The High Cost of Values

Much is written today about the need for values in the workplace. It sounds so fine and noble to call ourselves people of high values, but are we always aware of the high cost of such a commitment? I remember a situation years ago where my commitment came under fire.

I was a recruiter for a non-profit organization. We, like so many employers, had a new hire drug screening policy. I had an applicant for a finance department opening who had previous experience working for a major competitor. The head of finance really wanted to hire this person, even after he failed the drug test. Our organization had never hired anyone who failed, so I felt confident my decision not to hire would be supported by our CEO. It wasn’t. The CEO felt the financial information the new employee had from his past employer was too valuable to pass by, and legal counsel suggested that it was unlikely that our decision would be discovered and successfully challenged. It was never considered that the information this person had was confidential and sharing it with us would not only have been unethical, but would most likely have violated a confidentiality agreement he would have signed upon taking his job.

Not only did I lose that argument, I paid a greater price. Shortly after this incident, a position opened up at a sister facility in a location to which I wanted to relocate. A member of management at my facility said I would not receive a favorable recommendation for the position because I was seen as “inflexible” in my stance that we abide by our drug-free policy regardless of the candidate.

While that was demoralizing at the time, thankfully the story did not end there. The employee was hired, but soon developed an attendance problem and was ultimately fired. (There is a reason employers screen out drug users!) The financial situation of our facility did not improve dramatically as a result of this person being hired, and eventually the head of finance was also let go. The sister facility in my desired location closed within a year or two and I did relocate there on my own, having accepted a lateral position with a competitor.

It took a while for all of this to occur. It was a very difficult period in my professional life, yet I wouldn’t do it any differently. If you’ve been working a while, you’ve probably experienced similar things, and you may not have had the vindication I had. Still, without our values, what do we have that is lasting?