Rules and Good Intentions in Corporate Culture

When employees bend the rules to expedite business processes or solve problems, it can harm the company culture in the long run. Individuals may tend to relax company procedures with good intentions. While such actions—taken to speed up a project, resolve an issue, or seize an opportunity—may seem harmless at first, they can create negative effects on the company’s culture and order over time. A small deviation can weaken the importance of rules and set a wrong example for other employees.

This article explains the impact and significance of rule violations.

Why Rules Shouldn’t Be Bent – What is Policy Bending?

Policy Bending is when employees bend or reinterpret company policies or procedures to fit a specific situation, without entirely violating them. This behavior is often well-intentioned but can weaken the binding nature and reliability of the company’s rules in the long run.

An employee might believe that a rule’s purpose allows for flexible application in a particular situation. For example:

• Shortening procedures to speed up a project.
• Completing a specific task without waiting for approval.
• Performing a non-standard action to immediately meet a customer request.

Such behaviors are performed to accelerate work or overcome obstacles, and the employee’s intention is usually to contribute to the company.

However, every problem encountered should be shared with the relevant departments, managers, and teammates to gradually improve the flawed aspects of business processes. Instead of arbitrary practices that seem like short-term solutions, new business processes that are evaluated among stakeholders, thoughtfully considered, and planned for phased implementation to minimize all risks are integrated into the corporate culture.

Potential Risks

Loss of Justice and Transparency

When some employees strictly follow the rules while others bend them, it can damage the sense of fairness within the team. This can lead to a loss of trust and motivation among colleagues.

Cultural Erosion

In the long term, policy bending can weaken the company’s rule-based culture. If this behavior becomes widespread, a perception may form that the rules are not binding.

Damage to Standards and Processes

Constant bending of rules can lead to inconsistencies and a loss of quality in business processes. The company’s operational standards can be harmed. For example, if a product’s quality control process is skipped, a defective product may reach the customer, damaging the brand’s reputation.

Weakening of Management Authority

When employees believe that rules are flexible, management authority can be questioned. This has a negative impact on organizational hierarchy and leadership.

Example Scenario

An employee bends a company rule that requires prior approval for a specific business partnership to speed up the process and signs a contract directly with the partner. However, because an adequate legal review was not conducted, the contract contains clauses detrimental to the company, leading to serious problems in the future.

Why Rules Shouldn’t Be Deviated From – What is Policy Drift?

Policy Drift is when employees, often unintentionally or with good intentions, deviate from company policies. This situation usually arises from an individual’s search for a solution, but its consequences can have significant corporate-level impacts.

An employee may want to create their own solution, thinking that existing rules are impractical or slow down work. For example, they might bring in an external device without IT Department approval, quickly install software, or use a different tool without permission. Although the purpose of this individual action is to speed up or facilitate work, it can have negative long-term effects on the company culture.

Potential Risks

Deterioration of Standards

When one employee bends the rules, it can create a perception among others that “I can do this too” or “It’s okay to bend the rules.” If this becomes common, the enforceability of rules is questioned, and company policies become ineffective.

Setting a Precedent

When leaders or experienced employees exhibit such behavior, it can cause other employees to act similarly. This reinforces the perception that “It’s okay to break the rules.”

Normalization of Rule Violations

Deviations that initially seem small and well-intentioned can become systematic over time. Bending one rule can create the perception that other rules can also be violated. For example, unauthorized use of a device might initially be seen as acceptable. Later, this could lead to violations of more serious policies, such as data security.

Weakening of Discipline

The failure to apply company policies in a disciplined manner can damage the perception of equality and justice among employees. This makes it difficult for employees to take company rules seriously.

Increased Corporate Risks

Policy drift ceases to be just an individual behavior and becomes a corporate vulnerability. This can lead to major problems, especially during external audits or in legal compliance processes.

Example Scenario

An employee brings in an unauthorized external device to speed up the system. Initially, this seems like a minor incident with no noticeable consequences. However, it sets an example for other employees. Over time, other staff members begin using devices, software, or access solutions by bypassing the company’s approval processes. This leads to the IT Department losing control, the system becoming insecure, and the company being exposed to data security breaches.

Zero Trust Policy: Why Nothing and No One Should Be Trusted by Default

A Zero Trust Policy is a security approach where organizations adopt the principle of “never trust, always verify.” This strategy requires the constant verification of all users, devices, and applications and aims to use the principle of least privilege to ensure data security.

