6 Ethics at Work Place

Dr.Dimple Kholsa

1.      Learning Outcomes

2.      Introduction

3.      Ethics at Workplace

4.      Need of Ethics at workplace

5.      Factors that affect ethics at workplace

6.      Ways to prevent unethical practices at workplace

7.      To identify the characteristics of an ethical employee.

8.      Challenges at work place.

9.      Summary

1.      Learning Objectives:

The basic objectives of this module are:

• To understand the meaning of Ethics To understand the ethics at workplace
• To understand the need of ethics at work place
• To understand the factors that affect ethics at work place
• To understand the ways to prevent unethical practices at work place To know how to identify the characteristics of an unethical employee. To understand the challenges at work place.

2.  Introduction

Philosophy has many branches and one of its very important branches is Ethics. What does it mean by Ethics? The answer is quite simple that Ethics means the general philosophy that explains what is right and what is wrong in anybody’s code of conduct.

Source: http://www.infugin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ethics.jpg

It involves systematic study of individual behaviour and recommends that a particular individual’s behaviour is right or wrong.

‘How can a human lead his life’ and ‘in some particular situation what actions will be considered appropriate and what will be considered inappropriate’ are the major issues covered by the term ‘Ethics’. Thus Ethics of any business is to enable individuals to distinguish between right or wrong, good or evil, justice and crime and vice and virtue. In this chapter, we will study ethics at workplace and understand the following concepts i.e. need of ethics at workplace, factors affecting ethics at workplace and ways to prevent unethical practices at work place.

3.   Ethics at workplace

A person can be a serviceman/professional or a businessman. Ethical behaviour is important everywhere. It may lead to career enhancement and improving the environment in which one work. With development of ethics whether one is doing any service or is running any business, working in service sector or working in business sector, he can improve his productivity and effectiveness. At work place ethics can be developed by developing some habits or etiquettes.

Source: http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/publications/exchange/2015/spring/images/workethics.jpg

Meetings: In any service or business organisations, there are meetings at regular intervals. So one must be ready for the meeting well in advance by studying the agenda.

Source: http://www.agapemediationsandethics.com/publishImages/index~~element4.jpg

If any documents are required to be brought in the meeting, these should be gathered and duly arranged in the required order. One must reach in time and must wait for his turn to speak rather than to interrupt others.

Communication: Ethics describes what to communicate and what not to communicate. Indulging in gossips, back biting, spreading wrong information about fellow workers, asking unnecessary questions or details that are already available in the rules and regulation in the company’s code of conduct are considered unethical.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/AkshayKumar409/ethical-communication-52615309

Time Management: Professional ethics says that one should be very good in managing time. One must know the time of arrival as well as departure at work place and should plan his whole work according to the allotted time keeping in view of official breaks like lunch break,official meetings etc.

Source: http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2014/06/top-10-ways-for-effective-time-management-for-the-dental-executive.html

Safety of Co-Workers: Company designs his policies to give a safe and sound atmosphere to its employees. So if anyone finds any misconduct on anybody’s part, he should immediately report to the management. It is not necessary that there is always misconduct. There may also chances that one see something which can cause harm to anyone like some sparking, some leakage, or anything of the kind, it should be brought into the notice of the authorities so that required actions could be taken.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/peglaws/safety-worksoverheads

4.   Need of Ethics at Workplace

Every organization follows a certain set of rules and policies (also known as ethics) that is distinct from its competitors and enables it to project its true potential to its clients. These rules and policies keep employees on track in achieving organization goal and help it in earning its share of profits in the market.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/leonorcarmo/work-ethic-27385778

Without these rules, an organization will not be able to monitor employees and their activities, or to follow on their commitments to their clients, or judge a behaviour of workers and supervisors and due to this whole organization will be affected and business will come to halt. That’s why, Ethics are needed at workplace. There are other reasons too which answer the above question and they are described below:

Credibility in the public: Ethical values of organization create credibility in the eyes of public. People like to buy the stuff from company which they believe is honest and transparent and is offering value for their money. Because of this reason only the companies dealing in food products spend large sums on advertisements now-a-days to convince people that their goods are safe and are healthy.

Credibility with the employees: When employees are convinced of the ethical values of their organization they are working for, they hold the organization in high esteem. Perceived social uprightness and moral values can win the employees more than any incentive plans.

Better Decision Making: Respect for ethics will force the management in taking sound decisions by keeping in mind the interests of various stakeholders like shareholders of the company, employees, customers, clients, the host country of the business and company’s own long term good.

Profitability: Ethical companies are more successful in terms of profits than those who don’t have any concerns of rules and policies. Ethical companies organizational structure is perfectly planned and defined which keeps them on track and prevent unhealthy practices like cheating the company, abusive behaviour, undue credit and insider trading etc by punishing guilty with Pre-defined clauses mentioned in company’s code of conduct.

