Corporate social responsibility is important to everyone, and in many instances, a minimum in ethical practices has been mandated by federal, state and local law. Educate yourself on the legal compliance with ethical business practice that you need to maintain to remain well within those legal boundaries.

Create a comprehensive policy of workplace ethics and responsibility, and make sure it's easily accessed by everyone in your business. Spell out not only the behavioral expectations but also the consequences one can expect when those expectations are not met.

1. Hire a consultant to help you design an ethics training program.

2. Use ethics courses to foster corporate social responsibility.

3. Allow your employees to train at their own pace on ethics using business webinars and DVDs.

Action Steps to Fostering Ethics in Business
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Hire professionals to coach you and your staff on workplace ethics and responsibility

Depend on the expertise of ethics coaches and consultants to help you design an official policy that covers the ethical behaviors in your business.

I recommend: LRN will help you better understand ethics and help you design an ethics policy that keeps you in compliance with all legal and moral standards. Josephson Institute offers consultants who will come to your place of business and help create a specific code of ethics for your workplace.

Make routine business ethics training mandatory

Look for ethics courses and classes that will keep your staff members trained in ethical business practices. Evaluate the various types of ethics courses offered and create a curriculum that suits your type of business.

I recommend: Global Compliance will provide you with the ethics training courses your staff needs. HR Classroom has a wide array of ethics training as a part of its course catalog, allowing you to choose the classes that pertain to your employees.

Use webinars and DVDs to convey information about business ethics to your staff

Opt for webinars or DVDs that your employees can view as time permits to help them learn more about working with business ethics. Many webinars can be attended live and recorded for later so your entire staff isn't tied up or unavailable at one time. DVDs allow your staff members to keep up with ethics training on their own time.

I recommend: The Richardson Company offers several DVDs and videos for you to show to your employees as a way to keep ethics in the forefront of your company's day-to-day operations. The RedHawks Ethics Solution hosts regularly scheduled business ethics webinars designed to train your employees on workplace ethics.

Tips & Tactics to Maintain a Climate of Corporate Social Responsibility

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure that your corporate ethics training meets all the legal standards of compliance required for your type of business. Also consider how frequently your employees need to participate in ethics training programs to remain in compliance.

Taking steps to foster a high level of ethics in business practices is something every company — no matter how small — should do. At the very foundation of business ethics is the commitment to treating customers, employees, investors, vendors, distributors and anyone else involved with your organization with honesty and respect. A high level of ethics in business starts at the top with the owner's values and sense of corporate social responsibility, which are then infused into every business process, practice and procedure. Staying true to your moral compass can:

1. Improve employee morale.
2. Strengthen customer relationships.
3. Improve company image in the community.
4. Give you a competitive edge.
5. Improve your bottom line.
6. Create a better workplace with a strong sense of business ethics

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Define your values

Rely on your personal values to formulate your company's policies on workplace ethics and corporate social responsibility.

I recommend: Take a quiz from the Center for Ethics and Business to reveal your "ethical style." Do some research with organizations dedicated to business ethics.

Develop a workplace ethics policy

Consider how your values relate to your customers, employees, investors, vendors and others. With those values in mind, develop guidelines for your business processes and practices.

I recommend: The Josephson Institute of Ethics is a great non-profit organization that conducts programs and workshops on business ethics. This is the organization that created the "Character Counts!" youth education initiative. The Ethics Resource Center's Ethics Toolkit includes a printer-friendly copy of guidelines on what to include when writing a business ethics policy along with a list of categories you may want to address in your policy.

Get your staff thinking about business ethics

Lead by example and engage employees ethics discussions of business ethics on a regular basis to reinforce your business values.

I recommend: Scroll down on this page from the SBA Web site to find an honesty self-assessment test you can give to your employees to spark discussion of ethics in business. Sign up to receive free and inspiring newsletters and commentary on ethics at CharacterCounts.org.

Get training in corporate social responsibility

Strengthen your understanding of how to implement a business ethics policy and improve your leadership ability with a variety of training opportunities.

I recommend: Sign up for a Webinar on how to create an ethical culture from Working Values or consider corporate social responsibility training from Integrity Interactive, EthicsCoach.com, The Richardson Company or Business.com's list of business ethics consultants or workplace ethics training programs.

Offer tools to resolve business ethics dilemmas

Business owners and employees alike may face tough decisions involving workplace ethics. Arm yourself with ethical decision-making know-how.

I recommend: The Ethics Resource Center offers a six-step guide to making ethical decisions and a template for a pocket-sized card you can give to employees to help them make decisions with a sense of corporate social responsibility.

Promote your business ethics

Share your vision with customers, vendors and others about your commitment to ethical business values.

