Which action should the HR director take to best ensure that company leadership understand and act in accordance with the company’s expectations of its executives?

The HR director and the CEO of an e-commerce company with 330 employees each receive a similar email from an unrecognizable address. The letter is from an anonymous discontented employee. In the letter, the employees accuses the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company of financial fraudulent practices including using accounting loopholes to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars of bad debt, while simultaneously inflating the company’s earnings.

The anonymous email also accuses the CFO of intimidation, retaliation, and virulently attacking senior

managers in front of junior colleagues. The email further states that the employee has taken great effort to remain anonymous because of a fear of retaliation, which may lead to termination for spurious reasons. The email states that HR is improperly chummy with the CFO and has never been able to conduct an independent workplace investigation free of prejudice.

Which action should the HR director take to best ensure that company leadership understand and act in accordance with the company’s expectations of its executives?
A . Involve an independent external firm to discuss compliance issues with senior executives and provide training on reprisal-free ethical reporting.
B . Utilize 360-degree feedback mechanisms to identify and coach executives with behavioral problems and ethical slips.
C . Invest in a quarterly training sequence focused on behavioral expectations of executives and employees to support compliance, reshape culture and reduce risk.
D . Utilize focus groups, surveys, and peer reviews to evaluate ethical behavior and integrity among the company’s executives.

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

Consistent training on ethics and compliance is the most effective method of communicating an organization’s code of ethics and compliance requirements as well as sharing the expected behavior and responsibilities of executives who act as role models in the company.