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A lack of open communications in an organization can have serious consequences. Confusion and lack of awareness, employee isolation, a drop in productivity, a perceived lack of fairness or potential harassment issues, and fear of retaliation all can result when leaders and managers fail to take appropriate measures to promote transparency and openness in the workplace.

The most compelling case for making open communications a company priority is the fact that honesty and transparency are necessary conditions for an ethical culture; and, as countless headlines in the past few years have demonstrated, the absence or presence of an ethical culture can determine a company's long-term survival.

In order to understand how an environment of open communications can motivate employees to comply with organizational values, we need to look at the attitudes underlying ethical conduct. Compliance is usually perceived as obedience to the company code of business conduct, its policies and guidelines. But the degree of an employee's compliance may depend on many factors. Take a familiar example -- the speed limit. How many people follow the 65-mile per hour speed limit on our highways? Do you? It's not that we don't know the rule. Yet different pressures around us -- tardiness, weather conditions, the speed of others on the road -- are all our justifications for breaking it.

What makes people align their behavior with rules? The speed limit in a school zone is 20 mph. And drivers rarely speed through an area full of children, because the potential consequences are obvious and evoke a visceral response. This is an example of how a clear understanding of the impact our actions can modify behaviors and attitudes.

Is there a way to help employees understand that concept within an organization? How can we clearly demonstrate the consequences that lay behind the rules for employees? Again, clear communication about the organization's expectations with respect to ethical conduct and the ramifications of compromising ethical standards can have a significant impact on employee compliance.

Another important consideration regarding an open and honest culture is that employees are the first and best early warning system in detecting ethical lapses within their departments, but this is only true in cases where employees feel safe speaking up. It takes a tremendous amount of courage for an employee to come forward and discuss a potential ethical or legal violation. So if an employee musters enough courage to walk into the boss's office, the organization must ensure that the employee won't regret that decision. This message can be reinforced by some basic behaviors demonstrated by a manager.

"What upsets me is not that you lied to me; it is that from now on I can no longer believe you."    -Fredrick Nietzsche

Simple acts such as making eye-contact, exercising courtesy, and practicing reflective listening when an employee steps forward with an issue signal that we take the employee's concern seriously and will take appropriate action. Taking calls or checking e-mails while meeting with an employee communicates the opposite. We must be attentive to the impact that even our non-verbal behaviors can have on an employee's perception of our priorities.

To combat potential workplace catastrophes, the practice of open communication must be woven into the fabric of an organization's culture. A widely practiced "formal" means of inculcating open communications in a company's culture is through the adoption of a required annual ethics training. A successful training will instruct employees on the behaviors that demonstrate adherence to a company's values and standards, those that do not, and their associated consequences. These behaviors must be understood by the entire employee population, from the top down, and must be exemplified by those in management or supervisory roles.

However, the impact of informal methods of reinforcing transparency and honest communications cannot be overestimated; a formal training program is only as good as the actual practices employees see in the workplace and the messages that are implicitly communicated.

To incorporate open communication into the operational fiber of the organization, senior leadership, compliance officers and human resource senior management must be aligned in their objectives and priorities with respect to integrity in the workplace. If the goal of the organization is an ethical culture, then open communication must be practiced at all levels. This ensures behaviors that are ethical, lawful and productive for the organization.

WORKING VALUES LTD. is a business ethics and training company. Through a variety of products and services, including Web-based compliance and ethics programs, on-site training, video and award-winning ethics games for employees, Working Values aims to align employee behavior with company values. For more information as to how Working Values can narrow your company's Behavior-Standards Gap, visit www.workingvalues.com or contact cgebler@workingvalues.com. For news on ethics in the workplace, visit SmartPros Ethics & Compliance.