We often have to make hard decisions at work, but it’s rare to come up against a true ethical dilemma. I found myself in one recently, along with my client. I wonder if you’ll agree with how we resolved it?
Hannah* is 32. She is an immigrant with fluent spoken and written English and extensive work experience in her country of origin. Her qualifications, while obtained overseas, are accredited by the relevant authorities here in Australia.
She was recently employed by my client’s organisation. Although she didn’t have much relevant work experience in Australia, her obvious competence and enthusiasm were enough to get her the job. Two months down the track, and Hannah has proved her expertise in the role. She’s a valuable employee and great cultural fit.
And then, my client accidentally discovered that Hannah had been dishonest during the interview process. A chance social media comment revealed that a previous role she had spoken about at interview had been at the family business, and the general manager she had cited as a referee was in fact her life partner. All totally acceptable – except that Hannah had deliberately covered up the fact, describing the relationship as a traditional employer-employee one.
This is where I was brought in. My client needed guidance in navigating this tricky ethical landscape. The easy thing would have been to put aside the deception and keep Hannah on. With staff recruitment and retention so challenging now, and with Hannah having proved her competence in a difficult role, a decision to let her go would have serious repercussions. But trust had been shaken.
We came back to the values embedded in the business: accountability, integrity, honesty. If we condoned this behaviour by accepting it, what would it do to the credibility of our values?
It wasn’t an easy journey for any of us – for my client, for me, and especially for Hannah. I had a frank conversation with her where she explained her deliberate deception. She felt that she was victim of an underlying stereotype and had become disillusioned by the covert discrimination she experienced in her job search: “I had been to so many interviews and after six years of constantly being rejected, I felt it was time to be more creative.” She was desperate.
Hannah no longer works for my client. We decided that we had to “walk the talk” of the values. It was a powerful reminder of why we put so much effort into setting values: so that they are there to guide us when we need them. Even if as humans we might have been tempted to place compassion above accountability, as an organisation we had a clear framework for action. Hannah had to be let go.
But we were also guided by two other values of this organisation: empathy and kindness. We gave Hannah the option to resign rather than being dismissed, and two weeks’ severance and outplacement counselling to put her on a positive path. We wanted to make sure she had the support and advice to secure her next role quickly, with the confidence to be truthful.
My reflections on the experience? I felt privileged to facilitate a process that allowed us to sit with the struggle and find a way forward with respect and dignity. Living the value of accountability goes both ways. It meant Hannah had to be held accountable for her actions, but also that my client was accountable to be kind and supportive, ensure the learning loop, and make this a meaningful experience that leads to a better outcome for Hannah.
It was also a reminder of the destructive effects of unconscious bias in recruitment. Hannah’s lived experience had led her to act in a way that was clearly outside her own values. While we had to make the right decision for the business, all of us felt compassion for her situation.
What would you have done? Would your organisation’s values have given you a useful framework? And in Hannah’s position, do you think you could have been tempted to be creative with the truth?
*Hannah’s name has been changed to protect confidentiality.
When you're faced with thorny workplace decisions, I can help you work through the issues and come to a humane decision, respectfully and within the values of your organisation. Contact me by email at debbie@dksonin.com.au, on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/debbiesonin or by phone on 0413 145 925.
