Do you know what the cost of dishonesty is in your organization? During the 2002 Crisis of Ethics in Business USA the cost to the US economy of dishonesty in companies such as Worldcom, Enron, Tyco, Arthur Anderson, etc. ran into trillions of dollars. In addition, dishonesty diminishes the faith the rest of the world has in the way you do business. Honesty does pay and creating a culture of straight talk and integrity not only keeps the media at bay, but also makes an organization more competitive in the global economy and better trusted by customers, employees and shareholders.
So, how honest is your organization? Take this one-minute corporate culture assessment. Answer these questions based on either your work group or the company as a whole.
- Can people generally be honest and direct with opinions and ideas?
- Is it okay to disagree with ideas regardless of whose idea it is?
- Can employees directly communicate without fear of retribution?
- Do employees give feedback directly to the person involved or do they tend to either "go around" them or discuss it with everyone else first?
- Are key messages and company direction communicated quickly and directly to employees?
Five Yes - You have reached corporate culture nirvana!
Four Yes - Your company has worked hard to create a culture with a high level of honesty.
Three Yes - You must be making conscious efforts to create a culture of honesty, but you have room for improvement.
Two or less - You have some work to do to help influence your culture in a more open and honest direction.
If you would like further information about our Straight Talk training program, please contact us at: RW & Associates, Inc. email: Lisa@RWassociates.net phone: 503-720-4978