Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, everyone. You've got questions and we've got answers. Welcome to another Bella Asks episode of the Ethicast.
The Business Ethics Leadership alliance, or bella, is a global ethics and compliance community that provides exclusive access to helpful data, benchmarking events and other resources to advance your ENC program.
And with bella's concierge service, members can submit any question at all regarding ethics and compliance, and our internal experts will provide an answer, plus helpful resources with more information.
And while we invite everyone watching and listening to join bella, we also know that there's no competition in compliance, which is why we're using this program to thematically respond to high level questions from the BELA community for the benefit of ENC teams everywhere.
And joining us once again to answer those questions is Bella chair Erica Salmon Byrne. Erica, it is good to see you again. As always, Bill, it is good to.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: See you and especially because it means that our Bella community continues to have questions. So I get to do one of my favorite things, which is come back and answer them.
[00:01:11] Speaker A: Well, the questions just keep coming. And this next one is on communications and it reads, what are the best ways to communicate and implement manager toolkits?
[00:01:21] Speaker B: Yep. So Bill, as is often the case when we get these questions from our BELLA members, I am reminded of how thoughtfully they are taking these kinds of issues because there's two words in this particular question that indicate to me that this person is thinking about both pieces of the cycle of manager toolkits, right? There's the communicate piece and then there's the implement piece. So that means that they are already thinking about forewarning managers that this is coming. So whenever you roll out a manager toolkit, what you don't want to do is just drop it on managers like a, you know, like a sandbag in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Right? Just, you know, you're walking along the sidewalk and thunk, this thing comes down on your head.
Instead, what you want to do is you want to communicate that this is coming and that you are setting expectations as to how your managers are going to use it. And so one of the best ways to do that is, is by starting to talk to managers in your manager training about the fact that you are going to have tools and other things that are going to help them do their job more effectively. And you know, Bill, this is my favorite time of year where we are starting to work with the 2025 Ethics Quotient data in our, in the sphere. And so I can tell you, for example, that 90% of world's most ethical companies Honorees are training their managers separate from the code. So that means they're not just relying on a module in the code of conduct to talk about manager responsibilities.
Instead, they're really sitting down with managers and talking to them about their responsibilities as leaders, one piece of which is communicating about doing business the right way.
And so you've started that conversation with your managers. You've given them an understanding as to why this is so important. And Bill, longtime listeners of the Ethicast and this particular series Bella asks, know that all of our data tells us that your manager is the linchpin around which everything else spins. So you've had the conversation with your managers. You've set up why it's so important. You've talked to them about the fact that actually this is something that's going to make everything else they're expected to do easier.
So that's the communication piece, and then there's the implementation piece. And the implementation piece has two pieces to it, which again, we have data on in this year.
One is, how are you actually setting expectations with managers about using these toolkits? It's not enough to just put them out into the ecosystem and be like, there they are. You should make. Some people will find them, right? We have built it and therefore they shall come.
Instead, what you want to do is say, here is the menu. We expect you to be doing this at least once a quarter. Here's how we're going to verify that you've actually used the tools that we've put out into the organization as a whole. Here's how we're going to get feedback on what's working and what's not working. Maybe some managers really like what meetings in a box. Maybe some managers just want five bullet talking points. Maybe some managers want a fun cartoon to start a meeting with, whatever it is, right?
So it's that help them understand why it matters, communicate about what it is that's expected of the managers. Here's how often we expected you to use these, and here's how we're going to make sure that they're working for you. And then the third thing to think about is where do they live, right? Where do they live? Are you sending these out via email? I hope the answer is no, for two reasons. One, they get lost that way.
Two, you can't track who's using what.
So is there a central repository where these can live, where managers can log on and download, and then you as the compliance team can say, oh, wow, everybody's downloading the, you know, Meeting in a box on gifts and entertainment. Guess we better build more gifts and entertainment content or. Oh, wow, no one's downloading the manager toolkit on gifts and entertainment. I wonder why, Because I know people are gift giving and entertaining. Right. So having it in a place where you can do some tracking, you can keep an eye on what people are actually using, it's going to allow you to build an ecosystem where these tools become things that are just part of the vernacular inside your organization.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Yeah. And there are publishing platforms out there, by the way, that they provide just completely unprecedented depths of metrics in terms of not just, you know, is somebody taking a look at this, are they going through the whole thing, but like, where are they going, what time are they spending on what piece of it? And you can, depending on the platform you use, you can really drill down. So I would encourage everybody out there to keep in mind, like the data metrics you can get are actually not what you can get 12 months ago, 18 months ago. It's really, it's a whole new world.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, and you know, taking advantage of those technological advances so that you can understand what your people, managers are engaging with and what they're not engaging with. It's, it's a way of gathering information that you can then supplement with follow up conversations, little surveys, you know, whatever the case may be.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Well, Erica, as always, we appreciate you coming in and talking on this program about these questions from the Bella community. Thank you so much.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: Absolutely. Bill, it is 100% my pleasure. All those Bella members out there, if you haven't checked out the data in the sphere on this particular question, we have a lot of information in there for you.
And to everybody listening, keep those questions coming, okay? Because that means I get to come back and answer them.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: To learn more about Bella, visit ethisphere.com bella to request guest access to the member resource hub and to speak with the Bella Engagement director.
If you have a question that you would like answered on this program, contact the Bella Concierge service and we'll get to work on it.
This has been another Bella Asks episode of the Ethicast. We hope you've enjoyed the show. For more content like this every week, please subscribe to the program on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Thanks for joining us. And until next time, remember, strong ethics is good business.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: It.
