How do I Avoid a Conflict of Interest in my Business?

What is a conflict of interest? A conflict of interest occurs when an employee’s personal interest impacts their judgment or actions in the workplace. These decisions can ultimately affect your business negatively and compromise your ethics. For these reasons, it is important to have a plan in place that educates employees about what is considered a conflict of interest to avoid liability. 

Everyone in your business should receive training on avoiding conflict of interest. In some circumstances it can be challenging to avoid all conflicts of interest, so it is important to be educated on how to handle these situations to avoid further implications. Everyone’s goal is to do the right thing and act with integrity, although the lines often get blurred between right and wrong when faced with ambiguous ethical dilemmas.

Our values, ethics, and integrity are a direct reflection on who we are as individuals and as a company. That’s why we formally revisit our three key values every year to refresh your knowledge with interactive case studies, like this one.

Here are Three Important Key Values:

1. We are responsible. We abide by all laws and regulations impacting our business and always act in the best interest of our customers.

1. We embrace our diversity. Our shared success depends on the talent, skills, and expertise of a vast array of people. This commitment to diversity is an essential element to our business success.

1. We pursue excellence in all that we do. We’re laser-focused on meeting the needs of our customers and holding ourselves to ever-higher standards in every area of our business. 

A few important questions to ask yourself when you strive to do the right thing:

• Do you have personal or private interests that may conflict or be perceived to conflict with your duties? 

• Could there be benefits for you now or in the future that could cast doubt on your objectivity? 

• Are there risks associated for your or your organization? 

• Do you stand to gain or lose from the proposed action or decision?

Our new course, ‘Avoid Conflict of Interest,’ will help your employees better understand how to identify potential conflicts and handle them when they arise. For more information on how CD Training Academy can help you, call Alaina at (417) 553-2121 or email alaina@cdtallc.com.