Maintaining a strong ethical culture within an organization is good for business, resulting in less misconduct, more frequent reporting of unethical behavior, and less retaliation against those who report violations.

But creating an ethical culture within an organization, whether large or small, takes work. An organization must identify its core values and then develop a code of ethical conduct that promotes those values and squares with the laws and regulations that govern its operations. Then the organization must train its employees—from top managers to entry-level personnel—in the code of ethics, continuously monitor compliance with the code, and administer discipline when the code is violated.

This course takes managers, supervisors, and leaders of organizations through the entire process of developing and implementing an appropriate ethics program to produce the strong ethical culture that allows organizations to flourish.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Managers, Supervisors, and Leaders of Businesses and Organizations

TIME TO COMPLETE:
60 minutes

PURPOSE:
To outline the guidelines for establishing a vigorous and enforceable ethics program and to teach leaders of organizations how to build ethical workplace cultures.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this course, the learner will be able to:

• properly define the term “ethics” as it relates to business conduct;
• distinguish between myths and facts regarding ethics and ethical business conduct;
• identify the legal basis for establishing organization-wide ethics programs, particularly the requirements set forth in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations;
• identify the characteristics of an effective workplace ethics program;
• build an ethics program consistent with an organization’s values; and
• apply ethical reasoning skills to real-life ethical dilemmas.

TOPICS COVERED:

1. Definitions of Ethics
2. Myths and Facts about Ethics and Ethical Business Conduct
3. The Distinction between Ethics and Compliance
4. Requirements for Effective Ethics Programs Set Forth in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations
5. Characteristics of Vigorous, Organization-Wide Ethics Programs
6. How to Develop a Code of Ethics for an Organization
7. Case Studies of Ethical Problems

ACCREDITATION
HR CERTIFICATION INSTITUTE
This program has been approved for 1.0 recertification credit hour[s] toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute. For more information about certification or recertification, visit the HR Certification Institute homepage at www.hrci.org.

(The use of this seal is not an endorsement by the HR Certification Institute of the quality of this program. It means that this program has met the HR Certification Institute's criteria to be pre-approved for recertification credit.)