Role Modeling the Company Code of Ethics
As already discussed, it is critical for top-tier leaders and peer-to-peer coworkers to role model the company code of ethics (COE). Role modeling is the most critical component of the corporate ethical management system (CEMS), and the COE is the organization’s most critical document to role model by all organizational personnel.
The COE is the organization’s living and breathing corporate morality. Morals are standards of right and wrong; the COE is a company’s standards of right and wrong or workplace morality. Organizations today are diverse with employees of varied ethnicity, culture, gender, values, and beliefs. To unify these diverse cultural belief systems, an agreed-upon COE becomes a company’s belief system, its culture, and its morality. While employees may differ on personal morality, employees are expected to believe in and role model the morality of the company as represented in the COE.
Many organizations have some type of COE or code of conduct that is printed and published in the company handbook, posted on the public website, and positioned in and around the facility in full view of employees. Some companies make every effort to promote, train, and hold employees accountable for the COE. The large for-profit global company involved in my research used its company values as a screensaver on work computers in order to remind employees of the standard by which all personnel should operate; the COE was published and placed in every work area of the facility (Dunn 2013).1 Some companies, like the large, global not-for-profit of my research, assume that everyone knows the COE or standards of behavior published in the company manual; therefore, little is done to intentionally promote the COE (Dunn 2013).2 Other companies, like the local, for-profit company in my research, onboard or orient employees with the COE printed in the company handbook (Dunn 2013)3; those companies expect employees to live by the COE values and behaviors though little is done to further promote the COE. When teaching the creation and use of a COE, I ask students to recite any part of their company’s COE. Most students cannot name any value or behavior found in the company COE. Many students believe their company has a COE, but do not know where to find it or have never seen that document. A few students can name one or two values found in the company COE, while a small minority of students carry a pocket card or some type of document reminder that lists their company COE. Usually the COE of most companies is too long and certainly not memorable.
In my research, all three organizations had some type of code with value statements (Dunn 2013).4 The COE with value statements was one of the top CEMS components to emerge from the study of these three companies. Though each company had a COE, there were varying degrees of promotion, training, and accountability of and for those company standards. None of the companies had a memorable COE that was easy for employees to remember and to recite. The large, for-profit global company had some memorable values in the COE, which allowed interviewees to pinpoint one or two company values. Most interviewees in all three companies could remember some portion of the company COE; only the executives and one manager who were interviewed could list all company values in the company COE.
If role modeling is the most critical component in a CEMS and if the COE is the most critical piece to role modeling, then the COE must have specific values and behaviors that are succinct, salient, and memorable.
Creating a COE with Values and Behaviors
The COE must contain the values and behaviors that are important to the company. Values are life priorities or, in this case, workplace priorities. Behaviors are specific ways in which company values are demonstrated at work and in all stakeholder relationships.
What are the workplace priorities of your organization? What immediate values can you recite from your company COE? Take a moment to review your company’s COE and list the values represented in it.
In a COE, values should represent one- or two-word descriptors or short phrases of what are priorities for your company. Such values could include integrity, honesty, transparency, attentive customer service, quality assurance, speedy service, and so on. If your company does not have a COE or if it does not simplify values as described above, now would be a good time to collaborate with all employees to decide upon or to evaluate the priorities of your company. Most employees come into an organization where the COE has been in place, though maybe hidden, for years. If your company has not evaluated the long-standing COE, this may be the appropriate time to do so in order for current personnel to have ownership of the COE.
In a collaborative session to create or review company values, use a brainstorming session to see what individual employees believe are the values of the organization. Allow a free flow of words and phrases without immediate debate. The one- or two-word values will come from employees’ personal beliefs and cultural values and from perceptions of societal norms and adherence to current laws. Remember our stipulated definition of business ethics is the appropriate application of standards of conduct (workplace morality), influenced by law and personal and societal norms, agreed upon and practiced in the workplace. So, allow employees to state their opinion in the brainstorming session as the diversity only makes the COE stronger and more applicable to all personnel. The chosen ethical leader attributes already discussed could represent the values of the organization. Some company values may not represent or define employee characteristics to role model. For example, “accurate order processing” may be a company value but not an ethical leader characteristic.
