Tag Archives: Timothy J. Lindon

Retaliation on the Rise; How Should Companies Respond?

by Timothy J. Lindon

Summary

Avoiding retaliation for reported workplace misconduct is essential for companies and enforcement officials. Companies are accountable not just for their bad acts, but also for the cover up, including how they respond to allegations.  A new survey of conduct in the US workplace by the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI)[1] has some bad news.  Employees say that retaliation against whistleblowers is on the rise, doubling in the past four years.  These disturbing results should motivate companies to (1) encourage candid internal discussions of what exactly constitutes retaliation (and what does not); (2) train managers to handle retaliation concerns and to avoid unintended acts of retaliation; and (3) ensure anti-retaliation programs are supported by a strong ethical culture.

The ECI Survey

Since 2000, ECI, a leading ethics and research organization for compliance professionals, has surveyed workplace conduct from the employees’ perspective.  Their 2017 survey of more than 5,000 employees across the US has good and bad news. Continue reading →

Crediting the Behavioral Approach

by Timothy J. Lindon

The compliance message to companies from Washington is practical and encouraging.  Regulators are not looking to reward check-the-box programs or companies that simply say the right things about integrity in their Codes of Conduct.  They are looking for innovative approaches that work to prevent misconduct in the real world, and can be measured.

The problem of course is identifying and measuring what works.  We have lots of compliance metrics like training completion rates and the number of helpline calls, but none of them measures fully the impact of our programs on ethical decisions by individual employees.  In fact, research shows that many of the activities credited under the federal sentencing guidelines may actually be counter-productive.  For example, training that is regarded by employees as a check-the-box exercise is viewed as insincere and undermines compliance with policies.

So what works? Continue reading →