A new study warns of a serious decline in workplace ethics. The survey, by the Ethics Resource Center, found an increase in cases of retaliation against employee whistleblowers, a rise in the number of companies with weak ethical cultures, and more employees who report pressure to compromise standards.

ERC says that the survey “captures a downturn on the horizon in ethical behavior.”

The 2011 National Business Ethics Survey published on Jan. 5 said that more than one in five employees who reported misconduct (22 percent) said they had experienced some form of retaliation, compared to only 12 percent who reported retribution for blowing the whistle in 2007 and 15 percent in 2009.

In addition, 13 percent of the 4,683 respondents working in the for-profit sector said they felt pressure to compromise standards in order to perform their tasks. The result is only one point lower than the all time high of 14 percent reported in 2000. Meanwhile, the number of companies with weak ethical cultures increased to 42 percent last year compared to 35 percent in 2009.

“The findings, which are unlike any the ERC has seen in prior surveys, indicate something is driving a shift in the American workplace. American employees are doing the right thing more than ever before, but in other ways employees' experiences are worse than in the past,” ERC said in the survey.

The findings suggested that the economic downturn coupled with a stubbornly high unemployment rate and an increasing fear of a second recession fostered continued anxiety among employers and employees. “The decisions and behaviors of their leaders are perceived by employees as a heightened commitment to ethics. As a result, employees adopt a higher standard of conduct for themselves,” noted the report.

However, the findings also determined that as the economy gets better—and companies and employees become more optimistic of their financial futures—it's likely that misconduct will rise and reporting will drop. The pattern mirrors the growth in pressure and retaliation that have already taken place and conformed to historic patterns.

 

                                        Source: Ethics Resource Center.

On the positive side, the survey found a decline in the percentage of employees who witnessed misconduct at the workplace, falling to a new low of 45 percent last year from 49 percent in 2009 and the record high of 55 percent in 2007. More respondents also admit having reported bad behavior they spotted at the workplace. The percentage of those who filed a report last year reached a record high of 65 percent or a 2 percent increase from two years earlier, and 12 points higher than the record low of 53 percent reported in 2007.

Another key element noted by the survey last year is the rise in influence of active social networkers. “A surprising and worrisome divide exists within the workplace between employees who spend substantial time on social networks and those who do not,” the survey said.

They found that active social networkers (32 percent) reported far more negative experiences in workplaces compared to their peers who are less active in the virtual meeting place. As a group, the study found that the active social networkers are more likely to experience pressure to compromise ethics standards and to experience retaliation for reporting misconduct (56 percent).

Other interesting findings include

Active social networkers show a higher tolerance for certain activities that could be considered questionable. Half of them feel that it is acceptable to keep copies of confidential work documents in case they need them for their next job, compared to 15 percent of their inactive peers.

There may be an opportunity for corporations to work with active social networkers in ways that they have not yet fully explored. Active social networkers are somewhat more likely to use social networks to say positive things about their company and co-workers than to post negative feelings.

The ERC has fielded the NBES study since 1994, by conducting a nationally representative survey of employees at all levels to understand their views on ethics and compliance at work. A total of 4,800 responses were collected for the 2011 study, of which the responses from 117 respondents working in the government sector have been filtered from the final results.