Does your organization have an ethics policy?
Yes: 72%
No: 21%
Not sure: 7%
Many areas of a planner’s job can be
subjected to a moral compass, including the acceptance of
familiarization trips and gifts. To gauge where our readers stand
on such issues, M&C conducted an online survey in
January.
Among findings: Most planners (72
percent of the 492 respondents) work for organizations that have an
ethics policy (and 80 percent are very or somewhat familiar with
it), while 21 percent have no policy and 7 percent don’t know if
such a thing exists. Fifty-six percent said the policy is enforced
strictly companywide, while 16 percent said it is enforced rarely;
the other 28 percent said enforcement depends on the department or
manager.
More than half (59 percent) take fam trips, and
only 8 percent have taken a trip to a destination they would not
have considered for as a meeting site.
Concerning other perks, about a quarter
of those surveyed are allowed to accept any gift proffered, while
41 percent may take gifts valued at $50 or less and 10 percent may
accept gifts valued at $100 or less. Another quarter of respondents
cannot accept any gifts.
As for dining with suppliers, 55
percent of the sample may accept any invitation, while 18 percent
may attend only parties or client events, not one-on-one dinners.
Six percent cannot accept any invitations at all; for 21 percent,
their companies have no set policy.
About half of respondents are allowed
to accept meeting planner points, while 21 percent cannot and 27
percent said there is no set policy. Those points might be redeemed
by individual planners (39 percent), the department as a group (14
percent), the department head or boss (8 percent), or used for a
future event (57 percent).