A Unique Spin on the ERC's 2011 National Business Ethics Survey ...

Ethics is especially important in today?s business environment, given the pressure that both employees and employers are feeling as a result of the current economic conditions. According to a recent survey from the Ethics Resource Center (ERC), when it comes to business ethics, there?s good news and there?s bad news.

2011 National Business Ethics Survey Infographic

We put together an infographic that highlights some of the key findings from the 2011 National Business Ethics Survey conducted by the ERC.?The survey is published every two years and takes a look at business ethics from an employee perspective.? Over the years, the findings from the survey have been used to identify trends and the factors that impact business ethics, offering suggestions and steps companies can take to reinforce their commitment to ethics.

In 2011, the survey looked at:

• The economy?s influence on ethical behavior
• Levels of observed and reported workplace misconduct
• Ethics challenges facing active social networkers
• Retaliation against whistleblowers
• Ethics culture within an organization
• Employee confidence in management

To check out our infographic, visit: http://i-sight.com/ethics/business-ethics-infographic/

NBES Key Findings

According to the 2011 NBES, observed misconduct in U.S. workplaces has reached historic lows and more employees than ever before are blowing the whistle on workplace misconduct. Unfortunately, the survey also reported that retaliation claims have risen sharply, and the percentage of employees who perceived pressure to compromise standards in order to do their jobs had also increased, reaching 13%.

Another finding to put in the ?bad news? category is that near-record levels of employees reported that their organization had weak ethics cultures. With an increasing number of employees reporting a weak ethical culture in their organizations, it?s clear that things still need to change.

What Can You Do?

With new powerful anti-corruption legislation introduced last year, business ethics have been in the spotlight even more and companies are looking for ways to improve the culture of ethics in their organizations. The NBES provides a snapshot of the current ethics climate, which gives companies an idea of where they need to concentrate their efforts to improve the situation.

Some of the recommendations listed in the ERC report and in our infographic suggest that companies take the following steps to reinforce ethics initiatives within their organizations:

1. Invest in an ethics program and make employees aware of it.
2. Leverage social media tools to ignite conversations about ethics issues.
3. Integrate ethical leadership into performance evaluations for all managers.
4. Regularly update and promote your code of ethics.

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About the Author

Lindsay Walker?is the Corporate Journalist at Customer Expressions Corporation, developers of the i-Sight investigative?case management software?platform, an integrated and customizable solution for corporate?investigations. She maintains the company blog at?http://i-sight.com.

Source: http://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/a-unique-spin-on-the-ercs-2011-national-business-ethics-survey-data/

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