Looking into Uber's biggest issue facing the company

Uber Technologies Inc. is a company with much potential, however, they have also experienced their fair share of negative publicity. In my opinion, their public relations issues are well deserved and all for good reason. But with so many issues under the company’s belt, I strongly believe that the biggest issue Uber is currently facing is their culture of deceit and dishonesty towards their consumers and employees. With Uber’s continuing growth, the company needs to focus on targeting this issue primarily using a top-down approach.

Since Uber’s conception, there has been a tremendous amount of issues involving the company’s culture, specifically their transparency and honesty. I strongly believe that integrity and ethics should be at the forefront of any business, no matter how big or small the organization is, and/or what industry they operate in. Therefore, the company’s lack of integrity is a major issue, and the most important one. There are many examples proving this point. In October 2016, Uber was slammed with a cyberattack that put close to 57 million drivers and consumers at risk. Under the former CEO, Travis Kalanick, the company tried covering up the hack to the public eye. Two years before this hack, Uber was attacked by cyber-hackers which was also covered up by the company. Uber later paid a hefty fine for failing to disclose the information from the 2014 hack. In addition to these hacks, another example comes from when Uber was fined $8.9 million by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission back in November 2017. This fine was due to the company failing to run sufficient background checks on a handful of drivers who were able to transport customers around with felony convictions and issues with their driver’s licenses. These several examples are evidence that proves Uber’s neglect and carelessness towards their consumers and drivers.

This issue of integrity will have a greater impact on the company compared to other problems. If Uber does not fix this issue, then they will lose the trust of their drivers and clientele. Once you lie to the people, you will then lose them forever. Uber hasn’t crossed that “point of no return” just yet, as they still have a chance to get things right. Under a new CEO, there is a possibility that the company’s culture will change, and as a result this will start repairing the public’s trust. My recommendation for Uber would be to initiate integrity and ethics workshops that train Uber’s personnel, from the top executives to lower tiered staff. These workshops would stress how important it is to place the consumers and employees of Uber at the heart of the company. As previously mentioned, start at the top and work towards the bottom. It is important for the company to start at the executive level, including the new CEO. Even drivers should at least be required to complete online training modules before getting behind the wheel for Uber.

In summation, a simple recommendation such as this one can greatly change Uber’s problems across all levels. Changing the culture of the company starts with setting expectations and high standards regarding ethics and integrity. I don’t consider this to be a risky and/or costly initiative for the company. Speaking of money, the company is practically bleeding money away because of their current status. They need to change, and they need to do it as quick as possible. The “point of no return” is nearing fast. It will be interesting to see if Uber implements something along the lines of my recommendation.