Compliance &Ethics - Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics

high ethical standards and practices in publicand private institutions. For 89 years ERC hasbeen a resource for institutions committed to astrong ethical culture.”As a non-governmental organization(NGO), they have a responsibility to contributeto the public good.They do that, inpart, by makingmany of theirresearch findingspublic. For example,The NationalBusiness EthicsSurvey ® of Fortune500 ® Employees: AnInvestigation intothe State of Ethicsat America’s MostPowerful Companies 1indicates that, compared to all companies inthe U.S., the highest revenue companies show ahigher incidence of misconduct. Major findingsfrom the study included:··Just over half of workers (52%) at the highestrevenue companies had observedmisconduct in the previous 12 months,compared to 45 % at all companies inthe U.S.··Almost three quarters (74%) of employees atthe Fortune 500 ® businesses reported misconductwhen they saw it, compared to 65%on average for all businesses in the U.S.··About one in six (16%) of workers at theFortune 500 ® companies felt pressure tobreak the rules, compared to 13% at allcompanies in the U.S.··Whistleblowers were slightly more likelyto experience retaliation at Fortune 500 ®companies than at companies in the U.S.overall.Based on those published findings andthe needs of my client, I can then compareDiagnosis is thefirst step. Withoutsystematic and effectivediagnosis, we are reducedto relying on “magic”as the solution toour problem.what I learned in interviews and focus groups,and what I learned in a client-specific surveyagainst national and/or industry norms fromthe ERC database.As the former Director of AdvisoryServices for ERC (1996–2003) I believe theyare the leaders in thisarea. They are notalone. Other reputableorganizationspublish independentethics-orientedresearch. But, in myopinion, ERC has setthe “gold standard”in organizationalethics, survey–basedresearch. For thosewanting more information,ERC providesfree downloads of many of their full reportsvia the ERC website, www.ethics.org.Why diagnosis mattersDiagnosis is the first step. Without systematicand effective diagnosis, we are reducedto relying on “magic” as the solution to ourproblem. Absent a clear understanding of thecauses behind the problem we are experiencing,we might as rely on “…eye of newt, andtoe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog.”Logical, rational problem solving beginswith accurate diagnosis. Unless and untilwe have accurately identified why a problemexists, the best we can hope for is to amelioratethe symptoms and ease the pain. But that isnot a solution. That is akin to placing a bandaidon a deep, festering wound so you don’thave to see it anymore. It is a cosmetic “fix” atbest and a source of distraction and delay inseeking and finding a real solution, at worst.That is the real downside of misdiagnosis:it creates false confidence that the problemis resolved and almost always results in theCompliance & Ethics Professional May/June 2013+1 952 933 4977 or 888 277 4977 www.corporatecompliance.org 61