(Part 3 of an ongoing series)
Good ethics in business is far too often a relative term. In my work as a business ethics motivational speaker, business ethics consultant and book author, I have witnessed far too many examples of companies claiming their outstanding record on diversity and inclusion, and those purporting to be leaders in their environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments, and clearly those extolling their magnificent Code of Ethics.
Yet, not all too surprisingly, when employees come up to me after I deliver a business ethics keynote speech, many confide that their organization “does not have their back.” In addition, they talk about a lack of transparency and of selectively maintaining the code of conduct. It turns out there is a trust issue even among the companies reputed to be “good and ethical.”
Transparency
In 2021, the report of the Global Business Ethics Survey was released. Reading between the lines, it was obvious why so many purportedly ethical companies had so few grievances. Could they all have been stellar examples of good ethics or was something else in play?
In addition to numerous complaints about an uneven application of the ethical code e.g., it applied to people in the field or production, but never to anyone in the “C-Suite,” the comments I received sadly aligned with the business ethics survey, most specifically the survey found:
- Nearly three-quarters (74%) were worried that if they reported harassment or abuse, it would not remain Someone unauthorized would find out about the complaint.
- 63% said they feared if they reported a grievance, they would be labeled a ‘snitch,’ and hence subject to some form of retaliation.
- About 69% said they thought corrective action would not be taken, so why bother reporting it at all?
In other words, the clear and ethical policies the companies touted were neither transparent nor were they principled. Those reporting would do so only at their own risk. When trust is so badly eroded, to ask, “What are some examples of good ethics in business?” does not automatically yield a list of ethical practices and cases where the values are shared equally throughout the organization. It does yield caveats where employees are stuck with saying, “It depends.”
Opaque leadership
Can a company boast about being ethical have opaque leadership? As a business ethics motivational speaker, business ethics consultant and book author, I have seen this occur time and time again.
If we just look at the take-aways from above and the comments I frequently hear, it is apparent that executive leadership insert themselves and possibly, unauthorized subordinates in matters that should remain confidential. As a result, conversations and documents are often released to those who should be nowhere such interactions. In addition, and far too often, executive leadership believe the rules do not apply to them or they assume latitude that the code of conduct should not allow.
The above point invariably leads to those issuing complaints being singled out, isolated and demeaned. Having a code of ethics in place is fine providing it spells out what will occur to the complainant being harassed in any way. This must be written in stone.
Finally, there is no point in someone trying to be ethical, making a complaint, and then having leadership doing nothing after someone reports it.
If leadership is opaque or worse, is not willing to respond to unethical incidents, then the code of ethical is all but useless and pointless. We can offer all of the good examples of ethics in business we would like, but if management is inconsistent or blind to the issues, then they are only deceiving themselves with their own rhetoric.
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