At a breakfast held today, 14 January, for the Investing in Integrity (IiI) Chartermark, the Lord Mayor, Alderman Alan Yarrow, will call for businesses to not only improve their culture, but reassure the public that they are trustworthy.
The Lord Mayor said:
“One of the direct results of the economic crisis was a loss of trust in the financial services sector. Since then the industry has spent a lot of time and effort trying to restore this and integrity has to be at the heart of that.
“Addressing these negative perceptions is an important step for these firms but it is not the be all and end all. Simply saying “trust us” or “trust me” is no longer sufficient, if indeed it ever was, and a more transparent and open approach is required to convince today’s sceptical public.”
Investing in Integrity (IiI) is a Chartermark, founded in 2012, which enables an organisation to reassure its key stakeholders that its business can demonstrate a commitment to address conduct and behaviour risk and act with integrity at all times. The strength of the IiI assessment framework is that it tests an organisation’s ethical conduct against its statements of values to ensure those values are properly embedded. It can help them identify whether or not the company is truly living up to its values, from the boardroom to the shop floor.
Two holders of the IiI Chartermark – Carillion plc and Supreme Group - will share their experiences of the assessment process at the Mansion House breakfast. The companies underwent an independent assessment, to see if they were living up to their commitment to operate to the highest standards of their ethical values. The process, carried out by Investing in Integrity assessment partner, GoodCorporation, involved site visits, staff interviews, employee surveys and a review of documentation.
Osama AlJayousi, Group Compliance Manager at Carillion plc said: “Investing in Integrity is a unique chartermark where it rigorously tests an organisation’s ethical standards through formal audit and assessment of the organisation’s own people and what they say about it. In the course of the process some 35 senior people were interviewed, more than 3,000 responded to an online survey and 1,100 blue-collar staff were questioned, including people at more than 20 of Carillion operational sites across the Globe. Carillion is proud of its achievement being the first company to achieve the III charter mark across the support services sector.”
Emma Sharma, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Supreme Group said: “Supreme Group is committed to ensuring that we operate in line with the highest international standards of ethics and compliance. Our Investing in Integrity certification helps to demonstrate to our clients, employees and partners that our strategy around Ethics & Compliance is at the very heart of all that we do, every day. We are proud to be the only company operating in the logistics sector worldwide to have gained this certification.”
Philippa Foster Back CBE, Director, Institute of Business Ethics said: “Research by the IBE into the public’s attitude to business behaviour shows that the public are beginning to trust companies again, but it is a fragile trust, which needs evidence if it is to last. We are very proud of the investment which IiI companies have made in integrity – it shows a real commitment to ethical business practice.”
Simon Culhane Chartered FCSI, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment said: “Investing in Integrity is, I believe, very much in tune with the times and the needs of, not just the financial services industry but industry in general. Being able to publicly demonstrate a commitment to acting with integrity has never been more valuable.”
To find out more about Investing in Integrity chartermark visit www.investinginintegrity.org.uk