84% of finance professionals believe that business has a moral obligation to help address global issues, such as climate change and poverty. This is according to a recent survey of 1300 finance professionals by CIMA (the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) and the Institute of Business Ethics.
However, the survey also showed that in many cases ethics and corporate responsibility are not truly integrated into the business. Although almost three quarters of those surveyed have codes of ethics (or similar) in place, when it comes to taking practical steps to embed these values, evidence of real action is thin on the ground.
Less than half train their employees on the code of ethics and fewer than one in five incentivise staff to uphold the company’s values. When it comes to measuring and monitoring, only 35% report publicly on corporate responsibility or ethics, and even fewer collect information to manage ethical performance. So while many companies have begun to take steps in this area, they have yet to make the leap to integrating their values into the business and measuring performance against these ethical goals.
Finance professionals can help their company to develop a more comprehensive approach to managing responsible business. Not only do they have expertise in measuring and analysing management information, they are also in a position to influence organisational strategy. These two strands are vital to embedding ethics, and professional management accountants are ideally placed to drive this forward.
However, the majority of companies are not yet calling upon their finance function to contribute in this way. On the whole, finance professionals contribute to managing ethical performance indirectly, with the part they play generally limited to doing their job professionally: upholding their profession's code of ethics, ensuring the integrity of management information and leading by example. Less than half of those who say they contribute to ethical performance management where they work are involved in incorporating ethical standards into strategic business decisions. Even fewer - 16% - report or collect ethical management information.
For companies to go beyond lip service ethical values need to become an integral part of the way the company does business. Corporate responsibility opportunities, risks and concerns must be taken into account in strategy development if they are to be properly managed. These results show that finance teams are not being called on to make the most of their skills in this area.
There are signs, though, that things are changing. Nearly three-quarters of finance professionals thought that managing ethical performance would be part of their job in two to three years’ time, compared with just over half who say it is already a part of their role.
While many companies are beginning to recognise the importance of responsible business, relatively few seem to be actively managing their performance on this in concrete ways. Even fewer involve their finance professionals in the management of ethical and corporate responsibility performance. While business's approach to society and the environment is important to the majority of finance professionals, they are still not being engaged to contribute to their company’s performance against ethical standards.