There are many important responsibilities to manage as a business owner. Few are as important as preventing corruption in the business as this can happen easily if you are not careful and could result in criminal prosecution along with a repetitional hit. This post will look at what corruption is, what the main causes are and how you can prevent it from becoming an issue.
What is Corruption?
Corruption refers to misconduct in the workplace and there are many different forms that this can take. This includes bribery (accepting items for preferential treatment), fraud (illegal activities to gain a financial advantage), embezzlement (taking company goods for personal gain) and kickbacks (payments to vendors for contracts that overinflate the cost of the work).
Corruption is a very seriousissue, and this is for a few reasons. Illegal activity can result in criminal prosecution and large fines, but corruption can also damage brand reputation, discourage shareholders, and weaken business development just as a few serious consequences.
Causes of Corruption
It is also important to be wary of why corruption can occur in the workplace. These include:
- Insensitive corporate culture: A results-first approach
- Socialisation process: The normalisation of corruption by staff to justify actions.
- Society values: A culture with values like utilitarianism and emotivism
- Corporate management: Having to make complex decisions very quickly to achieve maximum profitability.
- Behaviour rationalisation: Rationalising behaviour with messages like “it’s always been done this way” can make it difficult to change
How to Prevent Corruption
If you are accused of corruption or uncover corruption in your business, it is important to seek advice from audit tax and consulting services that will be able to offer high-qualityfinance and legal services. So, what can you do to prevent corruption? This can be challenging, especially in large organisations that are difficult to manage. It all starts with education so that you can educate staff on how to conduct their role legally and the consequences of corruption.
There should also be mechanisms in place so that more than one person and people who check everythingare held accountable for corruption. It should also be made easy for people to report any corruption. It is important to be aggressive when it comes to corruption so that you can stamp it out and prevent it from spreading through the organisation.
Hopefully, this post will help you to take positive action to prevent corruption from becoming a problem in your business. Corruption is profoundly serious, and it is something that can quickly become normalised, which is why it is important to prevent it from occurring in the first place and to create a culture that discourages any illegal activity in your business.
