By Adam Turteltaub

Are employees where you work suffering from ethical burnout? What is it exactly and how can you tell?

To understand more we spoke with Richard Bistrong (LinkedIn), newsletter author and CEO off Frontline Antibribery, who co-authored with Dina Denham Smith and Ron Carucci an article for  Harvard Business Review, “4 Warning Signs of Ethical Burnout on Your Team.”

Ethical burnout, as they defined it, is a state in which commercial goals and demands are so overwhelming that workers no longer have the time or energy to consider compliance and ethical obligations. They simply want to get the job done and over with any way that they can.

It has a number of potential roots including:

Increased commercial pressures and targets, including goals gone wild

Survival mode thinking

Decision-making overload and speed

Envy of unhealthy status symbols

So what should compliance teams do to prevent ethical burnout? First, be aware of when the stress levels are high and any of these potential roots are growing. That’s the time to double down on ethics and compliance. Also, keep your ear to the ground then reach out proactively and intentionally.

Finally, be sure to pay attention to individuals who are particularly susceptible. That star performer may be so addicted to his or her status that they might do whatever they can, ethical or not, to keep it.

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