What the expense reports say about the values of the employee

Most of you may already have heard about the troubles Mark Hurd, ex-CEO of the venerable Hewlett Packard got into recently. Hurd was fired by the board because he violated the company’s business standards in relation to his dealings with the contractor. He reportedly fudged expense reports for meals he had with the contractor. Hurd also allegedly helped the woman get paid for work she didn't do. Let us not speculate the entire set of events behind the line of fire. On face value, the company fired one of the best performing CEOs in the technology industry for 'fudging expense reports' as it had to with the values of the leader in question. "The facts that drove the decision for the company had to with integrity, had to do with credibility, had to do with honesty," said HP general counsel Michael Holston. Kudos to HP if they indeed value their values and culture so much.

For a CEO such as Mark Hurd, who made over $24 Million in 2009, what are the reasons to fudge expense reports for a total under $20,000 over 3 years? In this case, one can only speculate that he fudged to 'not expose' his relationship with the woman in play. However, I have known of a few CEOs over my 20 years in the industry, who used to manipulate expense reports just to save a few dollars for lunch when they earn over $300,000 per year. Why?

I remember a quotation from Russian historian Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn meant in his Nobel address, “One word of truth”: “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being and who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart.” One's position depends completely on the moral compass inside oneself. The moral compass is one that is typically set very early on in one's life by parents or other influencers. Like any other 80/20 rule, I am sure that there are 10% of us who are morally impeccable, another 10% who are completely off track and the rest 80% who are mostly right but tend to falter once in a while. The largest group tends to justify their deeds by waiving their moral codes for 'once'. However, being humans, it almost never stops with once especially when one is not caught. It is responsible for us to recognize our misdirection from our set of moral codes and correct them before it leads to a disaster for the smallest of the transgressions.

What can companies learn about the core values of the employees from fudging expense reports and what should companies do with such employees? Value systems and cultures of companies are mostly effected from the top. When the leaders of companies who manage employees respect and display the value system, it sets a good example for the rest of the organization to follow. When leaders transgress, the rest of the employees take it as an 'option' to justify their actions away from their moral codes. Therefore, it is important for the company to emphasize the value system and identify, educate and correct the transgressors immediately. The small transgressions eventually lead to bigger ones that could put the entire company in a dismal light. When leaders in the companies flaunt their lack of respect of company values consistently, it is mandatory for the organization to use the situation to teach the rest of the company on the purpose and importance of values of the company. I am very sure that the rest of Hewlett Packard got a lesson on the importance of values and ethics in the company. Thanks, Mark Hurd.