ETHICS TALKS

Cynthia Schoeman, MD of Ethics Monitoring & Management Services, regularly gives keynote speeches and talks at company functions and conferences on a wide range of ethical topics.

To book or enquire about an ethics talk, click here.

Ethics talks

• Ethical and effective leadership: what does it mean?
The importance of ethical leadership is well recognised not least because of the significant impact leaders have on the ethics of others. A very noteworthy added emphasis stems from the changed definition of corporate governance in the Draft King IV Report (IoDSA, 2016), where it is defined as “the exercise of ethical and effective leadership by the governing body.” This talk looks at what this implies for directors and executives, encompassing what they should understand in the field of workplace ethics and what this increased emphasis implies they should do.
• The top ten ethics trends
  A sound understanding of workplace ethics is indispensable to be able to improve an organisation’s ethical status and is a critical foundation for effective fraud management. Being aware of the current ethics trends enhances this understanding significantly, allowing leaders to adopt a more proactive and strategic approach to workplace ethics. These trends address, among others, the following issues: Workplace ethics, diversity and alignment | Ethics as compliance or commitment? | Who’s offering meaningful ethical assurance? | Transparency and disclosure is not optional | Ethics management is not sound enough to minimise risk and avoid reputational damage.
• Ethical leadership: the key roles & responsibilities
  The goal of achieving ethical behaviour in the workplace is shared by virtually all organisations. It is therefore especially pertinent that of the factors that shape behaviour, leaders are widely recognised as the most influential. As role models, they effectively set the ethical standards of the organisation by the values they demonstrate, by what they say and do, and by what they do not respond to or act against. This presentation shares the key roles that leaders should fulfil in order to promote and improve ethics. An especially important area of responsibility is that leaders should ensure that their organisation’s ethics is managed well enough to minimise risk, to avoid reputational damage and to support the optimal goal of an ethical culture. The presentation includes a comprehensive framework for the more effective management of workplace ethics.
• Ethics: the 7 big things you need to understand
There are 7 primary issues that leaders and managers need to understand to ensure they’re up to speed with the primary ethical issues in the workplace and to enable them to effectively manage and improve their organisation’s ethics:
Your employees already know what’s right and wrong: Ethics is a choice | Yes, values are different for different people. So what’s the leader’s role? | What’s the value of an ethical culture and what’s the new ROI? | Is ethics regarded as “bragging rights”, a nice-to-have or an optional extra? | Ethics needs to move from theory and sound intentions to action | Moral temptations are not the same as ethical dilemmas | When to follow the leader - and when not to follow the leader.
• Ethics: an essential ingredient in effective fraud control
  An organisational culture based on sound ethics is an essential ingredient that underpins effective fraud control. Understanding ethics in the workplace is crucial to be able to manage and improve an organisation’s ethics, to build and maintain an ethical culture, and to leverage ethics to address fraud more effectively.
  
• A strategic framework for effective ethics management
  It can be taken as a given that virtually all organisations want to achieve ethical conduct in the workplace. The advantages are noteworthy, whether in the form of benefits like a trust-based culture and greater employee engagement, or via the avoidance of negative costs and consequences, such as the erosion of stakeholder relationships and reputational damage. Yet ethics is often not accorded the necessary management attention and, crucially, it is not always managed as effectively as is necessary. This talk shares a comprehensive framework for the more effective management of workplace ethics.
• HR as driver of ethics in the organisation
  Many of the benefits of sound ethics directly support HR’s areas of responsibility, and therefore represent a good reason why HR should support ethics. However, the greater reason is arguably that HR maximises their spheres of responsibility and influence to make a meaningful contribution to creating a more ethical workplace for their employees. As it always the case, the extent to which HR makes this difference will rest on their commitment to ethics and the level of their engagement in pursuing an ethical culture.