Workplace misconduct: it’s not just in the office anymore.
A couple of recent stories illustrate the need for employers to be increasingly aware of how their employees behave outside the office. Even as the idea of the nine-to-five workday receded with the last century, so too employers must say goodbye to the idea that the workplace can be easily defined as a physical space with definite boundaries. The increasingly mobile, global, and wired society we live in today has effectively ground that concept into the dust.
First, the
NY Times reported on two RIM executives whose drunken behavior on board an Air Canada plane caused the flight crew to abort the flight midway between Toronto and Beijing. The two men pled guilty to mischief charges for which they received suspended sentences, and they were also ordered to compensate Air Canada for lost revenue. Finally, and not at all surprisingly, the two lost their positions at RIM. The airplane was in effect an extension of the executives’ workplace, and as RIM said in a company statement, “…employees are expected to act, at all times, with integrity and respect.”
Next,
the Daily Mail reported on a JP Morgan banker whose romance with a co-worker escalated to stalking and eventually earned him a conviction for harassment in a British courtroom. The trans-Atlantic nature of the case was especially striking, with the victim transferring from New York to London to escape her former boyfriend and co-worker, only to have him make repeated visits to pursue her there, traveling to the UK four times in August alone. While JP Morgan has declined comment on the case, the investment firm cannot be happy with the negative publicity this story has garnered. The convicted stalker’s future with the company seems reasonably dim.
Organizations can hardly be expected to monitor, let alone control, the outside-the-office behavior of their employees, so what to do? For one, ethics training is essential. It helps establish expectations for employee conduct in the workplace and beyond. It can also be used to convey to employees the idea that inappropriate behavior that reflects poorly on the organization may result in disciplinary measures—even if the behavior takes place outside the physical confines of the office.
After all, the office isn’t what it used to be; employees tend to carry it—and the reputation of their employers—with them at all times. What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, not if you’re there on business, maybe not even if you’re there on your own time. Something to think about before ordering that next cocktail.