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Exemplifying Integrity

Treating others fairly, honestly, and respectfully, furthering the integrity of the organization and its relationships of trust with the broader community.
Level 1 Acts in a fair and ethical manner towards others

BEHAVIORS

  • Treats everyone equally with fairness, honesty, and respect all the time.
  • Refrains from behavior or language that is exclusionary or offensive in nature.
  • Focuses on organizational success rather than personal gain.
  • Follows through consistently on promises and commitments made to others
  • Presents facts and circumstances transparently, no matter how difficult the facts may be.
  • Guards confidential and sensitive information, passing it on only to those that need to know.
  • Maintains ethical principles even in the most challenging circumstances.

QUESTIONS

  • Describe a situation where you made a commitment to complete a piece of work but realized shortly thereafter that it was going to be a significant challenge to meet your commitment.

Probing Questions

* What changed to put you in this position?

* What options did you have and which did you choose?

* Why did you make this choice?

* Did you make your deadline - Why or why not?

  • Talk about a situation where your honesty was put to the test.

Probing Questions

* How did you choose what action to take?

* Would you take the same action again?

* What did you learn from this situation?

* What was the final outcome?

Level 2 Handles ethical dilemmas effectively within teams

BEHAVIORS

  • Sets clear expectations for employees of acceptable ethical behaviors to be demonstrated in the workplace.
  • Initiates discussion of ethical dimensions of different situations.
  • Identifies ethical dilemmas and conflicts of interest situations and takes action to avoid and prevent them.
  • Checks all decisions to ensure that they are in accordance with the overall organizational values before they are implemented.
  • Encourages team members to come forward when they observe ethical lapses.
  • Recognizes and rewards behavior that supports transparency and truthfulness.

QUESTIONS

  • Describe a situation where you were certain, or fairly certain, that your staff was being asked to act in a manner that was not consistent with the organization’s values.

Probing Questions

* Were they aware of the potential conflict?

* Did you discuss the situation and potential challenges with them?

* What did you do to address their concerns?

* What was the outcome?

  • Describe a time when it was necessary for you to set clear expectations for employees regarding acceptable ethical behavior in relation to customers or others in the workplace.

Probing Questions

* How did you go about communicating your expectations?

* How did you address questions or challenges?

* Were the desired changes in behavior achieved?

* What was the final outcome?

Level 3 Proactively identifies and balances ethical issues across teams / functions

BEHAVIORS

  • Promotes the discussion of practical and relevant ethical dilemmas and appropriate behaviors to deal with them across the organization.
  • Maintains the status of ethics as a total, absolute, "must do" in the organization by holding everyone accountable.
  • Develops metrics to track values and ethics efforts.
  • Monitors the environment to identify and address ethical issues that could negatively affect the organization or stakeholders.

QUESTIONS

  • Describe a time when you had to ensure that acting with integrity was a cornerstone value for your whole organization?

Probing Questions

* What did you do to describe what this meant to employees?

* What actions did you take to hold employees accountable for displaying the desired ethical behaviors?

* How did you assess whether teams or functions across the organization were acting in an ethical manner consistent with the organization's values and standards?

  • Describe a time when you set up a process for tracking and monitoring the extent to which employees were acting in accordance with ethical standards set by the organization

Probing Questions

* Describe the process.

* What were some of the key metrics or measurements?

* How did you report and use this information?

* What impact did this have on the organization or its stakeholders?

Level 4 Promotes fair and ethical behavior within the organization

BEHAVIORS

  • Develops policies and measures to integrate ethics within the organization.
  • Implement standards and safeguards to protect the organization’s integrity.
  • Integrates ethics into every action of the organization — everything people do, touch or influence.
  • Develops risk assessment processes to identify and mitigate ethical risks.
  • Implements formal education programs to enhance the understanding of and commitment to ethics and integrity.

QUESTIONS

  • Describe a situation in which you have developed and implemented policies and measures to ensure integrity standards and safeguards were being met within the organization?

Probing Questions

* What prompted you to take this action?

* How did you go about developing them?

* What did you do to enhance the implementation and acceptance of these standards and safeguards across the organization?

* Were these elements embedded in day-to-day operations? How did you know?

  • Describe a situation in which you developed a process for identifying and mitigating ethical risks and their potential impact on the organization?

Probing Questions

* How did you go about this?

* How did you communicate this program?

* How did you assess whether this process was achieving the desired goals?

* Did the program achieve the desired goals?

Level 5 Models fair and ethical behaviors for the broader good of the organization and the community

BEHAVIORS

  • Promotes good corporate citizenship by finding opportunities to prosper while improving the environment.
  • Builds strong trusting relationships with key external stakeholders, community groups, NGOs, policymakers, media, etc.
  • Seeks mutually beneficial solutions outside the organization to improve the wellbeing of others and the community.
  • Takes actions that balance organizational interests with the broader collective good.
  • Maintains universal ethical values and sensitivities to the laws and customs of a diverse global environment.
  • Conducts environmental scans of ethical issues relevant to the organization and the broader community.

QUESTIONS

  • Describe a situation where you took action to hold yourself and the organization to the highest ethical and professional standards.

Probing Questions

* How did the specific actions exemplify the good corporate citizenship professed by the organization?

* What impact did these actions have on relationships with the entities involved?

* How did you balance your personal goals and the organization's objectives in this scenario?

* Would you take the same action again?

  • Tell us of a time you had to balance the interests of the organization with the broader collective good.

Probing Questions

* What were the conflicting interests – i.e., those of the organization versus those of the broader community?

* What process did you follow to assess these competing interests?

* How did you communicate these interests to the various stakeholders?

* What was the eventual outcome?