16. Cultivate Organizational Ethics; Demand and Reward Ethical Behavior

In the first rule, “Understand Why Employees Come and Why They Stay,” I wrote about the reasons people work. One key reason is that they want to make their “contribution to the world” at a place that is worthy of that effort and deserving of the fruits of the result. Well, one of the pillars of being a “worthy” company is to have integrity, and to possess integrity a company must behave and operate ethically. Indeed, the ethical ways of behaving and doing business must begin with the values of the company and extend through all its policies, practices, and people.

If you want engaged employees, really engaged employees who are aligned with your organizational goals, you can’t ...

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