'Ethics Training Videos'

Powerful corporations have fallen and top executives gone to jail because of terrible ethical decisions. How can you avoid this? How can HR and Training departments help?

By Robert Rosell*

There has been a confluence of sad and painful situations, all caused by people at work making terrible ethical decisions.

On the business side, some of the largest corporations in the United States have fallen victim to the belief that the ethical choices we make will somehow remain invisible. At communications giant WorldCom, senior executives were convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and lying to regulators. Global conglomerate Tyco’s CEO was listed by Business Week as one of America’s top 25 managers before he was charged with looting his own company of $600 million. Boeing’s top executive was fired after a series of scandals involving military contracts, and his successor resigned a few months later in the wake of a sex scandal. Adelphia, AOL Times Warner, Arthur Andersen, Global Crossing, Halliburton and many more of the most powerful corporations in America found themselves on the front pages of newspapers around the world, accused of a wide range of offenses. And the name Enron – once considered one of the most innovative and successful energy companies in the world - has become synonymous with fraud, greed, and ethical misconduct at the highest levels.

Corporations haven’t been the only institutions impacted by ethical scandals. The majority leader in the US House of Representatives was censured by his own Ethics Committee 3 times in one year. Sports organizations, from the Olympics to professional and college leagues, have all found themselves making headlines because of drug abuse, financial misconduct or other indications of a lack of sound ethical judgment. Even charitable and civic organizations have been rocked by a wide range of scandals.

In response laws have been passed, committees formed, and individuals prosecuted. People shake their heads and lament the lack of values in our most valued institutions. Employees look to the leadership in their organizations to provide clear guidance on how to improve the situation.

Part of the problem has been that as we enact more laws to define appropriate or “legal” behavior, we distance people from the decision-making process about what constitutes “right” conduct. As a result, we have begun to confuse “compliance” with “ethics” - we see compliance with the law as the goal, rather than the starting point of ethical decision making.

Human resource and training departments have a long history of playing a critical role in tackling difficult social issues at work. As sexual harassment became a major concern in the 1990’s, organizations mobilized their resources to provide guidance to employees at all levels on their rights and responsibilities. Policies were crafted and enforced, and conditions in most companies and agencies improved. The same has been true of discrimination and other diversity issues. These battles are not won, but there has been significant progress.

The same energy must now be applied to improving the ethical climate in our organizations. We can and must arm employees and managers with the tools they need to help them make better ethical judgments. The goal is not just to avoid embarrassment or penalties; it’s to make our organizations stronger and more effective.

These are the conditions that prompted QMR to create Compliance is Just the Beginning, a training video program to help people at all levels make better ethical decisions. (You can preview the entire program Free online - See next item below)

We don’t pretend that this series is a silver bullet. A training resource won’t turn around the condition of ethical decision making in any given workplace. It will take a sustained effort that includes clarifying organizational values and policies, clear and unequivocal enforcement of the highest ethical standards, and most importantly – leadership. We have seen the cost of inaction as retirement savings have been wiped out, careers ruined, and important institutions in our society weakened. It is too high a price to pay.

Your decision to introduce or expand ethics training in your organization is an important signal that you take this issue seriously. If we are going to have organizations that we can be proud of, we need employees and managers who are aware of the values that underpin our decisions, a process to help them deal with difficult ethical choices, and most of all we need leaders who are willing to step forward and show us the way.

Robert Rosell, President QMR

This is easier said than done. In this new video, The Spirit at Work, best selling author James Autry offers a perspective that can help. His ideas are down to earth and useful. He contends that it all depends on five ways of being. These five principles will allow us to nurture our own Spirit at Work.

"There is no business; there are only people. Business exists only among people and for people. Seems simple enough, but not enough people seem to get it." James A. Autry

Key Concepts

• Be Authentic: be your real self.
• Be Vulnerable: let go of the myth of control.
• Be Accepting: forget about winning and losing.
• Be Present: pay attention.
• Be Useful: serve others.

Rent DVD for 5 days for $295.00

Purchase DVD for $695.00

25% discount applies to Government, Education, Non-profits and Consultants. Discounts will be deducted upon settling orders.

In a pressurized atmosphere of downsizing, restructuring and intense competition, management must be viewed as an act of faith - and every job should reinforce an employees sense of work and dignity.

With courageous candor, Life & Work addresses the most troublesome challenges that arise in both work and life and offers invaluable guidance toward the successful integration of who we are and how we live with what we do.

Key Concepts

• Finding your balance within life and work
• Learning how to care about yourself
• Helping others find balance

Rent DVD for 5 Days for $295.00

Purchase DVD for $695.00

discountof 25% applies for purchases by government, education, nonprofits and consultants. Discounts will be deducted upon settling the orders.

Love & Profit combines Autry's homespun storytelling with his thought provoking business poetry. You will find honesty, pain, and passion as he helps you understand what it means to really care about the people you serve. Love & Profit shows the value and practical application of creating a caring environment where individuals are given the opportunity to thrive.

Key Concepts

• Honesty: If people don't get the information they need, they will make it up.
• Trust: If you mistrust people, you make them untrustworthy.
• Special Treatment: You don't have to treat everyone exactly the same.
• Courage: Anger and intimidation are facades we hide behind.

Rent DVD for 5-business days for $295.00

Purchase DVD for $695.00

Special 25% discount applies to purchases by government, education, non-profits and consultants. Discounts are applied upon settling orders.