I recommend: Include your policy in your marketing materials or on your Web site. Online marketers can display their dedication to corporate social responsibility and ethics in business by applying for a Reliability Seal from the Better Business Bureau.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure employees understand the consequences of acting unethically and enforce your business-ethics policy.
• •  Remember that ethics in business begins at the top. Lead by example.
• •  Keep the lines of communication open with employees. Set up a system so employees can report any unethical behavior or concerns about proper workplace ethics.

Learning what is meant by business ethics basics will help you understand how important workplace ethics are. Business ethics require that a minimum of social responsibility be met during your day-to-day operations by being open for business during your stated hours, answering your telephone calls and responding to emails, treating people with respect and dignity, and being honest in your business dealings.

Ethical practices are important to your business because they protect you from legal ramifications. Corporate ethics training helps teach your employees how to handle situations like harassment, bullying and discrimination, all of which are illegal practices. You have a legal and a moral obligation to ensure your employees are behaving with ethics in business practices when employed by you.

1. Make ethics training programs mandatory for all employees.

2. Create a comprehensive ethical business practice policy for your company.

3. Hire professionals to evaluate your workplace ethics.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Provide ethics training program options to all workers

Make workplace ethics and responsibility a priority by providing all of your employees with ethics training. Consider making this training an annual requirement in order to keep ethical behavior and responsibilities at the forefront of your staff members' minds.

I recommend: Global Compliance helps you create a culture in which ethical behavior is the only acceptable behavior. Check out 360training.com for business ethics training via online training and webinars.

Draw up policies that explain workplace ethics and responsibility

Create a comprehensive guide to ethics that explains your company policy as well as provides your employees with easy-to-understand instructions on how to handle any breaches in that policy. Make sure everyone understands the policy as well as the ramifications for violating the policy you've put into place.

I recommend: Personnel Policy Service provides you with a kit to help you create comprehensive ethics policies and guidelines. Copedia offers templates that can be edited to help you create an ethics policy for your business.

Depend on the pros to provide you with important information about business ethics

Hire professionals to evaluate your business and point out your areas of risk so you can improve them. Choose companies that are knowledgeable with your type of industry so they can help you become legally compliant as well as socially compliant.

I recommend: International Business Ethics Institute helps you outline your areas of risk and the changes that need to be made. EthicsPoint prides itself on helping companies with risk assessment, compliance and transparency so you can improve your corporate social responsibility.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consult a local law library to ensure that your ethical practices meet all the legal requirements in addition to meeting social responsibility in business practices.

Business ethics has become an important issue since the fall of Enron several years ago. However, the priorities of individuals differ from the priorities of a business, therefore the ethics upheld vary from company to company. There are four major ethical theories that explain the manner in which some companies may conduct business. While there are standards, such as honesty, that many feel businesses should uphold, these theories may shed light on the motivations behind businesses not always conducting themselves in a manner appealing to the general public.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Business ethics

Business ethics are the moral standards by which a company conducts itself. Some businesses list the ethical standards employees are to abide by within handbooks; others find business ethics to be implied. Generally, an ethical business is one that conducts business in an honest manner, but the actual ethical principles by which a business functions have been up for debate for years.

I recommend: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides an in-depth explanation and analysis of business ethics.

Principles

Principles aren't necessarily standards, but absolute truths that serve as a goal for the outcome of business ethics. Basically, business principles are guides that steer employees toward the correct result.

I recommend: Visit Ezine Articles for a discussion of the concept.

Deontology

Deontological ethics means that a business prioritizes society or the consumer over everything else. In deontology, the business has a duty to uphold and will, therefore, always follow through with its commitments and abide by the law.

I recommend: A professor for the Biology Department at Davidson College in North Carolina compiled information on ethical theories, including deontology, covering the theory's benefits and flaws. To see it, scroll down to Ethical Theories.

Utilitarianism

The utilitarian approach to ethics is one in which the actions a company takes are those that will have the most positive results and benefit the most people in the end. It is an analysis of consequences and choosing the action that has the least amount of negative results. The flaw with this ethical approach is that a business may find the benefits to its company and employees outweigh the benefits to the consumer.

I recommend: Read the examination of a utilitarian approach to business ethics by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Relativism

Ethical relativism is the position that every individual has an equally valid point of view, and the determination of morals depends upon the cultural norms for that individual. In regard to business, relativism provides that the CEO's concept of right and wrong can differ from the receptionist's or consumer's concept of right and wrong.

I recommend: For a more in-depth analysis of ethical relativism, visit All About Philosophy.

Ethical egoism

Ethical egoism is the position that it is moral for the individual to promote his or her own welfare over that of others.

I recommend: Visit The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for more information on ethical egoism.