As finance professionals, do you think we focus enough on ethics?
Of course there is always the tendency to think, "I am professional and therefore ethical." But is that enough? Perhaps not. The questions remains, how can you demonstrate that you understand ethics and act ethically?
Things change constantly, and new situations emerge that we haven't encountered before. So how can you ensure that you continue to behave in an appropriately ethical way? It's not that over time you lose sight of how to behave, but an ever changing and dynamic environment will always throw up new challenges.
For example, in recent years the ethics of tax has resulted in some sticky situations for accountants. From real people like Jimmy Carr and Gary Barlow to big corporations like Amazon and Starbucks, what was once simply regarded as legal, within tax laws and therefore acceptable, has become unacceptable. Not only does this bring with it a lot of bad publicity, it poses new ethical questions. How do you balance what's ethical with what's in the best interest of your business and clients? When does safeguarding your shareholders' interests become irresponsible?
This is why revisiting and challenging our thinking around ethics is always important.
Why not start with a question. Do I understand the appropriate and professional course of action in difficult situations?
The only way to answer that question is to find examples and test yourself. A great place to start is with our free CPD course on Dealing with Ethical Issues.
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