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What kinds of ethical decisions should be covered during ethics training?

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As much as possible, tailor ethics training to fit the needs of the employees. To that end, ethics training for new entry-level hires will often look very different from ethics training for senior executives. Given the differences between companies and positions, however, here are some of the most basic ethical issues at work:

Personal use of company resources: Are employees allowed to use company resources, such as computers and telephones, for personal use? If so, how much can they use them? Should they do it off the clock? What if they pay back the company?

Confidentiality: What necessitates confidentiality at your company? Under what circumstances can you break confidentiality? What can you say to co-workers that you could not say to competitors? Are you still bound to confidentiality if you leave the company?

Truth in sales and advertising: What is your responsibility to the consumer? If the customer tries to take advantage of an advertising mistake, do you have to allow it? Should you inform customers of all options, including ones that might mean less money to the company?

Business expenses: What qualifies as a business expense? How do you report business expenses? How does this affect personal and corporate taxes?

Bob Dunn, the president of Business for Social Responsibility said simply, �Ethical decisions aren�t as easy as they used to be.� One of the most important things you can teach at training is how to resolve ethical dilemmas. Many times, employees simply do not know what to do, do not know what is the right decision to make. Give employees suggestions on what ethical guidelines to follow and who to turn to for help.

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