One of the things that most parents attempt to teach their children is to respect the people around them. Each human being innately possesses value and that value should be appropriately recognized regardless of the circumstances.
It is incriminating to recognize that the rules that seem so obvious in one area of life are easily overlooked in another. This is true in the hiring process—especially as the economy slips deeper into recession and more people find themselves looking for jobs.
Note what Business Week recently reported:
"Advice to companies tempted to play hard ball with job applicants as unemployment rates rise: Think again. Employees who say they were mistreated during hiring feel less committed—for years. Researchers at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management surveyed roughly 100 MBA graduates about how they were hired by their employers. Those who felt they had been treated unfairly were twice as likely to be looking for opportunities outside their company, says Vanderbilt management professor Ray Friedman, “even after five years.”
This research attaches a tangible result to mistreating people in the hiring process. But, it also speaks to a broader principle: violating the rules of human behavior has consequences. And, these consequences can be both far reaching and long lasting.
We can obviously get ourselves in trouble by not knowing these rules of human behavior. But even if we understand these rules, recognizing how to apply the rules to the situations we face in our daily lives requires experience, thought, and insight.
With some diligent study and effort, the previous two conditions can be met by most anyone. But, that’s not the point the Vanderbilt researchers are making. He’s cautioning us against developing a disconnect between what we know to be right and the actions we display in the execution of our business activities.
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