Ethics in the workplace seminar

Rinamay Rhoten | Staff Writer | @rinamaylopez

 

On Thursday, March 5 UVU’s Center for the Study of Ethics hosted an ethics in the workplace seminar. The purpose of this seminar was to encourage students to be ethical in their careers today and in the future.  The panelists were from different sectors of the business world and each had words of wisdom from their many years of experience in their fields.   The panelists were Todd Christensen, the president and CEO of the Christensen Oil, Ruth Todd, a former journalist who worked in several news stations across the nation including ABC and CBS, and is currently the vice president of public affairs at Nu Skin and Richard Beach, assistant vice president of Intermountain Healthcare who is responsible for supply-chain operations in that organization.

Christensen believes that ethics are the foundation of a business, regardless of size. He said not being ethical in a business is sinful. He learned from his father how to lead a successful company.

“As the future leaders in business, you have an opportunity to make a significant impact as to what the outcome could be,” said Christensen.

Beach spoke about his many years in Intermountain Healthcare, an organization that is recognized for their outstanding care of its members. For four consecutive years they have won the J.D. Power and Associates award in member satisfaction. He shared an example of how ethics are practiced every day in supply-chain by telling a story about how Intermountain Healthcare deals with delivery and fetal medicine. Some women prefer to have babies at a convenient date for them. Studies have shown that having a woman choose a delivery date can put the mother and baby at risk. Intermountain set a standard that they will not deliver babies at the mother’s convenience. This standard caused a decrease of $9 million in revenue.

“We do the right things for the right reasons, not for the revenue” said Beach.

Beach strongly believes that ethical work pays off, whether it is small or large deeds; it shows who a person really is.

Todd spoke about her experiences that have led her to act the way she does today at work. Her most memorable experiences were as a child when her mother and father taught her the simple principles of what it was to be a good person. This has affected Ruth through her adult years she believes that if you are honest and ethical it will pay off in your future career. She has seen how people’s view of ethics has changed throughout the years, but to her the principle of honesty will never change.  During her career as an anchor there were ethical decisions that needed to take place every day. It’s the little things that matter in everyday life.

“As a journalist I never accepted gifts from anybody, not because I was going to get caught but because it was wrong,” said Todd.