Ethical Business Toolkit

This week I’m cheating a bit, in that I am using the same, or at least very similar blogs in two places but last week’s launch of the North East Initiative on Business Ethics’ (NIBE) Ethical Business Toolkit was a momentous occasion and one in which I have played a significant role. The following blog is also published on the NIBE website. 

Here at NIBE we’re working with like minded individuals and businesses to promote the region as an ethical place to do business.

Ethics is a complicated subject and the more you delve into it the more complicated it can seem. How can you claim to work in a business that is ethical and how do you project your values to your colleagues and share them with your customers?

There are no simple answers which is why we are delighted to launch our online toolkit to support businesses that are interested in ethics, being more ethical and are eager to get going. 

The Business Ethics Toolkit has been developed by a group of NIBE supporters and consists of five online modules. You can spend as much time on each module as you wish, going as deep or as wide as you feel is right. There are no right or wrong answers, the modules are there to help you and your business get your thoughts and actions in order.

Module 1 – What do you mean by business ethics? addresses and critically reflects on some of the dilemmas you face when thinking about ethics and helps identify what they mean to you and your business. 

Module 2 – What are other ethical companies doing? explores how other organisations are working on the same issue and some of the actions they are undertaking.

Module 3 – Measuring the measurable is another complicated area. Proving what you are doing is ethical and proving its effectiveness is a challenge and here we investigate some of the ways you can report and measure your actions.

Module 4 – Measuring the immeasurable, explores those areas where people judge you not by what you are doing but by how they feel about you and your business, the unseen aspects of measurement.

Module 5 – Bringing it all together, gathers all you have covered into an action plan and critical pathway, which you can build and apply to your own circumstances. 

There is a final section filled with useful information to help you on your journey.

The toolkit is free to use, you can dip in and out as you wish and come back to modules as your thinking is shaped and your plans revisited. Please feel free to share it with your colleagues and networks because ethical business is good for all of us.

If you want to know more, here is the video of the Ethical Business Toolkit Launch Event. The toolkit itself can be found on the front page of the NIBE website.

Good luck!