The best companies make an effort to act ethically in their daily business transactions. It’s not an obligation but a responsibility to uphold an ethical business. I’m writing this article as a checklist for ethical business practices. It’ll give you a clear idea of what ethical business practices are and how you can implement them.
Let’s dive in.
What Are Ethics in Business?
It isn’t easy to define business ethics. The idea of ethics in business is quite broad. It isn’t about operating legally or behaving in a socially responsible manner. It’s about morals.
Ethics are a system of moral values and principles based on beliefs about what is good and right. Ethical behavior means acting with honesty, fairness, and integrity. It concerns your employees, customers, and stakeholders, as well as society as a whole.
Why Are Ethical Practices in Business Important?
The importance of ethics can be understood from the fact that they’re a part of your company’s brand and its reputation. Ethics are essential for the overall reputation and perception. They’re also crucial for the impression you leave on potential customers.
Being perceived as ethical is one of the top reasons consumers trust brands. Your ethics make your business different from the money-guzzler corporations.
Ethical behavior keeps you out of trouble. Without ethical business practices, your company will keep landing in legal and social conflicts.
7 Ethical Business Practices You Must Follow
Here are some of the fair and ethical business practices you must follow.
1. Ensure Reliability of Your Services
Being reliable means ensuring you provide your customers with quality products and services. It also means being trustworthy enough to follow through with the commitments.
People can trust you if you keep your promises. By being reliable, you can show customers. You are honest, do what you promise and not lie. Also, you must be available to answer customers’ questions.
2. Be Transparent about Your Processes
Being transparent also comes under the principles of ethical business practices. It shows how sound and efficient your processes are. The decisions and the steps you take also show how seriously you take your company.
You can be transparent by being candid about your experiences and sharing information with your people as it is. Getting to the point instead of beating around the bush shows your sincerity and openness. It makes your customers and vendors feel more comfortable with you.
3. Treat All Customers Equally
You must learn how to treat all customers equally, not only to be considered ethical but also to maximize profits. You may have a loyal customer base but can’t afford to be complacent.
It’s in your best interest to be courteous to all your customers. You must not abuse them or take advantage of them. Abusing or taking advantage falls under unethical business practices. It can affect your reputation – your biggest asset.
4. Show Respect To Your Employees
Your employees’ work might be thankless, but it’s essential to your business’ success. So, it makes complete sense to treat them with respect and appreciation. This way, they’ll be more willing to put forth their full effort and give their best performance.
You must give credit to them when they’ve done something well, and show up when they need help. Also, try to be open to their suggestions.
5. Build Positive Business Relationships
Building positive relationships is good for your company’s brand as well as the balance sheet. It means having connections with the right people to build rapport and even to lend a hand. It’s, though, wrong to believe that ethical behavior involves only the company’s executives. The activities of other employees also influence your ethical image.
The relationships are what separates companies who stay in business from those who don’t. So, be proactive and learn how to give and take.
6. Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
Your competitor may have created a unique product or service. It doesn’t mean you can steal it. Ethical businesses don’t steal ideas. They take inspiration from others’ ideas and give them their due credit.
You can work on their ideas and make something better. But you should never copy anything from a competitor. There’s a difference between copying and taking inspiration.
7. Be Socially Responsible
Social responsibility is a moral imperative. A business that claims social responsibility is more trustworthy than one that doesn’t. Social responsibility is a must ethical business practice if you want to build a brand and a loyal customer base.
People are more likely to buy from you if you offer some benefit back to the community (or society). It makes your customers feel better about buying your product.
How to Enforce Business Ethics In Your Company
Here are a few tips for implementing ethical practices in business.
1. Develop a Code of Ethics
A code of ethics serves you well if you ever find yourself in a dilemma when working with a potential business partner, vendor, or deep-pocket client. A good code of ethics will ensure you act ethically in all aspects of your life.
2. Ensure Leaders Behave Ethically
People like to follow leaders who act ethically. When top managers demonstrate commitment to ethical business practices, others tend to follow. If the leaders don’t behave responsibly, the entire organization will crumble.
3. Be Diligent about Implementation
The company should have a system of checks and balances. It tells employees there will be consequences for any wrongdoings. It’s also necessary so that everyone knows what is expected of them and how to report unethical behavior in the workplace.
4. Incentivise Ethical Behaviour
An incentive program that focuses on ethics gives employees a feeling of ownership in the company and encourages responsibility. By incentivizing ethical behavior, you send a clear message that you expect better things.
5. Monitor Your Vendors
Being ethical isn’t only about you and your employees. You should also monitor your vendor relationship on a case-by-case basis. You should keep an eye on their business practices even if you have a strong relationship.
Wrapping It Up
A business operates on the basis of ethics, fair play, and the belief in the good of society and humanity. These are as important for the owner or manager as for the employees. Everyone must accept this fact and adopt ethical business practices in their daily work. While you are at it, you must know these unethical business practices you must avoid.
