Work Ethics

“Morality is largely a matter of geography” Elbert Hubbard

OVERVIEW

Implementing ethics in the workplace is a complex but rewarding task. Every individual
has a unique set of ethical standards. Allowing each person to follow his or her moral
compass will result in varied results. Companies need to focus on implementing
uniform ethical standards and rules throughout their organizations. Employees should
never have to question whether or not they are doing the right thing.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

 Define ethics and identify the process by which individuals develop the
foundation for making ethical decisions

 Identify common types of unethical behavior in the workplace

INTRODUCTION

Work Ethics

Good work ethics involve determining what is right or wrong in the workplace,
then doing the right thing. The work ethic is a cultural norm that places a
positive moral value on doing a good job and is based on a belief that work has
intrinsic value for its own sake (Cherrington, 1980; Quinn, 1983, Yankelovich &
Immerwahr, 1984). Ethical behavior includes following personal and
professional codes of ethics, such as being honest, maintaining good
attendance (and explaining any absences), starting work on time and being
productive while at work, keeping confidential matters to yourself, avoiding
gossip and disputes, following workplace rules and regulations, respecting your
co-workers, and keeping your promises. In today’s work setting, employees
need to have a strong work ethic. This is important because we are in the
“information age,” where employees often set their own schedules; work with
less direct supervision, and frequently experience change and innovation in
their work.

Why Ethics Are Important

A work ethic, especially a positive work ethic, is important from a business

perspective for the confidence it breeds in clients and consumers. Your positive
attitude and dedication to a client's needs or creation of a product can boost
your business' reputation as a company that deals honestly and fairly. Ethics
also work to build a moral compass within a business and helps discourage
attitudes and business models that seek to cut corners in the name of making a
profit.

Impact for Employers

Employers who emphasize a positive work ethic must be absolute in

maintaining the environment for it to thrive according to the Global Ethics
University. This means a business can allow no room for moral ambiguity,
rationalization or ego in its positive work ethics model. Otherwise the strategy
may fail. Just one rogue executive taking excessive privileges, such as private
trips on a company plane, can ruin all the good will built by a positive work
ethic.

Effects Around the Office

Ethics spring from within and are difficult to teach in the traditional sense
according to All About Philosophy's website. That doesn't mean a positive work
ethic can't be contagious. An employee who accepts each job with equal
tenacity and dedication forces co-workers to follow suit or risk being left
behind. A worker who does all this with a smile on his face can help others to
enjoy the job a little more, thereby increasing productivity and worker morale.

Five Characteristics of Having Good Work Ethics

When you have a good work ethic, you are dedicated to job that you deem
valuable. You hold yourself to high standards of responsibility. You also keep
yourself accountable for getting work done right and on time, and for making
good business decisions that help people and companies succeed. Having a
solid work ethic means you understand that productivity, organizational skills,
being reliable and possessing good character are all attributes that successful
people share.

Honest

Stealing personal property, sabotaging a coworker's client presentation, or

taking someone's idea and making it your own are all ways that dishonesty
creeps into the workplace. Employees with strong ethics refrain from lying or
cheating to make others look bad in the hopes of making themselves appear
smarter. Instead, they take responsibility for mistakes, own up to failures and
keep the lines of communication open with everyone involved. Refrains From
Gossip Workplace gossip can be destructive. When employees gossip about
their peers, bosses or even clients, it's considered deviant behavior. An
employee with good workplace ethics refuses to engage in gossip or even listen
it. This person will encourage others to mind their own business, or else
address the person or situation head-on so that assumptions and badmouthing
can stop. Doing so helps eliminate resentment among coworkers and helps
keep morale up.

Values Diversity

People with a good work ethic understand the importance of a diverse

workplace. When you value everybody's contributions -- regardless of ability,
age, gender or race -- it allows for more creativity and better problem solving.
Diversity in the workplace contributes to successful client interactions. Overall,
employee morale is higher.

