Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Kevin Brozovich, Founder and Chief People Officer at HRM Innovations. We hope you enjoy Kevin’s wisdom and perspective.
We’ve all seen it in the news, the trusted leader or long-term employee who gets caught doing something unethical. Suddenly it all goes south and the organization is faced with a public relations nightmare, legal action, or worse.
How does that happen? How do good leaders and organizations find themselves in such a mess?
It usually boils down to a few key scenarios:
- Someone thought that the rules don’t apply to them, or that “it really isn’t a big deal…until it was.
- Leadership allowed a productive employee or team to “bend the rules” because they produced good results or weren’t comfortable calling out the behavior.
- There wasn’t oversight or accountability for actions and that resulted in unacceptable behavior occurring, and reoccurring.
The fact is, employees look to their leaders for direction on the expected level of ethics.
Want an ethical organization? There are several things that you can do:
- Document your behavioral expectations. State clearly what activities are allowed and which are not.
- Have team conversations about how to handle questionable situations to keep your ethical standards a priority.
- Enforce those expectations by addressing ethical issues directly and immediately.
- Model the behaviors you expect from others by not engaging in activities that may be perceived as being unethical.
- Encourage your employees to report concerns early, while they are still developing, before they become big issues.
- Trust, but validate to ensure that your expectations are being met.
What’s The Risk?
One of the challenging expectations of being an ethical leader is holding others accountable for actions or statements that may blur the line, even if they don’t cross it. Nobody wants to be the spoilsport but, at the end of the day, if the leader doesn’t address Bob’s off-color joke in a meeting, others will assume he/she condones it. From there it’s a slippery slope.
This is not a fun part of being a leader, but it is one of the most important.
This content was written and shared by guest blogger Kevin Brozovich.
Kevin Brozovich, SPHR, is the Founder and Chief People Officer at HRM Innovations. With over 25- years of Human Resources leadership experience, he is recognized as an expert in developing HR systems and facilitating organizational change. Kevin earned Bachelor’s degrees in Human Resources and Management from Central Michigan University, has been a member of KHRMA for 20 years, and has been SPHR certified since 2000.
He is passionate about making a difference in the field of HR. He lives in a historic home in Kalamazoo, Michigan with his wife, three sons, and antique car, Bessie. When Kevin’s not at HRM he is likely playing quidditch pitch in the backyard with his son.
Connect with Kevin via LinkedIn, Twitter, or his Fun Socks blog.
