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CHAPTER miKsiole Ethical Issues jn Human Resource Management* INTRODUCTION At different points of time in the history and evolution of modern management, different management fine. tions such as marketing, finance, production, etc, have hogged the limelight. For a very long time marketing function had ruled the roost. Financial management too has been considered as the kingpin of organizational strength. However, in recent times, with increasing globalization and integration of global economies with ‘one another, the growing importance of knowledge management, and the need to find and put in place cutting-edge brainpower, has placed human resource management (HRM) on a high pedestal, Human resource with the requisite qualification, managerial expertise and experience is inereasingly becoming scarce vis-a-vis the growing demand for it. You can organize and manage successfully industries without natural resources, as the Japanese have demonstrated. Capital can be procured without a problem if you offer safe return with high interest rates. But to manage all these resources successfully you need an inele ligent, efficient and committed human resource without which land will be barren, capital unused and the organization rudderless. There isa virtual talent hunt today to man the sunrise industries with compensations rising almost every quartet. Blue-chip companies like IBM and Infosys are entrusting HRM to trusted ior-most executives, as they consider the function the most important for their organizations’ future growth, That is why on a global level, there is a demand for superior human resource. That is also the why HRM as a managerial function has acquired an enviable and coveted status. In a nutshell, HRM come on its own today. DEFINITION What is HRM? To define it formally, HRM is engaged in the process of identification and development table manpower resources within the parameters of the socio-legal framework of the 0 Differently stated, HRM refers to the principles, policies, practices as well as the systems that it ‘employees’ behaviour, attitudes and performance. In other words, itis a management function involving recruitment of suitable human resources, training, developing and sustaining their competencies, 0 “The author thankfully acknowledges the inputs provided by Mary Rajesekaran for writing this chapter. Scanned wth CamSeanner FTHICAL SSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 497 rem — Collective: Coa Paige Workplace cute Grievance alten Motivation ‘and Incentives Recruitment Role of functional areas el Contracts of ing ‘employment Fo. 181 Staff welfare “a rats Msttoceted escriptons, Monogement el Functions the organization for achieving its overall objecti continued commitment to Broadly, HRM functions include recruitment, selection, training and development, handling of compen- sation issues, personnel performance appraisal, staff welfare, business law, industrial and labour relations ‘Therefore, it incorporates s ch management functions as manpower forecasting, recruiting, selecting, taining ‘valuating, compensating, and, of course, facilitating conducive employee-employer relations. a Themain aim of HRM is to develop an understand afl the performance of a business, as shown in Fig nd appreciation of how management functions ean GENESIS AND GROWTH OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HRM as a management function and as a too! of corporate administration has gone through an eventful evo- {utionary process over time. Prior to the 1970s, this managerial function was referred to by its traditional | tomenclature namely, Personne! Management or Personnel Administration. After 1990, it has been referred ‘as Human Resource Management since it covers a much wider and at the same time more inclusive areas | ‘ofpeople management, that is, the energies, skills, knowledge, talent and imagination of people in enterprises. ‘The growth and evolution of HRM is traced as follows: * 1890-1910: It was during the late 19th century that Frederick W. Taylor formulated scientific manage- ‘ment. This scientific management included a careful selection of employees; finding out the best method ‘of doing the job; systematic training of workers; provision of suitable implements; and giving adequate rewards for good performance. * 1910-30: These two decades witnessed greater importance being given othe welfare of workers, Industrial ‘and improvements in the mode of recruitment procedures also emerged during this period. * 1930-45: The underlying principle of Hawthorne studies started gaining momentum in personnel man- ‘@gement in an industrial organization during this period. These studies took cognizance oft oes change in the performance of a group of persons taking part in an experiment or study, due 0 Perception of being singled out for special consideration. Greater emphasis ‘was given to motivating factors affecting worker productivity. 