Ethics officer – understanding the role
Definition
The ethics officer of an organization is a high-ranking individual whose primary task is to develop and maintain a strong culture of ethics within the workplace. In the process, the ethics officer deserves support, freedom, and the chance for influencing the key decisions made by the members of the board. The ethics officer is reportable to the chief ethics officer, who, in turn, reports to the CEO of the organization (Krenitsky, 2020).
Summary of an article on the role of ethics officers in influencing performance
The introduction of an executive rank in the office to look after the ethical culture of an organization shows a massive change in the top management structures as well as the way they address the ethical concerns. Business sustainability and corporate social responsibility are two of the prime inclusions in the list. This study explores the role played by such ethical officers, such as the sustainability officers, chief ethics officers, and others. In the process, the researchers evaluate the appointment of the ethical officers, along with the associations they have over regulating the performance of the firm. The researchers have found that the creation of the post of ethics officer is more like establishing a mechanism of symbolic governance than the substantive approach. In addition, the tests hint towards the expertise of the ethics officer to have a significant influence over the performance of the firm when the pre-appointment and post-appointment statistics were compared. However, no such link was found for the role of ethics officer in organizations that had significantly poor performance (Peters, Romi & Sanchez, 2019). Also, it was observed that the organizations having a significant prior inclination towards sustainability took three years since the appointment of the ethical officer to show improvements. Another significant observation made by the researchers during the study is that the organizations hiring a non-expert ethics officer faced a decrease in ethical culture in the workplace, followed by a steep increase. The research concludes with a discussion on the necessity of such positions in the management teams to enhance the firm’s performance.
Discussion on the topic
The maintenance of an ethical culture in the workplace is one of the prime requirements for any firm seeking to boost its performance. An ethical workplace not only makes it easier for the employees to concentrate better but also enhances their ability to work towards fulfilling the goals and objectives of the organization. Similar results have been found by the researchers of the chosen study. A direct link between the performance of the firm and appointment of an ethical officer, a corporate sustainability officer, in this case, has been observed.
There are three primary ethical roles that the ethics officer needs to fulfill – the ethics for pricing the products or services, ethics for the standards of the organization, and ethics for internal and external communications of the business (Wiengarten, Lo & Lam, 2017). Various studies conducted on the ethical culture, code of ethics, and ethics in a workplace show that maintaining work ethics, honesty, and integrity is much easier for the employees if the high-ranking officers from the management team are following them as well. In this context, it is necessary to mention that the ethics within the workplace is not the only aspect that needs to be maintained. The ethics of the firm as a whole – its processes, strategies, and objectives must be considered as well. It not only enhances the sustainability of the organization but also promotes a positive image of the organization in the market. Many organizations have a separate team of ethical officers just to look after the varying ethical aspects that the organization needs to deal with.
Reference
Krenitsky, J. (2020). The compliance and ethics officer of the future: What skills are necessary?. Journal of Financial Compliance, 3(3), 255-261.
Peters, G. F., Romi, A. M., & Sanchez, J. M. (2019). The influence of corporate sustainability officers on performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(4), 1065-1087.
Wiengarten, F., Lo, C. K., & Lam, J. Y. (2017). How does sustainability leadership affect firm performance? The choices associated with appointing a chief officer of corporate social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 140(3), 477-493.