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Today more than ever the media is filled with stories of corporate scandals and ethical dilemmas in organizations, and the issue is not just related to large for-profit corporations, small, and not-for-profit organizations have been experiencing similar concerns.
These stories reflect poorly on the organizations and the individuals involved.
Common attitudes regarding ethics: Pretending that an act is not really
unethical
Excusing an action by saying it is in the organization’s best interest
Assuming the behavior is okay if no one finds out about it
Expecting a supervisor to support and protect the wrongdoing
Reasons employees engage in unethical behavior:
To meet organizational goals and schedules
To help the organization survive
To comply with a management directive
Ethics involve a complex set of internal & external variables
Each person’s basic system of personal values serves as a guide to everyday behavior. These values give direction to life and become particularly important in situations where the need to choose among two or more possible courses of action exists.
In teams, complete the worksheets assigned and be prepared for group discussion
An Ethics Model
Personal or Organizational
Value System
Responsibility to Others
Behaviors, Actions, Policies, & Practices
“Concepts and Graph reprinted by Permission of ASTD Press – Ethics for Trainers.”
At the center of the Ethics Model are values.
Both individuals (Personal), and organization (organizational) operate from a value system
But they tend to be different
A Value System: Individuals at work operate based on personal
work values, including:◦ Honesty◦ Friendliness◦ Respect◦ Self- directedness◦ Trust◦ Self-interest◦ Helpfulness◦ Balance between work & family life
Organizations operate from the following values:◦ Service◦ Safety◦ Quality◦ Diversity◦ Respect◦ Profit
Awareness depends upon the degree to which values have been internalized by employees and the degree to which an individual feels inconsistency with the organizational value system, or with his/her own value system.
Responsibility to Others: Individual: family, friends, the community, and
society at large. Employee: self, clients, co-workers, supervisors
and the organization. Organization: shareholders (stakeholders),
members, employees, suppliers, customers.
The potential for conflict among these audiences is significant
Behaviors, Actions, Policies and Practices: This is the layer in which a formal code of conduct is utilized to manifest individual behaviors, professional practices, and organizational decisions and actions.
A process to think through the situations and dilemmas faced in the workplace.
The Ethic of Justice: “How shall we govern ourselves?” Right vs. Wrong – Include the six stages of justice:1. Punishment & obedience: the threat
of punishment is what guides
2. Individual instrumental purpose & exchange: own interest may not agree
3. Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships and conformity: the right thing is that which is good
4. Social system: what is the greater good for society
5. Prior rights and social contract: “what makes a good society” – ethics & morals vs. the law
6. Universal ethical principles: principles of respect for other people. Commitment to the principle over the law
The Ethic of Care: has to do with quality of life and fidelity to individuals, “ What is good versus what is bad for the other person,” “What do our relationships require of us?” It requires acknowledging and honoring the dignity of each person.
Focal Points – cultural enrichment, individuality, loyalty, human potential, human dignity, empowerment, and environment.
The Ethic of Evaluation: “Who controls?” “What legitimates?” “Who defines?” “What groups dominate?” “Who defines value in a situation?” “What groups. If any, have advantages over
others?”
Aware of injustices embedded in the system - Racism, classism, sexism
Behaving ethically enacts a complex set of variables that requires an individual level of awareness that the situation should be questioned.
Ethical Codes – codes designed as a guide to support day-to-day decision making at work. •They clarify values and principles. They are not designed as formulas for providing simplistic answers to complex ethical dilemmas.
Components of Codes: can have legal benefits, lead to increased job satisfaction, decreased observation of misconduct, decreased pressure to violate ethical standards.
Codes and openness around them can enable employees to ask questions and seek guidance, and enable management to set expectations.
Typical topics: Safety Policy
Definitions of conflict of interest & confidential information
Policies related to product and services offerings
Polices related to the use of company assets
Employment policies and procedures
Typical topics: Policies and procedures related to
relationships with other employees, vendors and contractors
Policies related to gifts, gratuities, and entertainments
Policies to political contributions and activity
Regulatory and compliance matters
Ways to judge the quality of a potential decision:
1.Is what I am about to do legal?
2.Would I be ashamed if my mother knew that I had done this?
3.Will this decision pass the scrutiny of my manager?
The Compliance Filter: Will the decision be legally acceptable?
The Policy Filter: Is this decision acceptable in light of the organization’s policies, procedures and guidelines?
The Values Filter: Will the decision or action conform to the organization’s values?
The Self: Will the decision or action satisfy my personal values?
The practice of safety often has an ethical component.
Often, the most ethical route is obvious, such as the choice between a legal option and an illegal one.
Other times, multiple considerations may cloud a decision.
The safety profession is more black and white than we are led to believe.
In some instances, we have grayed our profession in order to accommodate the variances that we see management react to. Instead of standing up for what we believe to be the ethical choice of action, safety professionals may have a propensity, in order to survive in the organization, for compromise.
Some in the profession suggest that when safety considerations come up against productivity and quality concerns, the latter two usually win out.
This approach incorporates ethical decision points into the work process, providing multiple opportunities to stop and consider the most ethical course of action.
The process begins with significant shifts in safety culture at all levels of the organization.
Personal ethics play a critical role in safety performance.
Even in an environment where safety was not necessarily a top priority for management, a first-line supervisor with a personal commitment to safety could make a positive difference.
◦ Andrew Kapp, associate professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Safety professionals need to take on the role of change agents, which sometimes means working in places that lack a strong commitment to safety.
Safety professionals do not have to sacrifice their jobs because they disagree with an employer, but they have a moral responsibility to make their objection known.
Public Health, Safety and Welfare—Compliance with Fire CodeCase No. 08-12
"Reprinted by Permission of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) www.nspe.org.”
