Whistle-blowing should be in the DNA

The path to proper conduct is special methods to reward whistle-blowing - offering incentives to truth-tellers who report major lapses. But is a multimillion-dollar payday the key to corporate ethics? Corporate training and leadership development company VitalSmarts' latest research of 926 employees from around the world confirms it is not.

In fact, the primary predictor of corporate rectitude is creating a culture where employees regularly feel both motivated and able to hold people accountable for various complaints - when they do, the study shows they are six times more likely to blow the whistle on major corporate ethics violations.

In fact, small ethical lapses are already happening across companies. The biggest problem isn't the sin, it's the silence. Even more employees keep mum when the infraction is a major one: an alarming three out of four employees stay mum when they see gross violations.