Knowing the difference between micromanagement and guidance
June has been a revealing month for the legal profession, but the lessons go far beyond law. At the core is a reminder of why ethical oversight in business matters. Not only in regulated professions but in any SME of 10 to 50 people. The kind where trust runs high, but the roots of structure aren’t always deep enough to hold. What unfolded could just as easily happen in your own team…
The story I’m about to share centres on a solicitor but it’s about how ethical oversight in business sustains an ecosystem, especially in remote or hybrid setups. When oversight is left to chance, blurred boundaries and unclear expectations creep in. They don’t just expose a business founder to risk; they disrupt the melody of the culture and once that rhythm falters, it’s hard to regain.
The Background
Qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales is no small feat. It requires passing a series of demanding exams, gaining practical experience through a training contract, completing a professional ethics course, and securing a personal character reference from someone already practising. Only then is an individual officially entered onto the Roll of Solicitors.
Once qualified, the solicitor enters what’s known as the ‘NQ’ (newly qualified) stage, which lasts up to five years. During this time, they’re expected to live up not only to the letter of the law but also the spirit of ethical practice.
Solicitor B was called to the Roll in 2020, just as lockdowns made remote working the norm. Within quick succession, she secured:
A permanent, full-time position at a law firm
Two separate full-time locum contracts via employment agencies
All conducted remotely.
All, it seemed, operating in silos.
The point for business founders is, if someone who has been through years of exams, training, and even a course in ethics can still cross lines without oversight, what does that mean for your own hires, the administrator, the marketer, or the freelancer, where policies and procedures for SMEs are often lighter and less enforced?
The Facts
The alarm bells rang when an HR professional at one of the firms queried Solicitor B’s timesheet and contacted the agency that had placed her. Their records showed she was actively working but with a different firm.
The revelation of duplicate timesheets, the same hours billed to multiple employers, all while drawing a full-time salary from a permanent post.
Nearly five years later, the case reached the Solicitors Regulation Authority Tribunal. She was struck off the Roll for dishonesty; a career ended by arrogance, ignorance, and a lack of ethical oversight in business.
But here’s where founders should take a pause. The story isn’t simply about one individual’s choices. It’s also about the firms that failed to enforce their own checks and balances. The systems meant to protect them weren’t applied. The trust they relied on wasn’t backed up by structure or SME leadership oversight. When that happens, it isn’t just the individual who falls. It’s the culture, the reputation, and resources of the business that take a hit too.
If someone in your team submitted duplicate invoices or claimed hours they hadn’t worked, would your current policies and oversight catch it… or would they slip through unnoticed?
Pause Before the Cost of Looking Away Becomes Reality
Don’t think this only happens in law; it can just as easily occur in your small team if ethical oversight in business isn’t built in. When checks are inconsistent, culture erodes and risk creeps in unnoticed.
That’s where together we can Hover. Not another tick-box audit but a pause for founders who want their business to prosper. Hover uncovers where silence in remote onboarding policies, delegation or information handling is costing you Money, Energy and Time. It gives you the clarity to revive the policies, people and culture.
Hover gives you:
- Clarity in onboarding – seeing how practices play out in the ecosystem
- Confidence in delegation – with the right support and clear role expectations.
- Protection in data – putting in place ethical management that safeguards both business and reputation
- Alignment in hybrid work – connecting policies and people without slipping into micromanagement.
This isn’t interference. This is ethical oversight in business, the structure that lets your culture evolve.
Stop relying on assumptions. Start leading with clarity.
GDPR: Culture, Not Just Compliance
It’s worth noting a quiet sideline to this matter. In investigating the timesheets, the HR professional obtained confirmation from the agency that the solicitor was on another placement. A detail that arguably should never have been disclosed.
This is also about what happens in your business when HR or admin staff share information informally, believing it’s harmless or “for the right reason.”
The HR professional may have felt justified, and the outcome did expose dishonesty. However, data protection law doesn’t work on gut instinct. The solicitor wasn’t placed with that firm, so technically, the information wasn’t theirs to receive. Proper channels, like reporting directly to the regulator, exist for a reason.
Even though the “right” result was reached, it doesn’t excuse sidestepping the process. If a breach occurred, this isn’t just a GDPR issue. It’s a cultural one, another example of why ethical oversight in remote work matters as much as in-office practice. When policies are misapplied, they can be as risky as having none at all.
Take this as a reminder that policies aren’t decorative foliage. They’re the roots, so if they’re weak or ignored, the whole ecosystem is left exposed. Policies are living responsibilities that protect your business, your people, and your clients. They also need to be nurtured, even when curiosity or suspicion is tempting to cut corners.
If your team uncovered something suspicious tomorrow, would they know the right channel to follow or would they share it informally?
Oversight Is Leadership in Action
Remote or hybrid working isn’t a shortcut to freedom; it’s a shift in responsibility. Oversight isn’t optional; it’s part of the ethical roots system that holds culture and operations together.
If you’ve been relying on trust alone or assuming policies are “clear enough,” this is your sign to pause and revisit what you’ve built.
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Silence in remote onboarding policies never brings clarity and without it, risks take root.
The Ethical Takeaway: Monitor With Meaning
Policies are only ever as strong as their enforcement.
It’s not enough to hand over a document, tick a box, and hope for the best. In hybrid or remote setups, the temptation to “trust until proven otherwise” is risky (financially, culturally and reputationally).
Oversight isn’t interference. It’s an investment. A simple weekly 20mins 1-2-1 can create the space for concerns to surface, for guidance to be offered, and for trust to grow. That’s not micromanagement, that’s ethical leadership protecting both people and the business.
What Founders Need to Remember
- Remote isn’t invisible. If your policies only cover in-office teams, you’re already behind. Monitoring is a form of ethical oversight in business; think check-ins, not checkpoints.
- Onboarding is the first line of clarity. It’s where policies and procedures (the roots) are shared, so expectations and boundaries are clear from the start.
- Process matters. From handling data, raising concerns, to escalating issues through proper channels, structures exist for a reason. When skipped, it exposes the roots of your ecosystem.
- Leadership oversight in SMEs isn’t about control. It’s about reinforcing clarity so trust has roots.
Where in your business are you trusting without structure and what would it cost you if that trust were broken tomorrow?
The Ethical Oversight in Business: Final Word
The firms in this Ethical Insight had policies on conduct, working hours, and ethical expectations. What they lacked was the commitment to apply them, test them, and enforce them.
This isn’t micromanagement vs guidance. Ethical businesses don’t rely on individual virtue; they align the roots of policies with the canopy of leadership. When those connect, culture grows in rhythm, not in chaos.
Only then can you hear the humming of an ethical ecosystem.
