Code of Conduct Training – Why It Matters
When someone asks why we need a code of conduct policy, let your mind imagine what it would be like without a code of conduct and decide how important it is to your workplace. Imagine what it would be like if there was a lot of inappropriate behaviour or unprofessional conduct in your workplace?
It doesn’t take long to realize we don’t want to work in that kind of environment. And if we look at the costs of staff turnover for people who quit their job because of inappropriate conduct of co-workers it adds up to a lot of expense to employers – that can be avoided.
Perhaps worse than the person just quitting, is the situation where they take legal action against you, the employer or manager, file a human rights claim, go to the media, all of which can have catastrophic results and end up in a huge negative impact on your reputation.
An effective Code of Conduct course or training program needs to achieve 4 primary results.
- It starts with educating employees as to why people’s conduct is so important, and the need to set boundaries on what is and is not acceptable.
- It provides an understanding of what is meant by code of conduct and the related terminology. This includes the ability to distinguish between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behavior.
- There is buyin for the code of conduct policy and agreement to adhere to and support.
- You have demonstrable proof that people have been educated, are in agreement to follow, and committed to enforcing the code of conduct for their workplace.
Step 4 is what helps you avoid some of those worst case scenarios you hear about when companies allow unprofessional conduct to go unchecked.
Getting to Step 4 – Where Do You Start?
We would all love to have a signed document from each employee saying they are aware of our Code of Conduct policy or program. To know that all employees have reviewed and understood it. And that all employees agree to follow the policy and procedures to ensure their behavior and that of their co-workers is appropriate.
These are the main steps to get to this desired result:
- Create a good policy or training document – writing a good policy is not easy and takes time. Thankfully there are lots of templates and resources and policy writers online to help get started
- Communicate the policy with all staff – get them in front of your employees, let them read, listen to, watch videos or interact
- Measure the retention or test – the best way to know that I know something is to test me
- Get a signoff in writing – this can be a valuable piece of paper in the event there is a serious incident of inappropriate conduct and if you don’t have it before it happens its usually too late.
- Monitor, Enforce, and Maintain – monitoring is essential to make sure that everyone has done this, including existing workers, new hires, contract workers, and even visitors to your facility. Enforce the policy and look to update regularly and after every incident to see what you could do better.
Options for Code of Conduct Training
Our area of expertise is in online training, online testing and the online signoff for training courses like this. There are however other options including using an internal trainer on staff, hiring an external person to come in and train your staff. If you would like to talk about the options we have lots of experience and can answer any questions to let you find the best fit for you.
The Payoff to Doing Code of Conduct Training Online
The feeling of "Peace and Peace of Mind" instantly come to mind. When people are treating each other in a professional and courteous manner there is peace. And when you have done what you can to ensure this and someone does step across the line, there is peace of mind in knowing you have taken the steps reasonable to educate and train your people.
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Our goal is to help you get your course online and we are here to answer more specific question you have. Feel free to contact us toll free 1-877-425-5820; we look forward to hearing from you, or use the convenient email form on this page to Get Answers.
