Organizational Consulting
Helping organizations and institutions address moral harm in the workplace and embed moral resilience as a strategic imperative
Moral Harm: A Slippery Slope to Moral Contagion
The High Costs of Moral Harm in the Workplace
Employees have long complained about burnout, being depressed, work-life balance, overbearing bosses, and other workplace distress that go beyond the letter “B”. In recent years, we've come to know that moral harm is an altogether different condition—one which is ripe in the business workplace, with damaging effects.
Nearly 58% of workers feel betrayed by their organization / leadership.
Roughly 67% of workers across various occupations report exposure to potentially morally injurious events.
33% of employees don't trust their employer.
People who experience workplace betrayal often report compromised physical and psychological health.
A significant % of workers feel their employer doesn't trust them.
A substantial number of those reporting burnout in the workplace might actually be experiencing moral injury instead.
Most employers overestimate employees' trust level by almost 40%.
93% of executives agree that building and maintaining trust improves the company's bottom line.
References below.
Dr. Michele DeMarco's Work
How I Can Help
I advise organizations, companies, and institutions on embedding moral resilience as a strategic imperative. Moral harm not only affects morale, performance, creativity, productivity, collaboration, and reputation, but also the bottom line. (Consider: one morally harmed employee can cause an epidemic of moral contagion.) This is particularly significant for mission-driven organizations that lead with integrity, purpose, and values.
I bring more than two decades of experience as an advisor and facilitator in moral trauma and moral resilience, conflict transformation, and ethical-decision-making, as well as C-level and Board expertise to my work. I collaborate with leaders to build and refine strategy, map scenarios, tackle tough questions, and get community buy-in. I provide workshops for leaders, managers, staff, and Board members on what moral harm is, how it lives inside people, and how it affects individuals, teams, and organizational systems. I also provide training for addressing moral harm and building moral resilience in the workplace, particularly for leaders and managers. And I work with crisis teams to address real-time or future moral, ethical, and reputational threats.
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Bio
Over 20 years experience in the public, private, and social sectors, with folks from every walk of life — all backgrounds and beliefs, all political persuasions, all professions and vocations — Michele has been exposed to a wide range of stories of how right can go terribly wrong.
Assessment
Whole Soul Inventory
A powerful tool to assess individual, team, and organizations' moral strengths, level of moral resilience, and areas for growth. It's a great place to start the journey of creating a bold, principled, connected, and thriving workplace environment.
Case Study
When a president's dubious arrangement with a high-ranking Board member is exposed by two of his direct reports, due to a crisis of conscience, he launches a year-long retaliation campaign with devastating consequences to their reputation, performance, and health.
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References:
PwC (March 2024). PwC’s 2024 Trust Survey. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/trust-in-business-survey.html#:~:text=Report,build%20trust%20with%20key%20stakeholders.
Reichheld, A. & Dunlop, A. (January 2024). How to Build a High-Trust Workplace. MIT Sloan Business Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-to-build-a-high-trust-workplace/#:~:text=Trusting%20employees%20are%20260%25%20more,trust%20level%20by%20almost%2040%25.
Nielsen, K., Agate, C., Yarker, J. et al. “It’s Business”: A Qualitative Study of Moral Injury in Business Settings; Experiences, Outcomes and Protecting and Exacerbating Factors. J Bus Ethics 194, 233–249 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05615-0