By Devon Alexander
Most of us understand that making emotional decisions often means making the wrong decision. At SCCE’s Compliance and Ethics Institute Francesca Gino gave some background as to why. In a nutshell, she describes how our brains are hardwired to see ourselves in a flattering light, and to take perceived slights very personally. It can make a person entitled (or a capuchin monkey), and biologically offer justification for selfish or unethical behavior.
In an ethical business, it is important to recognize how employees perceive the culture, and to understand the effect it can have. In her talk, Francesca used the example of experiments using capuchin monkeys. One monkey received a cucumber as a reward for performing a task; the other received a grape. The first monkey happily ate cucumber until it realized it was not getting a grape; at that point the wage inequality caused the first monkey to throw the cucumber at the scientist, then refuse to do its job. The applications to a company are fairly straightforward. If we want our employees to be happy and productive, we need to be consistent and fair in our approach to compensating and incenting them. It can be tough to find that balance, but it can mean the difference between a happy workforce and a face full of cucumber.