7 ‘Scanned with CamScanner 498 RUSINESS ETHRES AN INOAN PRARAECTIVE retry thowe sw cones 09 oT DA a ggg 8 1945-68) More ennphasin wane pl ee er tintons co ai eeora. Compensation ant benoit start! goln/¥d SNOT "and Obtain paid vacations, pa hotiay’s anti juranioe cOverdize \ fi av aiematie action became crucial human resour 2 1905-85) Lqual employment opportunity re Mite States The enhanced employee Fights during rod Sta daring snyent responsibilities, & esult of legal batt first trend was the increased dive perio! were the Fe 1985-2008; Three t ‘ot the labour foree, ne the acwomnpanyiny (ee Function’, which catled for the integral os, fitense competition 3 aula impactent wecond was the globalizatigg strategic with rapid chang as scisions tried to ensuite the balance of power b During this perio new employment rights and leg de Feomedd this development as a means to provide an impetusig employer and employee. HR professionals wel Sa pip between the erpeyer and he employee by Providing ideal opportunity to revisit and app centightened managerialism in employinent practi Faratfe to this global evolution of HRM, there were ee vent function in India too, In the 1990s for instan Ni preutivity thro elter management of Human resus and pressure for increas to cops ain transformatory changes in the organizational «the emphasis of HRM showed a definite shifty nia human values |UMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT following seven functions SCOPE OF Ht! The vast scope of HRM can be summarized to inelude the weeds; determining human resoure attracting potential employees; choos teaching preparing; rewarding; evaluating performance; and e work environment, ng employees; APE EPR creating a PX DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT pects of human resource management are as follows: The variou tional demand and labour force supply of potential employees, to identify suitable poo! of applicants quick. es est among job-related nd, ace 1. Attempts to forecast organ Recruitment: The aim of recruitment practices effectively, and legally. Selection involves assessing and choosing the b Gates, To be effective, the selection processes must be both legal and technically sout matching people's skills with available positions, ‘ 43. Training and development practices are designed to improve organizations! by enfant the knowledge and skill levels of employees. A firm must fist determine its training and thet sclect/develop training programmes to meet these needs. It also must take steps to ensure that apply what they have learnt on the job. 4. “Learning organizations’; By definition, learning organizations ref on an on-going basis, attempt to learn new things and apply this service quality. Key features of a learning organization are: emp! another; the existence or creation of procedures for gaining and s| being encouraged to think critically and to test their assumptions i I performance: fer to agenci Jearning to im loyees share le haring knowledge: in the organization ported by the mana al et ‘ment; a system of rewards existing within the organization and supt {employees learn new skills; the encouragement of flexibility and innovation ame"™ empl isuring the development the development of new products and services; and, a focus on en} employee. ‘Scanned with CemScanner ss iroaporetitca rinccemites Depa rine totosccrone ee eerie: sais ad the compensation of employees. es and son's stategie goals. Employees will often evaluate Y pores among industry eon f faing \petitors. As such, employee sat ca oes ot ime a ea eee icra Dend these diaraes PeoPle with different skills, abilities 25 to . Motivation: An important part of the ret, {ecism at work, is ensuring that start increasing wages is not the only way sating through ‘money’ cther to enable the organization fention of staff. red Properly mot motivate. itis inated That tutnover and minimizing absen- 2 far mores Bots easy as it sounds, Merely complex issue than merely eompens pIFFERENT FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF HRM AheHIR department plays vital ole nthe smooth functioning Figures 15.2 and 15.3 illustrate the role of HR’ they M in . different fun Sone tional areas oh fictional areas ement of an organization, EMERGING CHALLENGES OF HRM. HRM is one ofthe management functions that is underwo, ofthe challenges that confront HR professionals ing dramatic cha and their pecome an absolute necessity for organizations b inte to shed extra ft indischarge of workers with attendant problems: (ii) Me anitheneed for reconciling to multiple work ethos; (iv) newer organizatinnel oy ‘ unchallenges to workforce; (v) increasing emphasis