Bosses shape organisational ethics

Bradwell Mhonderwa Business Ethics
FORMAL ethics guidelines are pivotal to growing ethical cultures in organisations, however, the role of managers in shaping employee perceptions on what is ethical and not ethical in the workplace cannot be overemphasised.
Apparently research has shown that employees judge their workplace as either ethical or not ethical on the basis of what they view their bosses doing, that is whether they model ethical behaviour or not.

If employees believe that their bosses are ethical, they tend to conclude that their company is ethical, and when they think that their bosses are unethical they also view their company as unethical.

Indeed, the ethical engagement of employees in the workplace starts with management showing appreciation and total commitment to ethical standards. Because middle managers and supervisors interact with employees on a daily basis, they are the people best placed to superintend the impartation of ethical skills to employees.

Most workplaces are riddled with numerous employee accusations of company managers engaging in all sorts of dishonest conduct ranging from misuse of company property to embezzlement of funds.

Employees believe that managers do this by taking advantage of their positions and the high authority vested in them.
Creating an ethical culture in the workplace is thus an exercise that requires employees believing that the organisation wants to act ethically in all that it does, and that managers are ready to lead by example.

If managers are not committed to company values and ethics, this will be reflected quickly at shop floor level.
Thus implementation of ethics in an organisation will only be as strong as managerial commitment is to ethics.

The process of educating employees on ethical standards starts with having a good manager who sits down with employees to set out performance targets and figure out their strengths and weaknesses.

The next step will see the manager getting to understand the employees’ expectations and personal goals and aligning these to the mission and objectives of the organisation.

The exercise is completed by the manager helping employees to work and leave according to set ethical guidelines and encouraging them to seek help when they face both operational and ethical challenges.

But before managers can teach employees ethics, senior executives must be able to help middle managers understand the seriousness with which the organisation treats ethics by making sure they also exemplify ethical behaviour.

Senior executives sometimes make it difficult for middle managers to promote ethical practices in the workplace by setting unrealistic performance targets for them.

A statement like: “Do whatever it takes to achieve results” clearly sends the message that even ethical standards can be violated in order to achieve performance targets.

Which means ethics only makes sense when everyone in the organisation is operating from the same ethics dais.
Senior executives and managers cannot wish to have employees who are ethical when they themselves are not ethical.
It will not work. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility in the organisation and the tone should come from above.

Besides leading by example, motivating managers to reinforce the ethical culture of the organisation requires top executives total frequently about the organisation’s ethical standards, including supporting individual employees in their endeavour to become ethical.
Company executives must also make it clear to middle managers that their ethical performance will be measured the same way their financial performance is measured, and that their ethical competence and commitment will be part of their performance evaluation.
The same message must cascade down to employees. To ensure employees get the organisational ethics message right, managers must:

Talk frequently to employees about the ethical values and ethical commitment of the organisation.

Help employees recognise ethical issues when they arise.

Talk about how commitment to ethical standards will improve the bottom line.

Anticipate ethical dilemmas and always be ready to assist employees to address them.

Make ethical decisions consistent with organisational values and ethics.

Help employees understand the importance of reporting their ethical concerns.

A good ethical culture results in motivated staff, and in such cases employees normally reward their employers through higher performance, low turnover, low absenteeism, and these gains will translate to increased company profitability.