Management Training,Staff Training

In the past few years there have been a number of high profile instances of unethical behavior exposed in the media. In 2005, a South Korean researcher faked the cloning of a human embryo. He was first celebrated and eventually charged with fraud, embezzlement, and bioethics violations.¹ Questions were raised about his techniques, including the dubious practice of removing eggs from his junior technicians.² A postdoctoral student at a prestigious medical institution falsified data and published it; the article was retracted soon after publication, when other researchers in the same lab could not replicate the results. There are historical examples: Alfred Kinsey’s studies, known as the Kinsey Reports, have been questioned for the combination of bad science and fraud. Possibly the most famous fraud was the “discovery” of the Piltdown Man in the early 1900s, which was accepted as fact until 1953.³ High profile ethical lapses cause the public to distrust science.

Today, cheating is rampant in both high school and college. One study found high school students understood the concept of cheating, but were selective in application of the knowledge, cheating in some circumstances but not others.⁴ Schools teach to the test and there is a “win at all costs” mentality that has spawned “competitive cheating” i.e., “in order to compete with those who cheat, I need to cheat too.” In July, 178 teachers and principals in the Atlanta school system were implicated in a cheating scandal that involved changing answers and helping students take standardized tests.⁵ And it’s not just students. Most recently, it has been reported that Mexican police are being trained not to take bribes.

Reality television and popular culture reinforce the “win at any cost” mentality. Sports cheating, including the use of performance enhancers is both accepted and widespread. The internet makes cheating and plagiarism easy, causing many schools to employ anti plagiarism software to check term papers. With such pervasive cultural influences, the ethical message, especially for millennials, can be muddied or lost. They often adopt situational ethics, instead of a clear vision of right and wrong.

The purpose of ethics training, above all else, is to provide an honest and fair business environment that complies with federal law and promotes equality amongst all peers.⁶ Almost every industry has some requirement for ethics training.

Ethics is a large umbrella topic, and training encompasses a wide variety of behaviors, processes, and attitudes. A partial list of subjects follows:

Ethics training starts with a clear set of expectations, and should be part of onboarding for the new employee. Training must be more than simply providing a handbook; spend some time to highlight the basic code of conduct for the organization.