A complete disconnect on values
The problem was that bank employees were pushed to sell products and services to customers whether they wanted them or not, in violation of the company’s stated values, and often this meant opening up accounts and issuing credit cards without customers knowing about it.
And to add insult to injury, even employees who called the company’s ethics hotline that was set up to report issues just like this one were fired for doing so.
Yes, Wells Fargo’s stated company values are 180 degrees opposite of what employees were actually told to do.
If you look at Wells Fargo’s statement of values, it all sounds pretty good:
Our values should guide every conversation, decision, and interaction. Our values should anchor every product and service we provide and every channel we operate. If we can’t link what we do to one of our values, we should ask ourselves why we’re doing it. It’s that simple.
All team members should know our values so well that if our policy manuals didn’t exist, we would still make decisions based on our common understanding of our culture and what we stand for. Corporate America is littered with the debris of companies that crafted lofty values on paper but, when put to the test, failed to live by them. We believe in values lived, not phrases memorized. If we had to choose, we’d rather have a team member who lives by our values than one who just memorizes them.
We have five primary values that are based on our vision and provide the foundation for everything we do:
- People as a competitive advantage
- Ethics
- What’s right for customers
- Diversity and inclusion
- Leadership
Those values sound good, but in the case of Wells Fargo, they were total BS.
HENRY KOTULA 