Corporate history is replete with examples where employee warnings went unheeded, often with disastrous consequences. Look at past crises at Theranos, Abbott Nutrition, and Wells Fargo, to name a few. But some companies still make the mistake of repeatedly brushing off concerned employees, or at least not taking them seriously enough.
For example, last week wall street journal And that new york times It investigated allegations that Mehta was incapable of protecting girl influencers who appeared on Instagram and Facebook accounts run by her mother. “What often begins as a parent’s effort to launch their child’s modeling career or win favor with a clothing brand can quickly descend into a dark underworld dominated by adult men. Many adult men openly admit to being sexually attracted to children on other platforms.” times Learn how Meta’s tools can help you achieve this spiral.
Meta employees raised red flags about Instagram’s ability to monetize content and recommended strong protocols to protect minors from potential exploitation and abuse. journal report. Instead, Meta deployed automated safety systems that were clearly ill-equipped to prevent inappropriate content and interactions.
Meanwhile, an FAA investigation following the Boeing Co. 737 Max door plug explosion found that a program encouraging employees at the aircraft manufacturer to anonymously raise safety concerns was truly anonymous. It became clear that there was not. The program was created in response to the crashes of Boeing’s Max planes in 2018 and 2019, and authorities found that Boeing’s corporate culture discouraged whistleblowing and that leadership did not respond adequately. It was determined that the employee’s concerns were ignored. Employees at Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing’s only aircraft supplier, also claim that recent warnings about quality control were ignored due to production schedule pressures.
Anne Skeete, senior director of Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, said Meta has also been accused in the past of minimizing or ignoring worker complaints about safety, and that the fundamentals of moral leadership He points out that this suggests that some important lessons have been overlooked. “When people bring something to your attention, it’s an opportunity to reset expectations and clarify culture,” she says. luck. “But if a leader says they can continue even when things surface that people feel are inconsistent with the values the organization espouses, then it is a different story that is being applied in practice. “It suggests that there are values that exist,” she added.
Of course, these unrecognized values often prioritize short-term profits and efficiency. Meta’s reliance on algorithms is proof of that, Skeete said, because the technology hasn’t evolved to the point where they can be reliably used. Rather than relying on software, she says a more effective response would include banning parents from running accounts for their children. Employees had suggested asking parents running child influencer accounts to register so the company could closely track their activity. journal report.
Skeete argues that given the evidence that Meta’s signature approach to deterring predators isn’t working, Meta should probably step back from child-centered influencer work altogether. “The long-term value of that brand is increasingly tied to dire consequences for the people involved in using that product,” she says, noting that CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently revealed that he has been working with teenagers who have used the product. noted that he appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss sexual exploitation. A product of Meta. “That’s not responsible leadership at all. It’s not values-based or profit-based.”
Ara Valente, an analyst at consulting firm Forrester, similarly said that companies fail to properly listen to employee concerns about issues such as fraud and moral violations, and establish clear processes for reporting problems that worsen. It warns that if they don’t, companies are taking on significant risks. This gamble, she says, is similar to investing large sums of money in risky assets and being willing to accept risks that may be disclosed in a securities report. Valente said this is inevitable when a company’s wrongdoing or negligence becomes widely known, but “it’s almost like there’s interest attached to it.”
However, research shows that leaders who take whistleblowing seriously can strengthen their companies’ ethical values, improve morale, and see an overall reduction in fines and lawsuits. Mr Valente said in a recent white paper that whistleblowing is a sign of a proactive culture. Most employees who call attention to problems are tenured employees who want the company to improve, or, as some believe, disgruntled junior employees who are looking to throw stones. Not. “It behooves us to take action. If we don’t, the headlines will probably be worse than staying silent and fixing them.” [the issue],” she says.
“There’s no need to make a big announcement saying, ‘We found this and we’re going to fix it,'” she added. “Just fix it.”
In response to the FAA’s report, Boeing issued an emailed statement. luck “We have taken important steps to foster a safety culture that allows and encourages all employees to share their views.” But there is still much work to be done. ” Meta shared a statement highlighting Instagram’s rules that parents and admins must actively manage accounts representing minors under the age of 13. access subscription content,” Mehta said.
Corporate leaders often have to balance conflicting pressures from various stakeholders. But Skeete reminded business leaders who don’t quickly correct ethical mistakes that they’re hurting not only their brand’s reputation, but also the people who work for them. “Part of the brand’s promise to employees is, ‘I’m creating a good environment for you, and you’ll actually learn skills here that you can apply elsewhere,'” she says. says.
Indeed, when employees of scandalized companies begin working elsewhere, they may be viewed as potentially tainted by questionable practices and principles. Skeete says his Silicon Valley experience doesn’t help: “These employees have to convince people to hire them, even if they’re working in the meta.”
