.Imagine you’re working as a consultant who specializes in ethics and compliance issues. You’re hired by Slackr, a tech startup that already has 85 employees, including one HR person and one accountant. They have no formal values statement, no formal employee manuals or policies, and an informal culture that is defined by a "work hard, play hard" attitude that often sees employees drinking at the office well after dark.
The accountant can hardly keep up with all the "petty cash" expenses like entertainment and alcohol. The HR professional threatened to resign if the CEO didn’t agree to substantial changes—not least because several engineers have complained about a culture of low-grade sexual harassment. The contractual language for stock options for employees is based exclusively on subscriber growth, measured using data that all employees can edit manually.
The founder/CEO says, "Please help; this has gotten out of hand. I want to put us on a path toward something that can work with 1,000—or 100,000—employees."
Answer all of the following in one answer of about 12-16 well-reasoned sentences:
What are the strategic risks that Slackr faces? Be specific and imagine some of the possible negative outcomes.
What are several specific steps the company can take in the near future? (Answers such as "Get a compliance program" and "Create an employee code of conduct" are not sufficiently specific—though more specific versions of those answers are welcome, if you choose.)
What are some of the obstacles to implementing your suggested plan of action, and how could Slackr leadership work past those obstacles?