It seems like we're always hearing about an organization being hit by scandal dealing with issues of ethics, integrity and trust. In reality, most organizations in the U.S. are ethical and are not beset with scandal, lawsuits and investigations. The reason most organizations considered ethical are not dealing with this negative press is because many have instilled a culture of ethics and integrity.

We have had the opportunity to help organizations in this area by developing mission/value statements, creating policies/procedures, conducting training programs for managers only or the entire organization or simply by delivering dynamic presentations. We conduct a training program called “Ethics 101: Do the Right Thing” that helps employees understand the importance of an ethical organization, the impact of ethical violations and a personal and organizational decision making model to help minimize ethical dilemmas.

This is a dynamic training program covering the basics of ethical issues in organizations. It can be a generic program or customized to focus on the specific ethical issues that can apply to an organization's unique business or service. Most Ethics training programs are philosophical in nature and do not focus on business issues. Ethics 101: Do the Right Thing was designed to focus on an organization's ethical issues with real examples.

The objectives of the program are to get participants to:

• Learn what the term ethics means as well as excellent ethical practices in organizations
• Understand the impact of ethical violations in the organization
• Uncover the various types of ethical violations that can occur
• Understand what governs ethical decisions
• Learn and practice a decision-making model in ethical dilemma situations
• Share ways to minimize ethical dilemmas
• Understand each employee's role when ethical dilemmas occur

In addition to the basic program, a manager's version focuses on an ethical decision making process and how to handle ethical issues in the organization.