By Rick Dacri

Published by York County Coast Star

We continue to be bombarded with stories of executives committing ethical violations. The latest fiascos involve inappropriate relations and resume falsification, resulting in bad press for their companies, destroyed reputations, and disgust by the public who must endure an endless parade of disgraced CEOs who think the rules do not apply to them, not to mention the good CEOs who are tarnished by the behavior of their peers.

The CEO's of Yahoo and Best Buy, along with Best Buy's founder were recently forced to step down. Here's what happened. Yahoo's CEO was caught falsifying his resume while Best Buy's CEO and its founder were both forced to step down over the CEO's inappropriate relationship with an employee and the founder's failure to report the issue.

You have to wonder what these individuals were thinking. You just can't do these things, even if you're the CEO or Chairman of the Board. Everyone must understand that there are consequences to one's behaviors and no one is immune-ever. These guys didn't get the message.

The Best Buy founder Richard Schulze was forced to step down as the company's Chairman of the Board after it was revealed that he failed to inform the Board when he learned that CEO Brian Dunn was having an improper relationship with a female employee. Dunn resigned and Schulze ultimately did too.

Once again, careers were destroyed and company reputation's harmed because key executives did dumb things-one having a relationship with a subordinate and the other for failing to report it after receiving a written statement about it, in clear violation of their company's policy.

Best Buy acted appropriately in accepting both "resignations." Their internal audit showed Dunn's behavior was inappropriate and negatively impacted the work environment. It turns out this (apparently) consensual relationship was not a secret at Best Buy, as the consenting partner spoke openly about her friendship.

As for Schulze, his 46 year career at Best Buy ended because his failure to report this incident "exposed the employees to potential retaliation and the company to potential liability" according to the company.

While there has been no claim of sexual harassment, the potential exposure was there. All executives and managers should learn from this and take the necessary steps to protect their companies from similar embarrassments:

• Put clear policies and procedures in place outlining appropriate workplace behavior;

• Implement policies regarding fraternization and sexual harassment and follow them strictly;
• Schedule annual education and training on appropriate workplace behavior and harassment prevention; and
• Develop procedures to follow when violations occur that are followed regardless of who commits them.

Finally, managers and executives must understand that having a relationship with a subordinate, whether consensual or not, is like playing with fire-eventually someone is going to get burned.

As for Yahoo, Scott Thompson, the President of Yahoo falsified his resume when he was a candidate for the job. He stated that he had a degree in computer science, when he did not. When he got caught, he blamed the recruiter. And for all that, he lost his job. Senseless. At the CEO level, no one really cares about your undergraduate major. But frankly, that's not the point. The Yahoo Board was correct in asking Thompson to step down. When someone lies, trust is broken and when you lose credibility with the people who work with and for you, it is time to go.

We unfortunately hear a lot about resumes containing fraudulent information and we can expect to hear and see much more. With a tight economy and people desperately trying to find employment, puffing one's resume for some seems like a reasonable risk.  They're wrong.

ADP and the Society for Human Resource Management recently released a disturbing study on this. Some of their findings included:

• 53% of resumes and job applications contain falsifications
• 78% of resumes are misleading
• 21% of resumes state fraudulent degrees
• 70% of college students surveyed would lie on a resume to get a job they wanted

Employers must be extra vigilant in conducting background checks on applicants. While most reference checking confirms dates of employment, verifying education is rarely done. As for job seekers, never, ever, falsify your resume. As Thompson found out, it will get you fired.

These individuals paid a high price for their behavior and their miscues ended up being played out for the world to see. But dumb behavior is not confined to big companies or their CEOs.

Companies can never tolerate ethical violations, for if it is suitable for the boss, it is acceptable for all. Take steps to prevent these types of infractions before they go viral in your organization. No company is immune.

Rick Dacri is an organizational development consultant, featured speaker at regional and national conferences, and author of the book Uncomplicating Management. He can be reached at 207-967-0837, rick@dacri.com, www.dacri.com.