One of the most critical parts to securing your success as a competitive organization, is to protect your intellectual assets and prevent other people from stealing your ideas or doing things that could compromise your strategy. At St. Denis & Davey, we have helped many Florida organizations to learn more about what they can do to protect themselves against conflict of interest.
When anyone who is a valuable member of your organization’s workforce is in a situation where their personal and professional interests are conflicted, they may be tempted to act in ways that could benefit their ultimate outcome but put your company at risk in the process. Chron.com suggests articulating a clear, cut and dry conflict policy that accurately describes what management perceives as a conflict of interest. From here, you should list in detail everyone who is subject to the conflict policy and what repercussions will be leveled if someone acts against the rules.
Other things that your company can do to reduce the risk of a conflict of interest occurring includes the following:
- Regularly maintain the policy and modify it to reflect changes in the organization’s procedures.
- Include definitions of different types of conflicts of interest.
- Educate your employees on what will happen if a conflict of interest happens.
- Follow through with procedural disciplinary action if a conflict occurs.
By applying the aforementioned suggestions, you can better protect your company against the potential risks created by a conflict of interest. For more information about how to prevent professional malpractice, visit our web page.