Sep 26th, 2024
Best Practices
The Observable Code
Written by: Shane Oswald, Chief Operating Officer
A company’s ethics or moral code sets the standard for how its employees treat each other, their customers, and their vendors. A code of ethics is an important part of corporate identity and company culture. It may be documented in a formalized code, but when it comes to ethical standards, actions speak louder than words.
At first glance, I assume that most companies operate in an ethical manner. I would think that most people give that benefit of the doubt when they’re interacting with an organization. Act honestly, follow the rules/laws, treat people fairly and with respect; that all seems like common sense, right? Ultimately, the leaders of a company set the standard for corporate behavior. The rest of the organization will observe their example and will mimic that behavior, no matter what has been formally documented.
We understand that this observation phase is an important part of our onboarding process. While we do spend time reviewing documented polices and protocols, we’ve learned that it really “clicks” when our team members have the opportunity to observe how we treat each other, our clients, and vendors. They get to see that we treat people with respect, we act with honesty and integrity, and we do what is right.
I could provide several examples, but one situation that I’ve seen many times that exemplifies our code is when we have to tell a customer “No”. When we partner with a client, we always put the customer’s objectives and interests top of mind. If we get a project request that doesn’t meet one of their objectives, it’s our responsibility to have an honest, transparent conversation with them about that. It’s in their best interest, in those specific situations, for us to not complete that project request. Working on the project would be an obvious benefit for us, but it would be a waste of the customer’s time and resources. In those circumstances, it’s an easy decision on our part.
A code of ethics sets the foundation for expected behavior within an organization. Building on that foundation with observable actions is what is truly important.