Managers in the financial services industry rank in the bottom quarter of employees based on how likely they are to show the “ethic of care for others” at work, according to a report by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
This places them in the group of workers most likely to suppress empathy and highlights that they are less concerned with the impact of ethical decisions on people compared to other employees, the report says.
The report – Good Leadership – which focuses on the ethical culture of management within the financial services industry, and includes data from a MoralDNA personality profiling of 24,000 financial services professionals, also finds that financial services managers are more likely to be concerned about complying with the rules and consider principles in their decisions and behaviours, than they are about getting good outcomes for their customers, their stockholders and other stakeholders.
Sian Fisher (pictured), chief executive at the CII, says: “The new regulatory focus on business culture is an opportunity for individuals and firms to improve public confidence in the financial services sector.
However, it is no longer enough for individuals and firms to simply ‘comply’ with regulators – we must aspire to ‘go beyond compliance’ and drive up ethical standards within our industry. As a professional body, it is important that the CII supports our members and the wider sector in developing ethical cultures.”
Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, adds: “Mis-selling, rate fixing and rogue trading have tarnished the reputation of the UK’s world-leading financial services sector. We need leaders and managers to redouble their efforts to improve company culture. Leaders have to enable, empower and reward people to do the right thing, not just the thing that looks profitable in the short term. Without strong ethical cultures, regulation and compliance will never be enough.”
