ETHICS
Mukti Arora
HOD , PG Department of Cosmetology
Introduction
Professional ethics are principles that govern the behaviour of a person or group in a business environment. Like values, professional ethics provide rules on how a person should act towards other people and institutions in such an environment.
Effective communication is very important to avoid misunderstandings when dealing with issues in the workplace. Communicating effectively may mean different things to people at different points in time.
Let us consider the hypothetical situation of an employee trying to relay information to a French-speaking customer. The best way to communicate effectively with the customer is to have an employee who can speak French relay the information.
Effective communication may also have an employee breaking one of the rules and regulations of the company without getting penalized for it. An employee reaching out to HR that they will be coming in late due to some unforeseen circumstances may be spared for coming late if the situation is properly communicated.
Communicate Effectively
Develop Professional Relationships
Good professional relationships are not only a thing that fosters teamwork among employees, but also help with individual career development for employees. Developing professional relationships with coworkers or other professionals outside the workplace will also directly or indirectly improve productivity.
Professional relationships between low-level and high-level employees will make it easier for ideas to be shared and knowledge to be passed to junior employees. That way, the company can confidently have an intern work on a tough project to meet a pending deadline due to the guidance from older employees.
Salespeople, for one, need to build external professional relationships with professionals from other organizations—especially those who are potential clients. These relationships will help create a contact person in another organization in case they need to sell a product to them.
Take Responsibility
It is important for employees to always take responsibility for decisions made both individually and in a team. This is, in fact, a leadership trait that every employee who is looking to take up a managerial position in the future should exhibit.
Professionalism/Standards
There are professional standards that everything an employee does in the workplace. The use of informal words in a formal workplace is highly unprofessional.
These standards should be held high and applied to every part of an employee’s activity in the workplace. This should include the way they speak, kind of work they deliver and their relationship with coworkers and customers.
Be Accountable
Accountability is also a very good trait of an employee. One of the things that may short change a talented and responsible is the lack of accountability.
Lack of accountability may result in your boss thinking you have an “I don’t care attitude” to the company’s project or worst take you as a liar and may lead to job loss in the long run. For example, at the beginning of each year, a certain amount of money is allocated to each department.
Show Initiative without being told
Is the company running behind deadline and you feel you can stay a few extra hours after work to finish up? Do it.
You are a freelance designer and your client wants a particular poster designed but doesn’t have a copywriter to write the content. If you can write the contents, do so. Don’t delay a client’s work because of a few contents.
Respect Your Colleagues
It doesn’t matter whether you are dealing with the intern, a junior, janitor, etc. they should all be treated with respect. As a manager, treating your team members with respect will help improve their productivity.
Giving constructive criticism and saying kind words to them even when they are not able to deliver perfectly will help them strive to do better in the future.
Work Smarter
Don’t just work hard, work smarter. The reason why you see an employee promoted to the post of manager after just 2 years and a hardworking employee who has been with the company for 10 years failed to get a promotion is smart work.
Assume that these 2 employees are data scientists who collect data and analyze them. A smarter employee will use the Formplus data collection tool to collect data and receive real-time data analytics, while a hard-working employee will print paper-based forms and do the hard work of sharing it to respondents.
UNETHICAL WORKPLACE BEHAVIORS
Lies
Lying is a trait that is detested in and outside the workplace. It kills trust, affects relationships and may even put people in trouble.
There are different situations where employees lie in the workplace—with just one lie opening the floor for many others. It could be a sales manager lying about the number of clients they were able to get in a month or an employee calling in sick just to attend another job interview.
A lot of employees start lying from their CV, by adding experiences they didn’t acquire, and the skills they don’t have. Employees need to understand that lying about work may eventually get them in trouble and needs to stop before they lose their job.
However, we notice that employees lie due to fear of their employer—an employee will call in sick to go for interviews because companies frown against employees interviewing at another company. HR should put up a more friendly culture that will encourage people to progress in their careers taking up other jobs and even support them throughout the process.
Taking Credit for Others Hard Work
It is very common for managers to take credit for their team member’s hard work when reporting to the management. A team member may have brought an idea that helped the sales team improve their sales by 200%.
However, when giving a report, the manager doesn’t mention the team member’s name but claims the idea as his. Employees need to reduce the use of “I”, but embrace the use of ” We”.
By taking credit for another person’s work, you will be denying the person a promotion, bonus or commendation for a job well done. This will discourage the person from sharing ideas that will benefit the company in the future.
Verbal Harassment/Abuse
Employees need to stay away from using foul language on coworkers in and out of the workplace. This is very important when dealing with customers.
Customers are known to get angry and may result in verbal abuse due to a bad product or service. They may even get insult you when they are at fault.
As a customer care representative, salesperson or any other employee, it is beth important that you don’t use abusive words on customers no matter how provoked.
