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Photos of this event (at bottom of this page)
Knowing your company’s policies and your company’s guidelines when confronted with ethical issues can keep both you and your company out of trouble, Larry Tremaglio, one of the three principals of Triumvir Consulting, told Central Ohio IFMA Chapter associates and members August 19.
Tremaglio’s comments came during a well-received presentation on “Ethics in the Customer /Service Provider Relationship” at a special social event at the Grandview Café that was hosted by the Associate Relations Committee especially for the chapter’s associate members, but with other members invited and attending as well.
Tremaglio is a brother of Jennifer Jarrett, co-chair of the Associate Relations Committee, and was accompanied by Steve Dershem, a partner in the State College, Pa., firm. A third, partner, Joe Battista, was unable to attend.
Citing such companies as Enron and Arthur Andersen, Tremaglio stated, “These are famous cases where ethics were thrown out the window...where these companies were brought to the brink (and beyond) because of their unethical behavior. It is management’s responsibility to set the tone, to provide the leadership at every level, and chief executive officers of companies should be held to the highest (ethical) standards.”
The adoption of good ethical standards, and living with them, enables companies and individuals to develop and maintain reputations that say “Things here will be done right!” he said. “There is no cost involved in adhering to good ethics. It’s an added value for your customers because there is no cost involved and because it builds and strengthens customer relations.”
Tremaglio said that while there are many definitions for the word, ethics might be summed up simply as actions that are “right or wrong.”
He suggested that companies and individuals test their ethics or questions involving ethical behavior by asking themselves if their actions are something they would be happy seeing in newspaper headlines, in their obituaries or on their tombstones, or something of which their families and friends would approve.
The offering and acceptance of gifts is a particularly ticklish area, Tremaglio said, and it is extremely important that people are well aware of their company’s guidelines when dealing with such issues.
“We must know what is right and wrong, what is black and white...because the more we know, the more the black and white pushes in and the smaller the gray (area of doubt) gets,” he said. “We must not let unethical behavior by people we have nothing to do with affect our businesses.”
This was the first “associate event” that the chapter has offered in several years, and its success will lead to others, Jarrett said.
“We had about 25 people—mostly associates—turn out for the evening. We will try to plan a similar event once a year for our associate members, but it will also be open to the other members. Linda (Myers, committee co-chair) and I would like to hear from any of the members on what they might like to do in the future,” she said.
For comments or ideas, contact Jarrett at (614) 232-8101 or by email at Jennifer.Jarrett@usbank.com, and Myers at (614) 487-4141 or by email at lmyers2@steelcase.com.
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