Ed Petry, PhD
Vice President, Ethical Leadership Group

      Almost everyone has accepted the idea that culture is key to effective ethics and compliance. Many organizations are working hard to create corporate cultures that encourage open communication, reporting, and a commitment to values. Unfortunately, examples of what the Wall Street Journal called “cringe-worthy” culture are also turning up. Discuss examples of employees crooning over a bank merger, company “pep rallies,” embarrassing team-building exercises, imposed “group think,” and other apparently well-meaning efforts to build culture that too often turn off employees, trivialize ethics, and marginalize your work.

• Increase awareness of how your efforts may look to others
• Focus on what really works to help develop a corporate culture that supports ethics and compliance
• Provide insight as to what was intended by the inclusion of culture in the revised Sentencing Guidelines