Why do organizations need ethics training?  Why do organizations need an ethics policy?

Didn’t we all learn the fundamentals of right and wrong when we were growing up?  Why would an organization take the time and money to conduct ethics training?

Many organizations are required to provide ethics policies and training to their employees as part of their government contracting agreements.  Why would the government require organizations to provide such training?  It’s simple.  Even though we were taught the fundamentals of what is right, we still need training to know what laws we must follow in our work.

It’s similar to knowing we aren’t supposed to speed when we drive.  However, without the speed limit regularly posted, we wouldn’t know the upper speed limit of the road where we are driving.

New employees may not know what gifts and entertainment they are allowed to accept or provide a customer without telling them the specifics.  The organization must provide an ethics policy and training to ensure employees know exactly what is expected of them.