Employees are your greatest asset and your biggest threat. You rely on them to grow the business and achieve your goals but, on occasion, some of their actions and reactions at work can lead to misconduct.
Leaders spend a lot of time focused on building a great culture and promoting the right behaviours but less on setting the baseline of what is expected. Employees may instinctively know how they should behave but that doesn’t mean they have all the same boundaries. The wrong pay structures can also promote the wrong behaviours, for instance, unrealistic bonus targets can encourage increased risk-taking, depletion of self-control and, at its worst, employees falsifying or manipulating financial information.
It can feel quite negative to discuss unacceptable behaviour with your team but it’s vital. We all have slightly different personal values and these differences can be greater in global organisations.
When everyone knows what is acceptable and what is not, employees are also more likely to spot and raise concerns which enables management to address problems quickly. Setting clear expectations is the ultimate responsibility of the board but when agreed management must embed them in the organisation through the right policies, procedures and most importantly training and guidance for your employees.
What should the board be considering?
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