Ethics washing, a term not too dissimilar from greenwashing, is used to describe the practice of when organisations share false or misleading information about themselves to paint their organisation in a better light, even if they have no way of backing up their claims. An example is having an excellent (public) diversity and inclusion policy, but then discriminating against applicants when recruiting. By making false claims, organisations may be deceiving their stakeholders into believing they are having a more positive impact on society than they really are.
Being accused of ethics washing, even if the organisation can justify its claims, can seriously damage a business’s reputation and ultimately negatively impact its income.
We want to help you protect your organisation’s good name and avoid ethics washing based challenges, so have put together our top tips to help reduce your exposure. We can also provide training sessions for your in-house marketing, communications, and branding teams, as well as senior stakeholders, to discuss how to spot, and avoid, ethical washing claims and how to respond if any issues arise.
If your organisation would like support in any of these areas, is already facing allegations of ethics washing, would like to organise a training session, or if you have any questions on how to protect your brand more generally, please get in touch.
If you would like to register your interest for future events around ethics washing, please click here.