Violence
Similar to verbal harassment, employees should not be violent when dealing with coworkers and customers. Customers may likely provoke you, but it is better to keep shut and walk away rather than turn violent.
Non-Office Related Work
A lot of employees have side hustles which they use to supplement salaries. This is very good and only very few companies are against employees working to make money outside work hours.
However, some employees still do non-office related work during office hours. Employees who have side hustles should try doing them on weekends or employing other people to handle some of the business logistics to avoid eating into office hours to get the work done.
Extended Breaks
Companies give lunch breaks to employees and people take advantage of these breaks to do other things outside office work like, go for interviews, meet with friends or even work on their side hustles. They are free to do whatever they want these lunch breaks.
Employees, however, take advantage of these lunch breaks and extend them beyond time.
Theft/Embezzlement
Some employees are known for diverting company funds into their bank accounts—padding project quotations, invoices, etc. to deceive the company on how much was spent on particular projects.
This act is detrimental to the company because employees who steal sometimes replace quality products with counterfeits which are cheaper but causes damage in the future.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is an offense that is not limited to the workplace alone. An employee accused of sexual harassment will not only face consequences in the workplace but also tried at a court of law.
Many companies have a zero-tolerance rate for sexual harassment in and outside the workplace. This may tarnish the company’s reputation and the only way to curb is to make an example of defaulters.
Corrupt Practices
Some common causes of corruption can be seen during the employment process of an organization. They invite so many people to send their CVs and come for interviews but only people with the same political affiliation with them get the job.
This is also common with companies that ask for contractors to bid for a project but the employees will only give them to their friends who may not even bid at all.
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES
Ethical principles underpin all professional codes of conduct. Ethical principles may differ depending on the profession; for example, professional ethics that relate to medical practitioners will differ from those that relate to lawyers or real estate agents
Importance of Ethics in the Workplace
Workplace ethics are an incredibly important part of forming a successful organization with satisfied and loyal team members. High ethical standards can help stakeholders, like employees, investors, customers and other individuals involved with workplace operations feel that the organization is safeguarding their interests. By purposefully building ethical guidelines in their structure, organizations can keep their employees' best interests in mind while maintaining a positive influence on those they impact through their processes.
Employee satisfaction
When organizations express their commitment to maintaining high ethical standards, they usually treat employees better and encourage staff to act laterally under the same premises. These ethical standards help establish a certain expectation for how organizational operations affect stakeholders' wellbeing and personal interests. When organizations and stakeholders follow through in upholding ethical standards, they can create a workplace environment where individuals feel respected, heard and satisfied in their roles. With this higher rate of satisfaction, organizations can often reduce staff turnover and more easily attract new, talented candidates to work for them.
Improved workplace culture
As stated above, when organizations act responsibly and ethically, leaders and employers typically follow suit. This can help significantly improve workplace culture overall. For instance, if an organization expresses their ethical commitment to diversity, inclusion and equality, stakeholders may feel responsible for upholding the same ethical standard. They may begin to hold organizational leaders accountable for ethically discrepant actions or start to examine their own behaviors more closely. This type of interaction can help organizations strengthen their initiatives overall and create a robust ethical culture for their workforce where stakeholders feel safe, protected and engaged.
Maintaining legal compliance
Often, the ethical standards that organizations set out for themselves correspond directly with legal guidelines. For example, a manufacturing company that expresses a strong commitment to eco-friendly practices sustainability may also be subject to complying with legal guidelines for sustainable waste removal procedures to avoid environmental pollution. Therefore, when organizations establish strong ethical codes of conduct, they often fall in line with the legal regulations set out for them by official governing bodies and receive the dual benefit of complying with their legal obligations.
Improved public reputation
When organizations set out clear ethical standards for their workplace, they can typically enjoy an improved public image. In recent years, consumers and society more generally have become increasingly concerned with how organizations treat their employees and act accountably toward the public.
Customer engagement and loyalty
If an organization is client-facing, instilling specific ethical workplace standards can help encourage increased customer engagement and loyalty. Often, customers will be more willing to engage with explicitly ethical companies than those with fewer ethical initiatives. As mentioned above, when companies serve their employees and stakeholders with accountability and responsibility, they can garner a certain level of respect in their public reputation.
Streamlined decision-making processes
When organizations establish ethical codes of conduct in the workplace, they foster a culture designed to uphold such standards. These guidelines can help organizational leaders make streamlined decisions and solve problems efficiently when challenges arise. When leaders have specific ethical expectations set out for them, they can use these expectations to direct their choices and manage conflicts with simplicity. Such streamlined decision-making processes can lead to a high level of organizational consistency in the long term.
Do Not Steal or Waste Resources
Human Relations Soft Skills/Transferable Skills
Work Ethic Qualities
Honestly
Flexibility
Responsibility
Reliability
Teamwork
Commitment and Excellence
Behavior of employees
Wages, benefits and working conditions
Employee treatment
Code of Ethics
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