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GCC Provides Unique, No-Nonsense, No-Spin Management Consulting Solutions That Restore Character, Leadership, Integrity, Confidence, Excellence, and Bottom-Line Success
For Business, Government, and Organizations of All Types
While Improving Society At Large!
Restoring Integrity
in
Private-Sector
Organizations and Institutions
The series of disclosures, in recent years, of unethical and illegal conduct, behavior, and activities in business, government, and other types of organizations and institutions has resulted in a heightened level of mistrust among the general population - - a mistrust of how organizations and institutions conduct their business.
In response to these scandals, private-sector organizations and institutions have taken steps to strengthen their internal controls by issuing and/or revising policies and procedures, and reviewing and amending, where appropriate, any of their resources related to ethical conduct in the workplace.
There is certainly merit in the way some of these organizations and institutions have responded to better manage ethical conduct and behavior.
But GCC believes that much more is needed!
If corporate ethics programs are ever to become fully effective - - and not simply a facade, and ethical conduct in the workplace, a reality, it is worth first noting "The Cause of Unethical Conduct" which is a bit of history of why unethical conduct and behavior is so rampant today:
The Cause
The chief cause of unethical conduct and behavior in the workplace has its roots in the counterculture of the 1960s when standards of behavior began to decline.
Regardless of what some may want you to believe, Ethical Relativism that took hold during the 1960s followed by Irresponsible Parenting had - - and continues to have to this very day - - a very negative effect on society.
Those who were around and/or grew up before the 1960s and who held faithfully to their values and rejected the counter-cultural movement can, today, easily recognize the results of that damaging movement that manifests itself widely in the form of irresponsible conduct and behavior that is still present and flourishing among many who, unfortunately (and perhaps often through no fault of their own), remain clueless of what responsible conduct and behavior entails.
But how does all of this affect organizations and institutions today?
Most people working in today's organizations and institutions - - the executives, managers, and employees - - grew up and lived through those very years when the standards of right-and-wrong behavior were relaxed and redefined DOWNWARD.
Many from that era, from all walks of life "moved with the flow".
Even many who grew up in earlier years couldn't resist latching onto the relaxed and declining standards of conduct and behavior that the '60s ushered in.
INTEGRITY itself, and values such as personal pride of always doing what is right, doing one's very best, and other positive values became, in many respects, the casualties of what began in the '60s.
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With INTEGRITY today at a LOW POINT, and declining rapidly,, GCC believes and recommends that everyone in today's workforce NEEDS TO MAKE A FORMAL, PERSONAL COMMITMENT TO INTEGRITY - - a commitment that is reinforced at least annually.
The objective here is for ETHICAL CONDUCT AND BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE TO BECOME A REALITY - - not simply an objective!
How does that come about?
The following represents GCC's framework for this to happen:
- To be effective, the current ingrained, culture that gives rise to irresponsible, mediocre, dishonest and even criminal behavior - - nurtured by decades of declining standards of right and wrong - - must be replaced with a "WORKPLACE CULTURE BASED ON INTEGRITY" which, today, is lacking!
YES!
RESTORING THE CULTURE based on INTEGRITY is the REAL SOLUTION - - the ONLY SOLUTION!
Skirting around the REAL PROBLEM under the false pretense that the decades of declining standards of right and wrong have not had a negative influence on society in general or, more to the point, on the conduct and behavior of those working in today's organizations and institutions - - YES, SKIRTING AROUND THAT ISSUE will NOT correct the problem
Although needed, the policies, procedures, ethics programs, etc., (referred to earlier), that many organizations and institutions have implemented IS REALLY ONLY THE BEGINNING OF WHAT SHOULD BE THE REAL SOLUTION OF "REPLACING THE WORKPLACE CULTURE WITH A CULTURE BASED ON INTEGRITY"
- Restoring the CULTURE OF INTEGRITY has BOTTOM-LINE BENEFITS for organizations and institutions . . . benefits that are long-term . . . benefits that will more than offset any costs associated with the effort needed to restore integrity . . . benefits in which the organization and institution's executives, managers, employees, customers, partners and other stakeholders will be able to share
- The CULTURE OF INTEGRITY IN THE WORKPLACE , as defined by GCC, infuses, in its executives, managers, and employees at all levels, a greater sense of personal values - - values such as honesty, responsibility, perseverance, and trust - - values that will benefit not only the executives, managers, and employees, but in addition, customers, partners, and all other stakeholders
"Principled Individual Behavior" and "Ethical Professional Conduct" that reflect values such as responsibility, perseverance, and trust will be the goal of everyone working in the organization or institution - - everyone starting at the very top at the executive level, then extending to its managers, and finally, to its employees at all levels
- As to anyone doing business with the organization or institution (e.g.,its customers, potential customers, partner organizations, subcontractors, contractors, etc., or equivalent depending upon the type of organization or institution), they should be made aware of the fact that all relationships and transactions with the organization or institution must be ethical, transparent, and in compliance with established policies and procedures, and that any infraction will be subject to immediate investigation and appropriate follow-up action!
But equally important here is that there should be no doubt - - as reflected by the very conduct and behavior of the executives, managers, and employees themselves - - that all dealings, transactions, and relationships are expected to conform to the highest level of ethical standards.
To help to further ensure the importance, relevance, and understanding of, and compliance with, the above statements, it would be required that each and every person (all executives, managers, and employees):
- Discuss, sign, and date a personal commitment that also includes a clear statement of consequences in the event of infractions
- Discuss and RENEW the commitment at least annually during the review of performance of managers and employees and during executive evaluations
- Follow through with a degree of urgency on any investigations of cases of alleged non-compliance for the purpose of not only reaching a timely conclusion but also as a reminder to all that unethical conduct and behavior in the workplace is taken seriously by the organization or institution.
Finally, keep in mind that Restoring Integrity represents a vital step in GCC's Strategies.
It is an important step towards re-mobilizing and transforming what GCC regards as "the most powerful resource in any organization or institution" - - its executives, managers, and employees at all levels - - enabling them (as you will learn from browsing through this website) to focus on achieving, for the organization or institution, not only the core mission, but also a heightened level of excellence and bottom-line success for themselves and all other stakeholders.
Executives, Managers, and Employees,
must
UNDERSTAND
and
INTERNALIZE
the fact
that
"Principled Individual Behavior"
and
"Ethical Professional Conduct"
ARE OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE!
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