- Deterring Unethical Behavior and
Creating A Strong Culture - Many people believe that organizational
structure and management systems are hard and neutral. It’s not true. Your
organizational culture is not something that just happens; it is a reflection
of your systems, structures and perhaps most important, people. It doesn’t
exist separately. It reflects what is and isn’t cared about and rewarded.
In a previous position where I led the turn-around
of a distressed organization, I remember doing my first walk through and coming
to an area where four people shared a common area with one wastebasket. There
were papers overflowing onto the floor and it was a mess. When I asked them why
there was one wastebasket for four people they all exchanged glances and said
it wasn’t for a lack of asking for more, it was a lack of response to multitude
requests. Was it any wonder the organization was in a heap of trouble? Could anyone be surprised that employee
morale was as low as could be?
Developing a superb organizational culture has many
components with three of the most important being the tone set at the top,
having an ethics or compliance program that is enforced and providing ongoing
communications about ethics.
The 2006 KPMG Integrity Survey took a behind-the-scenes
look at corporate fraud and misconduct in the post-Sarbanes-Oxley era. It was
based upon responses from 4,056 U.S.
employees, spanning all levels of job responsibility. Nearly three of four employees reported that they had observed
misconduct in the prior 12-month period, with half of employees reporting that
what they had observed was serious misconduct that could cause “a
significant loss of public trust if discovered.”
Following are interesting statistics from the report
reflecting the differences in companies where defined ethics/compliance
programs exist.
Question With
Ethics/Comp Program Without
|
Would you report unethical behavior
|
73%
|
28%
|
|
Do you believe appropriate action would be taken
|
97%
|
44%
|
|
Do you believe you would be protected against retaliation
|
75%
|
29%
|
|
Do you believe the CEO and senior staff value ethics over
short-term business goals
|
92%
|
28%
|
|
Do you believe the CEO and senior staff would respond
appropriately if aware of misconduct
|
99%
|
36%
|
|
Would people exhibit a high commitment to integrity
|
90%
|
49%
|
|
The willingness to tolerate misconduct is minimal
|
94%
|
35%
|
Clearly, having a strong ethics program brings employees
comfort that the organization cares about and will do the right thing. Given
that 75% of employees see misconduct, you want them to feel safe that they can
report a malfeasance. According to the National Business Ethics Survey (NBES),
there is a clear link between effective communication programs and increased
reporting of misconduct. When the organization communicates about ethics,
employees feel more comfortable reporting issues.
The best campaigns teach employees
how to recognize and report unethical behavior while using a positive tone. The
presence of the anonymous, confidential incident reporting service you have
from Ethical Advocate can deter fraud. The purpose and nature of the service
should be mentioned in all ethics communications, but should not be the only
focus of communication. This will enhance the program by nurturing an ethical
environment and helping honest employees realize they can help the agency by
reporting harmful activities.
An ideal communications campaign
includes messages from top organizational to demonstrate support from the top.
This can be achieved through memos, newsletter articles and discussions in
employee meetings. The point is to
communicate to your stakeholders as frequently as possible, in writing, in
meetings, and via any and all means available.
And most important of all is the tone of honesty and integrity
management and executives set.
If you would like to speak with me directly about these and other issues, call me at 1/888/ETHICS 6.
Jacob
Blass
President