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Professional Code of Ethics

A professional code of ethics provides guidelines to help employees and organizations make ethical decisions. It establishes baseline expectations for socially acceptable behavior and addresses how to handle problems with honesty and integrity. A code of ethics outlines an organization's mission, values, and the standards employees are expected to uphold. Examples include codes that lawyers, physicians, financial advisors, teachers, and businesses adhere to in order to behave ethically and comply with legal and professional responsibilities. Developing an effective code of ethics involves prioritizing values, getting employee input, assigning oversight, and seeking assistance.

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52 views3 pages

Professional Code of Ethics

A professional code of ethics provides guidelines to help employees and organizations make ethical decisions. It establishes baseline expectations for socially acceptable behavior and addresses how to handle problems with honesty and integrity. A code of ethics outlines an organization's mission, values, and the standards employees are expected to uphold. Examples include codes that lawyers, physicians, financial advisors, teachers, and businesses adhere to in order to behave ethically and comply with legal and professional responsibilities. Developing an effective code of ethics involves prioritizing values, getting employee input, assigning oversight, and seeking assistance.

Uploaded by

dhaniellamitzi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PROFESSIONAL CODE OF ETHICS

- A professional code of ethics offers a set of guidelines teams or


organizations can use to make good decisions in the workplace.
- It allows you to set a baseline expectation for what is socially
acceptable and how to approach problems.
- A professional code of ethics can help employees work honestly and
with integrity, which can help create a healthier work environment.
- A professional code of ethics is a set of principles designed to help a
business govern its decision-making and distinguish right from wrong.
- Often referred to as an ethical code, these principles outline the
mission and values of an organization, how the professionals within the
organization are supposed to approach problems and the standards to
which employees are held.

IMPORTANCE OF CODE OF ETHICS


- A professional code of ethics is designed to ensure employees are
behaving in a manner that is socially acceptable and respectful of one
another.
- It establishes the rules for behavior and sends a message to every
employee that universal compliance is expected.
- A code of ethics can be valuable not just internally as a professional
guide but also externally as a statement of a company’s values and
commitments.

EXAMPLES OF PROFESSIONAL CODE OF ETHICS


1. LAWYERS
- Lawyers are bound to a professional code of ethics that exists
independently of their employment.
- A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client.
Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill,
thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the
representation.

2. PHYSICIANS
- Physicians are held to a universal code of conduct because of their
chosen profession.
- A physician shall provide competent medical care, with compassion
and respect for human dignity and rights.
- A physician shall uphold the standards of professionalism, be honest
in all professional interactions and strive to report physicians deficient
in character or competence, or engaging in fraud or deception, to
appropriate entities.
- A physician shall respect the law and recognize a responsibility to seek
changes in those requirements which are contrary to the best interests
of the patient.

3. FINANCIAL ADIVSERS
- Financial advisers are legally bound to a code of ethics known as a
fiduciary duty. This code requires them to act in the best interest of
their clients.
- Certified public accountants (CPAs) are expected to follow similar
ethical standards of truthfulness, objectivity and integrity.

4. TEACHERS
- Professional educators are typically held to a universal code of ethics
that is designed to protect the rights of all students.
- The code of ethics can vary from school to school or differ slightly in
each state, but the basic principles always remain the same: Teachers
are required to show impartiality, integrity and ethical behavior in the
classroom and in their conduct with parents and colleagues.

5. BUSINESSES
- Businesses often establish a professional code of ethics to help
employees decide if certain behaviors are acceptable.
 CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY POLICIES
- Companies may require employees to maintain confidentiality
when handling clients’ private information or when dealing with the
company’s own proprietary data.
 OBEYING THE LAW
- Companies may specify guidelines that require employees to
abide by the law. For example, they may discuss profiting from—or
enabling others to profit from—inside information regarding a
company’s financial stability, performance or internal problems.
 CARING AND CONSIDERATION POLICIES
- Companies may establish policies requiring employees to
behave in a caring and considerate manner. For example, if you
provide home healthcare services to senior citizens, treating the
patient and their family with care and consideration can impact your
ability to obtain new clients.

STEPS IN DEVELOPING THE CODE OF ETHICS


1. SET YOUR PRIORITIES
- The first step to creating a code of ethics is deciding the values that
are important to your company.
- Putting these rules in place early on will help your company grow the
way you want it to. For example, as your organization develops and
expands, you will be hiring new employees, and you want them to
understand the values of your organization before you bring them into
the workplace.
- One way you can identify your company’s values is to consider what
your limits are when trying to acquire clients or meet your revenue
goals.

2. ASK EMPLOYEES FOR INPUT


- Request your employees participate in crafting your code of ethics.
- Employees need to understand why it is important to put the code of
ethics into writing and why it contains the tenets it does.
- If you ask them for input when you are creating the code of ethics,
they will be far more likely to support the idea, and the code may
encompass a more well-rounded selection of principles.

3. PUT SOMEONE IN CHARGE


- Often known as an ethical or compliance officer, this person needs to
have a strong commitment to the success of your organization, be
reliable and have strong interpersonal skills.
- The employee you put in charge of maintaining your company’s code
of ethics should also be responsible for updating it.
- The code should be a dynamic part of your business that changes as
your company grows and develops.

4. HAVE SOMEONE TO TURN TO FOR HELP


- If you are part of a smaller company in a low-risk, low-liability field,
you can typically draft a code of ethics yourself.
- It can be beneficial to ask for help to make sure you have covered
every necessary principle in your code of ethics.

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