Protection of Society: Ethics can protect the society in a better way than even the legal system of the country. Where law fails, ethics succeed. A HR manager, who is ethically sound, can reach out to agitated employees, more effectively than police.

Other reasons:

a)  Ethics cultivate strong teamwork and productivity.

b) Ethics promote co-ordination and harmony among employees.

c)  Ethics promote organizational growth.

d) Ethics helps in avoiding criminal practices.

5.   Factors That Affect Ethics at Workplace

“To err is human” is common phrases that describe humans make mistakes. No matter how accomplished a person is, he/she make mistakes to accomplish something in their lives, it can be either for power, prestige or something else. Here, all those factors are mentioned and explained

which enable a human (managers or employees at workplace) to forsake his ethics at workplace for some personal gain.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/Farwakhizar/business-ethicspresentation-63216138

Personal Goals

Personal goals are the first factor that affects ethics at workplace. Goals are desired results or outcome that a person or an organization plans or commit to achieve. Goals are something where all the activities of an organization is directed. Personal goals of the people working in an organization can either affect organizational ethical structure or make it strong. For example- If personal goal of an employee is money, and then there may be a possibility that in future he can resort to unhealthy practices like insider trading to achieve his goal. That’s why, It is important for a managers to keep a check on his employees personal goals as it can make or break the organization.

Values

Values are an individual’s judgment or standard of behaviour. This factor affects ethical behaviour. Like some people use to lie to their clients about their competitors products just to entice them in purchasing their own products. This kind of activity is unethical as it hampers client’s ability to make a sound decision in selecting the product he requires for fulfilling his need.

Morals

Morals are individual characteristic that can affect an individual’s ethics. Morals are the rules people develop as a result of cultural norms and values and are, traditionally, what employees learn from their childhood, culture, religion etc. They are usually describes as good or bad behaviour. Would you have good morals in making people buy the product that affects their religion or hurting your colleague’s religious sentiments? Perhaps not.

Personality

Employee’s personality is another factor that affects ethics at workplace. Some employees are risk takers and some prefers safe route. Employees who prefer taking risks are more likely to involve in unethical practices than those choosing safe route. For example- If an employee goes beyond the authority granted to him just to get a business contract is more likely to be termed unethical as his chances to succeed are less.

Relationship between employees and managers

It is duty of a manager to reward his employees for getting the work done and to guide them in case he makes mistakes while doing his work. This type of activity induces good relations between managers and employees. A manager must treat his employees with respect they deserve because if he doesn’t do this, it can induce unethical conduct which can hamper organization work. For example-Coming late to work or gossiping while working may be employee’s way of getting back at his managers for treating him with disrespect.

Society

Society is the most important factor that influences ethical policy of an organization. Any work done by an organization is reviewed by society. If an organization is involved in unethical means it is society only which brings that organization under ambit of law. For example- Releasing waste in water bodies is termed unethical by society as it destroys marine ecosystems and pollutes the drinking water. That’s why, it must for an organization to study this factor thoroughly and include it in its ethical policy.

6.   Ways to Prevent Unethical Practices at Workplace

Unethical practices can plague the workplace, whether an executive steals money from the company or an associate falsifies documents. Unethical practices Costs Company to lose its credibility in the market, causing the business to lose the customers and ultimately closing down the operations. However, Directors, business experts, managers and employees can work together to prevent unethical behaviours.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/doronzio/chap004-modified-demanding-ethical-and-socially-responsible-behavior

Create a Code of Conduct

A written code of conduct provides employees and managers an overview of the type of conduct the company expects. It outlines what behaviours are unacceptable and what measures are taken if an employee or a manager violates the code of conduct.

Lead by Example

Employees look to their managers for direction on how they should conduct themselves. As a business owner ethics based decisions should be made which inculcates positive habits in employees.

Show Employees Appreciation

By appreciating employees on their work, managers can make them feel valuable to the company. As a result, this make them loyal and loyal employees are less likely to involve in unethical practices.

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/doronzio/chap004-modified-demanding-ethical-and-socially-responsible-behavior

Workplace Ethics training to employees

Training must be given to employees to make them understand company’s laws and procedures. This can be done by utilizing varied instruction methods to engage employees in learning to dissolve the ethical dilemmas. Experimental learning or role play is an effective way to facilitate ethics workplace training to employees. Examples of workplace ethics involve scenarios about misappropriation of funds, how to deal with company’s accounts and organizations regulatory control.

Reinforce Consequences

Managers must hold their employees accountable for any kind of unethical conduct. If an employee still act in the same manner then warning letters must be issued to him and then he should be terminated for such conduct without paying any salary to him for that month and also not sanctioning his experience letter.

Hires for Values

While recruiting employees, employers may seek those who are experienced or skilled workers. Proper background checks must be made to check the nature and values of that employee and only after that he should be hired in the organization.

