Then environmentalists began creating waves to an extent that companies failing to behave responsibly towards the environment, were being campaigned against in the media so successfully they suffered financially. Investors soon shunned companies that lacked a good so-called double bottom line -- namely a bottom line that demonstrated ethical behaviour both financially and environmentally.

Yet still shareholders and potential investors are upping the ante. They''re demanding to see evidence of basic human virtues being applied in corporate culture. They''re looking for a triple bottom line.
As a former Hyatt International human resources executive, founder of the Adelaide Chapter of the International Coaches'' Federation, and in my current work as a corporate coach and certified facilitator of "The Virtues Project,"I''ve seen ripples become waves, then become a ground swell that business managers cannot afford to ignore.

Indeed there''s mounting anecdotal evidence that those of them who as yet don''t understand the financial imperative of virtue and its humanitarian components in business, are beginning to pay a heavy price. Some are losing their jobs, some their businesses, and they don''t know why.

It''s simple. Increasing numbers of people don''t want to work for companies where they hear of, or observe a lack of decency.They don''t want to associate with ethically bankrupt workmates, and they  on''t want to risk investing in a company increasingly likely to be shunned by its suppliers and  ustomers. Once upon a time, not long ago, basic virtues, taught and demonstrated within the home as an integral part of people''s home lives, were transposed more or less in tact to workplaces automatically. However, as the mounting divorce rate disrupted family life, as violence and double-dealing became endemic in society, many basic virtues were lost sight of or seriously devalued. Educators, too often receiving little or no support from parents, have fought losing battles to instill basic good manners and virtues in the consciousness of students. Individual and group suspensions have become commonplace, but recently a Canberra principal felt compelled to suspend an entire senior school of 300 students for vandalism a d other unacceptable behaviour. There''s no long-term gain for society in the creation of graceless business, professional and technical wizards who are moral incompetents. Managers cannot continue to function with a narrow obsession for economics. Management is fundamentally human. It’s interpersonal, it’s personal, it’s social.

No wonder appreciation and application of virtues are missing in workplaces today. No wonder there is public demand they be restored, or that there is a role in this restoration for The Virtues Projectä. For age old and well tested virtues to be not merely introduced in a company culture that''s deficient in them, but nurtured so that they become entrenched, managers must not only understand virtues and how they are applied in corporate life, but how to recognize, encourage and thus capitalize on the virtues of others. Enron, One-Tel, HIH, Harris Scarfe... locally, nationally, internationally, it''s become a distressingly long list of companies, now the basis of people''s demand that henceforth there must be a readily perceivable virtue in the conduct of a corporation''s business… or they''ll take their customer and their investment dollars elsewhere.
All hail the revolution!

Christine Edwards, Managing Director of
Christine Edwards Enterprises Pty Ltd,
former human resources executive and
certified facilitator of ‘The Virtues
Project™’
Christine has extended a successful
series of courses for executives on
lifestyle management, to inculcate
managers in the sense of ethical
method. For more information go to
www.ChristineEdwards.com
Contact Christine to discuss your
organization’s learning needs and how
to bring the human factor back your
organization and create workplaces of
excellence, respect and cooperation.
Email: virtues@ChristineEdwards.com