A great code of conduct is:
• Written for the reader. It is easy to understand and doesn’t include any technical or legal jargon.
• Comprehensive. It covers all important details that may impact the daily lives of employees and answers common questions that arise.
• Supported by leadership. It has been acknowledged and approved by the company’s senior management team. This is often demonstrated in the form of a foreword written by the CEO or President.
• Accessible. It is available to all employees, current investors and potential investors.
• Visually appealing. It follows a style that is clean and reflective of the organization.
The code is a statement of social responsibility: What you stand for, how you treat your business partners, the ethical lines you never cross. You probably have at least an unwritten code for your business, but writing it out makes it clear to your vendors, customers and employees where you stand.
Having a written code lets everyone in your company know what conduct you expect from them, for example that you won't deal with suppliers who employ child labor or break the law. You may think it's obvious how your employees should act, or that vague rules like "treat everyone fairly" work fine, but in day-to-day operations, it may not be so clear. This is particularly true if your business is growing: You and your initial employees may be on the same page, but the more workers you hire, the more you need a written statement.
Various industry associations offer such principles as always making products in accordance with industry standards, maintaining quality control, providing customers with accurate product information, providing a written warranty, providing buyers with full installation instructions, keeping a supply of replacement parts even after you stop production, disposing of hazardous substances without harming the environment and protecting employees from injury.
Even if you're clear on what you want your company to stand for, you should solicit feedback from employees, suggests Inc. magazine. Ask for anonymous examples of tough ethical calls they've had to make in the past year so that you can identify specific situations to address. If your employees are struggling to keep product quality high in the face of tight deadlines, a written statement that you never cut quality can help them decide what to do.