Ethics has increasingly become a central topic of discussion and focus for businesses and professions. To ensure that strong ethical standards are upheld in the workplace and in business practices, organisations have established ethics committees, dedicated ethics departments, and other supporting structures.

This article addresses the simple view that ethics is a way of life rather than a set of rules and standards.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: "There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Religion without sacrifice; Politics without principle; Science without humanity; Business without ethics."  This still rings true today.     

We’ve all heard these rules to live by: “Don’t hurt, don’t steal, don’t lie”, and the more famous “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  I believe in our personal lives, most of us try to follow these rules. However, ethics in the workplace seem to be put into a separate compartment, only to be followed when one can gain from it. In some businesses, ethics is totally unheard of, and often it is rather a case of overlooking what is right to improve the bottom line.

Ethics is important to everyone, in every activity and in every aspect of your life – whether you are a partner, a manager, an executive, still busy with your training contract, or just sitting at home. There is no difference between ethics at your work and ethics in your personal life; the definition of ethics stays the same. Think about the bribe paid to the traffic officer or the rugby shirt bought on the street corner.

According to Wikipedia, ethics is described as follows:  “Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour and the moral correctness of specified conduct.” 

In any profession, but especially in professions like auditing and accounting, the mistake can easily be made to think that ethics begins and ends with a code of ethics. This may not always be the case because codes of ethics do not give guidelines for all situations, and the code of ethics generally focuses on what sorts of behaviour one should avoid to escape misconduct.

One should rather promote good, positive ethics in the workplace and in one's personal life, and not just look at the rules set by the code of ethics.                       

The following ethical values are important:        

  • Be honest and upfront, no matter what the outcome may be                                    
  • Stand up for what you believe is right                                   
  • Always take responsibility for your actions 
  • Care about the welfare of others
  • Own up to your mistakes and failures

When making ethical choices, it is not always going to feel good or be easy.  One must always be inspired to make the right ethical choices and not to compromise in any way.                                                          

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