6 Ways to Ensure Effective Ethics Training for Government Employees

Efficient ethics training is critical to minimize the risks of ethical lapses. The right training binds the employees to their ethical obligations, helps them detect ethical hiccups that may emerge in their workplace, and offers them the perfect roadmap to make ethical decisions.

A well-rounded ethical training program makes it almost second nature for employees to remain fully impartial during the course of their duties alongside acting in the public’s interest at all times.

Infusing the right ethical training in your organization, however, can be an incredibly complex process. From pinpointing the areas that require a permanent “ethical fix” to creating training programs that can show real results – this article discusses several valuable strategies to boost the efficiency of training for government employees.

Identify Your Organization’s Goals Related to Ethics

Making way for an efficient ethics training program starts with understanding your agency’s goals associated with ethics. A great way to do so would be to observe and analyze your organization’s current culture. What are the most recurrent flaws that might be plaguing your organization’s culture? Which essential ethics does your organization need urgently to avert any chances of breakdown?

For instance, you might notice your workplace lacks diversity sensitivity. Perhaps your employees aren’t familiar with what ethical conduct in the workplace is all about. Is your staff fully educated on the importance of data privacy and data protection?

Regardless of the ethical issues that may linger within your organization, a thorough observation is critical to analyze and list out precise goals that must be achieved.

Determine the Different Types of Ethical Training You Can Offer

The branches of ethics sprawl across a wide space. When creating an effective training plan, there are several areas to consider, including:

• Customer Privacy
• Data protection
• Rules and regulations
• Diversity training
• Recurring ethical dilemmas
• Ethical conduct in the workplace
• Company culture
• Regulatory and compliance training
• Company code of ethics
• Customer relations
• Laws surrounding ethics and compliance

Each organization has its own set of ethical needs and goals, and a one-size-fits-all training program can hardly be of much use. Your organization might require solutions for several ethical issues.

Determining the types of training you must provide to your employees can help them follow the right ethical conduct that aligns with your organization’s culture.

Remember, ethics training is not a “one-and-done” activity. There is always room for unique situations to arise as your organization progresses. This, in turn, will require constant changes or additions to your training programs.

Train Employees On Every Level

Ethics training isn’t just for employees on the lower rungs of the organizational ladder. It is meant for every arena of your organization, including senior management.

After all, senior leadership holds the key to the most valuable data in your organization. Neglecting their ethical training can directly expose your organization to several catastrophic risks.

In addition, when the top management sidelines ethics, the employees end up receiving the flawed message that ethics are not important.

Getting the leadership involved from the very beginning reinforces the value of ethics training for the entire staff.

Offer Incentives Based Around Ethical Conduct

Incentives can be a great way to keep employees motivated to keep traveling in the lanes of ethics. Unfortunately, not many managers acknowledge employees “who do the right thing.”

But what if acknowledgments and incentives can boost employee morale in terms of ethics and set the right examples of ethical conduct?

Small incentives such as afternoons off, gift cards, a special mention during the meeting, or any other small bonuses can work wonders when it comes to ensuring employees turn their training into action.

Go Digital with the Training

Let’s face it: It costs organizations an arm and a leg to organize ethical training sessions physically in one place. Fortunately, digital alternatives such as online workshops, and video conferencing can be equally efficient to offer quality training to employees across the organization.

In addition, digital training offers several other benefits. You can make your training more interactive by introducing online quizzes. Digital feedback forms are also a great way of gauging how well-focused the employees were during the training and how much of the information they could comprehend.

Make it Both Highly Engaging and Serious about Meeting Objectives

Sure, crafting comprehensive training that considers every important arena of ethics is critical. However, unless the training is highly engaging and interactive, chances are, your employees will fail to absorb most of it.

This is where the importance of employee participation comes in. You can boost training engagement by offering dynamic group collaborations that are both fun and (efficiently) serve the purpose. Some of these training methods can include roleplaying, gamification, quizzes, and more.

When employees interact with every element of the training, they are more likely to remember the training and adhere to it both within and outside the workplace.

Making Your Ethical Training Program More Efficient – One Strategy At a Time

From determining your agency’s ethic-related goals to crafting engaging ethics training programs – a lot goes into creating ethics training that “sticks” with your employees. Aside from the strategies discussed above, here are some ways you can improve your organization’s ethics training:

• Have your organization create a board ethics committee. Make sure your organization conducts regular discussions to ensure everyone abides by their ethical obligations.
• Include your organization’s ethical compliance in its integral policy.
• Offer real-world examples and case studies to help public-sector employees understand the nuances of ethical dilemmas and ultimately make ethical decisions.
• Ethical training is not a one-time thing. To ensure your employees follow their ethical duties, reinforce, and update your programs regularly.
• Be sure to offer solid feedback mechanisms and reporting systems so your employees can report ethical misconduct without any fear of retaliation.
• Remember, ethics training starts right at recruitment. Therefore it’s important to introduce your ethical policies during the hiring process.

Great ethics training makes way for even greater public service. When your employees stick to the organization’s core values and enact their best conduct, the result is a thriving workplace environment, a constant inflow of the right talent, and a solid brand reputation.