In Alexandra Levit’s glorious new book, Blind Spots: 10 Business Myths You Can’t Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success, she states her rationale for writing in clear, uncompromising terms. Blindspots is a book written by a Gen-Yer for Gen-Yers basically because she was tired of reading silly theories and platitudes by business and career authors who sell their work by giving these myths credibility and by telling readers what they want to hear.
What’s clear is that we have a new page in business authenticity. She shrugs off the irrelevant, the obvious and the trite, landing us squarely in reality. In that same spirit, I want to think and talk critically about business ethics. Firms can say an awful lot about organizational ethics, and they have good reason to talk about the issue. The Ethics Resource Center released, in 2009, a survey which indicated that unethical behavior is prevalent in the workplace. Some of the relevant findings include:
- 22% observed abusive or intimidating behavior toward employees
- 16% observed a situation that places employee interests over organizational interests
- 11% observed violations of safety regulations
- 10% observed misreporting of actual time worked
- 14% observed discrimination on the basis of race, colord, gender, age, etc.
- 9% observed stealing or theft
- 7% observed sexual harassment
- 19% observed lying to employees, customers, vendors, or the public
These statistics demonstrate that unethical behavior does not seem to be rare in organizational life. The consequence is that organizations have attempted to establish ethics programs. About 70% of employees indicate that their organizations had implemented ethics training. And, the results also indicate that ethics training seems to have a positive effect on organizations.
In the spirit of Blindspots, not least because many have asked about ethics in organizations, I want to look at the realities of organizational ethics. I believe firmly that the more we understand the organizational setting, the more potential we have for work security and career success. And yeah, organizational ethics is one area where we need to get our head straight.
Organizational ethics is a very mixed bag. As a consequence, it’s important to stop thinking that the world is a just place. One of the first reactions many employees have is that the organization is going to be loyal to them. After all, ethical codes socialize an organization’s members into a culture of acceptable behavior, and announce that the organization is a worthy partner. That’s just not always true. Another reaction is that employees can be counted on to be honest in their dealings with the organization. That’s not true, either. So where is ethical reality in the typical organization?
Specialists in organizational communication have been looking at this question for some time. I’m especially indebted to the work of Modaff, Butler and Dewine in the growing field of organizational communication. They find that the answers are nuanced. So keep the fact that organizational ethics is a mixed bag in your front lobes. It’ll help you learn from all situations and all people, even those you don’t like or respect. Furthermore, it’ll keep you from naivete, and make it possible for you to deal with ethical and political reality.
- Never forget that sometimes an organization’s code of ethics could be a public relations gimmick, designed to lure stakeholders into a false sense of security. And, of course, serve as a recruiting means for highly prized recruits.
- An organizational code of ethics could be a means of imposing values upon employees upon employees that are not truly accepted by those employees. My own experience with that very issue created tensions impacting my productivity and personal life.
- The code of ethics could be a way of regulating the behavior of employees in the interests of management.
- Even though a code of ethics may encourage whistle-blowing, it’s clear from data that the worker who does so may face organizational retaliation.
As I write this, what crosses my mind is that the very people who educated me on the organization’s ethical realities were not low level employees or managers. They were senior execs, people who’d achieved at the highest rungs of organizational life. Once they became clients and friends they regularly urged me to deal with the inherent negative conflicts of corporate reality. These same execs who might reinforce the ethical codes were also telling me that I needed to recognize the implications of these rules. To recognize them meant that I was able to be more vigilant and proactive to ensure my own success. Those execs were very good at the process. Understanding these issues can also serve your interests.