Is Your Ethical Reputation A Turn-Off?

In terms of acting ethically, employers who say one thing, but do another, will find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain loyal employees according to new international and New Zealand-based research.

Even though the tables have been turned somewhat as a result of the recession, and employers may have an apparently wider choice of candidates for vacant positions, the issue facing many workplaces today is whether they are shortlisted by candidates at all.

An article in the New Zealand Herald today notes a survey of 100,000 people across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific by Kelly Services found almost 90% of respondents said they were more likely to work for an organisation they believed was ethically and socially responsible.

The article’s author, Brad Stewart, also notes 80% said they would like to work for an environmentally responsible employer, and the willingness to accept lower pay to work for an employer with a good reputation was high across the generations. Fifty-three percent of Baby Boomers, 48% of Gen X and 46% of Gen Y respondents said they’d go for a good reputation ahead of higher pay.

Stewart continues: “when it comes to attracting the workers you want (as opposed to the only workers you can get), ethics matter to you, too. And the reason they matter to you is that they matter to the people you want to employ.”

Employee loyalty is no longer focused solely on the employer. It’s increasingly focused on the consequences and impacts of their employers’ activities.

Having a ‘do as I say, but not as I do’ mentality will drive many existing and potential employees into the arms of your competitors they feel more ethically aligned with. Actions speak louder than words and all the values statements in the world will count for nothing if you have a reputation for saying one thing but doing another. And it doesn’t just apply to employees. Customers, too, will judge you using a moral and ethical compass.

If you are perceived as being superficial, or worse, actively demonstrate or condone behaviours that fly in the face of grandiose statements about treating people fairly and equitabl,y and ‘doing no harm’, you may find yourself scratching for staff you’d rather not have to employ.