A compelling new survey released by Deloitte & Touche and Harris Interactive finds a direct correlation between work-life balance and ethical behavior at the office.

According to the press announcement:

Ninety-one percent of all employed adults agreed that workers are more likely to behave ethically at work when they have a good work-life balance. A combined 44 percent of workers cite high levels of stress (28 percent), long hours (25 percent) and inflexible schedule (13 percent) as the causes of conflict between their work responsibilities and personal priorities, hence contributors to work-life imbalance.

Sixty percent of employed adults surveyed think that job dissatisfaction is a leading reason why people make unethical decisions at work, and more than half of workers (55 percent) ranked a flexible work schedule among the top three factors leading to job satisfaction, second only to compensation (63 percent).

Commenting on the study, Sharon Allen (Chairman of the Board, Deloitte) said, “When you think about it, if someone invests all their time and energy into their jobs, it may have the unintended consequence of making them dependent on their jobs for everything – including their sense of personal worth. This makes it even harder to make a good choice when faced with an ethical dilemma if they believe it will impact their professional success.”

The study also found that ethics training and the threat of criminal penalties do not serve to deter unethical behavior. The study did not draw a correlation between management/leadership behavior and increased ethics among employees. However, Allen added that, “management and leadership have a huge responsibility in setting examples for their organizations and living the values they preach if they want to sustain a culture of ethics.”

Let’s keep the conversation going.

Productivity has increased 33%. Employee engagement has risen. Voluntary turnover has dropped. Manager performance has improved. Customer satisfaction is up.

These are the actual results from a groundbreaking concept at Best Buy. Entitled “ROWE”, the “Results Only Work Environment” allows approximately 2,600 corporate employees to work when and how they please. Emphasizing a results orientation over attendance, Best Buy allows program participants to miss meetings, ignore regular office hours, take leave and balance work/life in an unprecedented way. In a wonderful article published by the Employee Benefit Advisor, ROWE inventors Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson describe how current flexible work schedules are “a con game” since those who typically chose such arrangements are “immediately stigmatized” for working outside the corporate norm.

You can’t argue with the results. In fact, Best Buy is so pleased that they feel other organizations may benefit from this approach. Thus, this initiative has emerged as a separate entity entitled CultureRX. A recent recipient of the Workforce Management Optimas Award, CultureRX is launching a “Get to Know ROWE” event at the Mall of America on May 3rd. If you happen to be in Bloomington, Minnesota, I’d suggest you try and attend.

Let’s keep the conversation going.