One of the core challenges we face as a nation is how to curb graft and corruption. The recent 2010 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International shows the Philippines ranking 138 most corrupt amongst 178 countries surveyed. We rank 25 out of 33 countries in Asia Pacific. Corruption is defined as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”.
Sadly corruption and unethical conduct is not only found in government it is also insidious in the private sector. One time I had a conversation with the sales person of a construction firm. He shared with me some unethical practices that he uses to gain favors with clients and eventually close deals. And who has not heard of multi-national companies that have decided to close shop in the country due to unethical practices of executives?
People often talk about our culture and its negative aspects as the source of corruption. National culture being so ingrained, one can get discouraged and say that there is no hope. But the fact is there is much hope. We can work slowly but surely to educate our people on ethics. We need to spotlight ethics and how to live its key principles.
I have strong admiration for companies that steadfastly promote, educate and safeguard ethical conduct. They realize that our educational system does not emphasize the practice of ethics as most books focus on the theories, rather than proactive ethical problem solving. One interesting program is living ethics, using behavior modification techniques. These techniques have been successfully used in performance management and in safety training.
Behavior based ethics is a mindset and system that encourages people to uphold moral standards and company policies related to proper conduct and compliance to rules. It helps people support and reinforce right behaviors rather than simply catching people who commit wrong behaviors. It teaches employees to understand the psychology of unethical acts and how to problem solve ethical dilemmas.
It is system based on a psychology of behavior called the ABC method: antecedent, behavior and consequence. It starts with identifying the right behaviors and reinforcing consequences for right behaviors. It also means ensuring the triggers or antecedents for right behaviors such as well understood policies and guidelines.
The program requires supervisors and managers to make purposive regular observations of staff and workers and act to affirm right behaviors or correct behaviors that may lead to unethical conditions or acts.
It seeks to correct unethical conditions so as to prevent unethical actions. Unethical conditions can include lack of policy, absence of automation, bureaucratic procedures and concentrating too much power without proper checks on people.
Workers themselves are expected to observe and support one another’s ethical behaviors. The system aims at eventually moving towards zero unethical conditions that will lead to eliminating unethical acts. Many companies are starting to heed President Aquino’s call to move towards the “right way”. Eventually, we will reach the critical mass that will allow us to move up towards being less corrupt in the transparency index.
[Tita Datu Puangco is the President and CEO of Ancilla Enterprise Development Consulting, an innovative provider of Organization Development and Training solutions in the ASEAN region. These solutions include strategy development and execution, managing change breakthroughs, brand management, innovation and human resource systems. For your letters/ feedback, kindly email: tita.datu76@gmail.com, For other inquiries, please call 8810-3129/0920-9218332/0917-8348176]
