Being a Team Player is a Workplace Asset — But Be Careful of What Team You’re On
Dec 17th, 2007 • Posted in: NewsGlobe & Mail report cautions that seemingly benign workplace dynamics can really be an ethics minefield.
TORONTO
You don’t have to be in the executive suite or upper management to become swept up in workplace corruption, notes York University business professor Len Karakowsky in a column carried last week by the Toronto Globe & Mail.
He cites the case of a low-level accountant at Enron who was found guilty of taking part in the scandal and quietly served a five-month sentence.
Referring to data from the 2007 National Business Ethics Survey from the Ethics Resource Center, Karakowsky notes that the root of workplace corruption is often “seemingly benign workplace dynamics and practices.”
Companies with a weak ethical culture experienced more frequent workplace misconduct than those with a stronger ethical culture. Translation: “Team players” may be valuable, but they need to be acutely aware of the “team” and its culture.
Another pitfall, according to Karakowsky, is viewing your company through rose-colored glasses.
“Although we want to believe in the integrity of our leaders,” he writes, “an unwavering faith in our company can be dangerous. You need to judge the moral implications of your work based on its own merits, not on the credentials of your supervisor. You need to ask questions (and get answers) instead of blindly following orders. This may be one of the most challenging traps to confront since it forces you to question authority. Your response to this trap may well have grave ramifications, including risking your job or your reputation. However, ignoring the trap may land you in much deeper trouble.”
Source: Globe & Mail, Dec. 15.
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