After several minutes of brainstorming, combine similar concepts into one- or two-word values. Now, ask employees to vote on the three to five values that are most important to them for a company COE. Select the top three to five values as the agreed-upon values for the new or the freshly evaluated COE. If the company COE is up-to-date, but not in memorable format, have a collaborative session in which the current COE could be summed up in three to five values and list those for all to see.
Company Behaviors
Does your company COE include specific behaviors that explain how each COE value is lived out in practice? What COE behaviors can you recite or detail? Take a moment to review your company COE for its specific behaviors of how to demonstrate company values.
Behaviors remind employees of how to specifically live out company values. If a company value is honesty, a possible behavior might state: “We tell the truth to management and to each other about work practices, including accomplishments and mistakes, and to customers about which of our products and services are best applicable for their use.” A specific behavior such as this allows employees the freedom to take pride in individual work accomplishments and the freedom to explore and take risks knowing that the admission of mistakes is an acceptable and expected workplace practice. Also, employees know from this behavioral statement that the best interests of the customer are a priority, not selling the customer something he or she does not need in order to increase profits. In an organization where I recently consulted, the management team and I developed a COE based on the company’s mantra (as discussed in the next section). One company value was pride with the expressed behaviors of pride in appearance, personal character, work ethic, work area, and pride in teammates or coworkers.
Some organizations might neglect to define values with specifically stated behaviors believing that the values are sufficient. While the values are the foundation of a COE, the specifically stated behaviors give employees a benchmark by which to operate and by which to live out company values. A company should never allow employees to interpret how values are demonstrated, except in the collaborative session where behaviors are discussed and decided. In a diverse workplace, there can be multiple interpretations of the same value. For instance, a company who believes in honesty might imply that a worker does not spend time on the computer and should not use the company copier for personal reasons. However, some employees might see those behaviors as acceptable or as an extension of company benefits. Therefore, it is necessary to state how company values are practiced in specific behaviors so that the interpretation effect is minimal.
To set company behaviors to accompany agreed-upon values, use the same brainstorming process noted above in selecting values. The discussion of behaviors is a lengthy but good exercise in the creation of new or the evaluation of existing company behaviors. Often parents give children the opportunity to work with them to collaboratively set home rules with specific behaviors. That process is a bit of wisdom in that when violations occur, parents can point back to the fact that the values and behaviors were agreed upon by the children. The same is true in the workplace. Buy-in or ownership of company behaviors is more probable when employees have had a say in their creation or evaluation. In stating behaviors, use a minimal amount of words to convey the agreed-upon behavior in order to increase the likelihood that employees will not only remember the value, but also the behavior.
Once the values and behaviors are decided and/or evaluated, it is time to make the COE memorable with a mnemonic device.
Making the COE a Memorable Mnemonic Device
If a COE is to be practiced by employees, it must be succinct, salient (most prominent points), and memorable. The COE needs to be placed in a succinct and salient mnemonic device. A mnemonic device is a learning tool that aids in memory retention. In workplace application, a mnemonic device aids employees in the ability to remember the company COE. It is crucial that the COE is short and memorable so that employees can recall it during daily work activities.
Think about most organizational codes. Many are too long, tiresome, and wordy. Employees cannot quickly recall the values and behaviors of their company COE due to its length and lack of pizazz. For example, Chipotle has 13 excellent values but those values are not in a memorable format. The 13 values are conscientious, respectful, hospitable, high energy, infectiously enthusiastic, happy, presentable, smart, polite, motivated, ambitious, curious, and honest. A friend of mine asked Chipotle employees to verbally list company values; one employee stared back and one employee listed seven of the 13 values, which is impressive; but he still missed six of the important values. Wal-Mart has long-standing values listed in succinct and salient fashion as their company beliefs: service to our customers, respect for the individual, strive for excellence, and act with integrity. The words service, respect, excellence, and integrity are in bold typeface. While these phrases and words are catchy, the mnemonic device, by definition, lacks a memory aid. A police department paid an organizational consultant several thousand dollars to create its COE. The consultant used the acronym SHIP. This is a perfect example of a succinct, salient, and memorable mnemonic device. Each letter represents the police departments’ stated values. The form is short with prominent values, and it is easily remembered. The problem is that SHIP has little to do with a police department unless the department cruises city streets in a boat with a motor. . . a large boat and motor!
