Values2: Ethics for competitive advantage

National Conference 2020

“What do a cricket ball, one hundred dollar note and your grandma’s slippers have in common?” …they each represent an uncomfortable blot on the current ethical landscape in Australia.

A series of public enquiries revealing unthinkable practices by some of our most trusted institutions, from the charging of dead people to cruelty by carers towards our most vulnerable elderly citizens.

In the aftermath to such ethical failures, focus typically goes to strengthening compliance and regulation mechanisms, which has certainly been the case for the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The need to re-engage with ethics is no doubt being seen by some as redundant. But in our current crisis of institutional trust in Australia, it is also an opportunity.

More than ever people are making decisions with their wallet about the types of companies they want to be involved with and those organisations which align with the expectations of the community are at a competitive advantage. And current research indicates that being seen to do the right thing also improves the bottom line through enhanced employee engagement, customer engagement and investor confidence.

This session will explore why authentically engaging with ethical values = Values2.

At the end of the session, you will be able to:

• Understand why compliance alone is not enough;
• Understand why values alone are not enough;
• Understand how ethical business practices deliver competitive advantage, and;
• Understand why doing the right thing matters to stakeholders and the risk of unethical behaviour on business outcomes.