How to Manage Ethics in the Workplace. The usage of proper ethics in any workplace is vital to the success of the company. Unfortunately, companies fail and people sometimes even go to jail because of unethical decisions made at work. Follow these steps to manage ethics in the workplace.

Communicate the company's ethics policy clearly to the employees. Posting it around the office and distributing it to employees is great, but you should have regular meetings in which everyone spends some time discussing ethics. Ask people to talk about examples of different ethical decisions. Review the rules and the reasons for them. Make it clear that the company won't tolerate unethical conduct and outline the consequences for it.

Make it easy for employees to seek guidance when they need help making a decision. Employees may not always be sure what the ethical solution is. Therefore, it's the company's responsibility to provide the resources that they need to make the right decision. Someone should be available at all times with whom employees can discuss these issues.

Create an atmosphere in which employees can trust their supervisors and know they can report violators of the ethics policy. Supervisors should keep employees who report violators anonymous and not make them face penalty. However, employees shouldn't feel like it's their responsibility to report violations.

Set an example. Supervisors cannot expect employees to respect them if they don't follow the rules that they set. Model decision-making that embraces the ethical values that the company embraces. Employees will respect their supervisors more and will likely follow their example.