Thousands of South Africans agree that the time has come to raise the South African business integrity meter but not many people really understand what that means or what it takes? Reassuring slogans and hard-hitting values exhibited on a company website may look good, but all that glitters is not always gold.
What is integrity and is it a value that can be trained? iFacts and the Integrity Forum believe that integrity has the powerful capability to transform both business and personal lives.
The business landscape is fraught with examples of how a lack of integrity can have devastating reputational and financial consequences. With high levels of fraud and corruption in business, it is important to consider at least whether the training of integrity can become part of leadership and development programmes.
Many organisations use integrity as part of their values and while there is an understanding of what it means, there is also a lack of understanding on how to apply it.
Organisations may even have a code of conduct and ethics that employees are expected to follow in the workplace. However, integrity is far more complex. It is a value that lies at the core of the individual.
Individuals who have integrity will always do the next right thing. They are honest and have strong moral principles. Having integrity comes down to the individual employee making the decision to uphold those organisational ethics.
In the simplest sense, ethics is not a choice while integrity is very much a personal choice. This then raises the question of whether integrity is something that can be taught.
For the application of integrity to take hold, there must first be an awareness and understanding of what integrity is.
iFacts has partnered with the Integrity Forum to provide companies with a programme that is designed to cultivate true integrity in employees.
This online course will enable individuals to define personal integrity, look at their own level of integrity and how to apply it in their everyday life. They will gain an understanding of what the cost and consequences of acting without integrity is for themselves and their organisation.
Integrity or a lack thereof impacts every part of business operation, which makes it essential to integrate ethics and integrity into the core fabric of the organisation.
It does not matter whether employees work remotely or in an office, their level of integrity impacts on the ethics of the business.
We offer virtual courses as well as face-to-face mentorship to build an organisational culture where integrity is high. Contact us today if you want to develop the level of integrity in your organisation.
“Integrity costs nothing, but when you lose it, you lose everything.” Charissa Bloomberg