How to Bring Ethics into Business

EMPLOYMENT In Switzerland, a majority of employees do not trust their management. To change this, companies must establish fair operating rules and ensure they are respected. A method that greatly improves results.

Who would ever enjoy seeing in their company a superior who has personal meals reimbursed as “professional expenses,” while refusing to reimburse an employee’s train ticket for a client meeting? A promise not kept, a colleague who multiplies insulting or allusive remarks before never calling to order a manager who asks to be reimbursed for the same meal several times... So many errors and so many incentives that frustrate employees and instill a negative atmosphere.

The observation is not new, and there is no shortage of studies. Work by the Attest institute, commissioned by PME magazine and involving a representative sample of the active population in French-speaking Switzerland, shows that one in three employees has confidence in their company’s management. Their engagement—that is, their willingness to help their company’s objectives and values—is only 35% in French-speaking Switzerland, according to professor Isaac Getz. An Anglo-Saxon study, disseminated by the Great Place to Work institute, highlights the consequences of this “trust gap”: lower employee engagement, more stress, higher absenteeism and turnover, and reduced productivity.

All sectors are concerned

These figures set the tone. And concern is not a fringe of firms, but all sectors, without distinction. Thus, concern is not the prerogative of a luxury giant, a cigarette manufacturer, or some public institutions. We can all witness every day things developing in less healthy ways, in a climate where not everyone feels protected.

In Switzerland too, Raphaël Cohen is one of the best-known specialists in ethical and benevolent management. He developed his thinking at the University of Geneva, where he leads the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Responsible Entrepreneurship (in English), as well as at Romandie Formation, where he teaches management. He is also frequently called upon by companies and institutions to speak about these subjects. With Patricia Torres, director of the “Leadership bienveillant et inclusif” program, he co-hosted an ethics workshop on September 4 in Le Temps’s premises, attended by around twenty people from all kinds of environments, from the founder of a start-up to a PMO manager, as well as HR managers in large groups. How can ethics be brought into a company?

As a matter of principle, one should already ensure that the environment, because it exists, does not destroy up to 35% of the company’s productivity. Everyone’s behavior matters: “Each person must see whether the list is desirable from the point of view of the common good and social cohesion,” explains Raphaël Cohen. It is much harder to break rules chosen by oneself than those imposed “from above.” To succeed, one should therefore avoid rules that are too theoretical. One of the examples often cited is the maxim “No one can violate a rule while saying they were right to transgress it, because the success of the collective or of society validates it.” A person who violates a rule and justifies it by invoking the environment or thinking only of increasing their reward, in his view, undermines the whole framework.

How can one ensure that people comply with these rules? Raphaël Cohen proposes discussing them from the top level, or through a body such as management, legal affairs, internal communication, or other decision-making centers. If it is the director who is in charge of making the rules, he should always be surrounded by internal stakeholders. The specialist estimates, however, that there should be a body independent of the hierarchy, tasked with enforcing them and dealing with unavoidable cases.

Toward creating an “advisory” entity

“But if people are not motivated, if salaries are not fair, if there is no room to speak up, these rules risk remaining just words on paper.” Raphaël H. Cohen therefore advocates creating an advisory structure independent of hierarchy and empowered to receive difficult cases. In his view, this body should include representatives from different levels of the company and different functions. Its role would be to issue opinions, handle alert situations, and embody a collective point of reference. He calls this set of principles the “Ten Commandments” of ethical and benevolent management.

Patricia Torres adds another level to this architecture: all teams in the company can also create a team charter that specifies interaction rules adapted to their context. “In banks, we have observed that this very concrete exercise prevents tensions from developing. In one group where delays were frequent, the members decided to collectively commit to punctuality. Their transgression no longer then concerned a rule coming from above or from the firm, but, for example, one from within the team.”

More than just a succession of warnings and examples, the workshop proposed practical ways to move from principle to action: discuss difficult situations, make expectations explicit, identify gray areas, and create spaces where concerns can be raised without fear of reprisal.

On the management side, everything starts, according to the speakers, with consistency. “A leader leads by example and not by force,” said the projected slide behind Raphaël Cohen. Exemplary behavior from management is essential: one does not build a respectful environment by tolerating humiliating behavior, favoritism, or unfair treatment. Conversely, when the framework is clear and applied fairly, employees’ trust rises.

According to the two specialists, the benefits are measurable. A more ethical climate strengthens engagement, improves collaboration, limits conflict, and reduces hidden costs linked to disengagement. It can also improve the company’s attractiveness and its ability to retain talent. In the long term, they argue, ethics is not a luxury or a communication posture, but a concrete performance lever.

For companies that wish to begin, the first step is therefore less to produce grand declarations than to identify what, in daily practices, undermines trust. Then come collective discussion, the definition of simple and credible rules, and the establishment of mechanisms that make them live. The challenge is demanding, but the payoff is significant: an organization in which people know what is expected of them, feel respected, and can work in a healthier, fairer framework.