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April 22, 2022 By Richard Bowen

The Importance of Corporate Culture

Image of woman in suite leaning face on hand behind open laptop.
Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

I have spoken regularly about the importance of a company’s corporate culture and a recent article from the Anchorage Daily News about what’s driving the great resignation really strikes home.

The article notes the “great resignation” where employees quit their jobs showed 4.3 million quit in January and another 4.4 million quit in February. The article quotes a comprehensive MIT Sloan Management study that showed that a toxic corporate culture is 10 times more likely to predict employee turnover than pay. Ten times more likely.

If people were 10 times more likely to steal from a company on a certain shift, that company would look into what’s happening on that shift. Yet, we see companies say they can’t attract qualified applicants even when they increase pay. Maybe it’s not just the applicants.

In a time when jobs have merged to contain multiple roles that aren’t always an intuitive fit or just have more to do in a day because people in those positions must do the amount of work it used to take three people to do, and managers still expect employees to show up and do what they’re told without question, could the culture play a role?

The article notes that poor managerial treatment of and disrespect toward employees are fundamental causes of a toxic culture. That’s not surprising. Most people wouldn’t accept poor treatment at a gym, and would likely change grocery stores if the regular place exhibited blatant disrespect toward customers. Why, then, are employers surprised when people won’t stay in a toxic job? People prefer to exist where they feel appreciated, especially in their jobs.

As I recently told the students at Brigham Young University, an “ethical corporate culture” values and respects employees and actively seeks feedback from them. In my area, this discussion comes up around the ethics of speaking out when someone in the company, maybe even in a supervisory position, does something against the company’s code of ethics. But speaking up when anyone does something against the company’s values is important. When people turn a blind eye to any negative action, it grows into common practice and eventual apathy, which can sour employees and potential applicants on an entire company. When employee respect is missing, the corporate culture turns toxic and employees do not wish to stay.

From the CEO to the applicant, every person in and around a company witnesses that company’s culture. What they see is up to the people involved. It’s more obvious now than ever before that leadership needs to lead by example, and that managers must create an environment of trust and respect so employees feel not only safe, but also comfortable bringing things up as they arise. People join people, as they say. When potential hires apply for a job, they are applying to become part of a group. What they see from that group determines if they accept, or stay in, a position.

Speaking on Resisting Corporate Corruption
Brigham Young University Students Understand the Importance of Ethics in Business

Tagged With: Corporate Culture, The Great Resignation, Value Employees

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Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.

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William D. Cohan"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst."

~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
2017-06-30T10:08:59-05:00
"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst." ~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
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Eileen McDonnell"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger."

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"Richard Bowen reinforced my motto that "there is no right way to do a wrong thing.” Long after his presentation, the conversation has continued about personal responsibility and the courage to challenge things that appear to be wrong. We encourage this dialog and rely on it to help make our business stronger." ~ Eileen McDonnell, Chairman, CEO, & President, Penn Mutual
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Jim Farrell"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership."

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2014-12-28T19:48:17-06:00
"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership." ~ Jim Farrell, Program Chairman, Dallas Chapter, Financial Executives International
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Dennis McCuistion"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years."

~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
2014-12-28T19:48:06-06:00
"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years." ~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/533/

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~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
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"Richard Bowen is a dynamic, entertaining speaker and story-teller - a CPA with a great personality!" ~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
https://richardmbowen.com/testimonials/531/

fred-timmons"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences."

~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
2014-12-28T19:47:22-06:00
"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences." ~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
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Presentation Topics

Playing for High Stakes: The Principles and Practice of Ethical Leadership

Dark Citi: The Story of a Whistleblower

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Recent Posts

  • Americans Who Tell the Truth, Speaking Truth to Youth Video Series
  • Ethics in the Last and Next Financial Crisis
  • Speaking on Resisting Corporate Corruption
  • The Importance of Corporate Culture
  • Brigham Young University Students Understand the Importance of Ethics in Business

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Now an ethical leadership speaker, Richard Bowen was Citigroup's Business Chief Underwriter during the housing bubble.

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