Several Highly Regulated Industries Report No Code of Conduct
Kenexa Research Institute Explores Existence of Code of Conduct Across the Globe
WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - December 16, 2008) - Kenexa® (NASDAQ: KNXA), a leading provider of
recruitment and retention solutions, today released information about the
incidence of codes of conduct and how they relate to the existence of
ethical cultures, among other factors. The data come from an analysis of
the WorkTrends™ database, which is an annual survey of worker opinions
conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI).
According to the WorkTrends data, employees in Australia, Canada, the
United Kingdom and the United States have the highest awareness that their
organizations have a code of conduct. Employees in Saudi Arabia, Germany
and Russia have the lowest awareness. Of those companies with a code of
conduct, 84% of employees reported that they understood the code.
With major ethical breaches occurring and publicized, many organizations
have increasingly instituted a "code of conduct." These principles are
intended to guide business decisions and allow work to be conducted in a
way that supports the welfare of stakeholders and rights of an
organization's constituents. Codes of conduct refer to practices that
leaders can distinguish as "good" and "bad," and formalize the
organization's perspective on adherence.
"From an industry standpoint, it seems clear that government (85%), banks
(85%) and financial services institutions (80%) are focused on promoting
behaviors that meet the 'ethical' litmus test, with high rates of code of
conduct implementation. That said, even when codes of conduct exist, they
may not fully address or even contemplate the consequences of risky
business decisions made in the arena of intense competition, such as the
decisions that led to the subprime mortgage crisis. For many, the concept
of 'ethical' appears to be an ever-changing, dynamic construct that is
continually re-defined by organizations, stakeholders and society
at-large," said Jack Wiley, executive director, Kenexa Research Institute.
Wiley continued, "The data are troubling in that the accounting and legal
industries report some of the lowest scores (70%). These are some of the
industries where ethical behavior should have prominence. Interestingly,
almost one of every ten employees surveyed didn't know if they even had a
code of conduct. Even so, having a code of conduct is no guarantee against
lapses in ethical behavior."
Business culture can undermine leaders' attempts at building an ethical
culture. For example, the data show that, while 73% of banking employees
report that their senior leaders support ethical practices, only 63% say
that they can report a breach without fear of reprisal. Senior leaders'
support of ethics is notably higher than for the average employee, but
leaders' support is only one piece of ensuring employees' ethical choices.
Not surprisingly, large organizations of more than 10,000 employees were
the most likely to have a code of conduct (84%). The use of a code of
conduct decreases in frequency as the organization size decreases, with
only 67% of employees in organizations of 100 to 249 people reporting a
code of conduct.
The strength of an ethical culture correlates with the publishing of a
code of conduct. In organizations with a strong ethical culture, 87% of
employees reported that a code of conduct had been published, as compared
to organizations with a weak ethical culture, where only 71% reported the
existence of a code of conduct.
Organizational reputation and performance also were related to an ethical
culture-in a strong ethical culture, 58% and 63% of employees believed that
their organization's reputation and performance had improved in the past
year, respectively. Only 11% and 14% of those working in weak ethical
cultures reported organizational reputation and performance improvement in
the last year.
"The WorkTrends survey also showed that management was more in tune with
whether a code of conduct exists. Since it is the individual contributors
who are most often conducting business directly with clients and customers,
one would hope that front-line staff would be equally aware of the code of
conduct. That, however does not seem to be the case," stated Wiley.
About WorkTrends™
The Kenexa WorkTrends database is a comprehensive normative database of
employee opinions on topics including leadership, employee engagement and
customer orientation. Comparisons are available for workers from Australia,
Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the
Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United
States.
About Kenexa
Kenexa (NASDAQ: KNXA) is a global leader in building the world's greatest
workforces using a combination of software, employee research science and
business process optimization. Kenexa's global solutions include applicant
tracking, onboarding, recruitment process outsourcing, employment branding,
skills and behavioral assessments, structured interviews, performance
management, multi-rater feedback surveys, employee engagement surveys and
HR Analytics. Kenexa is headquartered in Wayne, Pa. (outside Philadelphia).
Additional information about Kenexa and its global products and services
can be accessed at www.kenexa.com.