Investor's Business Daily, June 14th, 2007
The number of ethics violations just keeps growing. From corporate scandals to steroids in sports to political transgressions, wrongdoing seems to be in the news daily.
But is it really any worse than expected?
Patricia Harned, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Ethics Resource Center, thinks so.
"We are in an ethics crisis," Harned said. "Scandal is the new norm. People are not surprised to see it in the news each day.
"Ethics is defined more by its absence than its presence these days."
She bases that on findings from her group's research. More than half -- 52% -- of employees say they've seen acts that violate their standards or the law. That's despite more firms launching ethics programs, Harned says.
New ethics programs haven't led to improvement partly because companies tend to focus on the near term, Harned says.
"We have very short attention spans," she said. "Ethics is more of a long-term equation."
This era is marked by what Tim Irwin, an Atlanta-based corporate psychologist, calls moral relativism. The difference between right and wrong used to be clearer, he says.
"Now, what's right or wrong for you might not be the same for me," he said. "People rationalize their behavior."
In spite of the bad news, Harned says the problem can be fixed if leaders make the effort.
Most top officials see themselves as committed to being ethical. But surveys show that those under them don't view them that way.
"The reason is, they're not being overt about it," Harned said.
That's crucial in an ethical culture, Irwin says. "I tell leaders they need to build trust. One way to do that is to make your thinking visible."
Other steps that make an ethics program work:
Set the right tone. Misconduct gets reduced by up to 50% when the top genuinely commits to being ethical, Harned says. And the top means any leader. A branch manager or supervisor gives more ethical cues than the chief executive.
Hold people accountable. Build performance standards to measure ethical conduct. "That leads to a rise in reporting, and people stay," Harned said.
Keep your commitments. "Do what you say you're going to do," Irwin said. After companies survey employees, leaders must commit to solving the problems employees have identified. If they don't, the surveys won't matter to employees.
Make little things count. One of Irwin's client firms gives job applicants a quick integrity test. It simply asks what the applicant's college grade-point average was. A major discrepancy indicates he lied. If he'll lie about a small thing, he'll likely lie about something bigger.
It's not just compliance. Many firms put in ethics programs just for regulatory reasons, Harned says. "The focus is on making sure a box is checked," she said.
Try to change a firm's culture. Ultimately, Irwin says, it comes down to taking responsibility for yourself.
"When all is said and done, that's the only thing that's going to work," he said.
