Discipline Management in the
Public Service
Using Ethics Management infrastructure as a
discipline management support
Willem J Punt
willem@ethicsa.org
www.ethicsa.org
© 2006 Ethics Institute of South Africa (EthicSA)
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Personal ethical
responsibility
• Issue
– What are an individual employee’s personal ethical
responsibilities?
• Emerging consensus
– The organisation’s responsibility lies in
• Creating and communicating the ethical standards and
expectations for employee conduct
• Creating and sustaining a culture that is congruent with
those standards and expectations
– The employee’s responsibility lies in
• Meeting those standards and expectations
• Reporting observed or suspected failures by any
employee or manager to meet those standards
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Kohlberg on cognitive moral
development
• Reasons for decisions
– Level I: Pre-conventional
• Stage 1: Rule-following as punishment avoidance or
obedience for own sake
• Stage 2: Rule-following in pursuit of self-interest
– Level II: Conventional
• Stage 3: Living up to expectations of peers and close people
• Stage 4: Upholding laws
– Level III: Post-conventional or principled
• Stage 5: Upholding rules and values because there is a social
contract
• Stage 6: Following self-chosen ethical principles of justice
and right. If laws violate ethical principles, act according to
principles
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Ethics vocabulary — 1
• Ethics
– “Responsible conduct”
– Living (doing what is required by) core ethical
values
• Values
– Standards for responsible conduct
– Examples?
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Ethics vocabulary — 2
• Compliance
– Following rules and regulations
– Ethics codified
• Ethical dilemma
– Options represent competing/clashing values
– Ethical grey areas
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Culture and compliance
• The objective of managing an
organisation’s ethics is to create an
ethical culture
• All compliance measures are merely the
means towards this end
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Habits undermining an
ethical workplace culture
• “Silent sabotage” comes in many forms
S – Scapegoating (blaming others)
A – Abdicating (avoiding responsibility)
B – Bending the facts (telling “white” lies)
O – Over-promising (to avoid saying “no”)
T – Task avoidance (especially high-risk tasks)
E – “Emperoritis” (letting the boss “go naked”)
U – Under-delivering (doing the minimum)
R – Rationalising (bad reasons/justifications for doing
what is wrong)
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Point of departure — Workplace
ethics as a cultural phenomenon
ETHICAL CULTURE AND BEHAVIOUR
Doing what is good, right, and fair
Formal culture
systems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Executive leadership
Selection systems
Organisational structure
Codes, rules, and policies
Reward systems
Orientation and training
Decision-making processes
Informal culture
systems
1.
Alignment
2.
3.
4.
5.
Norms or standards
accepted as appropriate
Heroes and role models
Rituals
Myths and stories
Language
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
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Organisational ethical
culture
• 8 steps for culture change
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Stated position or standard
Formal systems
Informal systems
Measurements and rewards
Communication
Education and training
Response to critical events
Perceptions of leadership agenda/motives
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Standards for an ethics
programme — 2
• NACF resolutions — Ethics programmes as the
foundation for corruption prevention
A.1 – Leadership committed to a culture of integrity and
restoring confidence in the fight against corruption
A.2 – Foster culture of integrity and accountability
A.3 – Protected reporting or whistle-blowing
A.4 – Ethics training
A.5 – Values and principles of Code of Ethics promoted
and enforced through a defined programme
A.6 – Research to audit the state of professional ethics in
each sector
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Components of an
ethics programme
Commitment
Assess
Senior management
Ethics office
Et
hi
cs
benchmarking
Behaviours
C
od
e
of
Vision, mission, values
Integrate
Process & culture
DPSA – Discipline in the Public Service 2006
Institutionalise
Train, advise, report,
discipline, reward
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