Shavonnah Roberts Schreiber | Independent Board Director | High-performance Coach | Advisor |Founder & CEO – SNR Creative.
Many experts and consultants will tell you that the key to a successful business is a strong business plan, complete with a company description, market research, marketing and sales strategy and a financial plan. If we have those, it looks like we have all the basics of a solid foundation mapped out. Or do we? I’m here to tell you there is one major bullet point that is missing from almost every business plan: ethics.
Today, companies are prioritizing being more ethically aware. However, many still don’t consider it to be a foundational pillar of their company. This is a critical mistake, in my opinion. Just as ethics is a foundation in many religions and personal moral guidelines, it should be integral to the fabric of every company. And if it is truly as important to the structure of a company as the leaders of that company say it is, then as my fellow Texan George Strait would say “write this down” and add it into the business playbook from the start.
Building Ethics Into Your Business From Day One
Let’s talk about what that looks like. For me, it includes multiple thoughtful layers. I would strategically determine a company’s viewpoint by asking the company’s founders to do the following:
• Define ethical values.
• Write a code of ethics for the company, leaders and employees.
• Hone in on policies and procedures.
• Create a training program.
• Understand clear consequences and boundaries.
• Determine a timeline to review and update, if necessary.
If you have a new company, it can be simple to create and build ethical guidelines into the framework of your business. You can work together to determine what this new business plan will look like, share it with all existing and new employees and move forward together, ensuring that your aligned vision will lead the moral compass of your business.
Building Ethics Into An Existing Business Framework
How do you incorporate this into an existing company that already has set standards, ways of working and employees who have been doing things in a certain way? It can be harder to accomplish, but we can do hard things—especially when they are this important.
For an existing company, the first thing I would do is survey how the company is currently running when it comes to decision making and maintaining ethical standards in general. I would ask around, send out a questionnaire to employees and see where things are going well and where improvements can be made. Then, I would work alongside the executive team to set our egos aside and roll up our sleeves. This process is sometimes difficult to see when mistakes have been made. But this is the first step to building a better company. So, get to work! Look at the guidelines I created above and develop an ethics plan. Reviewing your good, bad and ugly is a good starting point that will help you create the best possible ethical structure possible.
Now that you have a plan, it is critical that it is shared with everyone at the company and truly implemented. Set regular meetings with the management team to ensure steps are taken and the new framework is followed. Send out new surveys to employees and see if they are noticing a difference in operations and follow up with adjustments if needed. Change can be hard, but the results are worth it!
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