The People Group

Tag: community

  • Standing Up for What’s Right

    Standing Up for What’s Right

    bravery cowardice conformity Will you stand up for what’s right in the face of adversity?

    The men or women who possess the conviction to do what is right, regardless of personal sacrifice, are desperately needed in business today.  The business community has lost its way. That’s why we need selfless, brave people to step forward. The brave action of standing up to unethical leaders or peers could possibly save your company, jobs, retirement funds, mortgages, college funds, and a great deal of financial and emotional heartache in your community.

    More stuff creates conformity.

    Our willingness to stand up against unethical and/or illegal business practices can be diminished in proportion to the higher we move up the corporate ladder. As we move up the corporate and societal food chain, our materialistic culture speaks softly in our ear and tells us we need more money, power, prestige, position, bigger homes and the latest vehicle. If we are not careful, we lose touch with the important things in life. We become high-society corporate conformists more comfortable with the gray areas of business.

    Right and wrong becomes a naive notion.

    Becoming drunk on power, we are blinded by our transmutation.  With access to all these fun toys, our willingness to stand up against what’s wrong becomes, in our opinion, a silly notion only naive amateurs pursue.

    Whistle-blowers sacrifice for the good of others.

    According to the Ethics and Compliance Initiative in Washington, D.C., at least twenty-two percent of whistle-blowers lose their jobs as a result of possessing the fortitude to report unethical or illegal activity. That does not take into account those who were psychologically abused while continuing to work but refusing to quit.

    Say goodbye to your stuff.  

    If you stand up for what is right after your accumulation of all these nice things, you need to be congratulated. You are an extremely rare individual. If you stand up to a high-ranking executive, it is very likely within weeks or months you will be saying goodbye to your beautiful house, nice cars, extra cash, big retirement account and other stuff. Most people cannot do what is right when all these possessions could be on the line.

    Counting the cost.

    The people who stand up against wrong have already thought through their potential losses, yet their compulsion to do what is right far outweighs overlooking what is wrong. If someone does not stand up, hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of employees jobs, mortgages, car loans, college opportunities for children and retirement funds may all be at risk.

    In the event you are faced with the decision to stand up to unethical and/or illegal business activity, the act of standing up to powerful authority figures can lead to earth-shattering consequences.

    Thankful for brave businessmen and women.

    I am thankful for those brave people who, despite the enormous cost, stand up for what is right to save their company, jobs, and quite possibly, their community.

    If you have seen or experienced loss as the result of refusing to conform, please share your comments.

     

    Graphic Credit: CanStockPhoto

  • 10 Ways to Leave Your Legacy at Work & Home

    10 Ways to Leave Your Legacy at Work & Home

    At the end of your life what kind of legacy will you leave behind?

    After that alarm clock rings and you roll out of bed, you begin to touch people’s lives, either positively or negatively. During your time at work, home, church, the community, and on your smart phone, tablet and laptop you are impacting others.

    Each of us touch people in different ways.

    We all wear shoes, yet we leave different foot prints because of varying tastes in style, comfort and physiology. Similarly, each of us will leave a different legacy foot print.

    Where do you start?

    If you don’t know where to start, I found the following chart on the Columbia Southern University website and wanted to share this information with you.

    10 ways to leave your legacy

    Graphic Credit: Pinterest

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Graphic Credit: Columbia Southern University

    Graphic Credit (front page): Cynthia Cavanaugh Blog

  • The Big Lie: Nothing Will Change

    The Big Lie: Nothing Will Change

    Employees are told a big lie in most mergers or acquisitions. What is that big lie? Nothing will change.

    The underhanded purpose of this statement is to calm down the troops so they will keep their heads down and work hard to complete the details of the deal. The first lie from leadership starts a downward spiral of other lies.

    John Mariotti, a Forbes contributor, wrote an important article on this topic, entitled, “When Leaders Lie — Bad Things Happen.” He states, “A typical corporate leader’s lie is the one that follows an acquisition or a merger: ‘Nothing will change.’ What utter nonsense that statement is. Of course things will change—maybe everything.”

    People who thought their jobs were safe, based upon the words of their leaders, are eventually laid-off.

