In this issue: Welcome to the Tero International Monthly eZine Ask Tero - Questions and Answers from the Training Professionals at Tero Feature Article - Keys to Demonstrating Ethics Professional Development Activity - Check Your Ethics Resources What's New at Tero? Public Workshops - Opportunities for Continued Learning and Development Online Resources - Providing Feedback Inspiration - Things to Think About

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Welcome to the Tero International Monthly eZine

Ethics is described as the major branch of philosophy encompassing proper conduct and good living. In business we think of ethics as our ability to do business in a way that is good for all concerned, morally sound, and which demonstrates our core values. Why does this become such a challenge?

You cannot open a newspaper without reading a story of an individual or an organization that breaches what most would hold as commonly understood ethical business practices. It's often times hard to believe the stories we read - real life incidences that are stranger than fiction! Yet breaches occur, and it seems perhaps most begin quietly, in small unexamined self motivated actions that eventually compound to outrageous examples of bad behavior, practices and consequences.

This month's eZine provides keys to examine our organizational practices and ourselves to determine if we truly are demonstrating ethics. A business life well lived is one in which we can, at the end of the day, be proud of. Reflecting periodically can ensure we aren't slipping into any practice that could ultimately rob us of a business life well lived.

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Ask Tero

This section contains questions asked of the training professionals at Tero. Do you have a question for Tero? Let us know! If there is a topic or question you would like to see addressed in a future eZine, please make suggestions so we can give you the resources you need. Thank you for the continued responses we receive each month.

Question: I recently witnessed a fellow employee misusing company property. The employee is not my direct report, so I have no legal responsibility to address this, but I feel I have a moral obligation to do so. What should I do?

Tero says: The first thing you can consider doing is to approach your colleague, and ask in a genuine and unthreatening way if he or she is aware that what they did was a violation of use. Starting here, you will find out if they even knew that what they did violated policy, and the likelihood of this kind of thing happening again. Going forward from there, you will have to decide if this is a situation that threatened safety, legality, or profit. If it is, you are best to describe what you observed to someone with authority to address it. Many organizations have Human Resources Departments and the trained professionals there can provide guidance and clarity related to the organization's Code of Conduct and next steps. Your sole responsibility is to describe, not evaluate. Taking it to someone with authority to address it allows you the opportunity to simply describe, and not get involved in any evaluation of the breach or the colleague.

Question: I trust my employees to treat the company's property and time with respect but every so often I find out someone has used company time and resources to search for a new job or has exaggerated an expense report. Why do people do this?

Tero says: The same people who confidently articulate high moral values frequently rationalize their own bad behavior. For better or worse, this double-standard seems to be a part of our human nature. Setting aside blatant breaches of trust, who among us hasn't slipped up by speeding to our destination while telling our children to obey the law or justified keeping extra change because the clerk was impolite. As a manager, you have the ongoing challenge of keeping ethics in conscious thought among those entrusted to your care. Keep a dialogue going about what behavior is appropriate and what is not. Devote time in staff meetings to this important topic. Don't wait to uncover an infraction. Ethical behavior can be a part of every agenda in the same way safety takes first place on the agenda in companies involved in dangerous work. Even in the smallest organization, a Code of Conduct is a valuable document to think about, ink and include in a handbook. It will establish and communicate standards of ethical behavior and serve to hold you and others accountable. In it, describe expectations around using company computers, supplies and property. Specific guidance on topics like personal use of company postage, time off policies, sick days, confidential information, discretionary spending, personal use of company equipment and so on should be included.