At Deloitte, integrity is fundamental. Deloitte’s ethics program helps build ethical sensitivity, encourages consultation and supports ethical decision-making.

This year, we strengthened our ethics program on several levels. Among others, we updated our e-learnings, decided to implement an “ethics helpline” and a non-retaliation policy” to maintain a workplace free from retaliation for those who bring forward an ethics issue. We have also conducted an ethics survey.

“Ethical behavior is part of the Deloitte DNA”, says Gunilla Danielsson, Ethics Officer at Deloitte Sweden. “Our clients trust Deloitte to execute their most ambitious projects and we need to uphold that every day. Not only to protect the Deloitte brand, but to be a company that our professionals can feel proud of”.

Deloitte’s commitment to ethics resides in our purpose and common values. This is defined in Deloitte’s Code of Business Conduct (Ethics Code), which provide guidance on how to act with integrity. Our ethics program exist to ensure that we embed our principles of business conduct commitments and shared values in our day-to-day working life. The program contains processes and activities for managing ethics and applies to all Deloitte professionals. This includes a dedicated Ethics Officer, information and education packages, incident management, follow-up and evaluation processes. For example, our employees undergo mandatory education in ethics and confirm annually the knowledge and responsibility for compliance with the Ethics Code.

“We provide our professionals with an ethical compass for guidance in client work and throughout their entire career”, continues Gunilla. “We always encourage them to consult with their colleagues or leaders. This is key in the Deloitte culture and means our people don’t have to resolve difficult ethical situations alone. Starting this year, we support our partners with additional training in these kinds of questions. In addition, we are implementing an ethics helpline for those who wish to seek anonymous guidance or need to report a sensitive issue.”