Ethics More Important in Post-Enron Hiring Process

According to the survey by the newspaper’s recruitment section, hiring managers are more likely to emphasize and job seekers are looking for the following organizational characteristics:

• 58% of hiring managers and 46% of job seekers mentioned organizational ethics,
• 56% of hiring managers and 41% of job seekers listed organizational rules of conduct,
• 55% of managers and 38% of job seekers listed a candidate’s ethics,
• 52% of managers and 50% of applicants hoped for consistent employee communications, and
• 62% of managers and 46% of job seekers listed workers’ ability to access management with concerns or questions.

Loyalty and Ethics

On a related issue, 83% of job seekers and 80% of hiring managers say employee loyalty is affected by an organization’s ethics. And 31% of job seekers, but only 5% of hiring managers, say they know of or suspect ethical violations at their organizations during the past year.

Enron has also affected applicants’ general outlook with 42% saying they are now more cynical about corporate America.

Meanwhile, 80% of applicants and 58% of managers say job applicants who are accountants are now perceived differently than before the scandal.