Respect Others

An employee with a strong work ethic is rarely late. You respect everyone's
time, from coworkers to clients to interviewees. You're also polite,
conscientious of people's feelings and considerate of workers in a shared
workspace. In addition, someone with a strong work ethic uses time wisely so
that deadlines are met. You'll keep personal phone conversations quiet and not
disrupt others. Out of respect, you'll also hear and consider everyone's
opinions.

Cooperative

Having a good work ethic means you cooperate with others. While work may
not always be satisfying or enjoyable, you see the bigger picture and do what is
necessary for the team and company. Instead of debating every issue and
finding reasons why things can't get done, you use strong conflict resolution
skills to solve problems and manage the workload.

Work ethic attributes are universally desired in the places people work, but
there are many questions about how it is developed or where it comes from.
When people exhibit a poor work ethic or behave in ways that are detrimental
to productivity, co-workers and supervisors are quick to notice. When
employers are considering hiring a person or providing training for current
employees, work attitudes and work ethic are often an important
consideration. Finding appropriate strategies for teaching work ethic with
adolescents or adults can be a challenging task however. It is relatively easy to
identify approaches for teaching people to use a spreadsheet or operate a
machine, but to help people consider making personal changes in attitudes or
personal traits is difficult.

Starting up:

A. Below is a list of unethical activities. In your opinion, which are the

worst? Are any common in your country?

1. Finding ways of paying as little tax as possible

2. Using your work computer or phone for private purposes (e.g. online
shopping)

3. Accepting praise for someone else’s ideas or work

4. Selling something as genuine when you know it is not

5. Using your influence to get jobs for friends or relatives (nepotism)

6. Phoning in sick at work when you are not ill

7. Not telling the truth about your age or experience on an application form

8. Paying people in cash for jobs done around the home in order to reduce
the cost

9. Not saying anything when you are charged too little for something by
mistake
 10.Claiming extra expenses (e.g. getting a taxi receipt for more than the
actual fare)

B. Are some jobs/professions more ethical than others? How ethical do

you think these professions are? Which are seen as more/ less ethical in
your country?

Accountant civil engineer lawyer police officer banker estate agent

nurse university lecturer soldier car sales executive journalist doctor
taxi driver

C. Look at the situations. Which do you think are the most serious? Why?

 A new contact suggests that a payment into his private bank account
will enable a company to win a valuable supply contact.

 An employee informs some friends about a company takeover before

it is generally known so they can buy shares and make a profit.

 A company is making copies of luxury branded products and selling

them in street markets.

 A group of rival mobile phone companies get together and agree to

charge approximately the same amount for a range of services and
packages.

 A company tells the authorities that it is making a lot less profit than it
actually is.

D. Read the headline and subheading of the article. Predict five words
connected to dishonesty that will appear in the article.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
 Check the article to see if you were correct. Underline all the words in
the article connected with dishonesty.

The ethics of résumé writing

It’s never OK to lie on a résumé. But what about stretching the truth?
By Clinton D. Korver

How much can you “dress up” your résumé to make to yourself as strong as
possible without crossing the ethical line of deception? Consider a few conflicting
thoughts:

 Over 50% of people lie on their résumé

 A Monster.com blog about the dangers of lying on your résumé elicited 60

comments from job seekers recommending lying and only 46 discouraging
it. Recommenders justified lying by claiming: everyone else is doing it,
companies lie about job requirements, and it’s hard to get a good job.

 Executives caught lying on their résumés often lose their jobs.

If you are reading this blog, you probably are not tempted by dishonesty. But what
about the following:

 Claiming a degree that was not earned because you did most of the work and
were only a few credits short.

 Creating a more impressive job title because you were already doing all of the
work of that position.

 Claiming a team’s contributions as your own, because other members did not
carry their weight.

 Inflating the number of people or range of functions for which you had direct
responsibility because you really did have a great deal of influence over them.

These are called rationalizations –constructing a justification for a decision you suspect
is really wrong. You create a story that sounds believable but doesn’t pass close
examination. You begin to fool yourself. You develop habits of distorted thinking.
So where is the line? You need to decide that for yourself. Here are some tests to keep
your thinking clear:

 Other-shoe test: How would you feel if the shoe where on the other foot and you
were the hiring manager looking at this résumé? What assumptions would you
draw and would they be accurate?

