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There has been a drop in the number of UK companies providing ethics training for staff, a new Institute of Business Ethics survey has revealed.
Only six out of ten UK companies provided training in business ethics for all their staff in 2010, down from seven out of ten in 2007. Conformity to the code of ethics is also less enshrined into contracts of employment.
Ethics in the recruitment process, meanwhile, is more likely to occur in continental European companies than in the UK, as are channels through which staff can easily communicate concerns or ask questions about their employer’s code of ethics. Only 38 per cent of UK firms reference their corporate ethics code as part of recruitment, compared to over half in Spain, Italy and France.
In data representing the effect of the financial crisis on codes of ethics, the IBE also found that monitoring codes for effectiveness and external reporting both fell since 2007, when the global credit crunch began.
The most cited issues for companies has also changed in that time. In 2007, environmental impact and ‘safety and security’ were the main issues, where now bribery, discrimination and supply chain management are at the top of most firms’ list.
Simon Webley, research director IBE, said: ‘Although we are living in a time of austerity, cutting back on ethics training is a short-sighted thing for companies to do. Many say that this financial turmoil is the result of lack of integrity – we need to learn from that. In these straitened times, it is even more important that maintaining corporate values and ethics remains top of the agenda.’
Only six out of ten UK companies provided training in business ethics for all their staff in 2010, down from seven out of ten in 2007. Conformity to the code of ethics is also less enshrined into contracts of employment.
Ethics in the recruitment process, meanwhile, is more likely to occur in continental European companies than in the UK, as are channels through which staff can easily communicate concerns or ask questions about their employer’s code of ethics. Only 38 per cent of UK firms reference their corporate ethics code as part of recruitment, compared to over half in Spain, Italy and France.
In data representing the effect of the financial crisis on codes of ethics, the IBE also found that monitoring codes for effectiveness and external reporting both fell since 2007, when the global credit crunch began.
The most cited issues for companies has also changed in that time. In 2007, environmental impact and ‘safety and security’ were the main issues, where now bribery, discrimination and supply chain management are at the top of most firms’ list.
Simon Webley, research director IBE, said: ‘Although we are living in a time of austerity, cutting back on ethics training is a short-sighted thing for companies to do. Many say that this financial turmoil is the result of lack of integrity – we need to learn from that. In these straitened times, it is even more important that maintaining corporate values and ethics remains top of the agenda.’
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