STAFF AND CULTURE
Integrity and ethics are about conduct and culture
HRM policy must align with the organisation’s values and plays a major role in achieving the desired organisational culture, in which acting with integrity is encouraged.
Good HRM policy takes a broad view of integrity, from recruitment and selection and onboarding, through assessment and remuneration policy and personal development, to exit interviews.
A good organisation has a safe, open culture. In this culture, employees can question and change existing patterns without fear of repercussions. Awareness, communication and dialogue are important parts of this. The organisation can therefore organise these activities regularly.
TIPS FOR SUPERVISORY DIRECTORS
- Ask yourself whether the variable remuneration policy and the KPIs it contains for members of the Management Board create risks of non-integrity-based conduct.
- Discuss with the Management Board what activities have been carried out that contribute to a safe and open culture.
- Learn more about how the Management Board gains insight into the organisational culture. For example, familiarise yourself with the outcomes of employee satisfaction surveys and/or culture surveys, and also inquire after the outcomes of exit interviews.
- Discuss with the Management Board the extent to which the current culture corresponds to the desired culture, and request information about how the organisation is working to achieve it.
- Ensure there are contact opportunities between individual members of the Supervisory Board and representatives of the organisation. Consider holding such conversations without the management board members present.
- Also pay attention to informal signals and use your intuition – even passing remarks or unfinished remarks can provide indications of risks or concerns.
- Ask yourself whether there is a safe and open culture in Supervisory Board meetings, in which you feel free to express your opinion and ask questions. Make this a fixed element of the evaluation/selfevaluation.