A Code of Conduct is a written collection of the rules, principles,values, and employee expectations, behavior, and relationships that an organization considers significant and believes are fundamental to their successful operation.
A Code of Conduct enumerates those standards and values that make an organization remarkable and that enable it to stand out from similar organizations.
The Code of Conduct serves as a framework for ethical decision making within an organization. The Code of Conduct is a communication tool that informs internal and external stakeholders about what is valued by a particular organization, its employees, and management.
The Code of Conduct is the heart and soul of a company. Think of a Code of Conduct as an in-depth view of what an organization believes and how the employees of an organization see themselves and their relationship with each other and the rest of the world. The Code of Conduct paints a picture of how employees, customers, partners, and suppliers can expect to be treated as a result
Who Develops a Code of Conduct?
All sorts of organizations develop a Code of Conduct. Companies develop a Code of Conduct to promulgate principles and ethics that will make them attractive to customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
Non-profits create a Code of Conduct for these reasons and to ensure that employees and clients understand and trust their mission of service. Professional associations develop Codes of Conduct for similar reasons and to suggest ethical behavior across an industry and in the professional behavior of its members.
Several examples of a Code of Conduct were so powerful in guiding the behavior, standards, and ethics of an organization that they became famous in and of themselves. At Johnson & Johnson, for example, Robert Wood Johnson, company chairman from 1932 to 1963 and a member of the organization's founding family, wrote their famous Credo in 1943. William Hewlett and David Packard long managed Hewlett-Packard (HP): The HP Way.
A Code of Conduct can also be a document that details an organization's expectations and requirements of their vendors, suppliers, and partners. Also commonly called a supplier code of ethics, the Code of Conduct lays the groundwork for the organization's relationship with its partners.
For example, Apple's (and the Electronics Industry's) Supplier Code of Conduct states that "Apple is committed to ensuring that working conditions in Apple's supply chain are safe, that workers are treated with respect and dignity, and that manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible."
Develop and Integrate a Code of Conduct
A Code of Conduct is written by an executive team; developed by a cross section of employees from various functions; or designed by organization development, corporate communications, marketing, supplier relationships, and / or Human Resources staff, depending on the organization and its internal mode of operation and management style.
A Code of Conduct that is developed either by a powerful, esteemed executive, often also the owner, or by a cross section of employees sans such an executive's influence, is easier to incorporate and integrate. It is more likely to affect the actual beliefs and operation of an organization.
The Code of Conduct will more likely achieve full implementation and integration within the organization when more stakeholders are involved in its creation.
Like the process recommended for the development, alignment, and communication of anorganization's values or the integration of a strategic plan, participation contributes to the successful integration of a Code of Conduct. Use these same recommended steps for your process to develop your Code of Conduct.
Disseminate the Code of Conduct
A Code of Conduct is published and disseminated to its employees, and to existing and potential stakeholders such as members of the board of directors, customers, partners, vendors, suppliers,potential employees and the general public. It is the image that the company wants to convey to these stakeholders.
Frequently posted on the organization's website and in their annual report to shareholders, the Code of Conduct is both an internal commitment to a standard of behavior and beliefs and a public declaration of the organization's position on a set of standards, values, principles, and beliefs
See Sample Codes of Conduct
I have selected some remarkable examples of a code of conduct, that are available online, to provide guidance as you develop your employee and company code of conduct.
- Google's Code of Conduct
- Honeywell Code of Conduct
- Merck's Code of Conduct
- Verizon's Code of Conduct