 Front-page test: Would you think the same way if the accomplishment in
question were reported on the front page of the Wall Street Journal? Or your
prior employer’s internal newsletter?

But wait, you say. My résumé doesn’t quite pass these tests, but there is something real
underneath my claims, and I do not want to sell myself short.

When in doubt, ask an old boss. While asking an old boss may be difficult, it has many
benefits. Precisely because it is difficult, it forces you to think clearly and sometimes
creatively. Asking also checks the accuracy of your claims, trains your old boss in how to
represent you during reference checks, and sometimes your old boss may give you
better ways to represent yourself.
From Business Week

Read the article again and answer the questions.

1. What reasons are given for not being totally honest on your CV?

2. What can happen to senior managers who lie on their CVs?

3. Which of the four rationalizations do you think is the most serious? Why?

4. What happens to you when you start using rationalizations?

5. What are the advantages of asking an old boss?

Answer key:
 1. People justify being dishonest on their CV by the fact that
everyone does it, even companies lie about the job requirements.
They also believe that it help them get a good job.

2. People start being dishonest and learn bad habits.

3. ./.

4. ./.

5. Asking an old boss pushes you to organize your thoughts to be

clear and straightforward and become more creative.

Decide what you would do in each of the following situations.

1. You discover that one of your top employees, who has done an excellent
job the last 15 years, lied about their qualifications when she joined the
company.

2. One of your employees, who is not a good worker, has asked you to give
him a good reference. You would be happy if this employee left the
company.

Practice

Making Informed Ethical Decisions

Scenarios
For all scenarios, assume you are employed by Best Computer Systems, a large
computer manufacturing company with approximately 1000 employees. The
company is located in a large metropolitan area.

CASE 1: Lorna is an administrative assistant in the Human Resources

Department. Her good friend, Bill, is applying for a job with the company and
she has agreed to serve as a reference for him. Bill approaches her for advice on
preparing for the interview. Lorna has the actual interview questions asked of
all applicants and considers making him a copy of the list so he can adequately
prepare.

CASE 2: Emily works in Quality Control. Once a year, her supervisor gives away
the refurbished computers to the local elementary school. No specific records
are kept of this type of transaction and Emily really needs a computer for her
son who is in college. Her supervisor asks her to deliver 12 computer systems to
the school.

CASE 3: Marvin is the secretary in the Facilities Management Department. He

has just received a new computer and wants to try it out. Though his supervisor
has a strict policy about computer use for business purposes only, he wants to
learn the e-mail software more thoroughly than his training can provide. One
good way to do this, he figures, is to write e-mail messages to his friends and
relatives until he gets the knack of it. He is caught up on all his work and only
has 30 minutes left to work today. His supervisor left early.

CASE 4: Richard and Conway are talking in the hallway about the employee
benefits program. Conway, who has had some recent financial trouble, explains
to Richard how the benefits program has a loophole that will allow him to
receive some financial assistance that he really needs to help pay health care
costs for his mother. Cathy, a fellow worker, overhears the conversation. Later,
Cathy is approached by her supervisor who says he heard a rumor that some
people were A taking advantage of the company benefits program.

CASE 5: Jennie was recently hired to work as a receptionist for the front lobby.
As receptionist, she is responsible for making copies for the associates. Her son,
Bruce, comes in and needs some copies for a school project. He brought his
own paper and needs 300 copies for his class. If he doesn’t bring the copies
with him, he will fail the project. The company copier does not require a
security key nor do they keep track of copies made by departments.
ðSteps for Making Ethical Decisions

1. Identify the ethical issue or problem.

2. List the facts that have the most bearing on the decision.

3. Identify anyone who might be affected by your decision and how.

4. Explain what each affected person would want you to do about the issue.

5. List three alternative actions and identify the best and worst case scenario for each
alternative, anyone who would be harmed by this choice (and how), any values that
would be compromised by selecting this alternative and any automatic reasons why
this alternative should not be selected (legal issues, rules, etc.).

6. Determine a course of action