There was once a time when American business owners were well versed on Biblical values as pertaining to business. Mega-entrepreneur John D. Rockefeller, once the richest man in the world, gave credit to the ethics of the Bible. Much later, men like Col. Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, and Dave Thomas of Wendy’s Hamburger chain all acknowledged Biblical standards for their great success. However, with today’s apparent shift from anything spiritual toward a more secular platform, business is groping for viable ways to earn profit and still stay honest–at least in the public’s eye.
Although business people, educators, and psychologists seem to constantly miss the mark in devising a strategy for teaching ethics in the corporate world, our article below covers some of the channels below that are presently used to teach this so needed concept in business.
CRM Learning
Today, no learning is complete without exploring the online world of education, especially with regard to customer relation management (CRM). Online video courses, interactive platforms, and other means of e-learning programs offer a full, comprehensive learning experience right from the comfort of a kitchen laptop or digital device. Learning a broad range of topics such as communication skills, diversity, customer relations, and accountability, CRM courses also tackle other topics such as employee development and ethics in general. It’s a good way to get your employees more accountable for the way they handle customers and interact with them in the real world and online.
Corporate Settings
Continuing mortgage scandals, insider trading prosecutions, and other daily front page scandals indicate that despite the growing load of degree courses in Business Administration at the Associate, Bachelor, and Master level, something is not working right. Other issues that frequently repeat in the workplace are those of sexual harassment and being passed over for a promotion because of sexual discrimination. To counter this scenario, corporations have started using other means besides CRM courses to teach workplace ethics.
Teaching Teams: Many learning institutions have in their staff of not only educators, but psychologists as well that send out teaching teams to various corporations in the hope of instilling ethical values. It’s a great way to help those earning a Masters degree in business administration to think in real terms about ethics and it also helps business owners learn the newest programs to keep their company on top.
Field Trips: Another exercise in learning ethics is being practiced by some corporations as they sponsor field trips for their employees and managers. A couple of afternoons are spent outside of the company observing the employee practices of other companies.
At the end of the sessions, the sponsoring company launches out into classroom discussions of what ethical practices were observed by their visiting students, and what practices were being violated. The responses are not only various but telling as well. In essence, what was ethical for one student is not necessarily considered the same for another.
Business owners, employees, and consumers all stand to profit by re-emphasizing ethical practices in the workplace. Employees get motivated working for trustworthy employers. Likewise, customers return to those they perceive have treated them honestly. However, the problem really lies in not knowing any longer just what is considered ethical, and who gets to set the standard?