A Culture Of ‘No Matter What’
by Miki Saxon
Fudge, fib, prevaricate, lie.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire!“
Kids hate liars, but rarely turn in the culprit since that would be snitching, yet that doesn’t stop them from glorying when the liar is caught.
But what about when they grow up?
Fudge, fib, prevaricate, lie.
We’ve seen so much of it the last couple of years, more than in the past—but is that accurate? Or is more just coming to the surface?
In 2007 the Ethics Resource Center found that ethical standards had nose-dived back to where they were in 2000.
According to the 2007 National Business Ethics Survey®
“Over the past year, more than half (56 percent) of employees surveyed had personally observed violations of company ethics standards, policy, or the law. Many saw multiple violations. More than two of five employees (42 percent) who witnessed misconduct did not report it through any company channels…”
According to Dr. Patricia Harned, President of ERC,
“Employees at all levels have not increased their ‘ethical courage’ in recent years. The rate of observed misconduct has crept back above where it was in 2000. And employees’ willingness to report misconduct has not improved, either…”
The good news is that the rate of misconduct is cut by three-fourths at companies with strong ethical cultures, and reporting is doubled at companies with comprehensive ethics programs.”
Got that, “strong ethical culture”—not exactly the type of culture prevalent on Wall Street or in companies whose focus is making the numbers no matter what.
In fact, the only ‘no matter what’ that should be a part of your culture is along the lines of “we will adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the law and make ethical and moral decisions at all times no matter what.”
Image credit: giopuo on flickr
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