THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPER’S€¦ · simply adhering to the law. •Reflected in the choices people...

GEORGIA TECH BASIC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COURSE

44th Annual Course – Atlanta, Georgia

March 31, 2011

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPER’S

PROFESSIONAL CODE OF ETHICS

THE IMPACT OF OUR PROFESSION

“The economic development profession has one of the most profound impacts on human

life and highly effective EDOs can help author those impacts.”

- IEDC

HIGH PERFORMING EDOs

Results Scorecard

TOP THREE WEIGHTED SCORE

1. EDO obeys laws and regulations 4.7

2. EDO demonstrates high standards and ethics 4.7

3. EDO has positive impact on community’s development 4.6

Source: 2009 Benchmarking Excellence Among Accredited Economic Development Organizations Survey conducted by Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute in partnership with IEDC.

THE CALL FOR LEADERSHIP

“Management is doing things right.

Leadership is doing the right thing.”

- Peter Drucker

DEFINING “RIGHT”…

“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do

and what is right to do.”

- Potter Stewart

ABOUT ETHICS

Ethics = Upholding higher standards of conduct than

simply adhering to the law.

• Reflected in the choices people make in ordinary (and

extraordinary) decisions in day-to-day life.

• Often impacted by personal and professional values.

Source: International Economic Development Council, 2011

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ETHICS SURVEY

Bad News

• Misconduct across government high. Nearly 6-in-10 employees saw at least one form of misconduct in past 12 months.

• 57% state employees

• 63% local employees

• Over half of federal employees

• 30% of misconduct unreported to management

• One-in-four employees worked in environments conducive to misconduct.

Source: Ethics Resource Center, 2007

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ETHICS SURVEY

Good News

• More than 8-in-10 employees said they feel prepared to handle situations inviting misconduct.

• 70% of government workers who observed misconduct reported it to management.

• When a well-implemented ethics and compliance program and a strong ethical culture are in place, misconduct dropped by 60% and reporting rose by 40%.

Government’s risk of losing public trust can be mitigated.


NATIONAL NONPROFIT ETHICS SURVEY

Bad News

• Conduct that violates the law or organizational

standards rose and reached levels comparable to

business and government organizations in 2007.

• Financial fraud higher among nonprofits than business

and government.

• Boards not taking advantage of their ability to set clear

ethics standards for their nonprofits.


NATIONAL NONPROFIT ETHICS SURVEY

Good News

• Nonprofits exhibit stronger ethical cultures and greater alignment of employees’ personal values with the missions and values of their organizations.

• Nonprofit employees who exhibit ethical courage and report misconduct are less likely to experience retaliation than employees in other sectors.

• The best possible example of a difference a well-implemented ethics program and strong culture can make.

• Misconduct dropped to nearly 0 percent; 100 percent of employees reported situation to management.


REASONS FOR UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR

• Pressure to perform

• Pressure from peers

• Lack of understanding of consequences for one’s actions

• Uncharted territory

• Personal loyalties

• Lack of long term perspective or failure to see it at the time

• Personal costs for doing the right thing may be too high

• Poor judgment

• Lack of clear understanding of expected organizational/professional code of

conduct

• Improper and/or inadequate training


HUMANS

MAKE

MISTAKES

What Can You Do?

PROMOTING AN ETHICAL CULTURE

ETHICAL CULTURE VS. CLIMATE?

Culture

• Teaches employees whether doing the right thing matters.

• Makes doing what is right expected.

• Includes formal ethics program elements, reward and

punishment systems, and organizational myths.

Climate

• Reflects “collective personality” of organization (ethics-

related attitudes, perceptions, decision-making processes).

Source: Ethics & Compliance Officer Association, 2007

IMPACT OF ETHICAL CULTURE VS. CLIMATE

• Employees’ organizational commitment

• Employee satisfaction

• Rates of misconduct

• Employees’ perception of leadership

• Employee performance

• Organization’s expenses


THE CALL FOR LEADERSHIP

“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s

performance to a higher standard.”

- Peter Drucker

WHAT’S A LEADER TO DO?

• Walk the walk

• Keep people in the loop

• Encourage thoughtful dissent

• Show them that you care

• Don’t sweep problems under the rug

• Celebrate the successes

• Be fair

• Make ethics a priority

• Make the tough calls

• Get the right people, and keep them


12 STEPS TO ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

1. Hold yourself to a higher standard than is required.

2. Openly share information.

3. Stay out of politics.

4. Keep your word.

5. Don’t accept or solicit gifts.

6. Tell the truth, and take care to be accurate.

7. Remember the powerless.

8. Keep improving your knowledge and skills, and generate a learning environment for your organization.

9. Use fairness and merit in all personnel actions.

10. Treat your colleagues with respect and courtesy.

11. Ask for advice, and encourage your staff to ask for advice.

12. Share your passion for public service and its stewardship responsibilities.

Source: International City/County Management Association, 2005

DEFINING ETHICS

• Is it legal?

• Does it violate the spirit of the law?

• Does it comply with our rules and regulations?

• Is it consistent with our organizational values?

• Does it match our stated commitments?

• Am I the only primary beneficiary?