on total quality m 1 inthe organization to get attuned to the rules of the game: (.1) chee ability to get adjusted to them; (vii) changing workforce profile co ucturing has lab and to | al ook lean and comp. fers and acquisitions that tive resulting ure shocks s and strateg es pose their id the need for everyone ing job profiles and th r sequent on structural eh; anagement need for and anges that have to Customer service ‘Administration and IT Human resources Production Soles and marketing Finance and accounts eee Funct Se ‘iaasaet ‘Scanned with CemScanner ETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 429 squeqdwon sonpy ‘sounbu3 sors Jeuy vonnaiasia scanosy uewnH Ai pue uuipy t uogeounuuwe Eunewioes SS2:N0SSY IeOIshYd uuu Suideey piooay Suuodey pue Buipsooey BOR FOUR! Aunoas uondeoey quowsBeueyy sore1s3 ousag sewojsng voqonpolg Bunoyen pue sares soinosay UEUINH qwowdojerag pue yaseasoy ssunenoy pue eoueu4 Li pue uonensiumpy t Spaen jeydeg © mauriano joaue9 Aajeng pue suojeoiddy 1| S°NOsey UEWNH © yuouldojonag pue Yoleasax Bunswey 9 seres 4) pue uonensiumupy sjunooay pue soueuly ade ee eam eoueuly Bussiey ‘sjuncooy Buuedsies ‘eunypuadc3 Buuoyuoyy enueney/awoouy BuvoWuoW mold YseO, 1) pue uonensiuwipy uononpoid seomnosey UeWNH © ry vowerorduy sonposa wewdojanaq tanned many pole weal s3ies ee Peppy anien aBequenpy aniedwoo sueo fous Busse. yonpol wwewanosduonpoid qweudojaneq yonpold MON uowonpoie 1 pue uonensimupy ‘ Suu JeaiGojoyoksg « Bupug yobue, ‘Shjg 3809 © Busou voanquiueg « Suug uondiosay « Buus «| opowolg Buoud voneseueg « wareasay ney Suroud aninaduiog « uogonpolg SajBerens Bud | pUE uoENSILIMIpY Suwon, suown apes. BOM 40 SuoKIPUCD 1 Raye pue yea} ‘oinlag Jauioysng 4) pue vonensiumupy ‘junoooy pue eoueu4 [ses -2u2isn0 A pue uonensiuuipy ‘vononpoie) ‘sjunosoy pue Soueul jueudojeneg pue yaseasay| [Suneneripue sejes] [ seomosay uewney seary jeuoyouns ‘Scanned wih CamScanner ETHICAL SSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. 431 of the global industrial se ged 10 bE part ofthe global industria! soni, (vitiy pons event evens Cutie thy i gl on ng use of information technolgey ya el increasing emphasis on koe an st changing Mnereasing role of women employees in {any traditional HIRM practices hitherto fole ering mth ‘he very nature of work delivery in orgin- nanagement and q iio t Keep pace with the fi ‘ i world. he need for acquisition and use of ro all important challenges HR profession), thee Te ip these terms of education ang ety an 10 suocee © “d in overcoming them, they challenges are impregnated {se oF infoem This will create an nd their dependants, Al these challenges, meal ong with the ato aR ata’, follow inter taining ate restruturn indeed need formanpower at least in the nun Pe eesdi is ecivcd withthe oe ring to w rows call fora clear understanding and appreciate ie fo solve them by creating a winswin gas Fax [51 shows how India's premier industrial pater workspots. and increasing tcp vorkers au lation of the rele tation for all con, house, they rationally accepted HR norms And grow talent in furiously come ing mengers and a ermal job market and in building IKA route, their employees worked for u Gen Ys tn the next 15 years, there will be a si ‘people companies are ‘On the face of it, these young people may look crazy and wayward but they bring ina new way of atic companies will need to understand and tap well in future Tee are trying their best to understand are being offered to students from HBS and Wharton ob market: The rationale being its beter o lose to a group ‘company rather than to-an outsider € mobility, within group, within company. The flexibility nd o internal job market allows employees t ypenness to make that happen is doubt with just 50-60 jobs being listed nificant shift in the kind of fo get access to intemal vacancies and app for it—it's Fight now F Ata time when India Inc is reaching out to global sits for technical anda see as ERAS inshaGH Salant room their employes, ody. Tatas have tied up witha variety of instuts glotlly—the Insti (INSEAD), Ross Business School, Nanyang Technological University Kellogg, and MIT. e: Invest in identifying and honing tomorrow’ leaders. Throwing more ma ly-starved market is never going to be a good solution, Tatas have ple ‘Scanned wih CemScanner 482 BUSINESS ETHICS—AN INDIAN PERSPECIVE OF HR PROFESSIONALS inherited in recent times, the HR functio voing a metamorphosis. Its very pr hhad to deal with the problem of plenty to CHANGING PROFILE Ina knowledge-based economy such gaining considerable ground in industr asthe one India hi y, but also unde sons ot ony lei ik "Boing % rng eo ion, Goneare the dae when FIR Persons BOE 0s youth whl aan re inal the paradox of excessive svn) dated ean el jobs goabegeng, there is aot of mismatch found cope errnegtrd Jobless yout akg requisite