I LOVE this. According to the findings of the “2007 Deloitte & Touche USA LLP Ethics & Workplace” survey, work-life balance influences positive ethical behaviors at work. Check it:

According to the survey, 91 percent of all employed adults agreed that workers are more likely to behave ethically at work when they have a good work-life balance. A combined 44 percent of workers cite high levels of stress (28 percent), long hours (25 percent) and inflexible schedule (13 percent) as the causes of conflict between their work responsibilities and personal priorities, hence contributors to work-life imbalance.

Sixty percent of employed adults surveyed think that job dissatisfaction is a leading reason why people make unethical decisions at work, and more than half of workers (55 percent) ranked a flexible work schedule among the top three factors leading to job satisfaction, second only to compensation (63 percent).

“When you think about it,” says Sharon L. Allen, Chairman of the Board at Deloitte & Touche USA, “if someone invests all of their time and energy into their jobs, it may have the unintended consequence of making them dependent on their jobs for everything – including their sense of personal worth. This makes it even harder to make a good choice when faced with an ethical dilemma if they believe it will impact their professional success.”

Amen to that, Sharon Allen. And what a great new angle for pitching the work/life story. Better balance, better ethics, better karma – and not just better bottom line (though that’s a good one too.)

The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive and released on April 16.