INTHEBLACK September 2024 special edition - Flipbook - Page 21
LEAD BY
EXAMPLE
Workplace ethics play a
crucial role in an organisation’s
success, and ethical businesses
often outperform their
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unethical counterparts. Here’s
how to cultivate an ethical
workplace culture and reap the rewards.
WORDS BETH WALLACE
orkplace ethics have a significant impact on an
organisation’s success. Research suggests that ethical
businesses are more productive and perform better
financially than those with unethical cultures.
Ethical businesses are also more likely to attract and retain talent
and build trust with employees, customers and the public.
On the flipside, perceived unethical behaviour can discourage
employee engagement, leading to reputational damage and even
legal problems.
Although no one single factor defines an ethical culture,
organisations that excel in this area tend to have one thing in
common – a clearly stated set of core values and principles tied to
a defining purpose, says Dr Simon Longstaff AO FCPA, executive
director at The Ethics Centre.
These values and principles provide a guiding star for
the policies, structures and frameworks that dictate how an
organisation operates and ensure “a close alignment between what
is said and done”, he says.
Longstaff says ethical organisations promote a culture of curiosity
that goes beyond mere compliance. Such a culture can empower
employees to stay on the “right” path, by always questioning how
and why things are done.
“It is not restricted to wondering about things that appear to be a
problem. It is curiosity about why anything is done,” Longstaff says.
“The two great enemies of achieving an ethical culture are
hypocrisy – where you say one thing and do something else – and
an unthinking custom and practice,” he adds.
However, neither is necessarily intentional.
ETHICS ESSENTIALS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 21
