The Behavioural Challenge Pwc Point of View
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www.pwc.co.uk › Embedding a culture of doing the right thing Trust: the October 2010 behavioural challenge Trust: the behavioural challenge PwC Point of view October 2010 › › Trust: the behavioural challenge Embedding a culture of doing the right thing The past two years have seen radical change in the relationship between business and society. Events ranging from the credit crunch to oil spills to ‘payment for failure’ have put businesses’ behaviour under the microscope. The widespread perception of a growing disconnection between corporate behaviour and ethical conduct has triggered a sense that global public trust in business has declined. ‘This is the second in our series of community, whose members crave between creating compliance-led papers on trust. In PwC’s first paper, a genuine sense of shared purpose processes on the one hand, and improving Our aim in this paper Trust: the overlooked asset, we explore the and belonging. Coming to work for the behaviour by embedding the right culture is to stimulate importance of trust and the complexities monthly pay cheque is no longer enough. on the other. In PwC’s view, this balance and dilemmas facing businesses as they needs to shift from compliance to culture. thinking around strive to earn and sustain it. In this second The ethicability® research also shows what more is needed paper, we focus particularly on how trust that different people in different contexts, Amid the current debate over the need has become increasingly susceptible to life stages and occupations have different for a new settlement between business to enable trust in an organisation’s culture and behaviours motivations, and different perceptions and society, we believe these issues are business to flourish. and pose some key questions all boards of what ‘doing the right thing’ means. critical. There is a growing sense that the should consider. Many people who get to the top of relationship between business and society To achieve this, it organisations have a particular moral cannot be restored by regulation alone. may be the time to ‘Drawing on the findings of the DNA profile – a situation that should be Our aim in this paper is to stimulate ethicability® research programme (see managed through established checks thinking around what more is needed open and explore the back page) into how individuals’ ‘moral and balances. Further findings underline to enable trust in business to flourish. Pandora’s Box of DNA’ manifests itself in behaviour, we why diversity is so important for any To achieve this, it may be the time to examine four factors that are critical for successful and sustainable business. open and explore the Pandora’s Box of corporate culture any business: corporate purpose, and corporate culture and behaviour. and behaviour. belonging; leadership; behaviour; and Finally, with compliance dominating authenticity. In exploring these areas, we much of business life, we ask whether stress that any organisation is essentially a businesses are striking the right balance 1 Trust: the behavioural challenge PwC Point of view October 2010 › › Corporate purpose and belonging Why does your business exist? Change on both sides In the context of the debate over a new settlement between business and civil society, it is clear that progress towards this outcome will require change on both sides of the relationship. On the side of society, people’s attitudes and expectations of business are undergoing fundamental shifts, partly due to the decline in trust seen in recent years. To earn and build trust, these changes in public expectations must be mirrored on the business side by a new sense of corporate purpose: an aspiration that looks beyond the generation of financial returns to the real reason why a business exists. Let’s be clear, wealth creation is a fundamental social good, the question is how is this wealth created and can it be created in a more responsible way? This question demands boards to carefully wider range of issues, including employee Similarly, with the move away from Today, companies consider how wider issues of corporate wellbeing and the sustainability of their shareholder value as the primary compass responsibility and ethics are captured in operations. This change mirrors recent for setting corporate purpose, companies are re-evaluating decision-making processes, alongside – comments by the Nobel Prize-winning are looking beyond the pure profit motive the prominence and even ahead of – financial considerations. economist Joseph Stiglitz about the use to identify and pursue more socially- Across the world, there are growing signs of economic statistics as a proxy for a relevant and sustainable reasons for and positioning of that such a shift is already under way. ‘successful’ society. In September 2009, existing, thereby creating a new corporate shareholder value he wrote in The Guardian newspaper: purpose. If they carry out their chosen Moving away from “The big question concerns whether role in society successfully, they will make in their thinking shareholder value GDP provides a good measure of living a profit and grow their business– but only and communications In the 1980s and 1990s, business went standards. In many cases, GDP statistics as a result of fulfilling the new purpose through a period when a remorseless seem to suggest that the economy is they have set for themselves. For some this and are recognising focus on shareholder value was the accepted doing far better than most citizens’ own is not something new. Entrepreneurs and the need to balance mantra behind corporate purpose, and the perceptions. Moreover, the focus on business writers have over many decades rationale for accepted modes of corporate GDP creates conflicts: political leaders written extensively on success being it with a wider range and workplace behaviour. Today, companies are told to maximise it, but citizens driven by the customer and employee of issues are re-evaluating the prominence and also demand that attention be paid to experience – unfortunately it appears positioning of shareholder value in their enhancing security, reducing air, water, the corporate world has a short memory. thinking and communications and are and noise pollution, and so forth – all of recognising the need to balance it with a which might lower GDP growth.” 2 Trust: the behavioural challenge PwC Point of view October 2010 › › Towards total recognise that in today’s connected and shaping every action by every employee. corporate contribution web-enabled world, even the smallest gaps Organisations operating in those An increasing number The broadening of corporate purpose to between the positive words and the hard industries whose workforces tend to of companies recognise encompass a business’s total contribution actions to back them up will be quickly return lower scores for moral DNA may to society rather than just the financial exposed and probed in the global media. find it harder to embed and live their the need to focus more returns it generates can be seen in many However, when these commitments are new corporate purpose in ways that stand carefully on their total industries. In June 2009, HSBC Group seen to be genuine, they earn trust. up to scrutiny. Furthermore, they may Chairman Stephen Green delivered a be introducing risks to the business that corporate contribution speech entitled ‘Restoring Governance and Industry variations: where do you sit? ‘insiders’ are blind to because certain Trust’ at the British Bankers’ Association’s While the move towards a new socially- behaviours have become so ingrained Annual International Banking Conference. relevant corporate purpose applies in the culture. He told the audience: “Let’s be clear what across all industries, the findings of the the raison d’être of banking is: it is to ethicability® research suggest that this Belonging: a critical enabler for provide financial services on a sustainably presents greater challenges in some corporate success profitable basis to our customers… sectors than others. Individuals working While different industries vary in their It is the job of Boards (and indeed their in different industries tend to have widely moral DNA, an important element in senior management) – it is the corporate differing profiles in terms of their moral creating and sustaining a successful and social responsibility of those Boards DNA. Homemakers, religious workers, the business with a shared, socially-valuable – to oversee the provision of financial caring sectors and the police tend to have sense of purpose is a shared sense of services, not just on a profitable basis but high moral DNA. belonging. This is achieved through on a sustainably profitable basis.” In contrast, at the other end of the scale close alignment between the values and – with low moral DNA scores – we find purpose of the organisation and those of An increasing number of companies sectors such as government, technology, the individuals it employs – an alignment recognise the need to focus more carefully oil and utilities. that logic suggests should translate into on their total corporate contribution – and more engaged staff and, in time, an all are critically aware of the risk that the The varying motivations prevalent in enhanced customer experience. One simple statement, or strapline, can be seen different employment groups have major obvious example of this alignment is the by some as a cynical response rather than implications for businesses. To be truly high moral DNA scores of care workers. a genuine commitment. Companies who effective, the corporate purpose must have given serious thought to this issue extend right across the organisation, 3 Trust: the behavioural challenge PwC Point of view October 2010 › › One important consideration for Figure 1 organisations trying to build a strong Key questions all boards Ethical decisioning by gender To rebuild and restore sense of belonging is the gender make-up should consider trust, it may be that we of their workforce.