Codes of Ethics for Beginners
A good knowledge of business ethics codes can help you advance your career
Everyone likes equal treatment, and businesses design professional codes of ethics to make sure employees and customers are treated well. While there is no ethical standard that crosses all professions, you can find a business ethics code for just about every type of job.Because there is no industry standard for all businesses, if you change jobs you may feel like you are learning codes of ethics for beginners all over again. There are some areas of ethical standards that you do find in all areas of business. While this list is not all-inclusive, some of the common standards include:
1. Fair dealing and ethical standards with customers.
2. Codes of ethics for customer confidentiality.
3. Business ethics codes that relate to conflicts of interest.
Familiarize yourself with business codes of ethics
Look at the standard business code of ethics for your particular business. It's something you might have studied in college. You probably learned more about it during job orientation. Take your studies a step farther by looking outside your profession to what other professions hold as standards of ethical behavior.
Try: You can get a free guide to business codes of ethics from Authenticity Consulting. This is a good place to start your codes of ethics for beginners training if necessary. Sharon Stroeger has an extensive listing of articles that pertain to codes of ethics in business.
Receive business codes of ethics training
Whether you're the boss or an employee, everyone should have basic training in business ethic codes particular to their profession. You can have someone do the training in house, or you can hire professional consultants to come and do the training for you. With today's technology, there are also online and video options as well.
Try: Download sample lessons from the employee ethics training kit available from Character Training. You can choose from facilitator-led training, DVD training or online code of ethics training. Brightline Compliance offers professional code of ethics training prepared by former Department of Justice lawyers.
Write your own business ethics codes for your business
Take the standard codes for your profession and adapt them into your company code of ethics. Make sure everyone on staff is familiar with them. In order to help the employees feel like they "own" the code, involve them in writing it as well. Take pride in your ethical standards and let your customers see what you are trying to accomplish.
Try: Find professional codes of ethics listing in the compilation created by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In addition to its business ethics codes, it also has instructions on how to create your own company code of ethics. Another good source is EthicsWeb.
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