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Item: Carla, a sales representative, frequently entertains
customers at lunch. She regularly has two or three drinks and returns to work
with a little "buzz." Is this acceptable
behavior at your company? It's not at Tyco, where this scenario is featured in
the company's Guide to Ethical Conduct. Tyco has thrown away its dense, legalistic
codes of conduct and instead rolled out a user-friendly program constructed around
practical examples of problematic situations. Tyco's
260,000 employees gathered around the world at more than 2,000 locations during
one month last year to receive a copy of the new guide and watch video sequences
dramatizing situations where ethical judgment is required. A number of other companies
are following suit, including Coca-Cola. The soft drink giant uses a similar approach,
dramatizing hypothetical cases in its guidelines: "A route salesperson services
a restaurant chain owned by his cousin; does it require special action?"
The guide answers the question with a resounding yes - the salesperson needs to
report to his manager, who might decide to reassign the restaurant chain to another
representative. Both Coke and Tyco post their ethical codes for the world to see
on their external Web sites. It's not just companies
like Tyco and Coke that have been mired in recent ethics crisis who are taking
these steps. Over the past couple years, ethics training and communication has
vaulted up leadership's agenda, climbing from "feel good exercise" to
top priority. New regulations and sentencing codes are driving forces behind this
new concern with ethical behavior. Federal sentencing guidelines now make companies
convicted of crimes eligible for reduced sentences if they have custom-developed
training and communication programs on ethics, a single step that can be the difference
between a fine of a few thousand dollars and a catastrophic hit of several million
in a sentencing phase. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also requires companies to adopt
ethics programs, but even beyond the new guidelines and laws, ethics training
can help build a better, more inclusive work place. Companies
that are serious about creating a corporate culture that rewards ethical behavior
are now fundamentally rethinking the role of training and communications. Stating
the rules in an obtuse handbook format and forcing employees to regurgitate the
"right" answers to obviously worded questions no longer suffices. Judges
are starting to take a harder look at shelf courses that use the same failed "telling
rather than doing" approach that schools too often use to teach students.
And employees are increasingly regarding such courses with a justifiable disdain.
Boring learners to death with tedious rules and quizzing them on it is a poor
substitute for actually allowing them to experience the situation in question.
Instead of relying on lectures and tests, memorization and manuals, ethics training
needs to create a safe place to practice and reflect. The virtual reality environment
of computer simulations and role-playing scenarios provide just that - simulation-based
ethics training creates an environment that's as close to the real world as possible
and it lets participants practice dealing with ethical dilemmas in a way that
approximates cases that they might actually encounter in the course of performing
their job. People who see what happens when they fudge
the truth, make a sexist remark, leak confidential information or mistreat a coworker
are better able to understand the impact of unethical behavior, a process that
encourages them to help create a workplace of integrity and trust. What is true
for skills training is also true for ethics training - employees learn better
by doing. Through real-life examples, situations and scenarios, simulations afford
users a chance to try out policies and procedures with on-screen characters. Instead
of the negative, "thou shalt not" pretexts driving standard compliance
training, scenario-based simulations teach by affirmation, showing employees and
managers how ethical behavior can lead to a better workplace for everybody, from
line workers to managers, from leaders to vendors and onto the most important
constituency, the customers. Needless to say, simulation-based
learning is not a magic bullet. It doesn't replace the importance of senior management
commitment, whistleblower help lines, and regular discussions in the work group.
But online simulations can be effective tools for helping reinforce these key
learning elements. Imagine the multiple reinforcement power of an application
that features the C.E.O endorsing a program, which is then used as fodder for
work group discussions which emphasizes the value of an electronic whistleblower
hotline. Used as a central component of the new hire introduction program and
ongoing training, online simulations represent huge opportunities to foster a
corporate culture where integrity, pride, excellence and respect are the cornerstones
for a successful and ethical business.
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