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Ethical Standards in the workplace

Ethical Standards in the Workplace are going up

Serco has sponsored a national survey of employees on ethical standards and attitudes in the workplace by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE).

It is second survey by the IBE of full-time employees in Britain and it found encouraging results:

• Compared to 2005, British full-time workers are generally less tolerant of unethical practices in the workplace.
• Fewer employees feel pressured to compromise ethical standards than in 2005.
• More staff than three years ago think honesty is frequent practiced, and 81% feel their employer act responsibly.

The report identifies those likely to be the 'most ethical' and the 'least ethical' employees.

• Younger employees (16-34 year olds) are significantly over represented in the 'least ethical group' and under represented in the 'most ethical group'.
• Female employees are significantly more likely to be found in the 'most ethical group'.

The report also looks at the impacts of ethical working culture on employee attitudes and experiences.

• In a supportive culture employees appear to be more willing to report misconduct they are aware of, and are generally more ethical in their attitudes towards a range of workplace practices 
• In an unsupportive culture, employees experience more pressure to compromise ethical standards and are more likely to feel that honesty is rarely or never practiced

There is evidence in this survey that the existence of formal ethics programmes as well as a positive ethical climate is linked with higher standards of ethical behaviour in the workplace.

Robert Smith, Serco's Corporate Assurance Director, said:
"The results of this survey provide a framework to benchmark ethical culture and performance against a national average. As an international service company we need to build and maintain the trust of both the general public and our employees. This survey will help us shape our future programme and maintain our commitment to doing the right thing and being perceived to be doing the right thing."

The survey was carried out in September 2008 by Ipsos Mori. The IBE was established in 1986 to encourage best standards of corporate behaviour and sharing of best practice www.ibe.org.uk