skills, Most of them are unsuitable Bes se of a lack of softs char essential forth industries such as information technology’ “Though over the past couple of decades HRM has moved from its primarily back-office status of yg just a staffing function to a position, Where itis expected to play a crucial role in building and sh, ng te organization, it still has along way to go in the conic ofthe acute paucity of trained skilled manpoyge From focus on reeritment and in-service training, human t©£7 2c professionals now need to boadenthgy sar ard focussed (See Box 6.1). The transition fom locating also ring horizons and be outward rather than ‘alent has now moved to creating fl review the industry requirements 0 ‘lose liaison with educational and become more important now than ever an ponsiilty of HR persons to identity and cosa ys al means of marin them tag lent” Ithas become the kill sets for employees and find wa srining institutions. Attitudes, values and motivation of employes a ne i necessary that our prospective employees imbibe them ey ae arora can pay an invaluable le inthis direction by net only gauging thes, ut ako gg eninge in clloge corcul though dusty partners Such press meg te ul evolution of new learning modules and courses that are beneficial tothe industry ts. Considerable time and effort need to be spent in developing oye Human resource is India’s biggest asset snort foc to achieve significant resulls, HR professionals should use them to the country’s advantage. The aoe ve out a major role for themselves and face the challenge of harnessing the human resource forthe speedier development ofthe county. ‘From a useful service function, they can now Sect) the cenre stage sribe the key drivers that create business value for their company, and economic gnin to the nation, Makig ‘our large population base an asset and adding his should be the new role for HR professionals.” value to excellent raw material: HR-RELATED ETHICAL ISSUES ‘The ethics of HRM revolve around those ethical issues arising out of as the rights and duties owed between them. Before we go into speci HR function, let us understand the responsibility of HR executives in an organization. There is no denying the fact that HR executives have to play an active role to provide ethical leadership in the organization Such lead ership arises not only out oftheir responsibilty to keep the organization out of trouble and avay fom labour ‘welfare departments of government, but also to be seen as having a major stake in ensuring fair ‘and equitable treatment of employees without any bias or discrimination. To achieve this fairness, HR executives: should apart from having an ethical conscience, follow a well-l tid system of procedures that address the range of humalt resourte issues in the pursuit of organizational justice. ‘Achieving a balance between avoiding rule vio and developing interactional justice or felt fairness’ atthe level ofthe individual i, however, no simple ma In the context ofthe present well-established employment rights, employers may focus their attention 109 on the system of defending their decisions within organizations, who ‘with a view to continuing to be compe itive, opt to follow strategies that would optimise workforce leanness and flexibility.* ‘Ate same time, when one swears by procedural justice, HR executives may face an acute tical EME with an inerease in employment regulation, When an organization tries to be an equal ‘opportunity empl in accordance withthe law and in response to the need to ‘demonstrate equal rights in all employment ys the seope for adjusting the rules to accommodate individual needs and circumstances ca” be dT gg eee eee ‘such dilution, authorities on the subject who have researched into different ethical fr Sa dts now suggest an ethics of care with a shift in emphasis from formal system toa . cones eee oe rama Adopting a more personalized and humane app pombe eee ae ere cond aay eat Ee eee Personnel department with a greater sensitivity © © eater olerance when things go wrong. The posibilty of employees se" ‘the employer-employee relationship, suck fc issues concerning those arising outof Scanned wth CamScanner ETHICAL (39085 NI HUMAN ESONICE MANAGEMENT 498, for alleged injustices could reduce considerably if they are conv ide the organization for alleg lerably if they are convinced that their own ousst® are making genuine attempts to solve their personal concerns, “Though most of the ethical issues concerning HRM policies and activiti eat with some of them that have greater relevance in the Indian context universal in nature, we will DIsCRIMINATION ISSUES Most ofthe discrimination issues centre around discrimination on the bases of age, gender, race, religion disabilities, weight and attractiveness. These discriminations are clearly exhibited