In the aftermath of the financial crisis, market practices that had gone unquestioned – almost to the point they were condoned – were rightly challenged. The same can be said for how individuals carry themselves in relation to colleagues and society more broadly. The #metoo movement has helped crystallize the type of behavior that should not be acceptable.
Suddenly everyone is talking about personal conduct. But what actually is it?
Let’s use a relatable analogy: children in a reception class. For them there are all sorts of expectations around behaviour and even some rules (although they are often kept in the background).
Broadly the expectations fall into two camps: how the children approach their work (their phonics, craft projects etc) and how they interact and play together.
What’s very clear at the reception level is that how the children treat each other, interact and play together impacts directly on how they approach their work. If Sally has just hit Joel, his painting gets limited attention. In our very early organisational experiences, we learn that personal conduct, how we behave with each other, is quite simply the most important thing – particularly when it comes to determining culture (how we behave over time).
So it’s perhaps odd that when regulators like the FCA and others focus on culture change, so much focus to date has been on conduct rules and how we approach the work.
For 16 years @byrne·dean workplace behaviour has been our #1 priority; it’s what we understand, it’s in our DNA. Give us a call – we just love talking about this stuff.
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