To create your company COE as a succinct, salient, and memorable mnemonic device, follow these steps:
1. Choose an acronym or alliteration that has a connection to your organization (three to five and no more than seven letters). If Chipotle would create such a device, the company might choose CHIPS or TACO. Wal-Mart might place their excellent values in an acronym such as SAM, which would give a memorable nod to founder Sam Walton and to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Clubs. As an organizational consultant in the aforementioned organization, the management team and I developed a COE based on the country club’s mantra: “The Place to Play.” PLAY was the selected acronym or mnemonic device with values that started with each of those letters.
To create a mnemonic device for a COE, choose an acronym that connects memorably with your organization, such as SPRINT (Sprint), BCBS (Blue Cross Blue Shield), CELL (Verizon), ATT (AT&T), PAINT. or BRUSH (for a painting company), UPS (UPS), SHIELD or BADGE (for a law enforcement department—do not use GLOCK or TAZER), CARE (for a hospital or hospice organization), or BEER (for a beverage delivery company).
Have fun with the creation of a memorable acronym, like some listed above. Choose an acronym that gives employees a direct connection to your organization or to its mission and that simplifies your company values.
2. List your company’s agreed-upon values and choose different but synonymous words to begin with the letters of the acronym that represent those values. If Chipotle would choose CHIPS, the excellent 13 values could be synthesized and reduced into five or six memorable values in a device employees and customers could remember: Conscientious and Curious, Hospitable, Infectious enthusiasm, Presentable, Smart. Infectious enthusiasm could include other values such as high energy, happy, motivated, and ambitious; presentable could include behaviors of respectful, polite, and honest. The acronym “CHIPS” includes all 13 values in a more succinct and salient tool that is easily remembered and recited. New synonym words were not needed since the current value words neatly fit into the acronym. If Wal-Mart synthesized and reduced its values or beliefs to the SAM acronym, it might look like this: Service to the customer, Appreciation for the individual, and Motivation from integrity and excellence. Employees and customers could easily remember “SAM.” New words were needed for respect (appreciation) and to combine the ideas of integrity and excellence to start with the letter “M.” For PLAY, an employee pocket card reminded employees of the company’s values and behaviors based on the acronym (Figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1 Place to Play COE
There are several online tools to help you with synonyms or words that begin with the letters of your acronym. It is best to select a synonym to align with the acronym that is as close to the original meaning of the value as possible.
The use of a succinct, salient, and memorable mnemonic device gives pizazz to a dull COE and enhances the employees’ ability to remember, recite, and demonstrate the company’s values and behaviors. It is more difficult to memorize behaviors because of their nature to be in sentence form. But, if employees can remember and recite the COE values, the most critical piece of role modeling, which is the most critical component of the CEMS, then the company has instituted a tremendous tool to raise ethical awareness and ethical actions.
When top-tier leaders and peer-to-peer coworkers role model the COE mnemonic device, the overall ethical atmosphere in the organization is raised and saturated with what the company professes to be priorities for its existence. That saturation effect eventually leads to a company in which the ethical culture is engrained and becomes second nature to all personnel. That ethical culture also results in more satisfied and committed employees that have more comfort and fun at work. When employees enjoy the workplace atmosphere, company productivity, financial performance, and competitive advantage are enhanced. The most forgotten and neglected ethical tool, the COE, can and should be the most intentionally demonstrated and applied business document. A succinct, salient, memorable, and mnemonic COE is good for business.
Chapter 4: Workplace Application Exercises
1. From memory, list each of your company’s values found in its COE.
2. From memory, what specific behaviors accompany each of your company’s values found in the COE?
3. Walk through your organization and ask employees to state any part of your company COE. How many employees know the COE?
4. Set up a collaborative session with company employees (if a large company, attempt a stratified sample of team members based on the demographics of the company) to create or re-create your company COE. Use the brainstorming and COE creation methods suggested in this chapter.
5. After the creation of your new company COE, would you please send the results to Dr. Don Dunn at [email protected] for inclusion in the next edition of this textbook, with your permission?
Notes
1. Dunn, “The Moldable Model,” 1.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.