Professional Ethics: A “Preventive Maintenance” Approach

You would never let your tools or machinery go without preventive maintenance so why would you do that with your ethics? After all, much of the success of your company depends on your customers’ and potential customers’ seeing and believing that everything about your company is done with both honesty and integrity. If they perceive ethics problems, accurately or not, they’re simply not likely to do business with you. Not only that, but most companies lose as much as 6 percent of their gross each year to a variety of ethics problems that go perpetually unseen. That’s a lot of money!Why wait for an ethics lapse to pay attention to ethics? Because the legal, financial, and public relations fallout from ethics lapses can be catastrophic, the time to act is now and prevention is the goal.

Why Would Someone Practice Unethically?

Ethics violations usually have their roots in personal matters and have little or nothing to do with either a lack of knowledge of the relevant ethics code(s) or a lack of construction or management skills. Instead, most violations have to do with personal wishes and values “rubbing” with ethical, or legal mandates, and that “rubbing” goes unseen or unaddressed.

So what are the causes of ethics problems? The vast majority of ethics violations are due to a very short list of mostly benign or even positive sounding wishes. Look beneath the language used in trying to justify ethics violations, and you’ll almost certainly find one of the following few statements:

• “I just want to get ahead in life.”
• “I just want more time for _______.”
• “I just want to be liked/respected/left alone by ___________.”
• “I just want to be a good breadwinner/employee/colleague/partner.”

You will notice that these actually sound pretty upstanding. The fact remains, though, that each can be the underpinning of unethical practices if there are any negative pressures resulting from them (i.e., the urge to overcharge, pressure to work outside of your areas of competence, an inability or unwillingness to confront the inappropriate actions of others, misrepresenting oneself or one’s work, etc.).

The central task in a preventive maintenance approach is to spot any of these pressures as early as possible so as to immediately and effectively direct your behavior to the proper side of the ethics line.

How Do You Spot a Conflict in its Early Stages?

Pay attention! It is critically important to pay attention to “red flags”‘ for ethical violations.

The easiest red flags to look for are the comments we make to ourselves or others about why we are doing what we do. More specifically, look/listen for how you talk about making questionable (or unquestionably inappropriate) choices. Pay attention anytime you find yourself thinking or saying:

• “It’s such a small thing, who’ll notice anyhow?”
• “It’s such a small thing; it really won’t hurt anybody.”
• “I don’t feel comfortable doing this, but if this is what it takes to get ahead (via money/work/promotion/prestige), I guess I’d better do it.”
• “Everybody else does it. So why not?”
• “Geeez, I hope _______ doesn’t find out about this!”
• “Well, ________ is in charge here and s/he told me to do it so I guess I’d better do it.”
• “I better do this so I don’t let _________ down.”
• “If I do this, at least I can get _________ off my back.”
• “Just this once…”

Each of these is a sign that you have entered the “slippery slope” zone as far as ethical conduct. None of these, of course, automatically mean that some type of violation has occurred or that one is getting ready to occur. However, the moment you become aware of any of these rationalizations, a preventive approach requires that you immediately examine your behavior to be sure that you have not set yourself up to do something inappropriate. Of course, you also need to take appropriate actions if you hear someone else saying any of these same things.

Remember, ethics violations come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Once you move over the line, don’t be fooled into thinking that a “little” violation is necessarily any less harmful than a big one. Once you begin overcharging, practicing outside your areas of competence, allowing even small inaccuracies in bookkeeping or project reports, etc., you have set the stage for progressively more inappropriate practice. Why? Because once you have justified it to yourself, you have set the scene to justify more. It’s simply human nature. Not only that, but remember, what seems “small” may still have extremely large consequences if it becomes the basis for codes, ethics or legal charges.

What’s to be Done When a “Red Flag” is Spotted?

Consult, consult, consult! If you find yourself at any stage of questionable-or unquestionably inappropriate-behavior, it is not unusual to feel too confused, embarrassed or frightened to share your dilemma with someone else. Yet, these are some of the times when you most need the insight and input of others.

The best consultants are those who can provide you with informed, clear, direct feedback and the opportunity to think your way through your situation. Remember, this doesn’t mean only other construction professionals. It also includes legal advisors, business associates, financial advisors, medical providers, etc.

Why? Because ethics violations are most frequently caused by otherwise good people who get caught up in conflicts between what they value-or the discomfort of their current life-and the demands of appropriate behavior on the job. Needless to say, those conflicts can arise not only from professional matters, but from physical or mental health issues, substance use/abuse issues, religious or spiritual conflicts, relationship difficulties and certainly from financial strain.

