The failure to set a ‘moral compass’ has left today’s business leaders at sea when it comes to coping with complex conflicts in the current economic downturn.
Companies are floundering and being run aground under the leadership of executives who lack the moral compass needed to keep them afloat during changing times. The only way to weather the storm is with a firm position on right vs. wrong. Continuing attention to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they want to act consistently is the only way to keep from hitting bottom.
Attention to ethics in the workplace helps employees face reality, both good and bad in the organization and themselves. Employees who are confident in the ethics of their leaders are also confident to voice concerns. They feel free to voice concerns, point to problems, and respond to whatever comes their way without fear of becoming scapegoats and losing their jobs.
The more emotionally healthy executives were, as measured on a battery of tests, the more likely they were to score high on ethics. Ethics management programs can inoculate leaders, employees, and entire businesses against the deadly effects of unprincipled behavior.
It is a fact that a philosophical dedication to a moral high ground is not enough and businesses are encouraged to ‘turn thought into practice’ by implementing ongoing ethics programs. Ethics programs identify preferred values, but more importantly, they ensure that organizational behaviors are aligned with those values.
Because values are discerned through ongoing reflection, ethics programs may seem more process-oriented than standard management practices. This goes against the grain of many fear-soaked leaders. Managers have become more focused on business processes that provide quantifiable measurements which is a large part of the problem.
In an organization where business ethics are in question, fear-soaked mangers look for quantifiable data in a self-protective effort to cover their own butts. Experienced managers, on the other hand, realize that the deliverables of standard management practices such as planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling are simply the tangible representations of process-oriented practices.
As an example, take strategic planning. The process an organization goes through in the planning phase is much more important than the plan that is actually produced. The same is true for ethics management. While ethics programs do produce deliverables such as organization codes, policies and procedures, budget items, meeting minutes, authorization forms, newsletters, etc., the most important aspect from an ethics management program is the process of reflection and dialogue that produces these deliverables.
Ethics management programs are also useful in managing diversity. As we all know, diversity is much more than the color of people’s skin. Diversity programs require recognizing and applying diverse values and perspectives and that can be achieved more effectively with a sound ethics management program.
Attention to ethics is also a strong public relations tool, although I would like to caution that managing ethics should not be done primarily for reasons of public relations. But, frankly, at a time when the image of American business has been so tarnished, the fact that an organization regularly gives attention to its ethics can portray a strong positive to the public. My belief is that people see those organizations as valuing people more than profit, and striving to operate with the utmost of integrity and honor.
The value of publicizing a commitment to these core ideals cannot be overstated in light of company bankruptcies and government officials’ involvement in power mongering. And let’s not forget upper management executives on Wall Street lining their personal coffers with little or no regard to the impact on employees, shareholders, or the people on Main Street.
Companies must demonstrate that their commitment to ethical policies and behaviors is ongoing. People remember too well that the late-1980’s ‘focus on ethics’ lasted less than a decade.
The early 1980’s were defined by runaway greed in both the public and private sector. High ranking government officials, CEO’s, powerful entrepreneurs and other well-positioned individuals took advantage of a globally rapid economic growth period to change the rules of business to their own advantage. Public figures flaunted their wealth and power and everyday people, clinging to the American dream of ‘it could be me’ elevated unethical Gordon Gekko-esque leaders and turned them into role models.
Ultimately, cyclical forces of nature finally caught up with the nouveau rich-and-powerful and plunged them...and everyone around them...into a downward spiral that brought about the 1987 stock market crash, the junk bond scandal, the exile of the Marcos, and a variety of other headline news-making events. Former demigods transformed overnight into unethical beasts and the result was a resurgence of interest in ethics and ethical behavior.
But as fear subsided and panic turned to complacency, the interest in ethics waned. A new cycle of boom-and-bust began again. Only this time the ‘bust’ almost busted the global economy.
I believe that we are at a critical tipping point. Businesses and business leaders who embrace a true commitment to ethics can rise from the ashes of the current economic meltdown and ensure a stable, prosperous future. Those that don’t will perish. Maybe not this week. Maybe not next. But death-by-greed is imminent.
Jenkins is a Washington-based career coach and a leading consultant on business and staffing topics. Her goal is to position clients so that they may respond to, and more importantly anticipate, the precedent-setting challenges facing today’s worker. She is also co-author of Conversations on Success, a collection of powerful interviews with accomplished entrepreneurs in a variety of industries.