Many organizations erroneously think that establishing an ethics code will create an ethical culture. However, "that in and of itself is not going to create the ethical culture that you're looking for," says David Gebler, president and founder of Working Values, Ltd.

Working Values (www.ethics.com), a developer of values-based corporate responsibility and ethics awareness and compliance learning programs, and the Ethics Resource Center (www.ethics.org), a nonprofit research organization, recently discussed the findings of their research project in a webinar titled, "Ethical Actions that Matter: Critical Elements of an Ethical Culture."

The Top Three Actions

Building on the ERC's 2005 National Business Ethics Survey^®, the research identified the following three ethics-related actions that have the greatest impact on employee ethics and compliance:

1. Setting a good example
2. Keeping promises and commitments
3. Supporting others in adhering to ethics standards

 "Ethics and compliance programs can be more effective when employees throughout an organization act to promote, rather than just talk about, ethics. Or, in other words, actions do speak louder than words," says Laurie Choi, an ERC research analyst who participated in the webinar.

"Employees know what is expected of them," Gebler says. What they need are "real-world examples" of how to act ethically in the workplace.

He says two fundamental aspects of human nature are important when it comes to keeping promises and commitments. First, "Everybody really does want to do the right thing. Virtually everyone wants to be part of an organization where it's comfortable to do the right thing."

Second, employees want to be treated fairly, and they want to see that people who break the rules are held accountable, he says. "People want to know that people are being held accountable, and they expect promises and commitments to be met."

Working in an environment that supports adherence to ethical standards also impacts employee behavior. For example, Gebler has worked with an auto manufacturer that empowered its employees to stop the production line if they saw a defect. However, defects were getting through, and no one was stopping the line. Why not? "Bass fishing. The issue was bass fishing." Stopping the line resulted in mandatory overtime on Saturdays, which cut into the time that many workers typically spent bass fishing. "You couldn't imagine the pressure" on workers not to stop the production line.

What to Do

Gebler says organizations that want to create an ethical culture should provide two types of training. 

First, employees need traditional ethics compliance training. "They need to know what the rules are," he says.

In addition, leaders need to be trained on effective communication, active listening, and other leadership skills that will help create an environment that allows employees to do the right thing, he explains. "This is as important, if not more important, than traditional ethics compliance training."

In a separate statement about the research findings, Gebler says, "The findings demonstrate that companies should seriously consider dedicating more resources to encourage leadership to set a good example, establish organizational trustworthiness, and help employees to make ethical decisions, rather than directing all their efforts to communicate about the specifics of a formal program."