In workstations, fundamental ethical issues include encouraging conduct based upon trust and integrity, empathetic resolution-making, accepting diversity, governance, and compliance, consistent with the core values. On the other hand, ethical principles encompass general standards of wrong and right, describing the behavior type a moral person should and should not engage in at the workplace. The guidelines direct making choices and form the criteria under which the conclusions will be judged. In-office, colleagues judge one’s character as vital to sustainable performance since it is the basis of credibility and confidence. Unethical conduct in the workplace might permeate business operations, practices, and employee relationships. The primary purposes of this paper are to identify ethically questionable behavior I encountered in the workplace, explain the ethical issues and principles violated by the chosen behavior, and provide ways to solve the problem.
The observed unethical conduct was harassment and discrimination of workers based on ethnicity and disability. Harassment in the office is prohibited under federal and state legislation since it creates an offensive working environment. All organizations must be aware of equal opportunity regulations and laws to protect employees from unfair treatment (Roscigno, 2019). Some of the provisions include; individuals with disabilities should be given equal treatment and accommodation, compensation for similar work not considering race, and consistent worker treatment despite their ethnicity, gender, identity, and pregnancy. Some of the principles violated in the case above are honesty and integrity. The executives must be candid, truthful, and forthright in their actions and communications. Also, they should not deliberately mislead but provide relevant data and actual misapprehensions of fact. Keeping integrity calls for moral courage and inner vigor to perform the right thing even when it costs more. Besides, the managers live by these guidelines regardless of tremendous pressure to do otherwise. Ethical chiefs should be honorable, moral, principled and upright, and fight for their beliefs.
Furthermore, leaders are not supposed to exercise authority arbitrarily or indecently to take advantage of other people’s difficulties. They should therefore demonstrate a commitment to justice and tolerance at the workplace. Leaders are required to be open-minded and show a willingness to admit where they go wrong and, where appropriate, adjust accordingly. If discrimination occurs, it means that there is no respect. Managers ethically show respect for human privacy, dignity, and rights. The managers should be courteous and strive to treat other people the way they desire to be treated. They should be law-abiding and safeguard and build the reputation of the firm and the morale of the employees. Finally, managers should attempt to avoid deeds that could undermine respect and adopt affirmative procedures to prevent inappropriate conduct of other individuals.
Unethical behaviors may damage an organization’s credibility, making the business lose clients and eventually shut down. However, owners of companies, together with the management teams, may work closely with workers to prevent them. One of the measures is initiating a code of behavior that gives managers and workers an outline of the institution’s type of behaviour. The code should define what actions are intolerable, and the consequences in case an employee goes against them. The business owners should make ethics-based resolutions and monitor the persons in the leadership. Again, the management must hold their workers responsible when they act unethically. This will involve orienting the new workers of the rules in their orientation sessions. The management has to make sure that the recruits understand the repercussions of policy violations. Some of the adverse effects I noticed from the colleague encompass low morale, anxiety, absenteeism, and animosity.
The questionable conduct could be handled differently by initiating programs for appreciating workers regularly to encourage loyalty. In addition, I would come up with schedules for trainers in ethics to visit the workplace to enlighten the labor force on the importance of ethics in business. The trainer schedules would involve motivational speaking, handouts, videos, and role-playing to demonstrate the significance of working ethically. The interviewers should consider the candidate’s values to match the organization’s culture in the hiring process. Also, the interviewers should ensure that the new hire believes in functioning diligently to earn a living and is prepared to comply with company’s policies. Other steps entail making sure the workplace policy is adequately enforced, dealing with any complaints of discrimination confidentially, and educating the workers on the effects of discrimination on themselves and the company at large. Also, inspire workers to accommodate other people’s differences and coach directors on responding to harassment in offices.
In conclusion, handling ethical issues in the workstation demands a cautious and steady approach to potentially illegal aspects. Avoiding ethical problems and concerns always begins with top management and trickles down to employees. Provision of clearly written processes and policies that ensure that they are both adhered to and acknowledged shall ensure transparency and that the practices are applied. The positive response is to keep an individual’s values and fight off intolerant ones by providing an alternative, comprehensive outlook as the best preference.
Reference
Roscigno, V. J. (2019). Discrimination, sexual harassment, and the impact of workplace power. Socius, 5, 2378023119853894. Web.