Posted by Adam Turteltaub

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is one of the best-known companies in the world, boasting top brands such as Tide, Crest and Charmin. The company is also well recognized for its highly strategic marketing and its integrity. In fact, its reputation for principled behavior is what attracts and helps retain top talent at the organization, reports Jay Ernst (LinkedIn), Director – Ethics & Compliance Office, P&G, in this podcast.

How strong is the organization’s commitment to ethical behavior?  In annual surveys the company's purpose, values and principles are cited most frequently by employees as something that they do not want to change.

For its annual Corporate Compliance & Ethics Week celebration, which they have dubbed the “Do The Right Thing Celebration”, the compliance team ties the program and compliance training into one of three commitments – respect, integrity and stewardship -- that are part of their refreshed code of conduct.

In 2021 the theme was “Leading with Respect”. Activities included marquee events featuring external or high-profile internal speakers. They also had videos highlighting challenges people may face, risk areas and how to deal with them.

To make the program relevant to its employees around the world, they enlisted the help of the employee relations group, which helped them identify individuals to lead the local activation of the program. The same people each year now lead the activities in their region.

While the local activation follows the common theme, there is opportunity to customize the program to increase the relevance to their communities. Each year there are even global recognition awards for activations that demonstrate creative activity and engagement.

The company also has a peer recognition program known as the Power of You, which recognizes excellence across a range of areas, including ethics. Employees can nominate their peers who have gone above and beyond in their work. It has proven to be an excellent opportunity to recognize ethical actions on a peer-to-peer basis.

Listen in to learn more about P&G’s experience and how you may be able to apply it to your own organization.