Business Ethics & Best Practices
Course Description
GLS’s business ethics training course is a must for all employees, regardless of their role within an organization. Ethical behavior sounds simple in theory, but in the business context, there are many gray areas related to ethical conduct. Failing to understand the wide-ranging topics can have serious business and legal implications.
This 45-minute course builds an understanding of corporate ethics issues, such as ethical decision-making, data privacy, conflicts of interest, financial reporting and how to foster respect in the workplace. It covers the topics that are fundamental in creating a safe and positive work environment, regulating and protecting sensitive information within your business, and understanding the risk of the legal ramifications of financial reporting.
- Topic
- Compliance
- Learning Modality
- Courseware
- Role/Audience
- All Employees
- Language
- English Only
- Total Time
- 45 Minutes
Course Curriculum
Module 1: The Basics
- A brief scenario of an employee who is offered a side project by a client
- The reasons why we need ethics training
- Understanding business ethics by applying values and doing the most good
- Understanding the organization’s Code of Business Conduct (COBC)
- Brief overview of business ethics best practices (that will be covered in the modules below)
- Benefits of applying the business ethics taught in this training
- Understanding why the employee in opening scenario should not take the side project offered to him
Module 2: Ethical Decision Making
- Importance of a decision-making tool in ethical decision making
- An example flowchart that can be used to make ethical decisions
- Details on how to use this flowchart to make ethical decisions
Module 3: The Respectful Workplace
- A brief scenario that describes sexual harassment
- Why everyone is responsible for maintaining a respectful workplace
- The core characteristics of a respectful workplace
- Understanding the legal considerations related to reporting COBC violations
- Understanding why you should help the woman in the sexual harassment scenario by reporting the harassment to HR
Module 4: Protecting the Company Resources, Information, and Privacy
- A brief scenario that describes an employee planning to keep the company laptop after quitting the job
- The type of physical resources that employees should protect: buildings and equipment, furnishings and fixtures, office supplies, company vehicles, computer systems, etc.
- The type of non-physical assets that employees should protect: time, intellectual property, and confidential information
- How employees should protect the information of their clients and colleagues
- Understanding why the employee in opening scenario is making a mistake by keeping the company laptop
Module 5: Conflicts of Interest
- An opening scenario that describes an employee receiving an expensive gift from a consultant friend hired by the employee’s firm
- Recognizing conflicts of interests, what causes them, and how to avoid them
- How to engage in outside activities without causing a conflict of interest
- How to be politically active without causing a conflict of interest
- Following the company’s COBC for giving and accepting gifts
- Understanding why the employee in the opening scenario should reject the gift from the consultant friend
Module 6: Financial Management and Disclosure
- A brief scenario that describes an employee falsifying financial information to make it look good and save his job
- Guideline for reporting financial information
- Understanding why falsifying financial information is considered fraud
- Defining money laundering and how it works
Understanding why you should report the falsified financial information described in the opening scenario
Module 7: Laws and Regulations
- A brief scenario where an employee meets an ex-colleague who works for a competitor
- Understanding a free and fair marketplace
- Guidelines for preventing anti-trust violations
Information disclosure required for publicly traded companies - Understanding insider information
- Examples of insider information
- Guidelines for handling insider information
- Understanding the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or FCPA
- Why the employee in the opening scenario should not divulge confidential information
Module 8: Conclusion
- Course Summary
- Final Quiz
A critical component of your compliance training program, our business ethics training course covers these important topics and provides guidelines to prepare users to follow their organization’s Code of Business Conduct.
