Susan is a new intern at Zantech, a technology security firm. Tasked with gathering competitive analysis by contacting various companies, she was told by her manager to affiliate herself as an MBA student rather than the company. This is a misrepresentation of herself—leading Susan to the dilemma of whether she should speak up about her doubts or simply do the task.
When one speaks up to their boss, they risk a bad reaction, which can lead to bad ill amongst colleagues or even worse—firing/internship resignation. However, when one accepts an ethically dubious task, they risk a lot more. This act could resurface later in their career and backfire, possibly causing future employers to take caution when reviewing your profile. This could also reflect badly on others; in Susan’s case, if she misrepresents herself as a student, the school could receive a bad reputation.
Some advice for Susan is to follow a three-step plan when reacting to this situation:
- Susan can ponder about the possible risks of speaking up versus taking the task, similarly to the ideas above. However, she can also think about why speaking up could be worthwhile. If word were to come out that employees at Zantech were misrepresenting themselves, that would most likely reflect badly on the company as a whole—especially since their entire company mission centers around integrity. Bringing up this issue prevents possible long-term consequences.
- Susan can also work towards lessening the social threat that speaking up could cause. She can do this by framing her words in a very kind, careful manner—rather than coming off as hostile and critical. She can also discuss the company as a whole rather than just her own personal concerns.
- Susan can make a plan similar to this: outline company-scale concerns surrounding this task, draft a email expressing concerns and offering to meet up to further discuss, and work with manager to propose alternate solutions.
