March 7th, 2008 Posted by sibylle in Employer Branding, HR Management
Société Générale, a French bank recently lost 5 billion Euros because of fraudulous behavior of one of their traders. Jerome Kerviel had executed a series of fictitious transactions that lead to one of the the biggest losses ever recorded in the financial industry. Such incidents shed bad light on the company’s reputation, and question the future survival of the organization.
Investigations are still ongoing, but such a scandal develops speculative questions like: does Société Generale have the right people on board, and why was the organization not able to prevent one of their employees from cheating?
It seems as if the 28 year old trader had a particular psychological profile. His over dimensioned ambition lead him to take extremely high risks, which he was able to hide from the organization. In doing this, he violated the corporate organizational rules, as well as ethical principles like honesty and respect for property.
The financial industry fascinates and attracts some individuals merely motivated by making money, and very often big bonuses signify personal success and power. An organization such as Soc Gen needs to protect itself and its customers.
The Soc Gen story could encourage organizations to protect themselves against such risk takers.
Following the Enron scandal, many US companies make ongoing efforts to enhance their employees understanding of the companies’ code of ethics, and train them to solve ethical dilemmas that can arise in a complex world.
The elevator company Otis offers a comprehensive program of support called “do the right thing every time”, encouraging employees to live by their ethical principles.
Have a look at the Otis work principles !
This is not a guarantee for employee honesty, but is a first step towards a more ethical corporate world.
Tags: company ethics, HR Management, Otis, Societe Generale
