Compliance &Ethics - Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

Featureby Roz BlissEthical decision-makingmodels: Decisions, decisions»»Ethical decision‐making models help employees make the good choices.»»Employees know when something just doesn’t seem right.»»Encourage employees to examine and identify possible alternatives.»»What would a reasonable person think about this decision?»»It takes courage to do the right thing.Compliance & Ethics Professional May/June 2012BlissEmployees everywhere are doingmore with less. Increased pressuresto achieve goals, budget cuts, fear oflayoffs, coupled with external pressures of economicuncertainty and high unemployment,create an environment of increased risk takingand opportunities for unethical behaviors.Compliance and ethics professionalswork hard to communicate and trainon “hot topics” but as we all know, wecan’t be all places at all times.An ethical decision-makingmodel is a tool designed to helpemployees make the proper decisionwhen the right choice is not obvious.An initial Internet search on this topicreveals hundreds of options, both academicand industry-specific. From a business perspective,how do you identify, customize, andsocialize a model that is easily identifiableand effective?Brevity is an important aspect in choosinga model. While pages of explanationand insights can be useful, employees facedwith an ethical dilemma, where the answeris not obvious, often need prompt andefficient solutions to resolve challenges. Acompany model needs to be accessible, easyto follow, and provide consistent and reliableresults.The decision-making processFrameworks for ethical decision-makingmodels generally contain a three step process:clarification, analysis, and implementation.Each phase needs to be methodically completedto reach a final decision.ClarificationEmployees know when something just doesn’tseem right. It may be an initial gut feeling orjust a general feeling of unease or distress.Perhaps they remember something from pasttraining or company orientation that triggersthis sense of discomfort. In most cases, thereis an obvious answer. The ethical decisionmakingmodel is designed to assist when thesolution is not readily apparent.The first phase assists the employee withunderstanding and defining the nature of thedilemma they are faced with. Think of this asthe start of a decision tree. What is the root ofthis challenge? Employees need to gather thepertinent information and ask themselves basicquestions: Is there a legal or regulatory concern?Does the dilemma conflict with companypolicies, standards, or values? An affirmativeanswer to either of these questions allows theemployee to bypass the analysis phase and godirectly to implementing a solution.40 www.corporatecompliance.org +1 952 933 4977 or 888 277 4977