Written by Ellen Hunt, PRINCIPAL consultant and advisor at spark compliance
Follow Ellen on LinkedIn
Most of us have seen, perhaps many times, the iconic scene in the Sound of Music of the Von Trapp children singing So Long, Farewell as they leave the party.
They wanted to stay. They were sad to leave.
When employees leave your company, do you think they feel the same way?
The Great Resignation and TikTok resignations would suggest that they may be singing a very different tune as they walk out the door. Perhaps an updated version of Take This Job and Shove It?
Do You Know Why People Leave Your Company?
Studies indicate that the reason employees leave usually isn’t pay or other perks. It’s moral injury.
Moral injury can occur when employees are forced to make ethical choices that they don’t agree with. This is not a question of the employee’s character as the moral injury is produced by circumstances. That is the employee’s boss or work environment has made them make an unacceptable choice.
For a deeper dive into moral injury and ways leaders can prevent it, see Ron Carucci and Ludmila Praslova, Ph.D., Harvard Business Review Article Employees Are Sick of Being Asked to Make Moral Compromises (hbr.org).
Why Don’t We Ask?
Despite the evidence that organizations aren’t doing a very effective job at understanding why employees leave, we don’t seem to want to change our ways.
We don’t ask questions about moral injury in the exit process.
We don’t ask about unethical conduct.
Is this because we can’t handle the truth?
Is it possible that asking questions about how employees feel they were treated and if they believe unethical conduct is occurring would require us to do something about it? Could continuing as we have and not even bothering to ask be a form of moral injury in and of itself?
Why Not Ask Everyone?
With a few exceptions, most companies only ask those that have decided to leave. For some reason, we think those that have decided to leave are not disgruntled.
Do we even know how many employees refuse to participate in exit interviews or complete the questionnaire?
We don’t ask terminated employees because the rationale is that their opinions don’t count or that they will be unjustly negative because they were terminated.
A similar rationale is applied to discredit whistleblowers because (fill in the blank) but usually, they are labeled as constant complainers or (sometimes suddenly) poor performers. While this must be the case, is that reason enough to not hear what they have to say?
What if you learn something that lets the company take proactive steps to correct misconduct as well as improve the Ethics & Compliance Program?
A Missed Opportunity?
Not only does not asking the right questions of all employees cut Ethics & Compliance off from valuable information that could be used to improve corporate culture, but it is also in opposition to the mission of all Ethics & Compliance Programs to “find and fix.”
Those that leave, for whatever reason, usually are more open about what they have experienced and witnessed. Since they “lived” it, they may have suggestions about how processes and work environments can be improved.
What’s the Value Proposition and the Role of Ethics & Compliance?
2023 risks that are top of mind for Boards of Directors are the possible economic downturn and the ability to attract and retain talent. These risks, no matter what industry a company is in, have the potential to impact the ability to execute on corporate strategy and obtain goals, i.e., for the company to be successful.
Ethics and Compliance can play a key role in attracting and retaining talent which will be critical in a recession for any company to be successful if it can reduce the number of employees that leave because of moral injury.
Moral injury doesn’t just affect the victim, it affects other employees that believe they may be the next victim or witness moral injury over and over again, i.e., moral injury survivors’ syndrome. It also leaks into and out of the organization in the form of “silent quitting,” lack of engagement, unfavorable Glass Door reviews, the unwillingness of current employees to recommend the company as a good place to work, less than standard quality and/or production, and unsatisfactory customer service.
All of which affect a company’s ability to succeed.
In what is already a tight labor market that might get even tighter, now might be the time to explore the value that Ethics & Compliance can bring by mitigating these risks and how can add to the bottom line.
This isn’t just soft dollars that are equated with having a strong corporate culture or a good reputation. Every organization has real numbers on what it costs to acquire talent and what it costs to lose talent, even talent that is involuntarily terminated.
As an Ethics & Compliance Professional, you should know what the churn rate is, its costs, and how you can contribute to lowering both.
Would you like assistance in evaluating or improving your compliance and speak up program? Write to Ellen at ehunt@sparkcompliance.com for further information or Contact Us at Spark Compliance here.
