This week during study time I had a good time
learning about John Deere Co. and their ethical rules and company
mandates. I assume that all companies
have a similar mantra, however I wonder how many take personal responsibilities
for their company codes of conduct. I
read through all the material presented to me by the company I personally work
for; after an honest evaluation I concluded that a majority of my coworkers
often try and live accordingly. However,
I don’t know if I can honestly say the same thing for those in management. I’m often in meetings and hear things from
managers, both those directly above me and those who lead on a much higher
level, saying they believe whole-heartedly in our company’s code of
conduct. However, I often see in their
day-to-day dealings with me, my co-workers and even others in management that they
believe words speak louder than actions.
It’s sad, knowing their actions are not congruous with company mandated
ethics. Also, it’s clear that if even a
small percentage of middle-level management cared about ethics, I believe the
company would be a completely different atmosphere.
I believe the tension between ethics and
profit is a valid concern to executives in the business world today. I’ve found that performance metrics are
placed to push employee limits. The
metrics sometime require management in live in a grey area – pushing and
pulling accounting numbers to suit the desired outcome. I find this somewhat necessary in my current
position, I guess you could consider this coexisting. I don’t feel like I’ll lose my job if I don’t
make a certain amount for the company each month – I’ve never been given a
measurable goal. However, I try to
surpass my previous numbers, if only to beat myself. Now when management forces me to hold back
invoices to either sandbag for numbers or asks for invoices with jobs not
prepared or completed properly because numbers are down – this is where I feel
ethics versus profit collide. I don’t
like feeling undue pressure because others have failed to live according to
their bonus given levels. I like to
believe everyone tries their best and due to unforeseen economics, the company
just won’t meet levels this month.
However, this is not an applicable excuse in the business world,
everyone must answer for their area of responsibilities – whether those
responsibilities are known or unknown.
I
currently feel that investors and the financial community care greatly over
ethics and supposed social involvement, if only to be situated on the positive
end of consumer opinion. Everyone likes
to look good, look like they care. When
4th quarter numbers are banked, management would like to prove to
their investors how much they care by showing them ethical guidelines and
social justices that were righted because of corporate donations or employee
engagement. I hope that there is an
ounce of actual, legitimate care and concern from higher management at this
point. I hope there are still investors
that are only willing to fiscally help companies because of the service hours
they donate to communities.
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