|
|||
|
|
|
||||||
|
Work/Life Balance Influences Workplace Ethics
Providing a work/life balance to employees not only increases retention and job satisfaction, but it may create a more ethical workplace, according to a recent survey. Such a finding could prompt employers to increase such programs.
Nine of 10 (91 percent) employed adults agree that workers are more likely to behave ethically on the job when they have a good work/life balance, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Deloitte & Touche USA. In addition, 60 percent of those surveyed believe job dissatisfaction is a significant reason for people to make unethical decisions at work. "In the competitive environment to attract and retain talent, it is imperative that employers provide employees with the means to attain a healthy work/life balance," says Sharon L. Allen, chairman of the board at Deloitte & Touche USA. "This is not only key to job satisfaction and retaining your most valued employees, but it is also critical in fostering an ethical workplace culture." In the past, organizations were willing to provide resources and support for work/life balance because it was a "nice" thing to do for their employees, says Judi Casey, director of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Mass. "They wanted to help employees but there was the implication that there was nothing in it for the employer," Casey says. Now, many organizations view support for work/life balance as a "business tool with significant business benefits." The knowledge that work/life benefits result in more ethical behavior in this post-Enron and WorldCom business environment could be a "huge driver" for companies to create such programs, Casey says. Some of the more inexpensive programs that promote work/life balance include flextime, telecommuting and compressed workweeks. Leaders in the workplace influence employee ethical behavior in two ways, says Charles Fay, chairman of the HR management department at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. "They can be explicit about what is acceptable behavior and what is not," he says. Or, "they can behave themselves in ways that are congruent with what they say." The survey corroborates the importance of management in the process, as the top two factors contributing to the promotion of an ethical workplace were the behavior of management (42 percent) and of direct supervisors (36 percent). When unethical behavior occurs, management makes an important choice in determining whether to "punish the guilty parties or let it slide," Fay says. Employees are "well aware about the rules that are enforced and those that are not." When some rules are not enforced, "many employees feel free to break all the rules," Fay says. Similarly, he says, some managers impose goals on employees that are impossible to make "without cutting corners one way or another." Those managers "shouldn't be surprised when corners are cut." To improve ethical standards in the workplace, Fay suggests HR executives persuade senior management to make ethical behavior in the workplace "an issue." HR and other senior leaders should promote "clear explicit credos about the general approach to business behavior." Allen agrees. "Management and leadership have a huge responsibility in setting examples for their organizations and living the values they preach if they want to sustain a culture of ethics," she says. "In order to encourage high ethical standards within our organizations, we first have to provide an environment that is conducive to ethical behavior." In addition to creating such an environment, management must provide guidelines about "specific dos and don'ts" during ethics training, Fay says. Companies also should include ethical behavior as a criterion in performance appraisals at all levels, he says. The use of background screening of job candidates to cull out employees with dishonest tendencies could also help, he says. However, such actions may have limited impact, according to the survey. It found that only 16 percent of polled workers ranked ethics training as having a positive influence on promoting ethical workplace behavior. In addition, only 10 percent of those surveyed ranked criminal penalties for ethical-conduct violations among the top three factors that foster an ethical workplace environment. "Criminal [and corporate] penalties may deter some [from unethical behaviors]," says Fay. "They will simply make others more careful about getting caught."
May 3, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
||||||
Print
Email
Write to the Editor
Reprints
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
© Copyright 2010 LRP Publications. All rights reserved.
|
||||