By Author and Ethics Professor Russell W. Gough.

Pick up any newspaper, watch any news program or read any business magazine, and the topic of character crops up. Why is character so often discussed? And why do experts believe a strong character is vital to the long-term success, the destiny, of every individual and every organization?

Doing the right thing, every time, is the vision of Character is Destiny, a new video training tool by Star Thrower Distribution. Hosted by national ethics expert Russell W. Gough, Character is Destiny:

"Character is Destiny reminded me that ethical conduct is not only a matter of the way in which we reach the key decisions in our lives, but more importantly, how the actions we take communicate to others who we truly are." -- Connie Maxfield- Maxfield Productivity Consultants, Spring,TX

Key Learning Points:

• Asserts that our everyday decisions cultivate - or erode - our characters
• Provides a starting point for life-changing discussions
• Challenges viewers to practice habits of good character until "doing the right thing becomes second nature."

Because of its universal subject matter, Character is Destiny is immediately applicable to every training program, at every level, and is fully supported with a facilitator guide, workbook and CD-ROM with ready-to-use workshop materials.

Watch Character is Destiny today, and discover how your destiny is ultimatelyshaped by the strength of your character.

For a FREE preview email your request and information to: service@humanext.com

Purchase DVD for $595.00

Daily headlines tell the story … lying, cheating, stealing and disrespecting- by organizations and individuals. Increasingly, businesses are addressing issues of integrity and honesty.

Michael Josephson, founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics, offers clear insight on how companies can do better, simply by clarifying ethical issues and evaluating decisions accordingly. Through keen analysis of examples we’ve all seen in the news of ethical misconduct. Michael offers encouragement and strong, clear guidance to build and strengthen your own company’s ethical culture.

The Six Pillars of Character:

• Trustworthiness: honesty
• Respect: follow the Golden rule
• Responsibility: be accountable for your choices
• Fairness: listen to others
• Caring: Express gratitude
• Citizenship: help make your company better

Audience will learn how to:

• perceive the ethical dimension of choices
• improve the ethical quality of decision making and conduct
• formulate optimal ethical responses
• understand ethics as a responsibility and an opportunity

This program is very effective in framing ethical discussions within any type of company. It also adds strength and depth when used in conjunction with other training program that targets a specific behavioral issue. Many problems encountered in the workplace are based in ethical breakdowns... sexual harassment, racial harassment, theft, company loyalty, how employees treat each other, how clients are treated. No matter what subject your client may be addressing, if there are negative behavioral issues involved they are talking about ethical shortfalls.

Program Length: 24 Minutes

Training Package Includes: Very comprehensive Leader’s Guide and Participant Workbook Purchase DVD for $695.00

for a free preview, email your request and information to service@humanext.com  

Best-selling author Donald T. Phillips ("Lincoln on Leadership") demonstrates the highest qualities of leadership, and how to apply them, using the shining example of the United States Coast Guard.

Viewers of this informative and uplifting film will focus on three major strategies for exercising leadership that maximizes the productivity and smooth sailing of any organization.

First, they will learn to create the culture of the organization. This culture of common values, customs, and beliefs determines how people interact with each other to achieve their mission.

Second, viewers will learn to guide their charges to promote team over self. Studies have shown that when an average group works together as a team, they achieve one-third more productivity. Imagine what your above-average group can do!

Third, viewers will learn to instill in their people a bias for action. Great leadership organizations are constantly changing. Through ongoing decisiveness, empowerment, and giving people in the field priority to act on their own initiative, leaders create a “can do” culture of optimism and action.

Along the way, your organization's leaders will:

• Understand that an organization’s core values can lay the groundwork for an environment that nurtures leadership.
• Identify qualities to look for when selecting team members.
• Recognize the key elements of teamwork.
• Appreciate that organizations can be successful by empowering people to make decisions.

Watch the United States Coast Guard put these leadership qualities into action – and then apply them to your organization to maximize productivity and effectiveness.

Package Includes: 23 minute DVD and a comprehensive leader's guide.

Length: 23 minute

Purchase Character In Action DVD package for $695.00

Rent DVD $250.00

For previewing Character In Action. please email your information and request to: service@humanext.com

Corporate Social Responsibility as a Profit Generator

• Altruism, and the building of the Timberland brand.
• A vision that defines work not only as what we do, but also as who we are.
• The benefits of shared values and a common commitment to mission.

In an age when consumers and investors alike are gravitating toward companies whose brands they can trust, it's no longer enough to be solely focused on the bottom line. Delivering more than $1.3 billion in sales last year, Timberland is proof that profit-minded companies can build on their success while both "doing well" for shareholders and "doing good" for communities.

Jeff Swartz firmly believes in commerce, and that profits for Wall Street are necessary--but not sufficient. He also believes in commitment: to the basic human rights of everyone involved in the Timberland value chain; to minimizing Timberland's impact on the environment; and to the notion of engaged citizenship, that encourages us to take the resources we have and find the will to create sustainable solutions that are good for everybody.

Jeffrey Swartz is the third generation of the Swartz family to lead Timberland. Under his direction, the company that his grandfather founded along with the brand his father built has grown to become an example for socially-responsible corporations around the world.

Jeff received an MBA from Dartmouth and a BA in comparative literature from Brown.

VHS or DVD - Length: 61 mins . (2004) - $95.00