Firms need to introduce training and support to staff to ensure that their code of ethics is “part of the DNA”.

That was the message from Phillipa Foster Back, director of the Institute of Business Ethics, who talked to delegates at the CISI Financial Planning Conference this morning about putting ethics at the centre of the advice process.

She said an old adage summed up what ethics is about.

“It’s all about doing the right thing when nobody is watching,” she said.

Delegates heard that it was important to lead by example and set the tone from the top. This can be something people forget when they get into leadership roles, Ms Foster Back said.

A code of ethics is “necessary but not sufficient, just doing that alone won’t necessarily get you far”, she explained.

She suggested firms should consider placing a statement of business up on the wall.

Firms need to introduce training and support every day to make their ethics “part of the DNA” of the business, she said.

“It’s not about posters on the wall, it’s more than that,” she said.

“You have to be more proactive than that to reinforce the messages. Ethical leadership matters, it’s the right thing to do.”

Blogs, apps and social media can all play a role, she advised.

The only way to mitigate reputation risk was self-insurance, she stressed.

“Do that by doing business the right way all the time according to your firm’s values,” she said.

She warned against allowing the ethics department to be run by compliance.

She said a manager titled head of ethics is met by a different reaction to head of compliance.

She said: “We talk about winning over hearts and minds, have you ever heard of winning over minds and hearts?

“If you get the ‘e bit’ right (ethics) it’s going to be much easier to run compliance.”

In her organisation’s work, she said it used to happen frequently that companies put a lot of time and effort in creating a code and then it would just be shoved into a bottom of draw and forgotten about.

Ms Foster Back spoke about building a trusted organisation and having a values-led business and discussed working within a framework.

She explained the difference between the law and ethics, the former being mandatory and the latter being discretionary, with choice determined by a firm’s values.

She said: “All of us in this room will have our own personal values. For some it might be picked up from our family, our faith, peers. That blend of experience is sitting inside you, although you may not have articulated it.”

See live updates from the conference throughout the day on FP Today.

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