10 What is the relationship between workplace pressure, ethical violations, and legal violations?

Many ethical and legal violations by employees of a company result from substantial pressure to meet targets at work. Because of such pressure, managers may “look the other way” at unethical or illegal behavior by workers who appear to be productive. Pressure on workers may encourage them to cut corners and engage in ethically risky behavior. It may also encourage them to begin engaging in illegal activity, because many other workers at the company may be doing so. They may excuse these ethical or legal problems due to the amount of pressure they are under, and because violations by other employees create a sense of safety: if everyone is doing it, it can’t be that bad.

In the long run, this behavior is often brought to light and results in litigation, criminal charges, or marketplace punishments for unethical behavior. For example, during the 2010s, intense pressure on Wells Fargo employees to meet cross-selling targets led many employees to begin opening accounts without knowledge or consent of customers. The problem became so systematic that Wells Fargo paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits by government regulators and private parties, and many board members resigned. Finally, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined the company $1 billion in light of unlawful behavior. When pressure at work becomes so intense that employees are willing to break the law, there can be substantial consequences for the company as a whole.