National Surveys

The study finds that when it comes to employees reporting misconduct on the job – an important measure of an ethical workplace culture – women and nonunion workers tend to get the gold star and that an immediate supervisor, not a hotline, is likely to be the go-to point of contact.

Organizations with strong ethical values – from top executives to middle managers to workers – experience less misconduct, more frequent reporting of misbehavior and less retaliation on the job. The study indicates that strong ethical culture in a company has a “profound” impact on the kinds of workplace behavior that can put a business in jeopardy.

American workers between the ages of 18 and 29 – the “Millennials” – have more in common with older co-workers when it comes to workplace ethics than often thought, but they also hold to some values that set them apart from their Baby Boomer counterparts.

In order to address changing needs and to weather financial struggles, companies often have to make difficult decisions that impact employees’ lives at—and outside of—work. Companies use a variety of tactics (adjusted work schedules, layoffs, reductions in compensation and/or benefits, hiring freezes, early buyouts, production slowdowns, and plant closures1). Research conducted as a part of the 2009 National Business Ethics Survey2 reveals that all of these tactics are related to significant increases in the number of employees observing misconduct.

The 2009 survey gauges the effects of the recession, the financial crisis and Washington’s response on ethics and compliance in the workplace. Plus, it tracks the trends in ethical conduct and culture that NBES readers rely on.