• Will I feel okay and guilt free if I do this?

• Is bias or emotion clouding my judgment?

• Would I do it to my family and friends (or myself)?

• Would the most ethical person I know do this?

Source: International Economic Development Council, 2011,

quoting the International City/County Management Association

ADOPTING AN ETHICS POLICY: WHAT TO DO

1. Clearly establish organizational values.

2. Integrate them into operations and provide support systems for

upholding the values.

3. Promote them through effective communication with the

members, outside stakeholders, media, general public, etc.

4. Connect them with policies and decision making processes.


PROMOTING ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

• Adopt a written code of conduct.

• Develop written policies and procedures for investigation.

Code of Conduct

• Involve the staff.

• Be a role model.

• Provide incentives for ethical behavior.

Ethics Education

• Have regular discussions, debates and seminars.

• Conduct role plays with real life situations.

Performance Assessment


PROMOTING ETHICAL BEHAVIOR


Performance Evaluations

Baseline Assessment

Regular Re-Assessment

and Benchmarking

7-STEP CHECKLIST

TO DEAL WITH ETHICAL DILEMNA

1. Recognize and clarify the predicament.

2. Gather all the essential facts.

3. List all of your options.

4. Analyze each option by asking yourself: Is it legal? Is it right? Is it

beneficial? Who benefits? Who may be adversely affected and how?

5. Draw your conclusions, and make your decision.

6. Double-check your decision by asking yourself: “How would I feel if my peers

and superiors found out about this? How would I feel if my decision was

made public by the media? How would I feel telling my parents or children

about it?

7. Take action.


DEVELOPING AN ORGANIZATIONAL CODE OF

ETHICS

1. Find a champion.

2. Engage legal counsel.

3. Form an ethics task force / committee.

4. Draft a policy.

5. Present draft policy to board/city council.

6. Repeat previous steps as necessary.

7. Publish, train staff and implement.

8. Revisit the code and revise as necessary.


COMMON ETHIC CODE PROVISIONS

Employment Practices

• Workplace harassment

• Equal opportunity

• Diversity

• Fair treatment of staff

• Work-family balance

• Discrimination

• Illegal drugs and alcohol

• Use of organization property

• Proper exercise of authority



Employee, Client, and Vendor Information

• Maintaining records and information

• Privacy and confidentiality

• Disclosure of information

Public Information / Communications

• Advertising and marketing

• Development and fundraising

• Clarity of information

• Access to information

• Transparency of information



Conflicts of Interest

• Gifts and gratuities

• Political activity

• Outside employment

• Family members

• Volunteer activities

• Disclosure of financial interests

Relationship with Vendors

• Procurement

• Negotiating contracts


The Gold Standard for Professional Conduct in

the Economic Development Industry

THE IEDC CODE OF ETHICS


• 2008: IEDC adopted the Code of Ethics for the economic development profession.

• 2009: IEDC Ethics Task Force conducted research on best practices (APA, ICMA) on policies, procedures, and related financial matters.

• 2010: IEDC staff developed ethics curriculum; initial training sessions offered at IEDC courses and conferences.

• 2011: Georgia Tech Basic Economic Development Course’s first annual offering of a session focused on ethics.


1. Carry out responsibilities in a manner to bring

respect to the profession, the economic developer,

and the economic developer’s constituencies.

Source: International Economic Development Council, 2008, 2011


2. Practice with integrity, honesty, and adherence to

the trust placed in you both in fact and

appearance.

• Authority: Who is accountable for what

responsibilities?

• Purpose: What is my intent?

• Principles: What do I stand for?



3. Hold free of any interest, influence, or relationship in respect to any professional activity when dealing with clients which could impair professional judgment or objectivity – or which in the reasonable view of the observer, has that effect.

• Impartiality

• Intellectual honesty

• Disclosure of conflict of interests



4. Be mindful that you are representatives of the

community and shall represent the overall

community interest.



5. Keep the community, elected officials, boards, and

other stakeholders informed about the progress

and efforts of the area’s economic development

program.



6. Maintain in confidence the affairs of any client,

colleague, or organization and do not disclose

confidential information obtained in the course of

professional activities.



7. Openly share information with the governing body

according to protocols established by that body.

Such protocols shall be disclosed to clients and

the public.



8. Cooperate with peers to the betterment of

economic development technique, ability, and

practice.



9. Assure that all economic development activities

are conducted with equality of opportunity for all

segments of the community without regard to

race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national

origin, political affiliation, disability, age, or marital

status.



10. Abide by the principles in this code and comply

with the rules of professional conduct…

Act ethically Support peers

Behave respectfully Ensure quality

Teach effectively Provide opportunities

Assess fairly Learn willingly

Act professionally Think broadly

Solicit feedback


WHY BE GOOD…

WHEN YOU CAN BE GREAT…

“Good-to-great transformations never happened in one fell swoop…

Sustained great results depend upon building a culture of self-disciplined people who

take disciplined action…”

- Jim Collins

THANK YOU…

Joy Wilkins, CEcD

Phone: 404-895-6115

Email: [email protected]

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPER’S€¦ · simply adhering to the law. •Reflected in the choices people...

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