Section 8 Agency

This tool is used to evaluate the organizational health of any organization. It is helpful and provides insight into what you and I should be looking for evaluating our workplaces. How does your agency measure up?

ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS SYSTEM CHECK-UP:

A Risk Management and Performance Quality Benchmarking Tool

From: Denis Collins (2009) Essentials of Business Ethics: How to Create Organizations of High Integrity and Superior Performance (John Wiley & Sons).

Benchmark the health of your organization’s ethics systems. Mark either “Yes, Sometimes, or No,” according to your current situation. At the end, count your total “Yes” answers.

HIRING ETHICAL JOB CANDIDATES	Yes	Sometimes	No
1. The importance of ethics is highlighted in our job listings.
2. Information is gathered and used in a way that does not discriminate based on a person’s race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, or disability.
3. Reference checks are conducted with a potential employee’s former employer or supervisor.
4. Background checks, integrity tests, and personality tests are conducted with potential employees.
5. Job finalists are asked to respond orally to potential ethical dilemmas.
6. Managers take into consideration a potential employee’s ethics when making a final hiring decision.
7. When appropriate, alcohol, drug and polygraph tests are conducted.
Subtotal for Hiring Ethical Job Candidates, items 1 through 7

Count your total “Yes” answers. If you scored:

60 to 90: Well done! The health of your organization’s ethics systems is better than that of most companies. Remember, there is always room for continuous improvement!

30 to 59: Pretty good! However, your organization can be a lot healthier when it comes to managing business ethics.

0 to 29: Time to get to work on improving your organization’s ethical health.