Curt Verschoor on Ethics

CHAPTER 1VALUE OF A STRONG ETHICAL CULTURE

The Value of an Ethical Corporate Culture

An independent U.S. research study conducted by LRN, a provider of governance, ethics, and compliance management, shows additional evidence that a company’s ability to maintain an ethical corporate culture is key to the attraction, retention, and productivity of employees. In other words, money invested in ethics education, help lines, assessment of ethics programs, and risk evaluation is money well spent. The LRN Ethics Study involved 834 full-time employees from various industries across the United States. Respondents included both men and women, all 18 or older.

According to the LRN study, 94% of employees said it is either critical or important that the company they work for is ethical. This compares to 76% who said so in a similar survey six months earlier. Eighty-two percent said they would rather be paid less but work at a company that had ethical business practices than receive higher pay at a company with questionable ethics. More than a third (36%) had left a job because they disagreed with the actions of either fellow employees or managers. This is true across all ages, genders, and socioeconomic factors.

Other findings of the survey include 80% of respondents reporting that a disagreement with the ethics of a supervisor, fellow employee, or management was the most important reason for leaving a job and 21% citing pressure to engage in illegal activity.

Working for an ethical company ...