By Dr. Steve M. Cohen
Some of the most difficult office decisions come down to ethics, and some of the most difficult ethical decisions often seem mundane at first glance.
Regardless, I recommend caution because the potential pitfalls are so serious.
I have a client who hired someone away from a competitor. The first week on the job, this new hire produced “intelligence” that was clearly confidential information from the previous employer. In my opinion, this individual had clearly crossed an ethical line and should have been terminated right then. Even if the information was of value, and even if my client chose to ignore the ethical issue, there’s a practical question of how reliable such an employee would be. I’ve seen many cases where a manager hopes that such intelligence can be used without “getting burned,” but it rarely works that way. In fact, the drawbacks invariably outweigh any gain.
In this case, my client told the new staffer in unequivocal language to get rid of that information and not use it. The employer saw this as an intermediate, but effective, step rather than the drastic step of termination.
Unfortunately, during the next two years, this employee proved me right. He did many things that were questionable, like playing favorites with some of the staff and undermining others. This and more disruptive behavior caused his supervisors to finally decide to get rid of him. In the end, he sensed that he might be fired and downloaded confidential information on customers. When the termination came up, he used that information as a weapon to increase his severance package.
I’ve always believed in the old adage that the best predictor of future performance is past performance. Following that, my client would have been wise to terminate this employee when he demonstrated his inclination to behave unethically by bringing in stolen confidential information from a previous employer. My client would have avoided his own possible loss and the entire cleanup associated with the unethical behavior. Had things gotten really bad, there could have been additional ethical, legal and public relation issues.
It’s tempting to take the path of least resistance and issue a reprimand. That’s even appropriate in some workplace and personnel issues. But when ethics are at stake, taking the easy way is almost always a mistake that will usually cost you over and over.
When ethical misconduct occurs, I recommend to my clients that they draw a red line in the sand, hold to their values and distance themselves from those who don’t meet the ethical standards. That may sound harsh, but high standards are worth protecting.
Dr. Steve M. Cohen is Principal and Lead HR Consultant at HR Solutions: On Call, an advisory service for professional practices and other small businesses.
