Anti-Corruption Starts with You!
Corruption in simple terms means abuse of power for personal gain. Corruption, whether in organisations or individuals, acclimatizes to different changing circumstances and can evolve in reaction to a change in laws and rules as well. It can manifest itself in any form and can engage anyone, from senior management to external vendors. Corruption erodes trust, weakens management and hampers financials including brand value/reputation of the organisation among others.
Research claims that corruption is a natural part of human nature. Hence to evade corruption completely, humans need to put-in tremendous efforts and be under the influence of a strong value system. Hence the role of an individual employee as well as the organisation in evading corruption is equally significant.
Individual decisions taken against corruption go a long way in setting the right example for others. Appreciation of those decisions by the organisation, further validates their correctness. These decisions could be as simple as declining a lucrative but harmless kick-back from a vendor, misusing Company stationery, joining hands with external parties to benefit them more than the Company, disclosing seemingly harmless information about Company to those not privy etc. Corruption could be of any scale and of any criticality. Treating small acts of corruption seriously helps in setting right examples.
On part of the organisations, exposing corruption timely and holding the corrupt accountable can help build culture of anti-corruption. Often, stakeholders are not aware that their actions are being construed as corruption. Educating those stakeholders from time to time with examples of case studies can also be helpful. Setting the guidelines for corrective action in proven cases of corruption also instils in stakeholders a sense of awareness and alertness towards their acts.
A simple NO from a stakeholder towards a corrupt act, has a ripple effect in inspiring several others.