Quit — or turn a blind eye to corruption?

(Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)

Q: I work for a government-owned enterprise. As a citizen, I feel this company belongs in part to me, and I have a strong desire for it to succeed. However, I see unethical behaviour going on around me. The logical path is to quit, but I don't want to give up on the company. What can I do?

A: This is a patriot’s dilemma: how best to serve your country without becoming a part of actions you don’t condone. As you note, the easiest way to get away from problematic conduct at work is to quit and get another job where you don’t find yourself in troubling situations. But you don’t want to do that, because you feel there’s a higher ethical value in working to build a company on behalf of the country.

Refusing to run from the problem is admirable, but solving it can be tough.
If you’re staying, you have several options, notes Amy Wrzesniewski, an associate professor of organisational behaviour at the Yale University School of Management.
“The most direct path to addressing the unethical behaviour you see is to figure out a way to bring attention to it so that change might happen,” she said by email.
Yet doing this without getting fired is easier said than done. Check to see if your country has well-enforced whistleblower protection laws, Wrzesniewski suggests. Within the company, you will have better luck getting your message to the top if you have a sponsor at work, “a personal champion in the system who is willing to support you and back you up as you raise the issues you see,” she said. If you have this legal protection available, and you feel comfortable approaching your sponsor with your concerns, that’s the most direct approach.
If not, you’ll have to take the covert route.
Wrzesniewski suggests coming up with a new idea for an old problem that could subtly replace corrupt practices. Sometimes, a new approach can be “demonstrably more efficient, simpler, or data-driven, while also being far less open to gaming or unethical behavior,” she said. For instance, if you’re witnessing contracts awarded to the vendor who pays the highest kickbacks, you could suggest moving the bidding and award process to an online system that has greater transparency. Or if you’re seeing discriminatory hiring practices, consider asking if the company can create a database that tracks hiring by applicant characteristics. This would make it clear who’s being hired and why.
“By proposing changes that undermine unethical behavior — directly or indirectly — you will learn quickly how interested the company is in changing,” Wrzesniewski said.
There is also an opportunity to find like-minded people and institute small changes with them. Some colleagues may think that corruption and government go hand-in-hand. Such attitudes can be deeply ingrained, and you may not be able to change colleagues’ minds. But there are likely a few people who share the same beliefs about civic responsibility within a state-owned enterprise. If you’ve found a compatriot, you can brainstorm ideas for new procedures that cut out the possibility for corruption.
The two of you can also look through your networks for potential sponsors to quarterback change; perhaps your partner in crime-fighting has stronger internal relationships than you do.
If there’s little appetite for change on either a grassroots or an official level, you are once again faced with the same choice: stick with being an ethical person in an unethical environment, or quit.
bbc.