Integrity Implosion Starts at Top With Only 13 Percent Saying Corporate Executives Have Highest Integrity
ARLINGTON, VA., July 26, 2018 – New research from Eagle Hill Consulting finds that the majority of working age Bostonians believe that integrity is on the decline in corporate America. Some 53 percent of respondents say that integrity has gotten worse among companies during the past five years. Some 71 percent say that integrity is falling across the nation.
In a new poll, Eagle Hill found that the integrity decline starts at the top. Only 13 percent of Bostonians say that corporate executives have the most integrity in the workplace, while 49 percent say that their colleagues have the most integrity.
“This integrity implosion means that corporate leaders must go deep and assess their company culture and values. Actions that leaders can take to course correct are to conduct culture audits, hire only those workers who are aligned with your culture, and hold leaders at all levels accountable for setting the culture example. Done right, culture provides a significant competitive advantage in hitting business financial goals and attracting the best talent in Boston’s tight labor market,” says Melissa Jezior, Eagle Hill’s president and chief executive officer.
Without a foundation of integrity, a company is at risk. Integrity is the cornerstone of how employees make decisions, act and react in ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. When a company’s integrity is in question, the negative impacts on earnings, customer retention and employee morale can be devastating.
“Culture and values should be the heart and soul of a company. When leaders and employees understand, embrace and live those values every minute at work, the result will be an organization that consistently delivers on its mission and goals,” Jezior said.
The findings are contained in a new Eagle Hill polling analysis, The Corporate Integrity Implosion: Boston, available here.
The polling also revealed that:
- The corporate integrity implosion is part of a larger phenomenon. Some 71 percent of Bostonians say that integrity is falling across the nation, while 77 percent say integrity is on the decline among government institutions.
- Boston workers have substantially more faith in the integrity of their colleagues and boss than corporate executives. Nearly half (49 percent) say their colleagues have the most integrity, just behind their boss (38 percent). Faith in executive leadership lags far behind at 13 percent.
- The overwhelming majority of Bostonians believe corporations and executive leadership might do something unethical. Some 90 percent say that corporations might do something unethical while nearly 75 percent say executive leadership might do something ethically questionable.
- Nearly half of Bostonians say they have witnessed unethical behavior at work, but few report it. Nearly half (44 percent) of those polled say they have seen someone do something unethical at work. Yet, only 21 percent have reported unethical behavior at their workplace. Some 33 percent say they don’t report the behavior because they fear how it might impact them personally.
The Eagle Hill Corporate Boston Culture survey was conducted by Ipsos in April 2018, and it included 563 interviews across the Boston metro-area adult working population. The survey polled respondents on issues of culture, specifically integrity, respect, trust and unethical behavior in the workplace. The results were weighted to reflect US demographic factors including age, income and gender.
Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides management consulting services in the areas of business strategy, organizational transformation, human capital transformation, process improvement, program management and change management. Eagle Hill works with a range of public, private and non-profit organizations across the country with offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and in Seattle, WA. More information is available at https://www.eaglehillconsulting.com.
Media Contact: Susan Nealon
703.989.5714 | snealon@eaglehillconsulting.com | @WeAreEagleHill
