In the wake of the ‘Great Resignation’, an alignment of values between corporate culture and employee sentiment is more important than ever. But this isn’t a new phenomenon - a culture where values are at odds with the employees and which encourages a divorce between personal and professional lives has the potential to drive unethical behaviour and decision-making.
I find that modern life frequently requires an element of compartmentalisation. Our personal and professional lives can bring out different aspects of ourselves and sometimes this can mean different ethical standards are demanded. Where there is a misalignment between the ethical standards required in the professional and personal spheres, individuals risk losing integrity and this misalignment can normalise a departure from one’s values. Forbes have termed the real problem of the ‘Great Resignation’ as the ‘Great Contemplation’ - the COVID-19 pandemic has meant people are reflecting on their career and values.
There is a problem with imposing expectations on employees that don’t align with their personal ethics - in addition to growing dissatisfaction - such a culture can alienate employees from broader social values and they can be desensitised to the true nature of moral issues encountered in professional life.
A culture which isolates the business world and demands a particular set of ethics from the individual can lead to a “business is business” attitude which in my experience can alienate broader individual values and ethical viewpoints.
What does this look like?
Such behaviour on a large-scale will ultimately impact the organisation through high turnover of staff and suppliers, employee illness, anxiety and absenteeism, low productivity and repeat business, not to mention public scandal and reputational damage.
Employee tolerance of this alienation will fall over the next few years as ethics and social responsibility become more important to individuals - so there is an imperative to act now.
I would encourage organisations to empower employees to express values, share personal stories, and form relationships more akin to ‘real’ relationships and less saturated with professionalism. This approach, instead of fostering a paternalistic rule focus, can lead to better outcomes overall, for the company’s compliance and employee welfare.
This might mean engaging with employees in open forums to discuss organisational values, making use of overarching and guiding principles as opposed to lengthy codes of conduct, and fostering a culture of debate and challenge regardless of seniority.
A culture of empowerment will hinge on tone from the top, and a shift in focus to recognising and rewarding positive ethical outcomes and equipping employees with the tools to make such decisions, will cultivate an ethical corporate culture.
Above all, recognising employees' individual values and ethical decision making at work can lead to better testing of behaviours, challenging of ideas, and a more empowered culture with potential benefits to be paid in the form of not only employee welfare, but performance as a result.
