HR departments may want to look at ways of encouraging employee loyalty as a new survey has revealed that over a third of workers would be willing to sell company confidential information if the price was right.
That is according to a study conducted by IT security event organisers, Infosecurity Europe.
Some 600 London commuters were questioned for the survey, 63 per cent of whom said they would leak sensitive data for £1 million.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Tamar Beckm, group events director at Infosecurity Europe, said: "It’s quite staggering that a third of people are open to bribery, although it’s encouraging that 63 per cent of workers are honest and wouldn’t give anything away not even for a million pounds!"
She warned, however, that criminals are capable of seeking out "vulnerable workers" who may be open to stealing from their employers and therefore she said it was important for companies to train their employees to protect sensitive information.
Infosecurity Europe recently warned employers that staff who have been made redundant may pose a security risk to companies if they are not treated appropriately.
Turn Around Lack of Loyalty:kick start your talent machine. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are being shed by GE, Chevron, Sam’s Club, Wells Fargo Bank, HP, Starbucks etc. and the state, counties and cities. Even solid world class institutions like the University of California Berkeley under the leadership of Chancellor Birgeneau & Provost Breslauer are firing staff, faculty and part-time lecturers. Estimates are that the State of California may jettison 47,000 positions.
Yet many employees, professionals and faculty cling to old assumptions about one of the most critical relationship of all: the implied, unwritten contract between employer and employee.
Until recently, loyalty was the cornerstone of that relationship. Employers promised job security and a steady progress up the hierarchy in return for employees fitting in, performing in prescribed ways and sticking around. Longevity was a sign of employeer-employee relations; turnover was a sign of dysfunction. None of these assumptions apply today. Organizations can no longer guarantee employment and lifetime careers, even if they want to.
Organizations that paralyzed themselves with an attachment to “success brings success’ rather than “success brings failure’ are now forced to break the implied contract with employees – a contract nurtured by management that the future can be controlled.
Jettisoned employees are finding that the hard won knowledge, skills and capabilities earned while being loyal are no longer valuable in the employment market place.
What kind of a contract can employers and employees make with each other? The central idea is both simple and powerful: the job or position is a shared situation. Employers and employees face market and financial conditions together, and the longevity of the partnership depends on how well the for-profit or not-for-profit continues to meet the needs of customers and constituencies. Neither employer nor employee has a future obligation to the other. Organizations train people. Employees develop the kind of security they really need – skills, knowledge and capabilities that enhance future employability.
The partnership can be dissolved without either party considering the other a traitor. Employee loyalty to management is dead. A Rx for employee loyalty reform; what say you?