Integrity

A key component to workplace ethics and behaviour is integrity, or being honest and doing the right thing at all times. A worker with integrity is deeply motivated to achieve organization goals and doesn’t indulge themselves in gossiping and sneakiness while doing their job.

Discipline

Discipline is an essential component and it is not only needed in business but also in daily life. Employees who are disciplined, they are treated with respect and these employees what is best for them and for the organization they are working for. Disciplined workers never waste their in unnecessary activities and work diligently for themselves and for the organization. These employees with their actions motivates others and thereby eliminates the need of unethical work altogether from the business.

Commitment

Ethics and behavioural guidelines in the workplace often place a high amount of importance and dedication. Although possessing the necessary skills is essential, a strong work ethic and positive attitude toward the job can carry you a long way. Plus, dedication is often viewed in the business world as “contagious”, meaning employees who give a strong effect can often inspire their co-workers to do the same.

7.   How to Identify Characteristics of an Ethical Employee:

Source: http://www.021lip.net/zhichangxinli/2923887.html

If a company wants to identify that to what extent their employees are ethical they must go for the following:

1. Company must create a list of characteristics that must be present in an employee. That list may be known as code of ethics. It should also consist of what is expected from them and what will be the consequences of finding anyone guilty.
2. An ethical survey could be taken consisting of role playing and situation reaction type questions. For example giving them a situation that if they find some kind of stealing in the office, what will be there first step. The survey’s questions must match to the atmosphere of the work place so that judgement can be related to the situation.
3. Survey should be reviewed very well. Because it will help to know how much familiar are the employees with the organisation’s code of conduct.
4. To encourage better ethical practices at work place time to time training/seminar/workshop could be arranged.
5. CCTV cameras could be installed wherever required to keep a check on the activities of the employees and to closely watch out their behaviour so that the difference between their saying and doing could be judged.

By following these steps, judgement could be made to a large extent regarding the ethical attitude of an employee.

8.   Challenges in Workplace Ethics

It is true that every organization wants to have its code of ethics and expects every employee to follow it. But this is also true that it’s not an easy job. Even a person of good integrity sometimes faces lapses in workplace ethics. No organization is perfect and there are certain setbacks in workplace ethics everywhere. Different kinds of challenges organization face time to time like fraud in accounts, wasting time by increasing the duration of lunch breaks, misuse of organization’s assets. In every organization we may find some untrustworthy employees who become the cause of lapses in workplace ethics. Sometimes some employees are unable to cope with the principles and practices followed by the organization; this again leads to the lapses in ethics at workplace. It is also often seen that some unfair treatment, discrimination or favoritism is done on part of managers which again is a setback in workplace ethics. Some types of failures to comply with workplace ethics are not so relevant or visible, but most of the times it certainly affects ones essence as an individual, as an employee and as an human being. It further leads to deterioration in the quality of the work performed by them. Unethical behavior by one person causes problems for co-workers too.

9.  Summary:

Work place ethics are the core requirement for any organization. One must follow the code of conduct with full honesty. If someone fails to practice these ethics, it affects his self image as well as his coworkers. If one starts making excuses, starts giving his self some silly reasons and tries to suppress his own inner voice of conscience then it means there is certainly a lapse in ones workplace ethics and his actions are gone substandard. A company’s ethics will determine its reputation. Good business ethics are essential for the long-term success of an organization. Implementing an ethical program will foster a successful company culture and increase profitability. Developing a Business Ethics program takes time and effort, but doing so will do more than improve business, it will change lives. Every level of business is one way or another affected by the ethics of the company. All concerned parties whether they are employees, customers, clients, suppliers, owners, and competitors are influenced by the ethical behavior of one another. Similarly all have to play a vital role in the development of a work place’s code of conduct. It is not a one way track. So in today’s competitive world one has to be very clear about his own code of conduct along with following the code of conduct prescribed by the workplace. Company must create a list of characteristics that must be present in an employee. That list may be known as code of ethics. It should also consist of what is expected from them and what will be the consequences of finding anyone guilty. It is true that every organization wants to have its code of ethics and expects every employee to follow it. But this is also true that it’s not an easy job. Even a person of good integrity sometimes faces lapses in workplace ethics. No organization is perfect and there are certain setbacks in workplace ethics everywhere. Ethics and behavioural guidelines in the workplace often place a high amount of importance and dedication. Although possessing the necessary skills is essential, a strong work ethic and positive attitude toward the job can carry you a long way. Discipline is an essential component and it is not only needed in business but also in daily life. Employees who are disciplined, they are treated with respect and these employees what is best for them and for the organization they are working for. Training must be given to employees to make them understand company’s laws and procedures. This can be done by utilizing varied instruction methods to engage employees in learning to dissolve the ethical dilemmas.

Learn More

Few important Sources to learn more about Business Ethics:

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