by Indian corporations in maiters of recruitments and promotions. By seeking only ‘experienced’ persons, corporations tend to weed cout youlful candidates, though they may have the requisite qualification, There are companies that do not recruit Iady candidates as they are likey to resign their jobs after marriage, or when married may seek mater. sty leave to which they are legally entitled. There are several companies that choose to employ only candi- dates belonging to a particular caste or community, But most of these practices are earried out covertly for fear of ligation. Though the threat of tigation and the attendant costs have made them deny publicly that they discriminate against minorities, women and the disabled in matters of employment, remuneration and growth prospects, the poor representation ofthese categories of people in most of the promoter-family organizations isa clear evidence to the contrary. : oe a ri ‘There are several issues relating to the discrimination of women in the work place such as sexual harass- ment that never comes to the limelight. The culprits are seldom pulled up because in a male-dominated envi- ronment the issue is never taken seriously, and also due to the fact that women subjected to sexual harassment at the workplace may be reluctant to press charges for fear of gossip and adverse publicity ‘SUPPRESSION OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE WORKPLACE Corporations often suppress the democratic rights and representation of employees in bodies that would promote the latter’s collective interests, Tempting and bribing pliable union Icaders, union busting and strike breaking are normally used by them to defeat the purpose of collective bargaining and other democratic rights of workers Privacy Issues In recent times, privacy issues are being viewed as being increasingly important in organizations, where people work long hours together and share official secrets. Privacy refers to protecting a person’s private life from intrusive and unwarranted action by others; in this context, employers. Employees may want the religious, social and political beliefs, and their personal lifestyles to be private matters and be from public gaze or from being analysed. There may be few exceptions where emplayees may grud accept such analysis only when itis an absolute necessity in the matter of job requirement There are a few areas that pose ethical dilemmas to employers pertaining to matters of privacy of their employees or any prospective employee. For instance, a firm’s need for personal information of an employee ‘may militate against his desire for privacy. Workplace surveillance through viewing them on close-circuit TVs, tapping of phones, reading of computer files without the consent of the affected employees are all breaches of the privacy of employees. There could be other contentious areas such as drug-testing, AIDS-testing and also concerns in matters of whistle-blowing, which is now being increasingly advocated as one of the means topromote corporate governance. Employee privacy is assailed today by increasing internet usage, e-mail at work, data security, employee thefis and electronic surveillance at place of work. In countries like the United States, invasion of privacy is ‘eonsidered to be a major infringement of individual rights tha is guaranteed against under law. But in countries 7 Such as India, the focus is more on employee surveillance to protect company interests, rather than on protec- tion of the employee's privacy. In the context of an organization, it would be difficult to segregate what level of information ean be which is required for business purposes and how could this be obtained. In HRM, practices such Stecruitment, performance appraisal, employee discipline management, adherence to code of conduct, Ice monitoring and exit interviews are some of the areas where employee vulnerability can be Very much misused, ‘Scanned with CemScanner asd Ness ETHCS AN NDA PERSPECT iment — oftheir vantage position in the organiza i ‘Takingadvantage of ig ; Rens si vay HRM personel from prospective em \ seh as requiing them tod nao so oct byeach her vey ats ng ep end among te OPPS: SF seeking to know his or her ing to know whether he cote ere in knowing om 8 Provesine moter y anc s st ure in job application forms and sharing nah Neeson anted details of persons or backgrounditeference checking is caste and family matters rare to have a baby, asking un ined ono the employer t0# ti Pa 1 area where the privacy of employees in Me employer todo tis, in several cases itis on ve desktop tracking, and other electronic m a monitoring ork habits and client management. These ac tivities Performance tacking is anothe some justification performance Tracking ike BPOs, call monitorin jntruded. Though there may Pe Ttnease