Key Takeaways from the March 5, 2024 CICPCU Ethics Meeting: Recovery – When the easy answer wasn’t the right one.
Posted by [email protected] on Apr. 4, 2024 / Subscribe 0
We all make mistakes. On March 5th the CICPCU Ethics committee walked through choices a hypothetical claim handler, Pat, had made, what different choices could have been made, and how they could recover from poor choices. Recovery from a mistake is never easy, but we shared a framework to help Pat get back on track.
Stakeholders
First, identify the stakeholders who are involved:
· Customer(s)
· Co-workers directly impacted.
· Co-workers indirectly impacted.
· Management
· Compliance and ethics
· Legal
Does this situation affect customers? If so, you may need to engage the company communications department.
Accountability
How do you reconcile with stakeholders who are affected? Tell the truth, at once. Avoid stonewalling, foot dragging, being insensitive to people harmed, blaming others, downplaying significance, and defensiveness. Be mindful of the need to repair image and reputation. Accept responsibility for your actions.
Communication
Now that you’ve “ripped the band aid off”, don’t panic. Don’t catastrophize to the worst possible outcome. Be deliberate and effective in communication. Avoid negative meta-messages, which are the untold messages in-between the lines that guide the audience as to how to interpret the stated communication. A policy misinterpretation is a lot different than a “poor judgment”, or an ethical lapse. Be reflective of how this situation happened and express the appropriate level of regret. Communicate the steps you will be taking to avoid this in the future.
Reconciliation
Create check in points. Be honest and transparent. Apologies in words are great, but they just don’t count if you don’t adjust your actions to reflect remorse. Act in a way to bolster credibility. How do you do that?
• Apologize, as appropriate.
• Be completely honest.
• Provide transparency.
• Provide check-in points to confirm your actions match the recovery plan you created.
Thank you to ISU Katie School of Business for hosting us again this year, thank you to our online attendees for your great questions/feedback, and thank you to the ISU students who joined us in person for this session. The Ethics Committee appreciates your support and looks forward to another great session in 2025. If you are interested in joining our committee, we do have open spots. Please reach out to Shauna Whitmar or Jim Jones.
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