Ethics equals success

While the rest of the world has taken this direction, it is disheartening to note that the phenomenon continues to be treated with lip service in key organisations in the country. Workplace ethics is not getting the due attention it deserves in the economy.

While we have witnessed the loud clamouring for the need for ethical business practices, very little has been done on the ground to show for it. Companies to a large extent continue to effect change processes that ignore this crucial change aspect, and when they decide to do include it, they have done so merely as an after-thought, giving it a marginal significance in the whole change process.

Effective organisational change processes in the country demands weighing up corporate ethics as an indispensable transformational tool which should help to undo the unethical business practices inherent in the economy. Companies must understand that they cannot go on without observable ethics programmes that will help to undo the these deep rooted malpractices.

When businesses adopt company strategies that are driven by a strong ethics agenda, it becomes easy for them to resist the temptation of pursuing short-term profits at the expense of company growth and sustainability.

History shows that when myopic strategies are adopted to create short-term financial gains, they create a false atmosphere of business success which later backfires bringing corporate anguish through loss of business or total company collapse. Short-term strategies that are divorced from the long-term needs of the company undermine the very existence of the business and hurt the wider economy.

Globally best practice companies are reaping more in terms of increasing shareholder value and market dominance by building company reputations sustained by strong ethical cultures. Corporate ethics shapes an organisational culture that helps to build responsible business conduct, and a sound ethical culture provides company leaders with a firm foundation upon which they can craft sustainable business strategies that builds the confidence of employees and all other stakeholders.

Corporate ethics helps companies to do the right thing while remaining competitive and getting the best profit possible. If companies behave honourably and ethically in their operations focusing on the greater good; if they sacrifice short-term gains for their longer-term health, they are bound to gain terrific mileage and abundant returns through increased productivity and profitability, and return on investment.

Bradwell Mhonderwa is an Ethics Coach and Trainer with the Business Ethics Centre. Send feedback to [email protected], or call 0772 913 875