of new age industies Ii ‘chanisms are widely used 10 Tack ‘on-job performance, b ‘larly restrict any possible misuse of onganizational resources, Dut also B= the possibilty of tracking pes paversations and messages of emplO¥CEs * privacy Issues of Computerized Employee Records With increasingly laze number of emg ters, it is a worrisome factor ‘that unauthorized persons could access employee i a es, salary data performance appraisals, drug tes real records stored in compt mation of a confidential nature Me. Another employee records issue is Accu 2 sionaly to view their personnel records 0 2 ich as home addres ‘of information. It will be ideal if employees are perma ke sure that they are timely and accurate. {employees using a broad range of electronic 100s by th 2 ming a menace to privacy even in advanced counties Tike the United Sia ara jouies are exposing the individval worker to scrutiny as opposed othe srnyence, what separates the traditional from the new age monitoring tht the boss was there; electronic monitoring can be there all the time! aware of being under surveillance, or in certain cases is going to be used. ‘when his or her privacy has been breached in the absende poses significant questions and dilemmas, Electronic Surveillance Surveillance © ‘employer is increasingly b With no relevant legislation, earlier prevalent group evaluation ‘earlier people usually knew when ‘More often than not, the employee is either un oblivious to how the data gathered about his activi Legally speaking, there is little a person can do ofa specific privacy law. To HIRM exceutives, privacy management just as it does to employees. ‘SAFETY AND HEALTH ‘One ofthe characteris of labour as a factor of predction is that thas to be delivered in Peson Toensue oor done productively, HRM executives have the responsibility to provide a safe and conducive, atmosphete apihe workplace, However, nactual practice tis shady done. Itis wellknown that much of he industrial work an pardons, Thisis de othe extensiveuse of high-speed and noisy machinery, production process req high temperature, an inereasing reliance on chemical compounds, and the nature of works such as construction, tnderground and underwater tunnelling, drilling and mining. Accidents, injuries, and illnesses are 8 oma but dismissed perfunctorily as occu: inthe very nature of such jobs. Often these are not even taken . seriously, a ‘ nal hazards’, Over the past two decades, new types of accident and illness have emerged including the fas ductivity pressure and mounting}®> Jarket case ‘growing job-safety problem of office injuries. Stress from the rising pro Sacha one roe tmuna ond csrde such as wrist pain experienced by se" ee ae Levee umber of heath problems attributed tothe use of ven dt ee Tee ae repetitive motion ha increased enormously ne last Sete es industries such as BPOs. Psychological and men ee tenet isos ncierin these stress-prone industies ee legislations have been enacted requiring managers and the govern Se eee ts and occupational hazards, Ethical dilemmas of manaee HR pr beets ed justice is denied to the vietims. For instance though it has Be ype SE esto died inhaling poisonous £38400 Ae be ES Pir nowhere near rendering justice tothe victims. Dow Chem at very litle sympathy to the miseries ofthe vietims ‘Scanned with CamScanner * NO RCS NemneNeNe At seen which gemerites weethies practices om the Ho MS eeah th Sieh w quetty eephyere rts (tee cvaheners sneha a ethical tem of tn to erakeses Themen res oy tr wtp mag Taste atp te ate gre He een an cerns gets, elle Yo 4 heen swerve sel gemene of nope crt Fee emery cones petermance review te done heath me fetes and bictbacks have all become part of orpansmunes Ne eaey ee an Pa of ornizatonl fe everyehre rations cannot afford to qxqremed by Daniel Defoe’ in the following line Ord to lose sight of the eternal tut belly Wherever God erects s house of peayer ‘The devil always builds a chapel there ‘And it will be found upon examination te The latter has the largest congregation ‘HR management at all times should be guided by the highest principles of integrity and devotion v>ohe 2 ‘welfare of the people, only then can they succeed in creating organizations which are humane fae . ‘must be realistic in their approach. They must be aware of the existen: ‘without losing sight of the stars, that is, the grandeur of human life. The art of management v proba ‘he pemest of all the arts for this reason. It has to create order and coherence out of chao» [i has De as are economic growth and banish poverty. It has to uphold the dignity of man ‘Scanned wih CamScanner 1436. BUSINESS ETHICS—AN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE ee ee ee pes eiey i] dilemmas in their day-to-dc ethical dilemmas in their ay t0-

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