias in the workplace. But not many days have the specific ability to link to ethics and the importance of aligning ethics and integrity like Juneteenth.
The Foundation of an Ethical Workplace Investigation
At ETHIX360, we believe that workplace investigations and the associated processes form an integral part of any effective compliance program. In fact, I’ve always believed that although companies may have a general Code of Ethics, any organization that manages internal workplace investigations should also have…
Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Goodnight
As we wrap up 2020, all of us will certainly remember this year for the many things it was, but likely something will stand out for each of us individually. For some, that is grief – the loss of a friend, family member, or coworker to COVID. For others, it may be resilience – 2020 was a year of bouncing back. Some may say…
Are Bots People Too?
In his 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney was famously quoted as saying, “corporations are people too.” And what a stir did that create! As we see the greater integration of bots into the workforce, I suppose it also makes sense to not only consider the features and functionality of a bot but also the ethics and rules they should…
… Down Will Come Baby, Cradle and All.
This is the dilemma I fear most. In two recent blog posts, When the bough breaks… and …the Cradle Will Fall…, I explored the “upstream” impact of changing and evolving societal norms as a driver for regulatory change, and the “downstream” impact of regulatory change that is not the will of the people forcing societal change.
...The Cradle Will Fall...
I recently wrote a blog post about the evolution of societal norms being the catalyst for regulatory change, which in turn drove compliance, and I stand by that. However, that exploration is not complete without discussion on the inverse – when regulatory change is the lever for societal change. Globally, history has shown…
When the Bough Breaks...
I sometimes wonder what anthropologists will write generations from now about the evolution of societal norms and their impact on ethical standards. It’s easy for us now to look at history and understand that, over time, as Martin Luther King Jr said, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Historically, we can apply that to issues of…
Struggling to Navigate through an Ethics and Compliance Solution in the time of COVID?
For most companies, fall is the time for checking in on all things HR and compliance. Open enrollment periods for benefits, switching out PEO’s to be ready for a January 1 cutover, adding a hotline, or even changing your hotline provider - it seems the bulk of those decisions are made in the fall. But this year is different in so many ways. Whether you are…
Gratitude-Based Workplace Ethics
Most of us believe that a big part of ethics can be wrapped up into simply doing the right thing, every time you have a choice. 2500 years ago, Plato maintained a virtue-based concept of ethics. In fact, in Plato's Republic…
Ethics and COVID-19, or is it COVID-1984?
I suppose, like many Americans, sheltering in place has given me pause to think about a post-COVID America (read: Compliance and the Coronavirus). As I hear pundits and experts alike pontificate on what can and should be done around everything from re-opening…
My Top 4 Takeaways from the 2018 Annual SCCE Conference
Over the past 14 years of my ethics and compliance career, I have had the pleasure of attending many SCCE conferences and events. This year, I was able to experience the 17th Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute, Hosted by the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) through 3 lenses. I attended this year’s conference as a speaker, an attendant, and as a vendor. Looking through my tri-colored lens, here are the 4 most important takeaways from this year’s conference.
Advice for Young CEOs: Healthy Corporate Culture Is Essential for Achieving Goals
In the well-known business book Built to Last by Jim Collins, he uses the phrase BHAG (pronounced bee hag), an acronym for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Part of being a CEO is to paint the BHAGs in a way that employees aspire to them, live them, and see alignment with them as a litmus test for innovation.
What Can Microsoft's Twitter Experiment Teach Us About Responsible AI Ethics?
When we ask AI to make decisions, the criteria must be framed. It’s easy to tell AI to make decisions, for example, based purely on financial considerations. But I don’t want my coffee pot to decide if I can afford a second cup or if I should have a second cup - I want my coffee pot to make coffee.
SOX: One of the Most Important Whistleblower Protection Laws?
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”) contains significant protections for corporate whistleblowers. Given its diverse civil, criminal, and administrative provisions, the statute may be considered, over time, one of the most important whistleblower protection laws.
Should Workplace Sexual Harassment Victims Just Find a New Job?
Workplace sexual harassment is against the law, it is against most reasonable companies’ Code of Conduct, and certainly morally reprehensible. It saddens me that our culture dictates that when women are victimized by sexual predators, traumatized by these actions, that they should “quit and find a new job.” This behavior cannot and should not be endorsed or looked past.
How a Corporate Moral Compass Can Drive Ethical Culture
As our name implies, we are in the ethics business. I believe that alone means that we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard regarding transparency and conduct. Ethics, along with morality and culture, are the underpinnings of the heart of any organization. Ethical culture needs to be driven from the bottom up just as morality needs to be driven from the top down.