In other words, the better you do at taking care of yourself off the job, the less risk you have of unethical behavior on the job.

Remember, ethics violations rarely occur because someone is a bad person or is criminally-minded. Those are simply the ones that usually make “good press” and so we hear about them more often. Each of us has the potential to be swayed in our judgment by the pressures that life throws our way. Paying attention to “red flags” and acting immediately to deal with them is frequently what makes the difference between maintaining appropriate professional behavior or not.

I’m OK-You’re Um, Er, Well…

No one likes to feel like the neighborhood watchdog-nor, perhaps, should we. Be that as it may, though, a critical part of maintaining ethical practices is to also be alert to the inappropriate actions of others. Remember the saying, “If you’re not a part of the solution, you’re part of the problem?” It applies to the construction business just as much as to any other industry. If you knowingly allow someone else to violate the law or the code of ethics, you are also contributing to the problem. Period.

What can you do?

It is remarkable how queasy most of us get when confronted with the prospect of approaching someone else about their judgment or behavior. It feels intrusive or judgmental or potentially insulting or any of a whole long list of other potential distresses. Yet some type of discussion is exactly what’s required.

Here are some critical things to do:

1. Begin with an informal discussion unless the violation requires mandated HR or legal intervention or has persisted despite informal attempts at intervention.
2. Be as diplomatic as possible. Remember, though, that diplomacy is not a substitute for honesty!
3. If you are unsure about whether or not a certain behavior is a violation, discuss your concerns with a colleague who is likely to know the appropriate standard of practice. If at all possible, do so without identifying the other individual(s) involved. This not only reduces the risk of inadvertent slander but is simply common courtesy. After all, you wouldn’t want your name unnecessarily associated with possible wrong-doing. Remember, rumor and innuendo can be just as damaging as fact, and needless to say, we are all innocent until proven guilty.
4. Be aware of EEOC mandates for the investigation of internal complaints. They have very clear guidelines and requirements for what must be investigated, timelines, etc. If those rules aren’t followed, you risk unwittingly adding your own violations to the mix.
5. For your own protection, be sure to document your observations, as well as the actions you take to rectify the problem. Be sure to maintain that documentation so that, should it become an issue in the future, you can verify any relevant part of your involvement.
6. Remember that credible suspicion of an ethics violation is a reasonable basis for confrontation and/or formal reporting. However, mistrust of someone or a dislike of their business practices, in itself, is not. Remember, a person or their business practices may be to our extreme dislike but still be entirely ethical.

What If I See a Violation in Myself or Someone Else and it’s Too Late?

It isn’t. As the saying goes, it is never too late to turn things around. Is it tougher to stop something that has already gone on for a while? It could be in some cases. Is that a reason to avoid acting? NO!

Are you unsure what to do? The answer will always be to be thoughtful, to consult, to consult some more, to be more thoughtful, and then-at the latest-to take some action.

What Else can be done for Preventive Maintenance?

1. Know the ethics code! Review it now and then. Even though the ethics codes change infrequently, case law and trends in interpretation of the code continue to evolve over time. The more often you can update your knowledge, the more assured you are of really staying on top of current ethics expectations. By extension, the more you are up-to-date on those expectations, the more effectively you can monitor your own compliance, as well as that of your company.
2. Know your consultants and use them as much for prevention as for intervention. Remember, most ethics violations occur in the course of trying to meet some unmet wish (social, emotional, physical, financial, or a combination) that results in compromising one’s ethics. Find appropriate ways off the job to get those needs met and the risk of ethics violations-assuming you know the code and how to follow it-will be greatly diminished.
3. Regularly think about your values and wishes and the ways in which they might push you toward ethics risks. This kind of “self-review” may well be your best insurance against compromising your professional integrity via a lapse in ethics. Why? Because if you stay conscious of your wishes and the ways in which you want to fulfill them, you are more likely to notice compromises you may be tempted to make to fulfill those wishes.
4. Always remember that it is never too late to turn a bad choice around! As construction professionals, some bad choices will end in projects that simply cannot be undone. Even then, however, there is no statute of limitations on acknowledging past poor choices, doing whatever can be done-if anything-to make it right and rededicating oneself to absolute integrity in the future.

Are all the ideas in this article as easily done as said? Often not. They are, however, all able to be done. However, given that you hold the comfort, productivity, health, and safety of your employees as well as your customers and the public in your hands, the value of putting these ideas into practice cannot be underestimated.

Construction Business Owner, June 2006