What is ethical management and why is it an important issue for companies?

Ethical management is based on two main principles: the human being and the organisation, two very important notions in companies and deeply linked. Let's take the example of the hospital sector: organisation is particularly important in this environment, as are human relations. Only respect and exchange between employees can ensure good organisation and efficient and ethical patient management. What is ethical management and what is at stake? How can an ethical management plan be implemented in a company? In this new article, we take a look at these questions.

What is ethical management?

Management is a set of techniques and principles for managing an organisation or a group of people. Implementing a management approach involves mobilising human and material resources to achieve an objective. Ethical management is a little more specific: it commits those who have responsibility for part of the organisation or for the whole organisation to implement virtuous practices and approaches.

These approaches must promote the well-being of the company's organisation, but also of its employees. The objective of ethical management is to build cooperation, encourage team cohesion, but also recognition between employees and their superiors. It is a management approach in the broadest sense of the term, in which additional virtuous notions are integrated, such as morality, justice, virtue and respect.

What are the challenges of ethical management?

The challenges of ethical management are numerous: public health, psychology, safety, ethics and economic profitability.
 

Risk prevention
 

• Mental health: the mental health of employees is very important in companies. The implementation of an ethical management approach helps to reduce unhappiness at work (stress, pressure, poor understanding with colleagues, feelings of misunderstanding, violence, fear of superiors, etc.). Ethical management is in fact the driving force behind personal and collective initiatives, which are the source of a serene climate at work.
• Preventing psychosocial risks to identify the sources of ill-being at work and act against them.

Psychosocial risks

Ethics at the service of profitability?

Despite popular belief, it is entirely possible to combine ethics and profitability: an ethical company is a company that is more easily trusted. Good sales methods, the cessation of cooperation with customers or suppliers who do not meet the specifications, and the transparency of a company all lead to greater economic efficiency. The company's values also allow employees to work in a calm atmosphere, which has a positive impact on their productivity at work. The anethics tax, the cost of not being ethical, is high: not being ethical can cost a company a lot of money. Employees who leave because they feel bad, customers who lose confidence, mean a significant economic loss. It is therefore important for a company to engage in an ethical management approach and to remain vigilant about its methods (towards its customers, but also towards its employees).

How to implement an ethical management plan in your company?

Implementing and steering an ethical approach is not easy for untrained managers. Therefore, we give you some tips to adopt a new strategic angle by improving your human resources management and your vision as a manager.

Course in ethical management

Training teams in ethics

A better organisation of work implies instilling new notions in every employee within the company. These include courage, prudence, moderation, justice and listening. Taking a course in ethical management at a business school is a good way to learn how to transmit these values while adopting strategic management.
 

Operational methods

Auditing the company's practices and needs is a first step to adopting better business ethics. After taking into account the individual needs of employees, it will be necessary to put in place incentives.

The book "Travail: un mal français?" by Marc-Alphonse Forget gives 13 key steps to be taken to install ethical management. In particular, he proposes the following actions:

• To involve all members of the company.
• To build better solutions together.
• Not to infantilize employees, to make them responsible.
• To recognise and accept the differences of each person.
• To know how to manage responsibilities (decide, arbitrate, decide) while remaining respectful and ethical.

CSR training courses

Do you want to go further? You should know that there are CSR training courses that enable companies to adopt an ethical approach to sustainable development. These courses provide training in better management of resources, diversity and well-being at work. They are aimed at both managers and employees and enable better management of human, organisational and natural resources through skills development.