The Good People Bad Choices ethics training video portrays a college age girl talking with her grandfather and his friend (former CEO and CFO) about ethics. She has been tasked with writing a paper on ethics and has turned to these men for lessons learned during their days of operating a business.
I thought it was interesting that the producers chose to have a person of today’s generation look to people from 2 generations ago. It almost implies that ethics are a thing of the past – and perhaps they are. Through their stories of their time leading companies, the two men offer ethics advice in a way that is so fundamental that it seems fresh and new again.
The message I liked the best, is “Ethics takes effort”
“Ethics” isn’t something I would have thought to pair with the word “effort,” but it makes sense. Generally, if people don’t have to stray too far from the way they already think and act, then they might use the message. But if it requires an effort to unlearn an old behavior and learn a new one – that’s a more difficult challenge.
So much of what society has come to consider socially acceptable is downright unethical in a work environment. The bottom line is that it takes effort to unlearn old behaviors of what we may consider right and wrong in order to act with ethical integrity.
The video explains how people who think they aren’t doing anything unethical may still be just as responsible. Acting unethically by avoiding taking action about things we know are wrong requires no effort whatsoever. Plus, it can seem guilt free – the observer didn’t do anything wrong, right? This video does a good job of driving home the message that it doesn’t matter if its “easy” to act ethically, we still have a responsibility to do so.
Other topics covered, conveyed through believable role play skits, include:
- What employees can do about an unethical manager
- Spinning information in the “best light” verses straight fact
- The fact that all employees are financially responsible for the company
- When casual talk crosses the line of insider information
- Dealing with fear of retaliation
- Abusing sick time
- Stealing software
- Accepting gifts and favors
The other thing I liked about this employee training video is that it offers actionable techniques that employees can use the moment they walk out of the training room. An example is to have trainees think of the most ethical person they know and act as that person would act. This is a technique that doesn’t require a long learning curve or a huge change in personal paradigms.
The primary reason that I think this video is so important for HR departments is that it offers strategies for employees to deal with unethical managers. Though managers may train employees about other work topics, they most likely won’t teach them how to turn them in if they themselves are acting unethical.
Far too often, people in power can continue to act unethically because employees don’t know how to handle the situation. Unless the HR department makes it clear that unethical behavior is unacceptable, many employees can assume that the unethical behavior of their managers is a little company secret and part of its culture. When managers act unethically, the behavior can trickle down through the company, leading to a corporate culture of unethical behavior.
Overall, this employee training video is a smart choice for companies of any size that are not afraid to teach their employees how to hold themselves and everyone else in the company accountable for their choices.
Christine O’Kelly
Guest Poster
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Posted: August 20th, 2007 under Training Product Reviews.
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