We love to believe that misconduct is something “other people” do—some other company, some other bad hire, some other culture. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: misconduct isn’t just a character flaw. It’s contagious. And if you’re in HR, you’re either the shield or the open gate. There’s no middle ground.
So, what is misconduct? It’s everything you hope your team isn’t doing: harassment, threats, intolerance, violence, drugs, fraud—you name it. The ugly stuff that keeps you up at night and ends up in headlines. But what most leaders miss is how easy it is for normal people to drift into misconduct. It starts small: exposure → acceptance → advocacy → participation. That’s the journey. And it’s scarily fast.
Here’s a stat from Fama’s State of Misconduct 2024 Research that should punch you in the gut: financial advisors are 37% more likely to commit misconduct if they work alongside someone else who has. Why? Because misconduct has a social multiplier of 1.59. It spreads. People mirror what they see. Culture is contagious—for better or worse.
Let’s talk about Financial Services for a minute. It’s a pressure cooker. High stakes, job insecurity, layoffs, and return-to-office stress. In that environment, misconduct doesn’t just thrive—it evolves. And guess who sees it first? Not the CEO. Not your corporate policy manual. It’s your middle managers. They’re 2.5x more effective at spotting misconduct than your policies. Yet we train them the least on how to deal with it.
And your TA team? They’re your first and best shot at prevention. But right now, most TA teams are screening like it’s still 2012. We run a background check, maybe scan a resume, and call it a day. Meanwhile, 1 in 10 Financial Services candidates already show online warning signs of misconduct—before we even onboard them. And the average FiServ candidate flagged by Fama has 28 instances of problematic online behavior. Trolling. Harassment. Threats.
Think about that. They’re making it all the way to the offer stage without anyone knowing they’re already waving red flags online. Why? Because those screens aren’t happening early enough.
It’s time to evolve:
1. Build Cultures of Accountability.
Misconduct should never feel normal. Set the tone at the top. But more importantly—empower your middle managers to call it out, address it, and report it without fear.
2. Expand Your Screening Process.
Old-school background checks aren’t enough. Tools like Fama bring behavior intelligence into the process, identifying patterns of misconduct from publicly available online content—before they become an HR nightmare.
3. Listen and Check Often.
Misconduct doesn’t stop at the offer letter. Current employees commit 26% of workplace violence. Ongoing checks matter. Fama has literally stopped a workplace shooting by flagging a manifesto. That’s real. That’s the human side of what we do.
TA and HR are the gatekeepers. You can wait for misconduct to become a crisis—or you can stop it before it starts.
Your call.