subject: 10 Ways to Save Money With Proactive Ethics and Compliance (Part 2) [print this page] 10 Ways to Save Money With Proactive Ethics and Compliance (Part 2)
This is part two in a two part seres onhow proactiveethics and compliancecan help your company cut costs and keep its reputation intact. Taking a proactive approach to ethics and compliance just makes sense- business sense, economical sense, etc. Asexecutives continue to worry about the bottom line, ethics and compliance cannot be ignored and brushed off as an unnecessary expense- it's an investment and preventsthe company from incurring even larger costs down the road. The 5 points outlined below were raised by David Griffin of HR Proactive during a seminar I attended in Ottawa.
6. Corporate Culture
Ethics and compliance programs contribute significantly to the success of achieving a desired corporate culture. Ethics and compliance programs help maintain consistency in the workplace, holding everyone to the same level of accountability.Many companies can use their strong ethical corporate culture to their advantage, as it's easier to attract highly skilled employees and have your pick of the crop when it comes to partnering with suppliers and other companies (more about that below).
7. Corrective Action
The costs of ethics and compliance violations aren't getting any smaller. In fact, as enforcement strengthens, the consequences seem to be harsher than before. If your company is fined for violating laws such as the FCPA in the US, Bill 168 in Canada, US Federal Sentencing Guidelines, SOX and any other piece of legislation, you'll likely end up developing an ethics and compliance program to ensure the same mistake doesn't happen again. So why don't you just implement one today to avoid the added costs?
8. Partnerships
When you are selecting suppliers, vendors and other supply chain members, you're probably pretty particular about who you are willing to work with. The same goes for other companies considering whether or not they want to partner with your company. If you don't have certain policies and programs in place, other businesses that are committed to ethics and compliance won't want to work with you. It's too risky for businesses to collaborate or receive supplies from companies that don't have the same view on ethics and compliance.
9.Insurance
It's actually been proven that ethical, compliant companies are offered lower insurance rates than companies that are not. In a document titled "New Protections against Violence and Harassment in the Workplace and New Challenges for Employers," from Nelligan O'Brien Payne
"New workplace health and safety legislation has proven to: improve employee morale; decrease lost time; reduce workplace injuries and illnesses; and lower insurance costs."
10. Lost Work/ Absenteeism
A high level of employee absenteeism doesn't look goodonany company- and it also isn't good for the bottom line. Employees may miss work due to the stress they feel when working in an unethical environment.When an employee is absent from work for days at a time, it resultsin lost work, decreased productivity and an increase in costs.
