// BY BARRY SALZBERG

GRAVITY, AS ANY SCHOOLKID KNOWS, IS THE INVISIBLE FORCE THAT KEEPS OUR FEET ON THE GROUND. IN HEALTHY ORGANIZATIONS, A SIMILAR FORCE NEEDS TO GUIDE PEOPLE’S ACTIONS, KEEPING THEM GROUNDED AND FOCUSED ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS.

Running an organization of more than 40,000 individuals, I call this force organizational gravity, and it needs to be more than just a theory.

In a world that is ever more mobile, viral and virtual- “weightless,” in a word- creating this steady pull of reality presents a growing leadership challenge, and one that seems distinctly new in scope. How do you maintain organizational gravity in an environment of stretched reporting lines in which fewer employees than ever report to an office and growing numbers work from home?

To further complicate matters, how do you maintain the right tone when there are now four different generations in the workplace- more than at any time in history? Organizational gravity is the force required, but ethics is the glue. And there lies the challenge: grounding ourselves with something so invisible and intangible.

A generation ago, I doubt many chief executives would have seen this as a daily part of their job. In the post-Enron era, I submit it is a permanent feature of a now-altered risk environment. Fortunately for me, there is also a deeply positive side to it.

As I often tell people, ethics is not simply a zero-sum exercise designed to prevent a few bad apples from doing the wrong thing. There is also power in people consistently doing the right things, and it’s a power that affects the accumulated equity of your brand, your product and even your stock price.

I saw this power clearly one day when a delivery truck pulled up to my house. The driver sprinted to the door and left a briefing package I was expecting. As he ran back, however, he paused. Picking up a piece of trash that had blown up on my lawn, he put it in his truck and drove away.

Understand, the man did not see me at the window. Impressed, I thought: Now that’s service! That company must have something special if their people do the responsible thing, even when no one is watching.

In a nutshell, that’s why I put so much focus on ethics, especially in an organization like ours that sells brainpower and judgment. We need a culture where people do the right thing when no one is looking over their shoulder. So I lead with the positive.

Ethics, like the culture of which it’s a part, is a proud expression of who we are and what we stand for. It is also fundamental to our relationship with any workforce: People are quick to note an organization that treats people badly or that acts hypocritically. If that’s how the organization operates, why shouldn’t they cut corners?

So, almost every act is ethical- or not- whether it be favoritism, carelessness with company assets or disrespectful treatment. This is borne out in a landmark 1992 study by John Kotter and James Heskett. They showed that, over a 10-year period, companies that intentionally managed their culture significantly outperformed those that did not: for example, revenue growth of 682 percent versus 166 percent, and stock price increases of 901 percent versus 74 percent.

How do you build such an ethical superstructure around your organization? Consider four forms of organizational gravity:

1. LEADERSHIP GRAVITY
Original research we’ve done at Deloitte shows that 76 percent of employees believe the behavior of management and direct supervisors is what matters most in their behavior. When companies say “ethics,” what employees hear is “fairness”- meaning, a company that practices what it preaches.

It means fair outcomes in terms of pay, promotions and changes such as layoffs; fair processes in terms of how such decisions are made; and fair, respectful treatment in terms of how decisions are explained.

“Integrity” is one of our four core values, and I use this as a prompt to constantly remind people about the importance of ethics and fairness in all that we do. I do this externally, speaking at leading colleges and business schools. And I do it internally, at town halls with staff and partners. Leadership gravity means keeping ethics front and center.

2. ETHICAL GRAVITY
It is a myth that employees are fully formed moral agents, able to “lead themselves.” In my organization, every new employee undergoes a rigorous and mandatory ethics course. We have a chief ethics and compliance officer, who oversees and enforces a code of ethics and professional conduct. For people with questions who need confidential answers, there’s a 24-hour integrity helpline. And we have a varied communications program around ethics, including a wry, real-life advice column called “Dr. Dilemma.” Reinforcement comes from many mediums and quarters.

3. GENERATIONAL GRAVITY
Those four generations working side-by-side in our workforce have very different styles and expectations: the Traditionalists, born before WWII; the Boomers, just starting to retire; Gen X, now taking the reins; and Gen Y.

Balancing needs and diffusing potential conflicts- for example, between the dues-paying Boomers and Gen Ys who expect quick advancement and few late nights- have a distinct ethical dimension. How do we make sure the work gets done? And how do we do this while creating the better-balanced, more satisfied workforce that, we believe, will finally make more balanced decisions?

Our research strongly validates this correlation between life balance and ethical balance. That’s why we’ve introduced a new concept called “Mass Career Customization.” Employees can “dial up” their career, when they are bent on reaching a career milestone. Or they can “dial it down,” when, say, family needs or a lifelong dream takes precedent.

Consider my own case. Some years back, I had a family medical emergency that prevented me from traveling at my usual pace. Nonetheless, my fellow partners stood behind me. That was humane and respectful- and therefore ethical. As you can imagine, it greatly reinforced my loyalty and commitment to the organization.

4. PERSONAL GRAVITY
People don’t just wake up with moral courage. Before they can be expected to stick their necks out, they need to know that they will be valued and supported. This is perhaps the most critical part in the whole system, to develop personal moral gravity: the simple belief that you personally- one individual- can stop the bus and raise questions, confident that leaders who actually walk the talk will back you up.

As work becomes faster paced and less structured, people need to feel the pull of gravity, but unlike our earth-bound kind of gravity, organizational gravity doesn’t occur on its own. Its force comes from ethical leadership matched by a fair, human and genuinely ethical culture- one that is constantly reinforced, day by day and decision by decision. Beginning at the top: with us, the leaders.

Barry Salzberg is the CEO of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.

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