Summary - Institute of Business Ethics

Communicating Ethical Values
Internally
By Katherine Bradshaw
Summary
An organisation which operates to high ethical standards is one where ethics is just ‘the way
we do things around here’.
But how do you communicate something as nebulous as ‘integrity’?
How can you communicate the ethical standards of an organisation effectively, so that they are
not only understood, but are embedded in decision-making and behaviour?
This Good Practice Guide shares examples of some
ways of communicating messages about ethical
values to employees so that they are empowered to
‘do the right thing’.
It examines the role of internal communications in
establishing a corporate culture.
Using interviews with ethics and compliance officers
and experts in internal communications and learning
and development, they offer some practical guidance
on communicating effectively.
Chapter 7 explores ways to keep up the momentum
of an ethical communications programme.
The Guide is divided into 7 chapters:
Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of what is being
communicated and why it is important to
communicate ethical values.
Chapter 2 outlines what to consider when devising an
ethical communications strategy. It examines some of
the challenges and looks at broader issues such as
language and tone.
Chapters 3 to 6 look at different ways to enhance
internal communication about ethical values – from
tone at the top, codes of ethics and training through to
other tools and communication channels, like social
media, videos, radio, blogs, gamification and even the
workplace environment,
A Checklist summarises key considerations when
devising an effective strategy for communicating
ethical values.
This Guide will help all those charged with
communicating messages about ethics and ethical
values within their organisation, and in particular:
•
Ethics and Compliance practitioners
•
Internal Communications, Human Resources,
Learning & Development and Change Management
professionals.
Communicating Ethical Values Internally by
Katherine Bradshaw is an IBE Good Practice Guide
available from www.ibe.org.uk >>
Publication date: May 2015
Price: £22.50 inc p&p
Institute of Business Ethics • 24Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1BE • t +44 (0) 20 7798 6040 • e info@ibe.org.uk • www.ibe.org.uk • Charity No. 1084014
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