In a survey that just came out this week by Labaton Sucharow in the Financial Services Industry uncovered key findings, here are a few:
• 52% felt it was likely that their competitors have engaged in unethical or illegal activity tp gain an edge in the market.
• 23% indicated that they had observed or had first hand knowledge of wrongdoing in the workplace.
• 29% believed that financial services professionals may need to engage in unethical or illegal activity in order to be successful.
• 24% would likely engage in insider trading to make $10 million if they could get away with it.
• 26% believed the compensation plans or bonus structures in place, incentivize employees to compromise ethical standards or violate the law.
What’s the old saying? “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Why haven’t things changed?
Here are a few things that need to happen:
1. What one “feels” or “believes” may not be the case ,so get some real perspective about your own house and what you realistically and ethically bring to the market.
2. Personally, I don’t believe there has been any quality ethics training, but I bet there has been a lot of compliance training and to what end? Focus on quality, ongoing ethics training from the top down.
3. Start rewarding ethical behavior and “punish” unethical behavior.
4. Re-evaluate the compensation/bonus plan more in line with what your company “preaches” about values and ethics.
I could go on and on, but what do you think is the solution?
fbucaro
Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries.
With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down.
His goal is to help organizations to:
a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation.
b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage.
c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development.
Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level.
Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!