You might have all the best ethics policies in place with your business and feeling pretty confident in your efforts. But even those companies with robust policies and dedicated human resources staff to keep up with training, ethics risks are still a concern. And the only way to really know how well your ethics policies and mechanisms are working is by reviewing the data. Today, we’ll share just how business leaders like you can measure the effectiveness of ethical efforts. You can tap into these measurable data points and metrics to see precisely where you can make improvements regarding your brand’s ethical operations.

Measuring with Multiple Tools and Resources

Today’s leaders can evaluate the current position of their company’s ethics policy enforcement using tools that measure in three ways.

Quantitative Performance: Calculating risks and ethics efforts linearly.

Qualitative Performance: Calculating the value of the risks and ethics improvements.

Mixed Methods: Calculating a combination of instances and trends as they correlate to business operations.

Risk Assessments

One way to measure the effectiveness of your ethical business practices is with an audit to determine company risks. Consider conducting internal reviews to spot instances or the likelihood of harassment, discrimination, fraud, theft, and other ethics violations. There are four indicators that point to potential risks of unethical behaviors.

1. Organization pressures to compromise standards or mission statements.

2. Witnessed or observed misconduct or ethics violations

3. Reported misconduct or violations from third-parties

4. Suspicion or instances of retaliation of any kind

Employee Satisfaction Rates

Another indicator that points to a strong ethics policy involves the sentiments of your employees. Consider reviewing job and workplace satisfaction rates. These are often based on anonymous surveys or through reviews and staff conversations. You can also learn about staff satisfaction during exit interviews and employee exit surveys. Questions can include topics such as:

· Work environment and conditions

· Management oversight and practices

· Data management privacy practices

· Social responsibility

· Business relationships

Number of Reports or Ethics Investigations

Measuring your ethics also means reviewing past investigations. You’ll want to be mindful of not only the nature of those investigations and their results but also the frequency with which they occurred. Reported incidents of ethics violations can be measured over time and used to potentially project trends and insights. Calculate the following data with regard to investigations:

· Departmental categories of the incidents

· Financial implications of the investigations

· The severity and incident type

Ethics Hotlines Provide All the Data You Need

When you implement an ethics hotline for your business, you can leverage the power of data and metrics in a revolutionary way. See the analytics mentioned above and more with simplistic reports provided by your hotline.

Ethics policies and best practices may continue to evolve. But the ethics hotline continues to be one of the most effective mechanisms for measuring a brand’s ethics. Consider using an ethics hotline as part of your company’s efforts and stay on top of trends and ongoing ethical shifts. And Ethical Advocate is here to help you with everything – from hotline launch to ongoing management.