Beyond a code

“Our toughest ethical decisions are not ‘right vs. wrong,’ but ‘right vs. right,’” says Corporate Compliance and Ethics Officer Mike Uth.

To help us navigate the sometimes murky waters of ethical decision making, Legal Studies and Business Ethics Professor Tom Donaldson of the Wharton School of Business spoke to Progressive’s mid- and senior-level business leaders at a half-day event in February 2010.

Tom’s presentation focused on avoiding what he calls “dangerous currents.” These include employee discomfort with discussing ethics, normalizing questionable behavior, and avoiding excessive stress and goal fixation.

Our focus on ethics goes well beyond senior leadership. Every employee acknowledges that they understand and adhere to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. We also offer ethics training. In 2010, we began sharing real-life code issues and how we handled them to help employees understand our code enforcement process and be comfortable asking questions and raising concerns.

For our third year, we continued efforts related to a companywide ethics awareness initiative called “Making the Right Choice,” in which employees at all levels learn about ethics through an interactive intranet site, traveling art exhibition and series of interviews about ethics with senior business leaders.

“I wish more companies could be like Progressive,” Professor Donaldson told our leadership. “It’s not the only company with a set of Core Values, but I can see how those values are baked into the Progressive culture.”