Lately I’ve been hearing from people who are concerned about illegal activities in their companies. The activities haven’t been presented as illegal, just that the company isn’t doing what it should legally do. Is there a difference? And where do ethics play into this?
Ethics and legalities are not the same thing. People may have ethical behaviors that are not legally required or have unethical behaviors that are not illegal. However, ethics in the workplace can often butt up against legal issues. How many ways can you be doing something illegal in the workplace without it also being unethical?
As a business owner, you need to review your policies and practices to determine if any are unethical or illegal. Frankly, you don’t need to review the illegal ones because you already know what they are and have chosen to continue with that practice. Therein lays the problem.
If you, as the business owner or part of senior management, condone illegal practices in your company, what kind of message are you sending to your employees? Your employees are neither blind nor stupid; they will eventually understand what’s going on. Once they do, they have three choices: report you to the appropriate authorities, find work with a more ethical company, or follow your lead.
Admittedly, most employees are hesitant to call in the authorities. However, the whistleblower laws have made it easier and less risky for them. Those employees who object to your practices may just look for another job. The upside is that they are out of your hair. The downside is that they will spread word of your illegal and/or unethical behavior to a lot of other people.
You really need to worry about those employees who choose to follow your lead. Once employees know you’re willing to sharply bend or break the rules, they will happily find a few rules of their own to break. You lose control. It may be in small ways, such as a purchaser accepting gifts to move business to a specific supplier. Or in bigger ways, like an employee selling your proprietary information.
What will you do to those employees? Nothing. You’ve lost your ability to charge them with any wrongdoing because they know about your own illegal practices.
Before it’s too late ask yourself if saving a little money here and there is worth the long-term damage illegal and unethical practices will do to your company. We each have to draw our own line in the sand and be careful not to step over it when conducting business.
