ETHICS IN HR PRACTICE:

Role of HR Professionals as ethics champions

12 July 2018

Sindiswa Maseko

@SABPP1 @sabpp_1

SABPP Code of Conduct

RESPONSIBILITY

I

RESPECT

INTEGRITY

COMPETENCE

Recent ethical “scandals”

The last 6 months was not a good time for

ethics and governance:

• State Capture

• KPMG

• McKinsey

• SARS

• Steinhoff

• VBS Bank

Definition of Ethics Competence

Behaving ethically as HR Professionals and

living our professional code in driving ethics

and values within our organisations, being

champions of ethics, integrity and honesty in

the workplace.

SABPP HR Competency Model (2013)

Ethics Competence Outputs

SABPP HR Competency Model (2013)

Your organisation

Your profession

You

Current Current reality

• Fraud

• Corruption

• Theft

• Espionage

• Sabotage

• Money laundering

• Lies

• Crime

• Conflict of interest

• Cyber crime

• Nepotism

• Favouratism

• Price fixing

• Exploitation

• Mismanagement

• Poor governance

• Plagiarism

• Bribery

King IV™ – 3 principles

The governing body should:

1. Set the tone and lead ethically and

effectively.

2. Ensure that the organisation’s ethics is

managed effectively.

3. Ensure that the organisation is a

responsible citizen.

IODSA (2016)

King IV™ Ethical characteristics

Indepen-dence

Inclusivity

Diligence Informed Courage

Compe-tence

IODSA (2016)

King IV™ - Role of governing body: Ethics

• Set the example and tone for an ethical culture.

• Provide clear strategic direction on the management of the organisation’s

ethics.

• Ensure that ethics, values, norms are clearly articulated in codes of conduct,

and in its policies.

• Ensure that ethics policy encompasses the relationship with internal & external

stakeholders, including the conduct of organisations within the supply chain +

address ethical risk profile of organisation.

• Ensure that structures are in place to give effect to the organisation’s ethics,

values, norms, including safe reporting mechanisms & appropriate oversight &

resources for ethics management.

• Oversee that there are processes to ensure that employees, business

associates, contractors and suppliers are familiar with the organisation’s ethics

norms as set out in codes of ethics & conduct, e.g. incorporating these in

employment & supply contracts.

• Oversee that recruitment processes, promotion criteria and performance

evaluations of employees recognise adherence to ethics norms (codes,

sanctions).

• Disclosure of structures, processes for ethics management + monitoring.

IODSA (2016)

Responsible corporate citizenship

Governing body should ensure that the organisation

is a responsible corporate citizen:

1. Provide strategic direction for organisation to be

a responsible corporate citizen and to respond to

economic, social, environmental outcomes of its

activities;

2. Oversee that the performance as a corporate

citizen is monitored against targets;

3. Disclosure of structures, processes, monitoring.

IODSA (2016)

Corporate citizenship include:• Sustainable development

• Human rights

• Impact on communities

• Protection of the natural environment

• Fair labour practices

• Fair & responsible remuneration

• Employee wellbeing & development

• Employee & public health & safety

• Compliance with legislation

• Prevention, detection & response to fraud/corruption

• Economic transformation, including EE & BEE

• Fair treatment of customers

• Fair competition with industry peers

• Fair treatment of associates, suppliers, contractors

• Responsible tax policies

Source: King IV™

BUSINESS STRATEGY – HR BUSINESS ALIGNMENT

StrategicHRM

TalentManagement

HR RiskManagement

HR ARCHITECTURE

I

HR VALUE & DELIVERY PLATFORM

Work-force

planning

Learning&

Deve-lopment

Perfor-manceMana-

gement

Reward &

Recogni-tion

Em-ployee

wellness

Employ-mentRela-tions

Organi-sationDeve-

lopment

HR Service Delivery

HR Technology(HRIS)

Prepare

Imple-ment

Review ImproveHR MEASUREMENTHR Audit: Standards & Metrics

H R

C O

M P

E T E N C

I E S© SABPP HR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM STANDARD MODEL

Ethics in the HR Standards

3.3.1 Position HR as a strategic partner in the risk governance structures

and processes of the organisation.

6.2.4 Ensure fair, ethical and organisational cultural practices focusing on

the achievement of performance targets in a sustainable way.

7.2.2 Deliver a fair & equitable reward system and process that is ethical,

cost effective and sustainable.

7.2.4 Ensure compliance with organisational governance principles and

practices aligned to national and relevant international governance codes

of practice and relevant legislation.

10.3.2 Ethics of interventions is observed.

11.3.7 Provide independent professional oversight, guidance and

consulting with regard to HR policy, strategy and organisational people

practices and ethical values.

National HR Management Standards (2013) SABPP.

Biggest lesson in ethics

You can get away doing something unethical

over the short term.

But how long will it last? A day, a week, a

month, a year, a few years…

Eventually the truth comes out.

It takes years to build a good reputation and

only a moment to destroy it.

Build and maintain your ethical reputation.

Guidelines for HR ethics

• Ethical organisation culture

• Explicit values – make alive

• Leaders actively working against fraud, behaving

in an ethical way – Leadership Standard

• Ethics and anti-fraud orientation and training

• Recognise and reward good ethics

• Communication - publicity

• Put procedures and controls in place

• Take strong action if things go wrong

• Evaluate strengths/gaps in your system

Conclusion

Ethics in business is an important aspect for

board members, managers, HR, reward and

payroll professionals and employees.

Leadership plays a key role.

We need to infuse ethics into our mindset and

behaviours as individuals, teams and

organisations. I invite HR & Reward to

become ethics champions & responsible

active citizens. It is an honor to be part of this

journey with SARA, SAPA & SABPP.

We set HR standards!

professional@sabpp.co.za (Professional Registration)

ethics@sabpp.co.za (Ethical issues/complaints)

hraudit@sabpp.co.za (HR Standards & Audits)

xolani@sabpp.co.za (Operations)

events@sabpp.co.za (Projects/Marketing)

hrri@sabpp.co.za (Research)

naren@sabpp.co.za (Learning & Quality)

marius@sabpp.co.za (Strategy inputs)

voice@sabpp.co.za (Social media)

Website: www.sabpp.co.za Blog: www.sabpp.co.za/blog

Tel: +27 11 045 5400 or 010 007 5906