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"Companies that invest in ethics reap an enormous return. Better workplace ethics cut business risks by reducing the chance that serious ethics problems will throw companies off course and distract them from their core business" ERC CEO Patricia Harned In the latest National Business Ethics Survey from ECI (Ethics & Compliance Initiative), it's no surprise that an organization's culture, leadership, and values-based ethics and compliance program makes a huge difference in increasing an employee's willingness to report workplace misconduct. Employees feel free from retaliation! The survey, conducted on large organizations of 90,000 or more employees, shows that with an effective values-based ethics and compliance program, employee reporting of wrongdoing increases by 61 percent. These such program also decrease retaliation by as much as 93 percent. The likelihood of retaliation against reporters is also lessened in instances where employees believe that individuals at all levels of the organization are held accountable if they violate company standards or the law.

Ethical Decisions Ensure That Everyone's Best Interests Are Protected An ethics reporting system is such a simple and cost-effective way for businesses to protect themselves from employee misconduct. Every day we hear stories related to frauds committed in the workplace. In the vast majority of cases there is someone who was privy to the impropriety, didn't necessarily benefit from it, yet never reported it.

These Five P's Have Perfect Potential! Defining the ethics policy in your organization is part of establishing an effective ethics hotline. There are a variety of different codes, different names, styles and content. Some are concise and straightforward and some are more detailed and are accompanied by an ethics program.

It's Earth Day - How's Your CSR? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economic, social and environmentally sustainable manner. Because today is Earth Day 2015, and this is the only planet we've got (that makes chocolate), there's no better day than today to ensure your corporate social responsibility policy is built into your code of conduct.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose" - Dr. Seuss Establishing compliant and ethical behaviour among the masses, and regulating against non-compliance is a big step in the fight against fraud and abuse. All organizations have their own unique plan in operating their businesses and achieving success, but there's a similar foundation that sets the base of any effective program, in any industry.

Are You Considering Implementing a Whistleblower Hotline? There's much to take into account regarding features and benefits of an ethics hotline. Today's environment has fraud, negligence, abuse of power, and more very prevalent, or so it seems.