Social Media Contributes to Ethical Lapses

at Work
By  Chad Brooks, WriterUpdated: January 10, 2012
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Despite the number of corporate whistleblowers being at an all-time high, new research
shows the presence of a culture that promotes ethical behavior in workplaces is at its lowest
point in the last decade.

A new study from the Ethics Resource Center reveals that over the past two years, 45
percent of U.S. employees observed a violation of the law or ethics at work. The use of social
media appears to be contributing to the problem, according to new research.

While reporting of the wrongdoing was at an all-time high, so too was the backlash against
those employees who blew the whistle, the research revealed. More than 1 in 5 employees
who reported misconductexperienced some form of retaliation, which ERC President Patricia
J. Harned said spells trouble.

"Retaliation against whistleblowers and pressure on employees to compromise their ethics

standards are at or near all-time highs," Harned said. "These are factors that historically
indicate that American business may be on the cusp of a large downward shift in ethical
conduct."

Overall, the strength of corporate ethics cultures is at its weakest since 2000, the report said.

The percentage of businesses with weak ethical cultures, 42 percent, is at the highest level
since 2000, which the ERC attributes to improving national economic conditions.

According to the research, ethical behavior slides during periods of strong economic growth
because the improved conditions and reduced focus on cost-cutting measures makes
employees less fearful of violating ethics rules.

The report shows that the proliferation of social media in the workplace is

contributing to the ethical slide in many businesses. Active social networkers are far more
likely to experience pressure to compromise standards and to experience retaliation for
reporting misconduct than co-workers who are less involved with social networking,
according to the study.

In addition, active users of social networks are much more likely to accept behaviors that
have traditionally been considered questionable, such as keeping copies of confidential work
documents for use in a future job, personal use of the company credit card and taking home
company software.

"It appears that as people become more accustomed to sharing information that was once
considered 'private' across social networks, the tolerance level for questionable behavior in
the workplace has increased," Harned said.

The relaxed ethical climate is starting at the top, the research shows, with one-third of
employees saying their https://www.businessnewsdaily.com, up from 24 percent in 2009 and
the highest percentage ever.

The study also discovered employees are less confident in their own ability to handle ethics
situations.

"An ethical culture cannot be built without the full commitment of senior executives and
company directors," Harned said. "Business leaders must remain diligent and continue to
incorporate ethics and compliance programs into every part of their organizations."

The 2011 National Business Ethics Survey is the seventh in a series of reports that began in
1994. This year's research was based on surveys of 4,800 U.S. employees.
 Creating An Ethical Workplace May
Not Be Easy, But Is It Critical? Yes, It
Is 

Janine Schindler, MCC Forbes Councils Member

Forbes Coaches CouncilCOUNCIL POST | Paid Program
Leadership

POST WRITTEN BY

Janine Schindler, MCC

Leadership Coach And Facilitator For The Left-Brained Analytical Leader & Founder of 'JAS Leadership'.

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In today’s difficult business environment, it can be easy to overlook ethical dilemmas in the
workplace out of sheer exasperation. But when a company makes the effort to treat
employees in a fair and consistent manner, it can reap the benefits of having employees who
internalize the company’s high ethical values as their own.

What would your employees do if they thought no one was watching? We’d like to believe
that they would behave honestly, ethically and with the best interests of the company at heart.
Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, there’s always a chance that, when you’re not
paying attention, a (hopefully) small percentage of people will try to get away with
something on the company’s dime.

It may be something relatively benign, like adding an extra few minutes to their lunch break
here and there, or it may be something much more serious, such as someone in accounting
padding vendor checks to get kickbacks.

Unethical behavior isn’t just black and white.

There are many shades of gray, and there may be an entire spectrum of unethical behaviors
plaguing your workplace.

You may have a manager who is pushing salespeople to peddle a shoddy product instead of
reporting the known product faults to engineering. She might think she’s doing you a favor
by getting rid of the merchandise languishing in the warehouse, or she might have her eye on
a fat bonus check at the end of the quarter. Either way, her behavior can be defined as
unethical.
 PROMOTED

Perhaps there’s a supervisor promising overtime to the loading dock employees just to get the
job done, knowing full well that the overtime will not be paid. When a dock employee finds
her week’s paycheck is short, she might start intentionally damaging shipments to retaliate.
It’s easy for company morale and ethical behavior to tank faster than you’d think. It rarely
stays static -- it’s likely to fluctuate -- or even snowball.

In an article for Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, Carmen Nobel wrote

about the telephone conversations professor Eugene Soltes had with Bernie Madoff (who was
serving a prison sentence for his giant Ponzi scheme). One of Madoff’s quotes reads, “It
wasn’t like I was being blackmailed into doing something, or that I was afraid of getting
caught doing it ... I, sort of, you know, I sort of rationalized that what I was doing was OK,
that it wasn’t going to hurt anybody.”

Ethical behavior is vital in organizational excellence. 

Without ethical behavior, it’s much too easy for the slide down the slippery slope to begin.

To encourage ethical behavior in the workplace, it’s important to create a tangible definition
of what ethical behavior is and what it is not. With mergers, transfers and new hires, there is
no way to know what prior standard of ethical behavior was expected. Give some time and
thought into how the company values are communicated to each and every employee.

The Ethics & Compliance Initiative’s 2018 report, “Building Companies Where Values and
Ethical Conduct Matter,” found that “Employees who agree that their managers and
supervisors talk about the importance of ethics are almost 12 times more likely to believe that
their organization encourages them to speak up.”

No matter how honest you believe your staff to be, there is always the chance that someone
will be tempted to push the limits of ethical behavior. However, when you embed a check-
and-balance arrangement into critical procedures, the odds of anyone doing so diminish.

If an employee does manage to break your trust by acting unethically after being informed of
the company’s code of behavior, carry through with the consequences. If Sally pads her
expense report and nothing happens to her as a result, the message sent to her colleagues is
that it’s OK to lie about the cost of their mileage, too. If instead, Sally is reprimanded for
such an action, employees will know that your company is serious about upholding its ethical
commitments.

Don’t forget to show appreciation for those who exemplify the values your company strives
to live by. Recognition of these individuals reinforces to the group at large your commitment
to ethical behavior.

One of the best ways to discourage unethical behavior is to lead by example. If the
management team displays model behavior, the rest of the staff can readily see what is
expected of them.
Ensure there is a written code of conduct for all employees that everyone, from the top down,
is aware of. Have a company mission statement that specifically mentions the priority placed
on ethical behavior and living the stated values.

It’s easy to simply hire the candidate that best matches the tangible qualifications for the job.
He has a related degree, years of experience and has worked with the department’s software.
But, what are the candidate’s values? Is he honest? Is he fair with customers and co-workers?
Can he readily own up to his own errors? I believe it’s important, now more than ever, to hire
with an eye towards applicants who show ethical tendencies.

Ethics training can be a valuable addition to the orientation presentation. In this forum, proper
attention can be given to the company’s stance on nondisclosure of proprietary information,
the posting of negative comments on social media and even on the particulars of the sexual
harassment and interdepartmental dating policies.

The bottom line is that unethical behavior can and will eventually undo any company or any
individual. It’s worth the time and effort to create an ethical workplace for everyone.