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Advanced Auditing

Notes The value of the ethical audit is that it enables the company to see itself through a variety of
lenses: it captures the company’s ethical profile. Companies recognise the importance of their
financial profile for their investors, of their service profile for their customers, and of their
profile as an employer for their current and potential employees. An ethical profile brings
together all of the factors which affect a company’s reputation, by examining the way in which
it does business. By taking a picture of the value system at a given point in time, it can:

 clarify the actual values to which the company operates
 provide a baseline by which to measure future improvement learn how to meet any
societal expectations which are not currently being met

 give stakeholders the opportunity to clarify their expectations of the company’s behaviour
 identify specific problem areas within the company
 learn about the issues which motivate employees
 identify general areas of vulnerability, particularly related to lack of openness
In relation to the specific factors of the ethical environment, studies on codes of ethics have
dominated the ethical accounting and auditing literature. Codes of ethics are important since
they implicitly set limits for unethical behaviour and are intended to offer guidance in ambiguous
situations.

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Caselet Conducting an Ethics Audit

n recent years, social workers have become more aware of ethical challenges and
risks. Contemporary practitioners are familiar with a wide range of ethical issues
Irelated to client confidentiality and privacy, informed consent, self-determination,
conflicts of interest, dual relationships, termination of services, and impaired professionals.
Social work education, continuing education, and staff development now routinely include
discussions of ethical dilemmas and ethics risk management.

Ethical standards in social work have matured. The profession has moved from relatively
brief and simplistic ethical standards to more comprehensive and detailed guides. As a
result, social workers are now expected to adhere to ambitious ethical standards set forth
in pertinent codes of ethics, licensing, and other statutes and regulations. In light of these
increasing demands, social workers should thoroughly examine their ethics-related
practices, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance with prevailing standards.
One way to assess the adequacy of one’s ethics-related practices, policies, and procedures
is to conduct an ethics audit. An ethics audit should focus on what is currently considered
to be essential or core ethical issues in social work. Social work’s literature suggests two
key knowledge areas that should form the foundation of the audit: (1) ethics-related risks
in practice settings, based on empirical trend data gathered from actual ethics complaints
(filed with state licensing boards and professional organizations, such as the National
Association of Social Workers [NASW]), lawsuits filed against social workers that allege
ethics-related negligence, and ethics committee and court findings and dispositions; and
(2) current agency policies and procedures for handling ethical issues, dilemmas, and
decisions. Based on these sources, social workers should audit their ethics-related policies,
practices, and procedures related to a number of key risks: client rights; confidentiality
and privacy; informed consent; service delivery; boundary issues and dual relationships;
Contd....

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