adminplans are proving to be a key driver of company financial performance besides curtailing workplace misconduct.
The season for plugging-in corporate ethics plans in our business operations is surely upon us.
While business ethics management is every company leader and manager’s responsibility, the role of the HR function in spearheading the implementation of this emerging global standard cannot be over-emphasised.
Human resources professionals are well positioned to play an instrumental role in assisting their organisations to embed corporate ethics in business strategies and operations.
Indeed, the HR function’s traditional mandate of implementing company policies, and fronting cultural and behavioural change processes in organisations logically makes it the cog around which an effective integration of corporate ethics in business strategies can be realised.
The argument for HR professionals embracing the corporate ethics agenda as part of their HRM portfolio is equally based on the fact that the effectiveness and credibility of corporate ethics is dependent on delivery for which the HR function is better placed than any of the other departments in the organisation.
HR practitioners have the prerequisite knowledge and skills in relation to organisational transformation and cultural change processes.
They are responsible for many of the key human resource management systems and processes such as staff recruitment and selection, staff training, remuneration, labour relations and staff welfare.
The HR function is involved in leadership development, employee career planning, succession planning, and performance management, all of which will have a significant impression on the quality of the corporate ethics plan during and after implementation.
Because of their apparent enterprise-wide knowledge, HR practitioners must understand that they have the leverage to successfully spearhead the implementation of corporate ethics plans in their organisations.
When a corporate ethics plan is properly embedded in mainstream business strategies, it becomes a mechanism for unlocking human potential and a source for competitive advantage.
The HR professional of today must be seized by this corporate paradigm making sure the ethics thrust is successfully integrated into the company’s DNA.
He/she should facilitate the development of processes and systems that will form the basis for the successful implementation of corporate ethics.
The more the HR practitioners become conscious of this new role, the greater their ability to integrate the efforts of all other departments as they coalesce to transform workplace behaviour through ethical imperatives.
The HR professionals must be the key organisational partners upon whom senior executives must rely on in engaging staff members to appreciate the value of corporate ethics.
The HR professionals are thus undoubtedly in that enviable position of being able to provide the requisite tools and frameworks for the CEO to drive the corporate ethics agenda in the organisation with precision.
They are able to motivate staff using their authority and influence right across the entire organisation, and can leverage on their considerable knowledge of the subcultures in various departments of the organisation to easily plug-in the corporate ethics plan without disrupting existing operational processes.
Because effective corporate ethics deployment demands, from the onset, a board and executive imperative, it follows that the senior HR leader who is part of the CEO’s executive team must explicitly champion and drive the corporate ethics agenda.
The HR leader must eat, drink and sleep ethics, and his/her commitment towards integrating corporate ethics in business processes should be apparent in the eyes of all employees inspiring them to be part of the process.
Equally so, it is important for all HR professionals to be seized by the centrality of employees towards achieving the required organisational change.
Employee buy-in and involvement towards the ethics cause is a critical success factor, and the HR function as the authority in people management must exhibit this understanding.
HR professionals must get it that ethically inspired organisations foster a culture of responsible workplace behaviour, which means they should ensure the organisation has infrastructure that will reward and incentivise ethically grounded employees and sanction those who exhibit unethical behaviours.
Looking at global trends, it is now indisputable that an effectively managed corporate ethics plan has a significant impact on the company’s bottom line.
The growing global awareness that business success has become more and more a function of a sound ethical culture has seen corporate ethics emerging as a new management tool.
Corporate ethics must become a permanent feature on the boardroom agenda of every business operation in the country, and ethics champions should readily be afforded a corporate red carpet and a seat on the table.
When all is said and done, it is important to realise that the success of any corporate ethics management process is ultimately measured by the level of commitment exhibited by company leaders to the cause.
Corporate leaders must converge in Bulawayo for the last leg of the inaugural Board and Executive Ethics seminar on May 30 being hosted by the Ethics Institute of South Africa in partnership with the Business Ethics Centre.
l Bradwell Mhonderwa is an ethics coach and trainer with the Business Ethics Centre. Send feedback to [email protected],or visit www.businessethicscentre.co.zw, or call 0772 913 875
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