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Ethics and board culture

• Ethics deals with the good, the bad, the right, the wrong.
• Ethics can be a decision between right and wrong, but it can also be a decision between two rights.
• Values inform the culture of an organisation.
• Business ethics applies to all aspects of business conduct and applies to all people.

Board culture:

• It’s about the accepted and established conduct of the board.
• PWC recently published a paper establishing that no board culture or practice is 100% perfect.
• Boards need to focus on composition as well as human fit which impacts the board’s culture and approach to ethical decision-making.

Board responsibility:

• One of the key roles of the board includes establishing the culture values and ethics of the company.
• Consider purpose, values and strategy.
• Understand the culture of the organisation.
• Shape the culture of the organisation.
• “You should be as passionate about culture as you are about capital” –  Christine Lagarde.

Boards role of influence:

• Effective oversight – the desired culture is woven into everything you do.
• Create an environment of accountability – how it is communicated and lived internally.
• Monitor the measurement of metrics – take regular culture assessments.
• Intentional culture shifts.
• Evaluate own performance – implement any enhancements identified by benchmarking.

An effective board:

• Has a positive board culture.
• Understands culture in depth.
• Enforces ethical conduct.
• Guards against group think.
• Eliminates a toxic culture.

How a board can influence culture in an organisation:

• All directors must act as role models.
• A board can operationalise values to ensure they are present and communicated in everyday actions and behaviours by:
  • Making it clear through wide communications.
  • Making it real through desired behaviours.
  • Making it happen.
  • Making it stick.
• Ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion exists across the organisation.
• The chair/CEO relationship is pivotal so the board needs to play a key role in appointing each position.
• Putting culture regularly on the agenda means it stays part of a continuous conversation.
• Include ethical decision-making on the board agenda.

Drivers of cultural change: 

• A change in strategy or CEO
• Unethical behaviour or event.
• The working environment post-Covid.
• Digitisation.
• ESG.

Is your board carrying out its duty effectively by shaping the right culture in your organisation? Does it understand its responsibility to be a strong moral compass?

In 60 minutes, discover how boards can build a positive culture where ethical behaviours are the foundation of your company’s success.

Leave the webinar with a clear view of:

– How board members need to act as good role models

– The importance of robust decision-making in the boardroom

– Why it’s essential to include culture on the board’s agenda

Caitríona spent ten years as the CEO of the Irish subsidiary of Cunningham Lindsey Group and was a member of the executive global leadership team. A chartered director and fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters, she holds several independent director positions within the financial services sector.