Survey Reveals Widespread Unethical Actions By Workers

Have you called in sick on a breezy spring day? Taken credit for a colleague’s idea? Lied to a customer, a boss or an underling? If so, you’re far from alone.

Despite a booming interest in corporate ethics in the last decade, Boy Scout honesty in the workplace seems as rare as a dress-up Friday. Nearly half of workers engaged in unethical and/or illegal acts in the last year, according to a new survey.

The pressure-cooker atmosphere at many workplaces may be to blame, according to the Ethics Officer Association and the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters and Chartered Financial Consultants, which carried out the survey of 1,324 workers.

Faced with the demands of overtime, balancing work and family and downsizing, workers said they feel more stress than five years ago, as well as more pressure to act unethically.

“Daily pressures are extreme, and it’s those pressures that may be driving unethical practices,” said John Driskill, vice president of the society of underwriters and financial consultants.

Still, the survey found that 60 percent of those surveyed felt that ethical dilemmas can be reduced, mostly through better communication and a serious commitment by managers.

Those working both in corporations and in the growing field of business ethics were not surprised by the survey results.

“There’s still a great deal of work to be done,” said Michael Daigneault, president of the Ethics Resource Center, which helped create some of the first corporate ethics offices in the 1980s.

He and others stressed, however, that the recent focus on corporate ethics has not been taken in vain. Rather, it shows the growing need for such attention, he said.

Companies with ethics codes of conduct jumped 13 percent to 73 percent since 1994, while companies with training programs rose 7 percent to 40 percent, according to a yet-unpublished survey of 747 companies by the Ethics Resource Center. Companies with ethics officers stayed about the same, at 30 percent.

James K. Baker, a vice chairman and former chief executive officer of auto parts maker Arvin Industries Inc., experienced corner-cutting from top executives at three Fortune 500 companies during his first years in office.

“At the start of my time as CEO, I felt like I was entering hallowed ground,” he said. “In the first year or two, I was shocked.”

According to the survey of workers released earlier this month, 48 percent of workers surveyed said they had engaged in one or more unethical and/or illegal actions during the past year.

The most common behavior involved cutting corners on quality (16 percent), covering up incidents (14 percent), abusing or lying about sick days (11 percent) and lying to or deceiving customers (9 percent).

Some 4 percent of workers reported taking credit for a colleague’s idea, while 5 percent lied to or deceived superiors on a serious matter and 3 percent did the same to an underling.

The workers who had transgressed reported overwhelming stress in the workplace - from balancing work and family, overwork, poor communications, downsizing and other sources. Most cited at least six different stresses.

Nearly 60 percent of workers also feel more pressure than five years ago, and 40 percent feel more pressure than last year, the survey found.

Some 56 percent of workers also reported pressure to act unethically or illegally on the job, said the survey, with midlevel managers in particular feeling the pinch. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

“Managers today know full well they need to be at the keen edge of productive efficiency,” said Thomas Donaldson, a professor of business ethics at Wharton School of Business. “That puts pressure on people who haven’t learned yet how to handle this heat.”

He and others agreed that the recent focus on business ethics will have an impact - as long as people at the top take the issue seriously.

“There’s a saying in my field,” said Donaldson. “Ethics in a corporation is like water - it flows downhill.”