Cisco’s Innovative Strategy “Ethics Idol” to Promote Ethics

The advantages of Ethics Idol as an ethics training communication medium over in-person PowerPoint training

Cisco is promoting ethics in its company through an innovative strategy called Ethics Idol. They created animations based on a parody of the acclaimed TV show American Idol – a series of animations about ethical standards. As conceived by the creators, this is a great way to communicate with employees and arouse interest in learning.

Unlike a standard form of presentation such as PowerPoint training, the company is developing viable communication alternatives. Before introducing the new program, it was difficult for employees to find answers to emerging ethical questions. The employee went off to look for a question about compliance with the old code but came back with nothing. The document was difficult to read, and the language was technical and dense. In addition, the company uses a variety of technologies, including communication tools such as blogs and discussion forums (Griffin, Phillips, & Gully, 2020). Thus, each employee has access to the Internet, which they use to communicate, and various types of oral communication.

Would you enjoy this type of training program?

I find any innovations in the learning process very interesting. Firstly, it attracts attention and helps to focus on the assimilation of the material, moreover, spending not so much energy on it. Secondly, as you know, we better remember information in a format more understandable to us. What, in this case, could be better than an animated series about ethics, which, moreover, is presented in a format known to many.

Other ways ethics could be communicated in an engaging way

I think the important thing is raising awareness about ethics, as well as teaching ethics, is to avoid standard lectures. In my opinion, this method can alienate people from understanding the value of ethics in the work team. It may look like the imposition of new views, often without explaining why the company is promoting this among its employees. In my opinion, such clarity as in the Ethics Idol can help to assimilate information. You can also try to arouse the interest of the listener through interactive and subsequent personalization. For example, creating a relaxed atmosphere, solving a puzzle that would pose the question so that the listener understood that ethics concerns everyone, including him.

Reference

Griffin, R. W., Phillips, J., & Gully, S. M. (2020). Organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations. Cengage.