Fostering ethical conduct through psychological safety
How do organizations encourage people to speak up about ethical violations? And why do some employees choose to remain silent when others report misconduct? In a world where companies of all kinds are under increasing scrutiny, it is more important than ever that misconduct is reported so that leaders can respond quickly and appropriately.
In a global study on workplace ethics, Baiba Renerte from the Department of Banking and Finance of the University of Zurich and co-authors collected data from more than 38,000 employees of Novartis in over 100 countries.
They discovered that psychological safety – defined as “a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking” – is directly related to the willingness to report unethical behaviors, across countries, culture, seniority, and functions. In other words, an environment in which employees feel comfortable reporting issues is vital to preventing future misconduct. Building a psychologically safe environment to facilitate speaking up about ethical conduct is relevant to both company reputation and long-term business performance.
Unethical conduct can remain hidden for a time but is likely to be discovered eventually, causing far more harm than if it were caught and corrected early.
(Source: Oec. magazine issue #19)
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