Should you hire a professional ethics trainer?

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Should you hire a professional ethics trainer?

By Lauren | November 10, 2008

Most executives acknowledge that it’s a good idea to talk about ethics with their employees from time to time, but they may be reluctant to bring in a professional ethics trainer. It costs money to hire outside speakers, and a lot of managers think they can do ethics training just as well as a professional can. They might want to think again. There are at least three reasons to bring in an outside speaker to train your employees in business ethics:

Expertise. Most of us know something about right and wrong, but very few executives can afford to spend a lot of time to thinking about business ethics or how to train on ethics in an engaging, inspiring way. A professional trainer is an expert in business ethics who almost always provide a more thoughtful, meaningful and complete presentation to your employees than you can. The trainer’s speaking skills are likely to be better than yours are, too - being a great executive doesn’t necessarily make you a great presenter.

Significance. Your employees see and hear from you every day, and might well take an ethics presentation from you with a very large grain of salt. (Familiarity may not breed contempt, but it rarely inspires excitement.) If you hire an outside trainer, your employees will see a fresh face, hear a new voice, and may listen with greater interest. They’ll also recognize that you made the special effort to bring in an expert, which underscores your company’s commitment to business ethics.

Credibility. Even the best run companies have ethical issues from time to time, and may find themselves under scrutiny by regulators, the press, or even prosecutors. It’s often helpful in those uncomfortable situations to be able to demonstrate that your company’s management takes ethics seriously even if one or two rogue employees did not. If you can prove that you brought an outside expert in to train your staff in business ethics, that will support your assertion that you and your company is innocent of wrongdoing.

Thankfully, business ethics is a “hot” topic and likely to remain so, which means there are great trainers available in almost any price range. Hiring a professional ethics trainer to work with your staff is a terrific investment in your company’s future.

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