Introduction
Ethical leadership involves the creation of ethical communication standards within and outside the company. Unethical behavior can lead to poor strategic decisions for a company and damage to its reputation. The plan for creating ethical communication standards for the company includes ensuring transparency of organizational operations based on three pillars, ethical financial reporting, the creation of a corporate code of ethics, and ongoing ethical training for company employees.
Ethical Leadership and Organizational Transparency Promotion
For many companies, decisions made on the basis of unethical leadership lead to bad consequences. The secrecy cultivated by unethical leadership is the reason for poor decision-making in the organization. Transparency, in turn, is the main aspect that promotes ethical leadership in the company and allows you to make the right decisions (Communication Coach Alexander Lyon, 2018). The model of transparency within an organization consists of three main elements. The first is organizational openness, when all the company’s processes, from interaction with suppliers and customers to working and hiring conditions, are publicly available. The second integral aspect of transparency is information sharing within and outside the company, which leads to better decision-making. Companies need to be transparent about their operations so that the people involved can make informed decisions. The third aspect is candor, which is a balance of honesty and caring. Leaders need to discuss issues openly and honestly, with a focus on not hurting the feelings of others. These principles of transparency should govern both internal and external communications of companies. They are applicable to interactions with suppliers, customers, competitors, and employees.
Ethical Financial Reporting
Unethical financial reporting can lead to a significant deterioration in the company’s relationships with investors, customers, and partners. Thus, the principles of ethical financial reporting should be included in the ethical standards of the organization. In particular, the main aspect that can ensure ethics in this area is continuous quality assurance (Rashid et al., 2018). It is important for companies to continually audit the skills of accountants and the relevance of financial information provided to investors and other stakeholders. According to the justice characteristic of ethical leadership, reports should provide equal information to all stakeholders (10 Ethical Leadership Characteristics, 2021). Additionally, based on the principle of respect for others, financial reporting should take into account the interests of all parties (10 Ethical Leadership Characteristics, 2021). Finally, according to the principle of transparency, it is necessary to include all information in the accountability so that stakeholders can make an informed decision (10 Ethical Leadership Characteristics, 2021). Thus, within the framework of ethical standards, it is necessary that accountants constantly undergo an audit of ethical behavior and the provision of all information within the framework of financial reporting.
Corporate Values and Ethics Statement
Many companies neglect to incorporate standards of ethical behavior as part of their corporate culture. However, the creation of a clear ethical statement that guides ethical communication within and outside the company is the foundation for an organization’s ethical behavior (Sheffert, 2001). The introduction of a written code of ethics as part of the company’s mission statement allows you to define clear standards of ethical behavior that can be followed by both employees and stakeholders of the company (Stevens & Brownell, 2000). Clearly defined standards of ethical behavior are also the basis for creating relevant ethical training for employees (consultdss, 2013). They will be able to understand what behavior the company expects from them and how this behavior can be achieved. The absence of an ethics code for a company is due to the impossibility of standardizing expectations from ethical communication. Ethical leadership, in turn, must be associated with intolerance for the violation of ethical standards of behavior (10 Ethical Leadership Characteristics, 2021). The code of ethics of the company also allows you to determine the responsibility of employees and stakeholders for manifestations of unethical behavior, which largely prevents it.
Ethical Behavior Training
Based on the ethics code, a relevant ethics training program should also be developed to enable employees to develop moral character and adhere to ethical communication standards. Not all employees come to the company with certain ethical and moral values, therefore, ethical leadership also consists of the need to educate employees on the principles of company ethics step by step (Smith & Kouchaki, 2021). As part of the training, it is necessary to address gaps in the ethical behavior of employees, such as the ethical use of social media, data privacy rules, communication at meetings, and more (consultdss, 2013; Stevens & Brownell, 2000). In particular, real examples of episodes of unethical behavior in the workplace and the consequences of unethical communication must be analyzed as part of training in order to provide employees with the opportunity to reflect and indicate the value of ethical behavior in individual behavioral patterns (Smith & Kouchaki, 2021).
Conclusion
Gradually, this training will lead to the modeling of ethical behavior among employees, which will allow them to constantly maintain the principles of ethical communication (Stevens & Brownell, 2000). Coaching should be ongoing to ensure that ethical standards are maintained among existing employees, as well as building the right moral values in new employees.
References
10 ethical leadership characteristics. (2021). Y Scouts. Web.
Communication coach Alexander Lyon. (2018). Ethical leadership and communication [Video]. YouTube. Web.
consultdss. (2013). Workplace ethics scenarios — Ethics video | DuPont Sustainable Solutions [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Rashid, N., Asfthanorhan, A., Johari, R. J., Hamid, N. A., Yazid, A. S., Salleh, F., Abdullah, B., Ismail, A. H., Rasit, Z. A. (2018). Ethics and financial reporting assurance. International Journal of Academic Research in Business & Social Science, 8(11), 1346-1355. Web.
Sheffert, M. W. (2001). Our perspective. Manchester: News and Views. Web.
Smith, I. H., & Kouchaki, M. (2021). Building an ethical company. Harvard Business Review. Web.
Stevens, B., & Brownell, J. (2000). Ethics: Communicating standards and influencing behavior. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 41(2), 39-43.