Companies place value on integrity
For the AJC
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Is ethical behavior dead in the American workplace? With news of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, oversized executive bonuses and severance packages, and creditors paid cents on the dollar — it would be easy to think so.
“Every company is making business adjustments these days,” said Connie Chiasson, managing director of the Atlanta IT office for MDI Group, an Atlanta professional services and work force solutions firm. With companies needing to make unforeseen decisions to survive, “it would be tempting to take shortcuts, but that’s not a good idea in the long run,” she said.
Leita Cowart / AJC Special
Connie Chiasson, managing director of the Atlanta IT office for MDI Group, said integrity is crucial for a business’s long-term success.
“Our core values have always been integrity, people and respect, and it’s important that we stick to them. We’ve worked hard to build our reputation in the marketplace for 21 years. We believe in keeping our word, and that’s even more important in today’s climate.”
Although it might be the “best thing” to do from the company’s perspective to stretch out payments to its consultants, MDI Group decided it was not the “right thing” to do in the long run because it would diminish trust in the partnerships it has built. It would be easier to hide the impact the economy is having on the company, but MDI leaders believe that clear communication benefits everyone.
“We’re giving our clients and constituents knowledge so they can make informed decisions,” Chiasson said.
While she’s proud to work for a company that lives its values, she also believes it to be a good bottom-line decision.
“Integrity is critical for long-term business success,” Chiasson said.
Research proves her right.
“We know ethics pays because we’ve seen it work,” said Lyn Turknett, president of Turknett Leadership Group, an Atlanta executive leadership development firm since 1980. “In working with the leaders of BellSouth years ago, we discovered that leaders rated by their peers and employees as having higher integrity and accountability also had the best results in everything from repair times to customer service.”
“High-trust managers of Holiday Inns, a Harvard Business Review study from 2003 found, had higher results in revenues, profits and customer service,” added Bob Turknett, CEO and co-author with Lyn of “Decent People Decent Company.”
“Developing the character of a leader and a business is a competitive edge, and it’s even more important today when the recession and scandals have eroded trust,” he said.
When leaders lead with respect and by taking responsibility (according to the Turknett Leadership Character Model), they set up transparent systems that allow information to flow from the top down and from the front lines up.
“The front lines are where the business knowledge is and where the best ideas come — that information can move a company forward,” Lyn Turknett said.
“When people conduct themselves by strong values, everyone recognizes it. The entire company has a stronger sense of mission, direction and purpose. Companies who have values and live by them will survive and thrive.”
When Robert Covington founded eNable Business Solutions, a company to provide technology resources to small and medium-size businesses, he started with the core values of displaying integrity in all business interactions, to be trustworthy, to put useful technologies in the grasp of small businesses and to glorify God.
“We didn’t add core values because they were expedient or looked good. This is who we were and wanted to be,” Covington said. “Our goal was to be a trusted partner to small business.”
When a price change from the manufacturer of a document management software program made a quote to a customer unprofitable, eNable honored the quote and sold the software at a loss. Values are even more important in today’s business climate, Covington believes.
“When people spend money in the present economy, they want to make sure they are getting what they pay for,” he said.
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