White Paper

Leading to loss

Leaders, culture and fraud

When twelve experts met to discuss leadership’s influence in creating a workplace culture which creates high-risk of internal fraud, it became clear many of the prevalent risks are influenced by an organisation’s leadership team. The discussion was not about governance but about the impact the wrong culture can have on increasing exposure to financial crime risk.

Leaders have the power to influence a culture which impacts on how employees think and behave, causing greater risk of self-help and dishonest actions. The question is, how many leaders recognise the link of their approach to leadership and the output from their employees?

This white paper, updated to include the impact of Covid19, explores the key risks arising from the tone and manner in which an organisation is led. Using these risks, the paper debates the role leadership can play in driving a culture which exposes an increased threat of internal fraud and investigates what can be done to reverse the resulting rise of unethical behaviour.

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Key topics covered in the White Paper

Leadership pressures

As leaders strive to be the best they can be, they can unknowingly pass the pressures they’re facing onto their team. The first step is to recognise these pressures, then, act to reduce them. If under too much pressure, employees can become disengaged and demotivated in their role, leading to them to do what is right for them rather than their organisation.

The power of culture

The white paper highlights real-life examples from the business world as to what can happen when workplace culture isn’t aligned with the team. The power of culture is immense as an aide to fraud prevention– leaders need to recognise this.

Law vs ethics

The law and ethics set different behaviour standards. Ethics are personal – they depend on an individual’s perception as to what is right and what is wrong. The white paper looks at leaders setting their own ethical standards, above the base-level set by the law, in order to drive positive behaviours.