Perpetuating an Ethical Culture

There are many things we can take for granted in the workplace (like reliable internet access and coffee in the break room), but an ethical culture is not one of them. If you do not have a strong, ethical culture your organization is prone to decreased productivity, high employee turnover, and a subpar reputation.? Growing and sustaining an ethical culture requires committing to and investing in the recognition of ethical dilemmas and providing tools to your people to help them make sound decisions.

We face big and small pressures everyday – from closing a big deal to completing training requirements and know there is always one (or ten) more tasks that need to get done. Indeed, according to the Ethics & Compliance Initiative’s latest?Global Business Ethics Survey, 84% of employees who reported feeling pressure to compromise workplace standards also observed misconduct. So, how can we foster collaboration and mutual support to help prevent colleagues from resorting to unethical practices?

Over the last several weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with my Ethics and Compliance colleagues to develop our next hackathon, Pressure Points: Hacking Ethical Behavior. Working together in teams, our professionals will recommend innovative strategies and actions to mitigate or eliminate pressures that could lead to instances of misconduct within the firm.?This hackathon will provide our people an opportunity to build awareness around this important initiative while generating tangible ideas to enhance the firm’s ethical culture.

Being a trusted partner in the market is paramount to the success of KPMG. Data Citizens with Purpose? (DCwP) continues to bridge the gap between our clients and our professionals. As the leading way the firm works Together, For Better with data, DCwP provides active learning experiences to serve our communities and develop data driven solutions to difficult ESG concerns. By leveraging the DCwP program to launch the upcoming hackathon, KPMG is able to educate our professionals on maintaining high ethical standards while engaging them to develop innovative tools and solutions that can enhance our Values driven culture.

I look forward to hearing the ideas that our ingenious and motivated colleagues develop through their participation in this event. Together, we do make a difference!