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Why should I do ethics training?

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First and foremost, ethics training is a way to ensure that the right thing is done. You are equipping yourself and equipping others to make right decisions, decisions that benefit you and those around you. In addition, however, there are many other benefits to doing ethics training in the workplace:

Ethics benefit employees: Employees want to work for an ethical corporation. They will feel more fulfilled in their work and are more likely to seek the good of the team rather than their own good. An unethical environment, on the other hand, fosters an �every man for himself� attitude. It is no wonder that a 1991 Wall Street Journal article linked stress and unethical behavior. Unethical people are always having to watch their back and worry about getting caught.

Ethics protect the company: Enron is the best-known example, but there have been many reported instances of companies taking ethical shortcuts only to get caught and have to pay the penalties. Government fines combine with decreased reputation and profits to cost a company millions.

Ethics provide guidance and accountability: Ethics provide a standard against which a company can measure decisions. It is easy to lose sight of ultimate goals�to focus on dollars and forget about people. Having ethical principles, though, gives you a moral compass, and when people know your standards, they can hold you to them.

In the end, though, ethics are an issue in which doing the right thing is its own reward. William Lloyd Garrison, the outspoken abolitionist long before the Civil War said, �The success of any great moral enterprise does not depend upon numbers.� There are many benefits to doing ethics training, but chief among them is the satisfaction of doing the right thing.

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