Ethical and Social Responsibilities in Human Resource - Assignment Example

Ethical and Social Responsibilities in Human Resource Name: Student Number: Course Code: Word Count: Date of Submission: Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION 3 2.0 ETHICS 3 Health and Safety issues 4 Race Gender and Disability……………………………………………………..............4 Cash and Compensation plans………………………………………………..................4 Employee Responsibility and Issues……………………………………………….........5 Privacy Issues………………………………………………………………………….....5 3.0 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 6 Building Employee Trust………………………………………………………..............6 Competition and Fair Play…………………………………………………....................7 Reduced Work Waste…………………………………………………………................8 Transparency in Business Practices……………………………………………….........8 4.0 VALUES………………………………………………………………………………...........9 Communication………………………………………………………..............................9 Training and Recruitment…………………………………………………………......10 Organizational Culture…………………………………………………………...........11 Mission and Vision Statements………………………………………………...............11 5.0 SUSTAINABILITY………………………………………………………………...............12 Work-Life-Balance…………………………………………………………..................12 Individual Responsibility……………………………………………………................13 Employability…………………………………………………………….......................13 6.0 CONCLUSION.…………………………………………………………………................14 7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………………………………...........14 8.0 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………...........15 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ethical and social responsibilities are critical factors in coming up with the Human Resource policies and plans. The report gives much concentration to the strategic issues that influence development of Human Resource policies and plans. The report covers various strategic issues affecting key fields such as ethics, social corporate responsibilities, values and sustainability. Various issues such as health and safety issues, race gender and disability, cash and compensation plans, employee responsibilities and issues and privacy issues are found to affect development of policies in the field of ethics. In the field of corporate social responsibilities, issues such as building employee trust, competition and fair play, reduced work waste and transparency in business practices are identified as the strategic issues to consider. In the field of Values, issues such as communication, training and recruitment, organizational culture and mission and vision statements are also identified as important during policy making and planning. Under sustainability, strategic issues such as work-life balance, individual responsibility and employability are found to be essential. The report also recommends focus on employee welfare and neighbouring communities, embracing sustainability for continuity and diversion from profit maximization to sustainable growth. 1. INTRODUCTION Ethical and social responsibilities are two major critical factors that any organization needs to put into consideration in order to ensure sustainability. In order to meet these ethical and social responsibilities, there are various key strategic issues that any organization must address especially in relation to Human Resource policies and plans. These strategic issues are distinct in the various fields of Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), values and sustainability. The purpose of this report therefore, is to concentrate and produce research findings on how these strategic issues contribute in ensuring sustainability within organizations that embrace ethical and social responsibilities. This study is important because it ensures that the organization becomes aware of the environment around it and therefore, develops various strategies on how it can perform to create better relations. The study is based on research from various textbooks, scholarly articles, and internet sources with specific examples from different organizations. 2. ETHICS Considering all the various issues that Human Resource face in every organization, the most difficult issues to deal with are always ethical issues. Ethics is generally the study of morality based on choices made. In a business context, ethics refers to the use of moral standards in the daily operations of an organization. According to (Wathington, n.d., 2012), “Creating an organizational culture where leaders and employees collectively aspire to meet high ethical standards is both desirable and possible”. Therefore, in coming up with policies and plans, there are various ethical issues that every organization must consider. The ethical issues include health and safety issues, race gender and disability, cash and compensation plans, employee responsibility and issues and privacy issues. a) Health and safety issues Health and safety are of great importance in every employee operation in any organization. In coming up with policies, the healthy working conditions must be prioritized for continuity of operation. Every organization must define proper working hours for its employees (Lister & Demand, 2012, p1). Human resource should also ensure that the employees’ work places are safe and safety precautions are taken. This calls for proper safety equipments such as emergency exits and fire extinguishers at various strategic places. Health and safety issues also cover how the organizational operations affect the environment around it (Coates, 2011, p1). However, the majority of concern for the human resource always goes to the daily operations of the employees. b) Race, gender and disability In order to come up with effective policies and plans, human resource needs to give considerations to issues concerning race, gender and disability. It is crucial that any organization does not show any form racial prejudice since this creates a negative image to the organization. The issues concerning work distribution also should consider gender. Employees should not be discriminated based on gender (Lister & Demand, 2012, p1). Human resource therefore needs to ensure that employees get promotions or positions based on performance and knowledge and not on gender. The other part of great concern is disabilities. It is the work of human resource management to ensure that every employee is treated equally irrespective of their disabilities. Proper work should be given to the appropriate people since this will ensure proper aligning of behaviours. c) Cash and compensation plans Issues concerning salaries, incentive plans and executive perquisites always do arise in organizations. This always puts the Human Resource manager and the entire office under immense pressure (Lister & Demand, 2012, p1). It is a common occurrence to find Human Resource management in an immense pressure to increase the incentives of top management officials in order to retain them. Problems of dealing with incentives