    Locations who thought they were safe, based on the words of their leaders, are closed or are left with a skeleton crew.

    Communities who thought their large corporate donor was staying in their city, based on the words of the corporation’s leaders, lose life-saving contributions.

    One of the big problems with merger mania are the change-in-control provisions embedded in executive incentive compensation plans. These provisions protect company leaders by triggering 100% vesting in lucrative compensation plans. This translates into big money. The allure of a life-changing monetary windfall can cause unethical behavior, including bad decisions and misleading communications.

    The next time you are told, nothing will change, remember past corporate practices make this very unlikely.

     

  • You Deserve A Great Workplace

    You Deserve A Great Workplace

    Employees deserve to be employed by a great workplace. At a minimum, people should be treated with respect and dignity. They don’t need gourmet chefs, company restaurants, ping-pong tables or a concierge. Employees need an environment built on trust.

    Companies are not prisons. They are places for professionals to perform their craft in challenging, respectful environments.

    It is in the best interest of business owners to create a great workplace. These winning workplaces benefit from the following:

    • Higher profits
    • Attracting the best talent
    • Increased loyalty and teamwork
    • Lowest turnover in their industry
    • Ground-breaking innovation
    • Improved employee health
    • Reduced worker accidents
    • Stronger connections and contributions to the community
    • Better returns to shareholders
    • Plus many other benefits

    There should be recruiting firms that only fill positions for award-winning great workplaces. It is unethical for recruiters to place a candidate inside a toxic workplace. Realizing no workplace is perfect, at least recruiting firms should take time to understand the true colors of a client’s work environment before accepting assignments. Recruiters should never allow the allure of money to dictate the acceptance of work from bad employers.

    If you are in the job market, take time to review the following lists of award-winning great workplaces:

    Make sure other great workplace lists (besides the above) you review are based on legitimate employee surveys and employer practices, not popularity contests that are statistically irrelevant.

    Join the Great Workplace Movement. Build a better world by creating a high demand for great workplaces. Only consider award-winning organizations for employment.

  • 5 Ethical Reasons for Great Workplaces

    5 Ethical Reasons for Great Workplaces

    Are you looking for a company with an ethical culture? That’s a very good idea because, according to China Gorman, CEO of the Great Place to Work Institute, “More than 50% of the largest corporate bankruptcies have happened due to unethical business practices.” Gorman went on to state that the cost of bankruptcies to owners and the economy were nearly 10% of the U.S gross domestic product in 2011, coming in at a whopping $1.228 trillion. That’s trillion, not billion. (See China Gorman’s blog post, “Good Ethics = Good Business”)

    That’s a whopping trillion dollar reason why building a great place to work for your employees is the right thing to do. Great workplaces are ethical workplaces. Creating a positive work environment where people are motivated to show up in mind and body not only makes business sense, it’s an ethical business practice.

    “There’s something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty.”  -Unknown

    We live in a society where the good and decent thing to do can be pushed aside in pursuit of money, power and fame. That’s why we need CEO’s with character to stand up and make a commitment to create positive work environments where ethical business practices will never be compromised. Below are 5 good reasons why building a great workplace is the ethical thing to do.

    5 Ethical Reasons for Great Workplaces

    #1 Good for Employees: People should be treated as you want to be treated; a foundation for the ethical treatment of employees. Positive work environments are built to meet the needs of their employees.

    #2 Good for Customers: Great workplaces treat their employees as their number one priority. That means employees will treat customers as their number one priority. This sets-up a customer service environment where clients are treated with respect, dignity and ethically.

    #3 Good for Quality: Problems with quality can result when employees are afraid to speak up for fear of reprimand. This scenario is disastrous when creating quality products. This absence of fear allows people to prevent poor work practices, accidents, defective products, or mistakes with tragic consequences.

    #4 Good for Shareholders: Owners who take care of their people can expect positive financial results. It really is true: good ethics equals good financial results.

    #5 Good for Community: Ethical companies who treat their people with respect see much higher levels of teamwork and camaraderie. This spirit spreads to the community as employees desire to give back and donate their time and resources to improve the lives around them.