According to a survey conducted by Rakennusteollisuus RT in January, almost three out of four feel that the ethics of operations affect commitment to the employer. Almost 90 percent would not want to work for a company whose operating methods, based on their reputation, are not quite clean. Only a few percent stated that the employer's ethics are not very important.
The majority of RT member companies that participated in the survey had defined ethical guidelines or similar principles. Almost nine out of ten respondents were also of the opinion that their organization pays attention to ethical issues and directs personnel to the right kind of activities. Almost 80 percent did not believe that ethical violations or inappropriate behavior would be overlooked in their own organization.
Among the unethical phenomena occurring in the projects, the effort to assign extra tasks or responsibilities to the contractor or supplier was emphasized. Just under a third of the respondents considered underpriced offers and asking for a margin through additional work to be rare, and just as many reported that it occurs from time to time. The customer's demands for personal benefits are rarely met, and it is very rare to come across arrangements that seem illegal or suspicious to the contractual partners' proposals.
"Some people try to abuse power"
Open-ended questions were used to find out what types of grievances the respondents had encountered in their work with different parties: in their own organization, in relation to customers or other contractual partners, or with municipal officials and other authorities. In the answers, among other things, the acquisition of goods for personal use at the expense of the company, improper behavior towards, for example, foreign colleagues, various ambiguities related to accommodation and travel, deliberate additional billing and squatting of contractual partners came to the fore. There were also mentions of fraud, bribery and good brother networks.
More than 70 percent said that their organization pays a lot of attention to the ethics and responsibility of partners. Based on the results, it seems that the construction industry has identified what kind of activity is currently expected from companies and what is considered acceptable. On the other hand, in this type of survey, the answers may give a more embellished picture than the reality, because people tend to answer according to what they think is appropriate.
Almost 95 percent of the respondents, for example, stated that they always intervene in unethical behavior when they recognize one. Most were also of the opinion that it is easy to bring up ethical issues. However, in the group discussions held at the joint Builder's Day of RT administrations on February 14, it was found problematic that the threshold for intervention is perceived as high. The reason was thought to be "the prevailing culture in the construction industry or in Finland or among men", which traditionally has not included meddling in what others are doing.
"It's good that the matter is addressed"
Many commented that the survey was necessary and thought it was good that an ethical operating culture has been developed at the industry level. The answers will be used ethical principles in RT's communication and training. Starting in March, RT's member newsletters will address one ethical principle at a time in each letter.
A total of 166 people answered the survey. Most of the respondents were managing directors or other top management. The respondents represented member companies operating in different industries and of different sizes. Most responses came from small and medium-sized companies.
The subheadings in quotation marks are taken from the open feedback.
More information
- Merja Vuoripuro
- Director of Communications
- merja.vuoripuro(@)rt.fi
- tel. 040 587 2642, 09 12991 (switch)