This is a direct followup to my little list of do’s and don’t’s for HR. Check that out first before reading this article. Or don’t, this stands alone and can be deployed regardless of whether you think your HR department is healthy or not.
Are you in a leadership position in your company? Maybe you’re in the Executive Suite, or the Director of a branch within the company. Perhaps you report directly to the CEO or a Director and have major responsibilities. Here’s how you can immediately use this information…
- Research. Does your company put out an ethics survey? Check the results for low scores. Speak to the director of your HR department and ask for a thorough examination of HR claims made recently. Ask your management hierarchy about escalations and concerns. The goal: find out where there’s been trouble…but remember, these are all people whose jobs depend on looking good in your eyes, so there’s always a possibility of positive bias and covering it up.
- Go directly to the source. Deploy a simple anonymous survey across your entire company. It has to be anonymous because the power differential is real. Ask a few simple questions: Have you ever felt you should report an ethical or behavioral violation, either in person or anonymously? Did you feel safe enough to make a report? Did you follow through on making a report? If you filed a report, do you believe it was handled appropriately? If you filed a report, do you believe our core values and ethical standards were met? If you filed a report, do you believe it was treated seriously? If you filed a report, do you believe you were treated with the utmost respect? Do you currently or have you at any time felt there was or is an ethical or values-based issue in our company?
- Follow up immediately. Review the answers and feedback yourself. Do not allow HR to touch these results. Make a company-wide communication acknowledging the results, be they good or bad. Note that any negative responses are “bad”: it’s not an issue of “Well, only 15% of our employees feel there are ethical violations so it’s fine.” It’s not enough to just say you see it, though.
- Offer a meaningful, valuable reward – paired with full protection and cooperation from your desk – for the willingness to speak up. Company swag isn’t going to cut it. Not even a $50 gift card will necessarily work. Interview those people. Ask them what really happened. And then? Believe them, and act.
I’m asking a lot of you, I know. My question to you:
What are your ethics worth?
Do you truly care about your core values, about the humans who depend on you for a safe work environment?
Do you only want to feel good about talking points?
This is where the rubber hits the road. Action is king. Talk is cheap.