A. Strong commitment to integrity, ethical values, and the rule of law
The public sector is normally responsible for using a significant proportion of national resources raised through taxation to provide services to citizens. Public sector entities are accountable not only for how much they spend but also for the ways they use the resources with which they have been entrusted. In addition, they have an overarching mission to serve the public interest in adhering to the requirements of legislation and government policies. This makes it essential that the entire entity can demonstrate the integrity of all its actions and has mechanisms in place that encourage and enforce a strong commitment to ethical values and legal compliance at all levels.
A1. Demonstrating integrity
The governing body should promote a culture where acting in the public interest at all times is the norm. It should do this by taking the lead in establishing and living up to specific values for the entity and its staff. These values should be easy to communicate and understand. They should be over and above minimum legal requirements and should build on established principles for behavior in public life, such as objectivity, selflessness, and honesty.7 These principles reflect public expectations about the conduct and behavior of entities, groups, and individuals who manage public service provision and spend public money.
The governing body should stand as a role model (often referred to as the tone-at-the-top ) by keeping these values at the forefront of its own thinking and behavior and use them to guide its decision making and other actions. The values can also be used to promote a culture of integrity and collaboration throughout the entity through a number of mechanisms. These include their definition and communication through codes of conduct, frequent staff consultation and communication, exemplary behavior, and performance assessment and reward processes.
A2. Strong commitment to ethical values
Ethical values and standards should be embedded throughout an entity and should form the basis for all its policies, procedures, and actions, as well as the personal behavior of its governing body members and other staff.
Having a code of conduct for governing body members and staff is a key element of good governance. Developing, reviewing, and communicating a code that illustrates what the values mean in specific circumstances helps to make visible (a) how the entity operates; (b) how it embeds its core values, such as by reflecting values in communications, processes, and behavior; and (c) how it relates to its key stakeholders. Codes also help reassure stakeholders about the entity’s integrity and its commitment to ethics.
Conflicts can arise between the personal interests of individuals involved in making decisions and the decisions that the governing body or employees need to make in the public interest. To ensure continued integrity and avoid public concern or loss of confidence, governing body members and staff should take steps to avoid or deal with any conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived. Some entities have a separate ethics policy and code of conduct. In such cases, an entity’s ethics policy typically sets out values and principles while a code of conduct outlines standards of behavior and practices.
It can be difficult to measure objectively factors affecting an entity’s performance in leadership, ethics, and culture, or to identify ethical problems before they manifest in organizational performance. However, it is important that entities seek to understand and maintain their performance in these areas. Useful evaluative approaches to gauge performance include staff surveys, performance appraisals, administrative reviews, and leadership self-assessments.
Stakeholders can also provide important feedback on how an entity is performing in leadership, ethics, and culture. This can be solicited formally or be received through comments and complaints. Complaints can form a vital part of feedback and should be handled and resolved efficiently, effectively, and in a timely manner so that lessons learned are used to improve the performance, both ethical and general, of the entity and its services.
Whistleblowing processes should also be established whereby individuals or groups are able to draw formal attention to practices that are unethical or violate internal or external policies rules or regulations and to ensure that valid concerns are promptly addressed. These processes also reassure individuals raising concerns that they will be protected from any potential negative repercussions.
A3. Strong commitment to the rule of law
Fair legal frameworks, enforced on an impartial basis, as well as an independent judicial system assist in building societies where individuals and organizations alike can feel safe. They do this by affording legal protection for rights and entitlements, offering redress for those harmed, and guarding against corruption.
Public sector entities at all levels may be involved with creating or interpreting laws; such activities demand a high standard of conduct that prevents these roles from being brought into disrepute. Adhering to the rule of law also requires effective mechanisms to deal with breaches of legal and regulatory provisions.
Public sector entities and the individuals working within them should, therefore, demonstrate a strong commitment to the rule of law as well as compliance with all relevant laws. Within this International Framework, they should also strive to utilize their powers for the full benefit of their communities and other stakeholders. The rule of law is also a means by which public sector entities and individuals within them can be held to account through compliance with any constraints on resources voted by the legislature.
Sedang diterjemahkan, harap tunggu..
