Regular readers know that MYOB deals with a lot of serious issues, but we always try to keep things on the light side. After all, there’s enough negativity coming at you every day from radio, TV, and your local news.
But here’s something that’s very unpleasant. In fact it’s downright scary. Junior Achievement and Deloitte recently released the results of a survey on teenage ethics. Considering that today’s teens are tomorrow’s (maybe even today’s) employees, their values are very important to the future of our businesses.
Here are a few of the survey’s conclusions:
- Seventy-one (71) percent of teens feel prepared to make ethical decisions when they enter the workforce, but thirty-eight (38) percent of that group believe that it’s sometimes necessary to "cheat, plagiarize, lie, or even behave violently in order to succeed."
- Nearly one fourth of teens think it’s ok to cheat on a test under certain circumstances.
- Twenty-three (23) percent think violence toward another person is acceptable.
- More than half of the teens surveyed either thought it is unfair, or weren’t sure if it’s unfair for an employer to fire or suspend someone for unethical behavior committed outside of the job.
- More than half believe it isn’t fair for an employer to make hiring and firing decisions based on the employee’s online activity. Another nineteen (19) percent weren’t sure.
- Almost half believe that it’s ok to download music without paying for it but only five (5) percent think it’s ok to steal something from a store.
Clearly the level of ethics and morality in our society are on the decline. But these hard numbers reflecting the views of our young people are alarming. Clearly we all have to be very careful in making personnel decisions. If nearly one out of four potential employees think physical violence is an acceptable way to handle problems, there is a very real liability issue for every employer. If employees act in an unethical manner it can destroy a business’ reputation.
Of course everything isn’t doom and gloom. If one in four potential employees thinks violence is the way to resolve conflict then three out of four don’t. It just means that we have to be very careful to hire the right people. Background and reference checks, including Googling the applicant, are more important than ever. A check of MySpace, FaceBook, and other online sites is also important and completely legal and ethical, even if half your applicants think it’s unfair.
Junior Achievement sponsors programs that teach business ethics including a free online program for students in grades 4-12. In-person programs are usually delivered by volunteers from the business community. There are even college scholarships available for students who complete the ethics course. There is more information on the JA web site, including a "Get Involved" link.
Thanks to Workforce Management Quick Takes for pointing MYOB to the survey.
[Update: 02:09 PM 4/15/08 As a follow up to Bill Hinderer’s comment below, here’s a link to Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
Filed under: Challenges of the Future, Human Resources | 4 Comments »