ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR - Manufacturing Code of Ethics

Manufacturing Code of Ethics

by Fraser Sherman, Demand Media 

Your manufacturing business's ethics code should be more than a set of rules for employees. The code is a statement of social responsibility: What you stand for, how you treat your business partners, the ethical lines you never cross. You probably have at least an unwritten code for your business, but writing it out makes it clear to your vendors, customers and employees where you stand.

Why Have a Code

Having a written code lets everyone in your company know what conduct you expect from them, for example that you won't deal with suppliers who employ child labor or break the law. You may think it's obvious how your employees should act, or that vague rules like "treat everyone fairly" work fine, but in day-to-day operations, it may not be so clear. This is particularly true if your business is growing: You and your initial employees may be on the same page, but the more workers you hire, the more you need a written statement.

Ideas to Include

You need a code that fits your business, not one copied from someone else. Nevertheless, browsing sample ethics codes may give you ideas of what to include. Various industry associations offer such principles as always making products in accordance with industry standards, maintaining quality control, providing customers with accurate product information, providing a written warranty, providing buyers with full installation instructions, keeping a supply of replacement parts even after you stop production, disposing of hazardous substances without harming the environment and protecting employees from injury.

Employee Buy-in

Even if you're clear on what you want your company to stand for, you should solicit feedback from employees, suggests Inc. magazine. Ask for anonymous examples of tough ethical calls they've had to make in the past year so that you can identify specific situations to address. If your employees are struggling to keep product quality high in the face of tight deadlines, a written statement that you never cut quality can help them decide what to do.

Ethics Enforcement

A code that only exists on paper is meaningless: You have to back up your written code with a system for enforcing it. Employees need to know how they can report unethical behavior if they observe it, that they won't be punished for doing so and that you'll act to punish wrong-doing. If you need to assign someone to work as a compliance officer, do so. It also helps if you show that you apply the code to your own actions.