Every organization has a standard of conduct, whether it knows it or not. One way or another, explicitly or implicitly, every organization communicates its values, acceptable criteria for decision-making, and its ground rules for behaviour. An increasing number of organizations realize the importance and value of explicitly communicating their values and guiding principles in a published code of conduct or ethics. It is part of building a values-driven organization, and typically deals with an organization’s underlying values, commitment to employees, standards for doing business, and its relationship with wider society.
Organizations may develop their own code of conduct specific to the values and behaviours of their workplace in addition to having a overarching code that applies to all in the professional.
Codes of conduct typically include two major components: a section that outlines the ideals an organization aspires to and a set of specific principles, rules and policies which employee of the organisation are expected to adhere to.
Codes of conduct can also be labelled Code of Ethics, Code of Business Practices, Code of Values, or Code of Behaviours. The most common term seems to be Code of Conduct, although some organizations individualize the title with one of their core values, such as “integrity,” or with a phrase such as “Performance with integrity” or “The way we do business”.
A code of conduct policy should:
- Be unique to your funeral home. The nature, title and content of an effective code will vary between funeral homes, as will the approach to its development. As they are based on individual values, no two codes will be the same, even in the same industry
- Provide sufficient information to guide employees in making appropriate decisions and encourages employees to use their good judgement. The code should list any prohibited actions or behaviour that is regarded as misconduct and outline the consequences of breaches to the code
- Apply across all positions functions, levels and locations
- Make reference as appropriate to other related policies or documents (for example: values statement, handling of confidential information and respectful workplace etc.)
- Be communicated to all employees at time of hire and be accessible and referred to by employees on a regular basis. Communication and enforcement of the code is an important part of conveying management’s commitment to the underlying principles
