The perception of senior leaders lacking in integrity seems to have been translated into poor reporting rates for Canadian employees when confronted with real or suspected ethical violations. While 29 percent of Canadian employees knows of or suspects ethical violations within their organization over the last 2 years, only 38 percent of those employees have reported the violation. Compared with 43 percent among global respondents. The study's overall findings are not all discouraging. Still, the message is clear to human resource managers and top executives who are concerned about recruiting and retaining talented employees.
Ethics matter to employees.
David Simpson is Director of Interpraxis Consulting , a social and economic consulting firm specializing in ethics and corporate social responsibility and international development. Auditor General's Report Highlights Ethical Values Judgment involves consciously asking if decisions and the reasons for the decisions are fair, honest, and reputable and would bear close public scrutiny if the media disclosed them. The above quotation from Auditor General Denis Desautels' October 2000 report is directed to the public sector in response to trends within the federal public service to delegate judgment calls lower down the decision-making chain. Empowerment, it would be called in the private sector, and the above principle would equally apply. In fact, the Report also expresses the need for ethical guidance for private sector companies that contract with the government, and other publicly funded organizations.