subject: The Role Of Ethics As A Management Tool In Retail Businesses [print this page] Retailers expect their employees to be honest in their dealings with the business and with their co-workers. Customers expect the business and its employees to be honest and ethical in their dealings with them. Employees expect the business, its owners and management to be honest in dealings with them.
These are fair expectations for all.
Outside of what people expect of each other, sound ethics are important to business for it is around sound and understood ethics that many business practices are established.
Poor ethics demonstrated by the business owner or senior management can educate others that the business is prepared to cut corners or deal in areas of grey between what is right and what is wrong. This can lead to employees themselves following this behaviour and acting against the business but doing no worse than they have seen a more senior person do.
Every day, business decisions are made which demonstrate a position on ethics. Take recycling. If a business publicly says that it is committed to a certain recycling process but behind closed doors is prepared to operate differently, those who see this will know that the business accepts dishonesty.
Every decision where there is an opportunity to act ethically or not is critical to the business not only for how it portrays itself to the public but more importantly for how it portrays its ethics to employees.
One way to meet the ethical challenge of business head on is to discuss ethics with employees. Create a framework around which ethical questions can be raised and debated. Establish a group - by email or face to face - whereby ethics can be discussed in the context of the particular business. Consider putting various scenarios to the group and inviting discussion to test the ethical position of the business and the individuals involved.
One of the first tasks of a group convened to discuss ethics in the business could be the development of ethical standards. This does not need to be a lengthy document. Something simple which commits the business and its employees to certain behaviour ought to be enough to provide a guide to day to day decisions.
The best approach, if ethics is important to you and your business, is to live life as if in a fishbowl, expecting that everything you say and or do can be observed by others. This ensures a level of care on possible ethical dilemmas which may be forgotten otherwise.
Businesses which take the time to discuss and establish structure around ethics are well served for most dilemmas faced.
