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The ethics of productivity and culture

Tuesday 7 September, 2021
by 2021 BFSO Young Ambassador

You’re the CEO of a large organisation. A large portion of your workforce has shifted to working from home during the COVID pandemic. During this, you’ve gained some great efficiencies, but equally you’ve heard reports of employees who have been doing things other than work during work hours; such as, physio appointments, going for a kick of the footy, needing to parent their children at varying points during the day. 

Some of your senior managers have reported great frustration at the perceived lack of commitment and there is an overall concern it’s fraying the fabric of the organisational culture. However, during this time, the business has experienced record growth and increased staff morale.

What would you do?

  • What are the obligations vs expectations of your staff?
  • How might you approach the negative commentary from senior managers?
  • What does this change in working ways mean upon returning to the office and potentially losing the culture your organisation had pre-pandemic?

We challenge you to create a healthy discussion with your colleagues and post a comment below. You could even encourage them to consider taking The Banking and Financial Services Oath! If you would like to submit an ethical dilemma to feature in an upcoming weekly challenge please email: dilemma@bfso.org.

Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash

Comments

There are 1 comments for The ethics of productivity and culture.

Re: The ethics of productivity and culture

Thursday 9 September, 2021
by Lew
The COVID19 working experience has accelerated the shift to more flexible working environments. The new paradigm heavily focuses on collaborative work spaces and places rather than the previous closed office based structure.
As CEO you must have a vision that you will accomplish with and through your people. Then your mission is to create a clear hierarchy of metrics that you want from your business and staff. This enables both managers and staff to have confidence in their role and how they will be accountable to their role. So specifically to encourage a productive culture the CEO should
1. Address the Managers concerns and implement regular stand up and down meetings with their direct reports
2. Openly ascertain staff understanding that flexibility comes with deliverables during office hours
3. Be outcomes focused based on the metric hierarchy
4. Ensure there is adequate joint office time to encourage serendipitous exchanges as a team
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