9th November 2022Professional Ethics
Aidan Thompson was an invited speaker at the launch of the CIPD Code of Conduct and Ethics on Wednesday 9th November 2022.
Held as a fringe event to the annual CIPD conference in Manchester, the Code was launched at the People’s History Museum on Wednesday evening. Aidan spoke about the prioritisation of the language of virtue in the new iteration of the Code, which was subject to its first review in ten years. The new iteration has a section on ‘Good Character’, defined as ‘applying sound judgement; being honest; not allowing personal interest to undermine your objectivity; protecting the reputation of the profession. There is a new section on ‘Civic Virtue and Stewardship’, defined as ‘applying sound judgement; being honest; not allowing personal interest to undermine your objectivity; protecting the reputation of the profession.’ Further, the virtues of ‘honesty’, ‘integrity’ and ‘respect’ and ‘high standards of ethical conduct’ feature throughout the Code. In a marked difference to other Codes of Conduct, the CIPD Code is aspirational in its presentation, and positive in its tone, rather than simply providing a set of benchmarks for minimum expectations of conduct.
The CIPD have a membership base of over 160,000 HR professionals. Representatives from each of the 52 CIPD branches in the UK were in attendance at the launch, along with CIPD Board members and other representatives including the University of Leeds IDEA Centre. The Jubilee Centre have collaborated with the CIPD on a number of initiatives in recent years, and are proud to have been involved in reviewing the Code and commend the new version.
In addition to the launch of the Code, Aidan spoke at a Big Questions: Live session at the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition, engaging delegates in a discussion around the question ‘Should HR be the conscience of the organisation?'
The revised CIPD Code of Conduct and Ethics can be found here.
