Since its integration in 2011, Birla Carbon has developed a Code of Global Ethics and Compliance Standards (Code of Ethics) to ensure that all of our workforce has a shared set of policies to guide their daily actions and reaffirm our commitment to the highest level of ethical and legal conduct.
In consultation with legal and compliance experts, and together with affiliated companies, our Legal Department devised our Code of Ethics, which was endorsed by the Senior Management Team (SMT) in FY2014. The next step was training, which was no small task: Birla Carbon’s diverse workforce comprises approximately 3,000 employees located in multiple countries across the Americas, Europe & Africa and Asia.
Our Legal, Audit and Human Resources Departments worked with external compliance experts to develop an e-learning module in our 11 local languages illustrating the Code of Ethics. Through anecdotes and hypothetical cases, employees learned how to apply the guidelines and principles of the Code of Ethics and tested their understanding of it. Upon completion, each employee received confirmation of their compliance with the Code of Ethics.
The online course was successfully completed in FY2015 by over 1,500 employees, while the remaining participants completed it in a classroom setting. The course content is being modified for the FY2016 training, and will highlight different areas of emphasis and enhanced reporting capabilities.