Who - if anyone - should be responsible for providing refreshments to those attending a meeting?
What is your view of sickies? Are they there to be used only when you're sick? Or is it ok to use them for a day off?
At a social event with people you know well, your friend Elena tells the story of a former colleague of hers - Tom - who was accused of sexual harassment about 10 years ago. Elena explains the matter was played down at the time, kept confidential by the organisation and there was no formal complaint or record.
You're the Head of Learning & Organisational Development in a medium sized general insurance company. The organisation recently rolled out 'Unconscious Bias' training to all middle managers. You've invested a significant amount of money in this training with a consultancy and now been asked by your CEO to report on it's impact, so it can be presented to the board.
You had discussed with the consultant at the time of engagement that there would be measures in place to report o...
17 Feb 21
by
The Banking and Finance Oath
As a graduate that joined a retail banking institution six months ago, you’re currently on rotation in the Learning and Development (L&D) team.
You work in the finance department of a medium sized financial institution. It is end of month and employees across the organisation have submitted their monthly expense claims to you.
You work in financial advice and have developed a friendship with one of your clients who is now applying for an insurance product. They allow you to start following them on their private Insta account. You come to realise they are fairly open about their lifestyle and regular recreational drug use on this particular social media platform, albeit a private profile. There is no judgement on your part – you have indulged in recreational drugs in the past yourself.
You have recently joined a new organisation as the Head of Brand. It is a relatively new organisation. The leadership team have prioritised brand and feel it will play a key role in helping them stand out in a very competitive industry.
You are the Head of People and Culture in a medium sized organisation with around 1,200 employees. The organisation is beginning to get people back into the office. There is a general sense from your CEO and executive leadership team that productivity is dropping and with employees working remotely they are concerned about a drop in engagement.
Following a recent employee engagement survey, the engagement score is the highest it’s ever been, despite people not being based in the office.
Th...
You’re the head of a department in a large financial institution. With automation changes swiftly coming into effect over the next two years, you’re aware there will be a number of redundancies to come. The timing of the redundancies, along with who will face it is still unknown.
16 Dec 20
by
Jodi O'Callaghan, Executive Officer
2020 has been a year of challenges, but also opportunity. Looking back, there have been some highilghts.
26 Nov 20
by
Jodi O'Callaghan
A recent graduate from a reputable university has been offered the opportunity to work with their dream organisation, reporting to you as the manager of the strategy division. Your organisation has a good reputation for giving graduates internships. But there's a catch.
As the head of people and culture in a large financial institution, you’ve been given information by an individual regarding your behaviour.
11 Nov 20
by
Jodi O'Callaghan
With a workforce still largely working from home, middle managers are up against a whole new set of challenges, managing their teams in a remote setting while still delivering results to upper management.
You are the head of your department in a large organisation and have a good relationship with the majority of your staff. As restrictions ease, your team is slowly returning to the office in a new world after working from home for several months.
Since returning to the office on a regular basis you have noticed that a senior employee in a leadership role has been spending an increasing amount of time with a much younger member of your team.
There are a lot of coffee breaks together and they...
You are the member of an executive team and your role is to assign performance-based bonuses. Due to the extraordinary impact of Covid-19, the board has asked bonuses be forgone this year. The organisation has made a profit. Your team has worked extremely hard. You feel uncomfortable about not being able to provide them with the promised bonus. It seems unfair.
21 Oct 20
by
Sarah Valente
As part of The BFO Young Ambassador Program, my fellow ambassadors and I have received many opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals, experts on ethics and leaders in the banking and finance industry. I was honoured to have the opportunity to meet with ANZ’s outgoing Chairman, David Gonski and to speak with him on all things ethics and leadership.
You’re a new risk analyst at an organisation, hired a few months into the onset of COVID-19 you start working from home immediately with the rest of your colleagues.
As the manager of a small close-knit team in a large financial services institution, one of your team members has made you aware the new employee in your team has a sexually explicit Instagram account, and others in the broader business division are gossiping about this individual.
29 Sep 20
by
Chris Young and Gordon Young
It is not news to say that Melbourne has fared poorly during the pandemic. The sudden onset of a second wave, dwarfing the first in severity and plunging us suddenly from a relaxed level 2 lockdown all the way to a level 4, complete with curfew, all took a toll.
You are an Executive General Manager in a large financial institution. There are some changes in the pipeline for the business and the board is mostly in support of them. The changes will benefit a majority of customers, but not the entire customer base.
The accusation of virtue signalling is typically understood as a serious charge. Those accused usually respond (if not by an admission of fault) by attempting to show that they are doing no such thing. In this paper, I argue that we ought to embrace the charge, rather than angrily reject it. I argue that this response can draw support from cognitive science, on the one hand, and from social epistemology on the other. I claim that we may appropriately concede that what we are doing is (inter alia) virtue signalling, because virtue signalling is morally appropriate. It neither expresses vices, nor is hypocritical, nor does it degrade the quality of public moral discourse. Signalling our commitment to norms is a central and justifiable function of moral discourse, and the same signals provide (higher-order) evidence that is appropriately taken into account
in forming moral beliefs.
You are an experienced business banker and been approached by an established small-to-medium business looking to move their business banking.
You are the CFO of a large retail property organisation that owns a number of shopping malls across the country. Given the sizeable food courts in each property, a larger portion of your tenants are small business owners operating eateries within the food courts.
As the head of a department in a large financial institution you have a strong relationship with a small boutique strategy agency (Agency X), who you have worked with for a number of years. You’ve always been happy with the quality of work and the consultants are experts in their field.
You work in recruitment for an organisation currently hiring. It is an organisation with strong purpose and values and they value meritocracy.
Until recently you’ve experienced high job satisfaction in your current workplace but you were recently overlooked for a promotion.
19 Aug 20
by
John Jeffery
Working in the fast-paced and dynamic world of international equities, many deals are traded on a daily basis. Behind the glamour and prestige of the trading desk, back office and middle office teams ensure that the settlement process – funds transferred, shares moved – runs smoothly. Its important work; if a trade fails to settle, the consequences can be loss of reputation, interest rate charges and even fines.
18 Aug 20
by
Ricky Rangra, 2020 BFO Young Ambasasdor
What has the experience been like when it comes to starting a new role at a new organisation during the onset of COVID-19?
11 Aug 20
by
Pauline Vamos, Director, The Banking + Finance Oath
How can we embed an ethical culture in this changing world? Pauline Vamos, Director of The Banking and Finance Oath shares the why and ways to embed ethics into your business.