How to Manage Unethical Behaviour in the Workplace

The display of unethical behaviour in the workplace is detrimental to the overall financial performance of a business. Unethical conduct decreases productivity and transcends to every part of the business from employees and managers all the way to the consumer level.

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In a national survey of 14,500 representing the U.S. economy and demographic across a variety of sectors and industries, one in four workers felt pressured to behave unethically.

The respondents reported they have experienced and witnessed actions that violate rules, lying and emerging causes of ethical concerns such as sacrificing safety, stealing, discrimination and bullying .

The study also found that four in five workers were afraid to speak up.

In the UK, the major ethical concerns relate to an increase in reported stories about behaviour and culture, treatment of employees and diversity and discrimination.

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Unethical behaviour is a tale as old as time, it’s not unique at all.

Yet it’s the cause of the major downfalls of multinational organisations and the root of corporate scandals reported by the media.

But this doesn’t just affect the large organisations.

It affects ALL businesses.

Every business regardless of size or sector will have experience of unethical individuals in some way. From SMEs all the way to the big conglomerate companies. From the public sector and charity organisations to private companies.

Therefore, making it an evergreen and all-time relevant business topic to anyone and everyone who is working within an organisation.

Unethical behaviour will always have a way of manifesting if rules and regulations are not established and followed.

However, for the most part, it is the organisational culture that facilitates and enables the occurrence of unethical behaviour.

In contrast, an organisational culture with strong ethical values builds credibility and trust not only with consumers but also with current and prospective employees.

A business lacking in ethical values will not stand in today’s highly competitive world where most organisations are aiming to establish strong ethical values that creates competitive advantage.

What are Unethical Behaviours?

Unethical behaviour has multiple and often subjective definitions but broadly it can be defined as:

The display of morally unacceptable behaviour or action that causes harm to individuals or community at large.

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When we think of unethical behaviour within a business context, we usually think of serious corporate crimes reported by the press such as:

• Tax evasion.
• Fraud.
• Sexual harassment.
• Theft.

Although this is true, unethical behaviour is not always illegal and can manifest in more subtle ways you wouldn’t expect:

• Exploiting company resources for personal interest.
• Lying and deceiving.
• Prioritising financial gain over safety.
• Values profit over environmental impact.
• Distorting or withholding information.

Generalised examples of unethical behaviour in context:

• Waiting staff or restaurant managers constantly eating food from the restaurant.
• IT technicians accessing people’s private information for personal reasons and use.
• Bankers manipulating financial accounts or misrepresenting data.

As a manager, beware and conscious of any unethical behaviour that you allow your employees to pass, as well as any unethical acts you yourself exhibit.

Done once, makes it easier to do the second time around and this will have unintentional and unforeseen consequences for other employees and your business.

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How to Deal with Unethical Behaviour in the Workplace

There are two ways you can tackle this problem: the staff and the environment.

Below are suggestions that are applicable to SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and MNEs (multinational enterprises) experiencing unethical behaviour in their workplace:

Hiring Ethical Staff

The best way to manage unethical behaviour within your company is to prevent it in the first place.

Develop a more ethically rigorous hiring process to ensure the people you are hiring meet the ethical standards the company requires.

1. When writing the job specifications, emphasise the importance of ethical conduct as one of the main responsibilities. Depending on the nature of your business, you may even put it as an essential requirement. This is particularly applicable to those within the healthcare industry or NGOs as having strong ethical values are a must and a critical component of jobs within those industries.
2. During interviews, enquire about ethically questionable situations that candidates have been in and what action did they take as a result.
3. Incorporate ethical practices or tasks during on-boarding process or induction training.

Create an Ethical Culture

It is important to remember that hiring ethical staff is less impactful if the environment does not reinforce ethical values emphasised during the hiring process:

1. Provide a code of conduct highly accessible to all members of staff presented in the new employee induction pack and online. This should highlight the company’s ethical standards and actions the company does not tolerate. The document should also include a system that punishes unethical behaviour and rewards ethical behaviour.
2. Create a procedure for whistleblowers to report unethical behaviours undertaken by individuals and ensure their privacy are protected.
3. Emphasise ethical symbols in the office. This can be done by displaying tangible objects that highlight ethical values such as awards for being an ethical organisation or certificates of ethics training by an employee. This can also include publicly praising an employee for their ethical deed.
4. Create ethical reminders perhaps through weekly emails/newsletters or during meetings of success achieved by berth ethical. This could be the amount of charity donations the company has made or individuals who volunteer regularly or staff that has participated in a charity running marathon.
5. Ethical leadership must be strong at management level and managers must role model the appropriate behaviours that are expected of the employees. Expecting employees to behave ethically when their employers or managers are behaving otherwise creates a conflict of interest and negatively affects employee motivation and productivity.
6. Provide online ethical training courses that are compulsory to further emphasise that ethics is a significant core value to your company.

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Conclusion

Unethical behaviour has always been an important issue particularly in extremely profit-driven businesses such as those in the financial investment sector. If left unchecked, it could cause damage to your organisation in terms of profitability regardless of the size and sector of your business.

However, moving towards a more ethical business model and practices can have a positive impact on ROI (return on investment). Organisations with strong ethical values creates a good brand reputation which attracts and retains talented employees. It also improves thought leadership position in the consumers minds.

In summary:

• Unethical behaviour is the display of morally unacceptable behaviour.
• The signs of unethical behaviour can be exhibited by both employee and managers and can range from as simple as lying all the way to large-scale corporate tax evasions.
• To manage unethical behaviour, hiring ethical staff must be combined with an ethical workplace culture and ethical values must be emphasised among the people and its environment.