In any organization, ethics is an important factor that must be observed. It includes principles and values that the individuals within the organization follow for they govern their actions and decisions. Before an organization is formed, there must be a unification of people sharing the same varied interest despite coming from different backgrounds. A code of ethics within a firm will see the laying down of principles that will be used to guide an organization in implementing all its policies, decisions and operations. Unethical practices in the workplace are supported by a company that has no code (De Cremer and de Bettignies, 2013).
All the ethical practices of a company are found in the Code. It, therefore, offers a foundational base for the building of ethics at the workplace. It is updated every one or two years, and it is pocket sized to allow for handy reference. Once the code is issued to an employee, it has a receipt and acknowledgment form that is to be signed by each employee as a sign an oath to adhere to all the principles and standard codes laid down by the company (Terris, 2005).
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The Code is an essential legal requirement for any company under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and any other form of legislation in ensuring it promotes corporate accountability and responsibility. The existence of code in a company plays a significant role in promoting its ethic programs. The code ensures that a company has laid down its ethical bottom line by which its employees must follow. It can place responsibility and ethical behavior among employees as well as ensure that the company’s employees perform ethically (Terris, 2005).
The code begins with a letter from the CEO and COO to the junior employees. The letter plays a significant role in promoting ethics within the company. The code sends a message from top-down leadership on why there is the need to foster an ethical culture in the company. It also shows that building a culture is a democratic process that begins from the top to the bottom of the company. The code spells out six principles upon which ethical culture must be built. They include; honesty, integrity, respect, trust, responsibility, and citizenship. These rules are followed by the bulk of codes that clearly outline the key topics of concern in ensuring an ethical environment is maintained at the workplace (Terris, 2005).
Without an ethics training program, an organization cannot fully meet its moral obligations to the employees. All the unethical issues are brought forward, and they are linked to the decision-making the process that led to their occurrence. The problems are later solved by bringing forward different perspectives and solutions to light. Throughout the training program, The code focuses on one goal which is the restriction of scope caused by ethical problems and ensuring the company’s self-image is maintained at all times (Terris, 2005).
In providing a fruitful and worthwhile training to its employees, Lockheed came up with various techniques. These methods involve various programs that consist of the entire employees starting from top management to the junior staff. The Company began to realize that exposing employees to ethics awareness programs was not enough. The company was much concerned with how employees responded to the program. Therefore, it strived to ensure that every employee likes the program. This led them to develop the Dilbert0based Ethics Challenge in 1997. The Ethics Challenge Fanfare is scheduled in every April or May in the CEO's suite. The executives lead the same program with their senior staff and from May to August, the program cascades down throughout the entire corporation to all it employees. The employees can meet in groups of 5 to 24 in different Lockheed facilities where everyone attending the meeting has to sign an attendance register. After the training, a survey is taken to determine the success of the program.
Employees who miss the first training program are termed as “onesies” and “twosies.” These workers are hunted down to ensure they go through the program. Throughout the years the company has had other Ethical Challenges such as “Trust Building” that was followed by “Ethics Daily.” In 2003; their Ethics Challenge Program (known as “Perspective”) took a different twist. The training program’s aim was to get each individuals’ perspective regarding different key decisions that are made in the company. The group leaders had to divide their employees into three groups, which were given similar. Though the cases were similar, the groups had different perspectives on how the cases were supposed to be solved. The team members had to come up with their choices on how they would have solved the cases. For Lockheed, they will always rely on such programs to ensure their employees enjoy their training processes.
The staff survey allows Lockheed to determine its success regarding ethics. When it comes to ethics, it is very hard to grade people. However, for Lockheed, being an engineering business, it has to measure all the metrics involved and determine whether all things are going as planned. The company, in collaboration with the Ethics Resource Center (a nonprofit organization based in Washington), uses a biennial method to survey its entire workforce so as to determining its success. The company’s survey is administered online as well as through physical distribution of a questionnaire to its employees (Terris, 2005).
The surveys are used by the firm to determine the employees’ view of their ethical principle. According to a study in 2001, 86% of the employee felt that “honesty” was evident at Lockheed Martin. This indicated an improvement in the firm’s operation as compared to a similar survey conducted in 1997 where only 76% agreed with the question. However, when the survey results move from abstract principles to specific observations, it is a clear indication that the company is not successful. These include factors such as an increase in employee misbehavior and pressure from management on employees. A drop in employees taking the ethics survey also shows the company is not doing well (Terris, 2005).
The company’s operational level is responsible for ensuring that the ethics program in the entire firm is functional. This can be achieved by employing ethics officers who are honest, discreet accountable, trustworthy and independent. They must be perceived to hold these principles by the entire employee population. The company does not outsource its ethics officers but appoints them from its workforce. Such officers are deemed capable of having a better understanding of how the company's ethics programs operate.
The ethics officers also spend most of their time counseling, giving advice and troubleshooting any minor problems amongst the employees. The adoption of a confidential “hotline” helps the employees to report any unethical issue they might like to report anonymously for fear of retaliation from the suspect. After a complaint is made, it is investigated through a twenty-one step process until a solution is found. All these factors have seen Lockheed maintain the ethical program within its operations and activities that saw the company earn recognition for its programs.
It is beyond proof that for an organization to follow ethical practices, it must have a code. The code should not only be just a legal requirement for any company, but it should be mandatory. This is because it clearly outlines all the practices that should be observed by both its employees and the organization itself. Lockheed is an excellent example of a company that has a code and ensures all its employees adhere to it. This is achieved mainly through its ethical awareness training programs supported by its ethical department. Lockheed is a role model for most organizations, and they should emulate its stand on the importance of building ethics at work.
References
De Cremer. & de Bettignies, H. (2013). Pragmatic business ethics. Business strategy Review, 24 (2), 64-67.
Terris, Daniel. (2005). Ethics at work: creating virtue at an American Corporation . Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press.
