adminBradwell Mhonderwa Business Ethics
Leaders who hold positions of authority and responsibility in organisations should be ethical and this should show in their conduct. They hold the levers of power and shape the destiny of the organisation and as such they should show their subordinates how they are supposed to conduct themselves when they are working.
Leaders are responsible for crafting the business strategy and should put in place measures that ensure company goals and objectives are achieved.
They mould organisational processes that have a bearing on how employees think and behave, which is the cornerstone of a firm’s growth.
They have control over company reward processes and they influence important decisions such as pay increases, promotions and dismissals.
Because of this power and influence, leaders exemplify what behaviour is appropriate and inappropriate for employees.
They set the ethical tone of the organisation and much is expected from these powerful people.
Indeed modelling is a powerful tool for transmitting values and acceptable behaviours.
So much is expected from the leaders whilst they are shaping up the company’s future.
The salient nature of reward and remuneration ensures that employees will make every effort to ensure that they are at their best behaviour and work hard to ensure the success of the company.
Rewards and sanctions instrumentally inform employees about the benefits of modelled ethical behaviour as well as the negative effects of modelled unethical behaviour which affects the growth of the companies they work for.
Moral psychologists have over the years argued that most employees look at the expectations of their leaders and supervisors for guidance on what is ethically right – basically they look up to their leaders for guidance.
The National Business Ethics Survey of 2009 in the US concluded that leaders directly affect the ethical culture of their companies.
Also that culture is the largest influence on employee conduct, which follows that the better the tone above, the less misconduct observed in the lower ranks.
Still to add on the argument for modelled behaviour, Linda Trevino, an ethics proponent who has written a number of books on managerial ethics identified what she called the social learning and the social exchange perspectives in understanding the influence of leaders on employees.
The social learning perspective suggests that leaders influence employees’ ethical and unethical conduct through modelling processes, and the social exchange perspective postulates that subordinates reciprocate with positive behaviour when they perceive that their leaders and supervisors prioritise and uphold ethical ways of doing business.
Employees thus learn what to do, as well as what not to do, by observing the behaviour of their leaders.
When leaders engage in inappropriate business practices, they, in so doing, create an environment that encourages employees to imitate such behaviour which is bad for growth.
If company leaders are observed enriching themselves at the expense of the company and other staff, employees learn that such behaviour is permissible and it won’t be surprising the same employees will do the same when they find themselves in positions of power and influence.
Press reports hogging the limelight today of leaders in parastatals and other state institutions feasting on company resources by awarding themselves “obscene pay perks” is an example of how unethical leadership can destroy whole companies, the economy, and the nation at large.
What these leaders are simply modelling to employees is that stealing and abuse of company resources is cool.
When employees believe that they have good leaders who perform their fiduciary duties diligently and with integrity, they are motivated to give more of themselves in support of their leaders and the organisation.
Employees want honest leaders who treat them fairly. Good leaders who act responsibly all the time engenders employee commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty to the organisation.
Poor leadership evokes strong negative employee reactions such as stealing from the company, misusing company resources, lying to supervisors, ill-treating customers and clients, and incessantly abusing sick leave and absenting themselves from work.
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