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Ethics Management

 

It is about building a culture of ethics in the organization. Therefore, awareness campaigns, visibility to the ethics promotion efforts and strong belief of everyone in and around the entity are some of the tasks that could be undertaken to keep the ethical compass of the organization at the desired level.

 

It is not necessary that an organization has to roll out the ethics management programme in one go. Ideally, the entities which take the step-by-step approach may report spectacular achievements.

 

Ethics management involves for example laying emphasis on right tone at the top, making available channels of communication to stakeholders for reporting wrong doing, rewarding those who constructively whistle blow, promptly punishing those involved in the wrong doing, adopting code of conduct and ethics policy and offering a financial disclosure programme.

Policies

Organizations that need professional help in preparing or fine-tuning their policies may rely on the Red Flag.

 

  • Code of Conduct

  • Whistle Blower policy

  • Anti-reprisal policy

  • Charter of Audit committee

  • Charter of Internal Audit

  • Terms of reference of Ethics Committee

  • Conflicts of Interest policy

 

Click the link to know the ingredients of an ideal TOR of Ethics Committee.

Processes

Processes are important as they guide those responsible for ethics management to apply consistent and transparent ways of handling activities connected with the concerns, wrongdoings and instances of breach of code of conduct. These processes need to be internalized for effectiveness.
 

  • Process for reviewing reports of wrongdoing.

  • Guidelines on assessing reputation risks

  • Process for reviewing financial disclosures

  • Parameters for evaluating systems failures

  • Process for interviewing those suspected of fraud

 

Click the link to view the process for handling financial disclosures.

Structures

While establishing the structures that are capable of  implementing policies and procedures, it is essential to pay greater attention to the nuances of such structures playing their role in the governance. Trust Red Flag to advice on these matters.

 

  • Audit Committee

  • Ethics Committee

  • Conflicts of Interest Committee

  • Sanctions Committee

  • Compliance committee


Click the link to know 10 pitfalls to avoid while structuring an Audit Committee.

Procedures

Procedures define the ambit of certain tasks within the process, who is to perform, how and when. Often, its a lack of established procedures that create confusion as to who is responsible for ethics management.

 

  • Procurement proceudres

  • Recruitment procedures

  • Performance appraisal procedures

  • Conflicts of interest investigation procedures

  • Manuals for internal auditors and internal investigations

  • Manual on how to investigate retaliation against whistle blowers

 

Open the document that explains 5 most important issues in retaliation cases.

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