Any organization requires certain guidelines and laws that act as a control to the conduct of its workers. Those guidelines also referred to as ethical policies vary depending on the nature of the organization. To make them implementable, drafters of ethical policies need to include various stakeholders like the management, workers, external professionals, and shareholders. There are various components that drafters must consider when planning for ethical policies. They include standards and procedures of implementation, compliance administration, and discipline to those who fail to implement set guidelines. After drafting ethical policies, the next stage involves communicating the set guidelines to relevant members for implementation. The management can hold a meeting, print posters and place them on strategic points, or distributing newsletters to various departments. The management can also reinforce the implementation of ethical policies by communicating punitive measures for noncompliance and introducing a reporting system to workers. Planning for ethical policies is a process that requires the involvement of appropriate stakeholders and procedures for easier implementation.
Stakeholders and Resources Required when Drafting Ethical Policies
The first group of people to involve when planning for ethical practices is the management. The leadership of any organization plays an integral role in ensuring that the plan is aligned to the goals and objectives. There are various roles the management of any entity play in the drafting of a plan to implement ethical practices. First, the management communicates to other stakeholders about the plan to implement certain guiding principles. This communication can be done through meetings where other stakeholders can listen and present their views before the final draft is made. The second role the management plays in planning for ethical policies is to ensure a timely supply of the necessary resources. Secondly, workers contribute significantly to the planning and implementation of ethical practices. The reason for involving this group is to ensure that every worker understands every ethical guideline. Workers also have a chance to air their views or raise their objections before the management can deliberate on the final work. The third group of people involved in planning for the implementation of ethical policies is professionals in different fields. They include lawyers and planners who educate the management on what to include in ethical policies (Moroni, 2020) . Lastly, shareholders play a critical role in planning for ethical policies by providing resources and advice to the management.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The next part in planning is to identify the major component to include in ethical policies. First, those policies must have standards of conduct and procedures that every stakeholder must follow during implementation. Standards act as guidelines to prevent workers from doing things that are contrary to the organization’s policies. On the other hand, procedures define steps employees have to follow in adhering to set guidelines and policies. The second component to include in the planning of ethical policies is compliance administration. It is composed of a team that ensures the compliance of set policies. The team makes a follow-up on each worker to see whether they are following the set procedures. Another duty the compliance administration can play is to report to the management about the success or a failure of ethical policies. The third component to include in the planning of ethical policies is the discipline for noncompliance. This part explains the punitive measures the organization will take in case any worker fails to follow certain guidelines and policies.
Communicating Ethical Policies to Members
The first step the management will take in communicating ethical policies is to organize a meeting to inform members. The leadership can meet heads of departments for a large organization or all workers for a small one where each policy is discussed. Those meetings provide a better platform for the management to outline roles each stakeholder needs to play in ensuring the implementation of ethical policies. The second way of communicating ethical policies is by printing the set guidelines and placing them in strategic places where workers can see them. This strategy saves the management time spent in informing or reminding each worker about existing ethics. The leadership can also print newsletters and distribute them to different departmental heads who in turn read them to their juniors (Becker, 2020) . The third step the management can take in communicating ethical policies is to lead by example in implementation. Workers in many organizations follow their leaders’ actions. Therefore, the management should be at the forefront in following set guidelines and in turn inspire their juniors to do the same.
Inspection of Ethical Policies
The first inspection process of ethical policies is creating a detailed foundation. In this step, the management can create a clear framework in which the conduct of each worker is compared. Secondly, the management needs to create metrics in which a worker’s behaviour is measured. It involves creating ethical goals that employees strive to achieve in a given time. Thereafter, the leadership evaluates the performance of each member to see whether the workforce was able to meet the target. If there was a failure, the management investigates factors that might have contributed to this challenge and measures to take to prevent a repeat. The management can also introduce a reward system where workers with exemplary performance receive a token of appreciation. The third step an organization can take to inspect the implementation of ethical policies is to create a cross-functional team that comprises members of each department. The role of this team is to visit each department and analyse each worker’s compliance depending on one’s duties and designation. The team in turn prepares a report and presents it to the top management. Lastly, the management can communicate or respond consistently if certain issues arise. Some of those issues may include violation of set guidelines or lack of understanding by some workers. Making such communication allows the management to make appropriate changes to ensure timely implementation of ethical policies.
Reinforcing Ethical Policies on Members of an Organization
There are various steps the management can take to reinforce ethical policies on members of an organization. First, the leadership can clearly outline the repercussions one will face for failure to follow set guidelines. In many cases, people tend to follow laws with seriousness when certain punishments are introduced. Therefore, the management of any organization needs to inform each worker of the actions likely to follow on noncompliance (Krisnajaya, 2018) . Secondly, the management can introduce a reporting system where workers and other stakeholders can give information related to ethical policies. This strategy will make employees take the set guidelines with the seriousness as they can seek clarification or report workers engaging in unlawful conduct. The management should ensure that the system is accessible to every worker and working all the time. Lastly, the management can introduce performance appraisals on which the conduct of every worker is assessed. Having such tools will encourage each worker to work towards certain behavioural goals. The management can also introduce a reward system for those with higher scores.
Conclusion
Planning for ethical policies is a process that requires the involvement of appropriate stakeholders and procedures for easier implementation. Some of those stakeholders include workers, professionals, and shareholders. The next step in the planning of ethical policies is the identification of major components to include. Having drafted ethical policies, the management communicates them to various stakeholders for implementation. Following those procedures will allow maximum compliance of ethical policies.
References
Becker, C. (2020). Ethical Principles for Design. SSRN Electronic Journal . https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3631525
Krisnajaya, I. (2018). Institutionalization of Ethical Principles to Overcome Ethical Dilemmas in the Public Sector. Policy & Governance Review , 2 (1), 1. https://doi.org/10.30589/pgr.v2i1.73
Moroni, S. (2020). The role of planning and the role of planners: political dimensions, ethical principles, communicative interaction. Town Planning Review: Volume 91, Issue 6 , 91 (6), 563-576. https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2020.85
