By Adam Turteltaub

Marjorie Doyle, in addition to her years leading compliance and ethics programs, has long taught organizational ethics at SCCE’s domestic and international Basic Compliance and Ethics Academy.  In this podcast, she provides a primer on the topic.

As she explains, organizational ethics is a focus on the organization’s values and how the organization wants to be seen.  It’s how you define your brand.

Making the organization’s values come to life begins with incorporating it in the code of conduct, ideally with scenarios demonstrating real-life situations where they apply.  As Marjorie explains, the key is to incorporate the values wherever you can.  One good place to start is with HR and work to include in every job description a statement of the values and how particular values relate to the job.  And while there, it’s worth discussing how values, ethics and compliance will be included in annual evaluations.

In addition to HR, the board can be a strong ally, if the values are taken from nice puffy clouds in the sky to practical applications.  She recommends providing boards with specific questions they can ask management, such as,  “Can we do this project and live up to our values?”

Listen in to learn more about organizational values and how they can enhance your enterprise.