An employee might be inclined to deviate from this policy to speed up business processes or simplify procedures. For example, in an emergency, they might try to gain access by bypassing the authorization process for a device or user. When done to complete tasks quickly, such an act might be perceived as well-intentioned.

Potential Risks

Access Authorization Issues

Bypassing the policy can open the door to unauthorized access. Allowing a device or user to access the system without verification can put the company’s sensitive data at risk.

Chain Reaction of Security Vulnerabilities

A single breach can lead to security vulnerabilities that spread to other systems. For example, connecting an unverified device could cause malware to spread throughout the system.

Weakening of Security Standards

When employees make a habit of deviating from the zero-trust policy, the company’s overall security posture weakens. This leads employees to think, “I can bypass procedures in this situation.”

Compliance Issues

A zero-trust policy is often implemented to comply with legal regulations and industry standards. Deviating from this policy can lead to legal problems and penalties.

Increased IT Workload

Policy violations can cause IT teams to expend extra effort monitoring and resolving all abnormal activities entering the system. This leads to both a loss of manpower and operational complexity.

Example Scenario

To complete a task quickly, an employee connects an external device without the IT team’s knowledge, bypassing its verification process. They are unaware that the device has software with security vulnerabilities. This allows malware to spread to the system, compromising the entire network.

While working from home, an employee establishes a VPN connection to access the system from a non-company-approved laptop. However, this device is unprotected against malicious software. As a result, malware on the device infiltrates the system, leading to network-wide data breaches and endangering the company’s critical data.

Why Shadow IT Shouldn’t Be Established – What is Shadow IT?

Shadow IT refers to devices, software, or systems used by employees without the approval of the company’s IT Department. Employees often resort to such methods to facilitate or speed up their work. However, this can violate company policies and lead to serious security, compliance, and efficiency problems.

Employees may want to develop their own solutions when they feel that existing IT processes are slow, complex, or do not meet their needs. For example:

• Using a personal device to prepare a file more quickly.
• Using a free cloud storage service without waiting for official procedures.
• Aiming for better team collaboration by installing unapproved software.

The primary goal of these behaviors is to increase work efficiency or complete projects quickly.

Potential Risks

Security Vulnerabilities

Devices or software used outside the IT Department’s control can be vulnerable to cyberattacks or malware. This can harm the company’s network or lead to the theft of sensitive information.

Data Loss and Leakage

Data stored or shared on unapproved systems does not comply with the company’s data policies and poses a risk of data breaches. For example, a file uploaded to a personal cloud account could become accessible to unauthorized individuals.

Compliance Problems

The use of Shadow IT can make it difficult for the company to comply with legal regulations (e.g., GDPR, KVKK) and industry standards. This can lead to penalties during audits.

Loss of Transparency in IT Management

The use of systems unknown to the IT Department complicates the management and oversight of the overall network infrastructure. This delays problem resolution and causes a loss of control.

Example Scenario

During an urgent meeting, an employee uploads a large file to a personal cloud storage service to share it quickly, instead of waiting for the company’s official file-sharing system. They then provide access to their team. However, because the cloud service has weak security standards, the file is compromised by an external party. This leads to both a data leak and damage to the company’s credibility.

A sales representative, instead of using the company’s slow file-sharing system to make a presentation to a client, uploads the file to a free cloud storage service and provides the client with access through it. However, the cloud service does not meet security standards, and the file is accessed by unauthorized individuals. This puts the company’s customer information at risk and leads to a loss of reputation.

The Constitution of Our Corporate Culture

At Ones Technology, the corporate culture of execution, oversight, and shared responsibility promotes innovation and process efficiency while being grounded in the protection of security, compliance, and order. There are secure mechanisms in place to prevent the tendency of employees to bend rules to expedite processes or solve problems. These mechanisms are based on proper communication and a transparent approach.

Instead of arbitrary practices that seem like short-term solutions, new business processes that are evaluated among stakeholders, thoughtfully considered, and planned for phased implementation to minimize all risks are integrated into the corporate culture. As an R&D center, Ones Technology implements rewards and incentives for free-thinking, initiative, and the expression of ideas in all its work, while evaluating and implementing every emerging idea through the internal mechanisms of its corporate culture. This prevents steps that could harm the company’s culture and order in the long run.

Ones Technology combines flexibility with innovation while clearly emphasizing to its employees the importance of company procedures and the necessity of adhering to them. While security, compliance, and order are prioritized at the core of the corporate culture, employees fulfill their responsibilities to achieve the company’s goals by operating within established boundaries. It is through such approaches that it is possible to support the company’s long-term success and sustainability while fostering a seamless and responsible work environment.