By Jay Greenberg, Former Chief Compliance Officer, FBI
Building a corporate culture which values commitment to the company’s core values minimizes risk posed from within the employee ranks.
Employee adherence to and support of core values starts during the hiring process. After all, sifting through applicants carefully helps ensure employees invited to join will fit the company’s behavioral expectations.
But as anyone can be accused of anything at any time, companies should ensure their process for investigating allegations of employee misconduct both embodies and underscores cultural norms. Companies should strive to execute a dependable, fair, and thorough employee misconduct process. That process starts long before the actual investigation and is summarized in the four steps below:
- Establish a code of conduct
- Communicate the code of conduct and investigative process to all employees
- Conduct the investigative process fairly and completely
- Levy consistent remedies for substantiated misconduct
- Establish a code of conduct – the code of conduct should clearly enumerate the company’s expectations for employee behavior, as well as the range of remedies for employees who fail to meet those expectations.
- Communicate the code of conduct and investigative process – All employees must not only be aware there are expectations, but also understand those expectations as well as the ensuing investigative process. At a minimum, employees must know their rights, expectations, and responsibilities when they become a witness or subject in a misconduct investigation.
- Conduct the investigative process fairly and completely – With clearly defined behavioral expectations, conducting the investigation must be fair, impartial, and thorough. Starting with the initial allegation, collecting supporting data and interviews, and ensuring all involved employees participate will ensure companies have the facts in hand to drive the right outcome.
- Levy consistent remedies for substantiated misconduct – Defining possible remedies aligned to categories of substantiated employee misconduct clearly establishes the company’s prioritized cultural norms. Levying remedies consistently for similar instances of misconduct removes ambiguity, reinforces expectations, and protects the organization from employees who seek relief from imposed remedies.
By publishing and consistently enforcing expectations for employee conduct, a company can ensure all employees understand expectations and can align their behaviors in accordance with the best interests of the company. Over time, the consistent application of this code of conduct helps all employees understand when individual behaviors damage the company’s value. In this manner, all employees can participate in building a culture of commitment to corporate expectations by ensuring their behaviors follow published norms.