The Ethos International "Values and Vulnerability Assessment" will:
Identify the implicit operating values of the organization and contrast them with explicitly stated values (desired or aspirational) in company documents and in the words of senior executives and directors, and
- Assess the adequacy of the explicit values to inform standards of conduct, judgment and decision making.
- Assist corporate leadership in the refinement and restatement of explicit values.
- Examine client systems, processes and activities for their alignment with the restated values, determine gaps and inconsistencies, and work with the leadership to achieve congruence between stated and operating values
Identify the risks of serious misconduct occurring, as well as relevant factors contributing to the risks
Evaluate the adequacy of the design and implementation of the organization’s ethics and compliance initiatives, including:
- Background, training and continuing professional development of the senior ethics and compliance officer and staff
- Reporting relationships of ethics and compliance officers (at headquarters and in divisions and operating units, domestic and international) to management and to the Board of Directors
- Adequacy and accessibility of standards of conduct; including scope of dissemination among Board of Directors, employees, customers, suppliers, agents, business partners, regulators and others;
- Communication to and training for Board of Directors, employees and others regarding standards of conduct
- Utilization of confidential mechanisms for reporting suspected misconduct, with comparisons to other, similar organizations, and employee, customer and supplier satisfaction with the availability and performance of these mechanisms
- Utilization of confidential mechanisms for receiving advice concerning current ethics issues, with comparisons to other, similar organizations, and employee satisfaction with the availability and performance of these mechanisms
- Adequate safeguards to protect the privacy and, if requested, the anonymity of anyone utilizing the confidential mechanisms
- Adequate safeguards to protect the privacy and to ensure appropriate due process for employees whose conduct may be investigated for possible impropriety
- Fairness and predictability of employee disciplinary actions
- Content and pedagogy of employee ethics and compliance training, its appropriateness to responsibilities and issues, the frequency of training and the currency of updated material
- Periodic surveys of employees, customers and suppliers about ethics issues they encounter and ways to improve the organization’s ethics and compliance program and resources.