Today at our NACBA Chapter lunch and meeting our topic was on Christian Ethics in Business. Several situation ethic examples presented gave each person a challenge on how we should react when faced with moral or ethical issues. Your business ethic is not only how you handle yourself, but also how people view you at face value.
The morally ethic person has a deep down core value system that they operate from that will not compromise. We will face ethical situations and will face temptations, but it is that core value system, that says not to do it. The problem is that core value can look ugly on the surface! I’ll explain below.
The other side of the ethical coin is accountability! Not only do we put accountability systems in place for those that we supervise, but also we must have accountability on our self from others. Think of accountability as protection! We hold others accountable for their protection and we are held accountable to protect us.
So, what did I walk away with from the presentation? How to use the “sandwich method” in responding to someone asking you do to something unethical. Using your ethical core value system, you know you have to say no to the proposal. Using the sandwich method softens that core value system that normally will just blurt out “no”. The sandwich method has three steps.
#1 Relate
#2 Say no
#3 Give a solution
This way you are sandwiching the right answer “no”, which is a negative, between two positives; I care and I want to help. Therefore, here is just one example of how this would work.
Ted, a Business Manager in the office, is well-known for organization, having policies and procedures in place, and displays high integrity. Bill, a fellow employee, made several purchases and is asking Ted to reimburse him for the purchases but has no receipts. Bill tells Ted he just has a hard time keeping those annoying receipts and just needs his money back. What is Ted’s response?
Relate – Bill, I know what you mean having to keep receipts for everything, I have to do the same thing. I know it can be a pain to keep up with them.
Say no – I cannot reimburse you though without them.
Give a solution – Let me help you with this. Maybe we can call the vendors and get reprints for the purchases. Let’s see what we can do!
With this method, you not only keep the relationship in good standing by not coming off as a bad person, but you demonstrate good ethics and a solution at the same time. Without using the “sandwich method”, you probably would have said no right off the bat like saying too bad, so sad. I need receipts!
Original material was presented by Mitchell Nuebert, Chavanne Chair of Christian Ethics in Business at Baylor University.
Comments about ethics? Discussion?
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