Managers, if given the choice, would prefer to staple their tongue to the table than create an ethics class for their co-workers.  Although many books exist on the concept of ethical behavior in a company, the concepts can be quite fuzzy and hard to implement in a day-to-day manner.  The problem is:each situation is different and managers must often make judgment calls when it comes to a final decision.

A common definition is that ethics is “doing the right thing at the right time.” Certainly – it is easy to state that one shouldn’t steal money from their company, as there are laws against this kind of behavior. Likewise – it is easy to state that one shouldn’t commit assault on co-workers.In these kinds of cases, there is a right and a wrong.  The wrong behavior is highly documented, defined by courts and consequences are well known.

More often, however, are the cases where there is no clear right or wrong action. Does a small, struggling business lay off an employee who has been out sick too often? Perhaps that employee has cancer. What is the ethical action to take? Keep a person on the payroll that cannot be productive and put the entire company in jeopardy? Or – keep the cancer patient on the payroll so he can provide food for his children?Where is the line drawn and how can managers know what to do?

The best way for ethics to be implemented company-wide is from a top-down approach.The owner and CEO must set the standard ethical behavior, usually by creating codes of conduct that spell out what behavior is expected and what consequences could result from breaking this code.  In addition, policies and procedures need not only to be implemented; they must be a subject of mandatory training.

However, for managers to behave ethically on their own for those instances where there is not a policy applicable to that specific action, there are some guidelines to follow:

1. All facts must be known.The manager should engage in some what-if scenarios, understand consequences of any decision and pursue alternatives.  In the above example, what social services would be available to the employee if he were laid off? What would be the consequences – short-term and long-term for keeping the employee on the payroll?
2. When pondering the decisions, managers must understand that their decision may become the framework for creating a new policy or procedure.  If one does not want his decision to become the legal example for the lifetime of the company, then the decision may not be the right one.
3. Whatever decision the manager makes, he must be comfortable should it become news and plastered on the front page of the local newspaper.  Will the news article cause embarrassment or pride?

No matter the situation, an ethical decision can be made.As managers, don’t be fearful of doing some research or asking peers about *your* unique situation to gain feedback on how best to proceed.  Unfortunately, there are very few truly new and unique situations, so understanding how previous decisions have been made and knowing the consequences that follow can help one make a more informed decision backed by examples and completely defensible.