and compensation of external consultants are also visible in various organizations. Therefore, the Human Resource is always under pressure to provide favours in terms of payments to the top management compared to other employees. It is important therefore, for HR to come up with policies and plans that will ensure that such pressure and practices do not arise within the organization (Deckop, 2006, p342). d) Employee responsibility and issues Employee issues such as hiring always create dilemma and pressure to Human Resource practitioners. These practitioners sometimes find themselves in situations such as pressure from top executives to hire specific people or even families members (Ledwidge, 2007, p27). The problems always arise when after a hiring process; it is found that the documents used were faulty. A situation can also arise where an individual has gone through training and the position becomes critical or an employee is highly appreciated after short period without long term considerations. Therefore, Human Resource management should ensure that the policies and plans contain proper laid down procedures on hiring and employee promotions. The policies should also outline various activities and responsibilities of employees at various stages of the organizations. e) Privacy issues Since it is the Human Resource management that has information concerning every employee, it should aim at understanding that every employee is entitled to his/her privacy. Human Resource management should ensure that the demands of various employees are met and respected. Issues concerning religion and social beliefs of every employee must be put into consideration during policy-making and planning (Deckop, 2006, p123). The policies and plans laid down should not sideline other employees based on these factors since this leads to prejudice. 3. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate social responsibility in an organizational theory revolves around ethical, economic and discretionary expectations especially those that pertain to human resource management. These are expectations that the society place on the organization (Ledwidge, 2007, p29). The ethical concerns in this case relate to the various business duties that aim at the adherence to the available laws. It also enables avoidance of various activities that undermine the welfares of the employees. There are therefore, various key issues that Human Resource management must consider in order to ensure that it comes up with proper and effective policies and plans. These issues include building employee trust, competition and fair play, transparency in business practices and reduction in work waste. a. Building employee trust One importance of an organizational theory of ethics to an organization is its possibility to create a trusting atmosphere as an impact to its workforce. Social contract theory of ethics for example generates ethical obligations that enables enhancement of various employee interests. This concept is very essential to Human Resource management since its consideration can ensure proper generation of policies and plans that encourage employees. Encouragement to the employees will be based on the fact that they will feel motivated since the organization conducts its business practices in a responsible manner. This consideration in coming up with the policies also ensures that the efforts put all act towards the best interest of the organization as a whole and not at the interest of corporate officers only. Building employee trust is important since it aids the employees in gaining trust and a sense of security from various invasive ethical climates of the organizational falling to bankruptcy because of various accounting scandals (Ledwidge, 2007, p28). Therefore, the overall workforce cannot be left without anything as a show of faithful services throughout the years. Therefore, if this is not put into consideration, then an organization will be likely to fall as was the case with energy company Enron. b. Competition and fair play Another issue of Corporate Employee Trust that must be considered by the Human Resource Management during policy-making and planning is competition and fair play (Worthington, 2012, p1). Various policies within any organization created by Human Resource management should ensure creation of fair play among employees. Theory of ethics is important to an organization since it acts as the pillar that encourages healthy competition between employees and the entire workforce. Employees should be encouraged in competitions that outperform others through use of fair business tactics. However, these tactics should ensure that they do not depress the performance of other employees. It is only through such fair competitions that the social contract theory is continued and explored in business ethics. According to Lister & Media (2010, p1), they indicate that fair play and competition enables an organization to achieve greater levels of success and also ensures team atmosphere in the various workplaces. The concept of stockholder theory is also crucial to Human Resource management in integrating this issue to policy-making and planning. This is because consideration to this theory will ensure that the employees and the management work at specific defined rubric for the betterment of financial advancement (Mele & Garriga, 2004, p70). A proper rubric for the employees will ensure that they fair compete to meet the needs of stockholders. Therefore, competition and fair play are important aspects to consider when coming up with plans and policies within organizations. c. Reduced work waste Another issue to be considered by Human Resource management is the need to encourage employees reduced work waste. Developing practices aimed at reducing work waste by the employees is important since it enables the employees contribute in conservation of office supplies. This therefore, contributes positively in reduction of amount of goods that are disposed in the workplace. The essence of this is that it encourages every employee to be social responsible and be sensitive about their working environment (Schwartz, 2011, p209). One major contribution that this can have to the organization is increased engagement of employees and productivity. If such policies made are oriented towards reducing work waste, then employees are likely to start viewing the organization in a more positive angle. Workers will begin to correlate more constructive emotions with the organization as the organization develops socially responsible behaviour. d. Transparency in Business Practices In every organization, transparency should be a key corporate social responsibility issue for Human Resource management. Ensuring that the employees have a sound mind concerning what they do in an organization contributes greatly to the success of the organization (Worthington, 2012, p1). This therefore, indicates that an organization should be able to provide no doubts to its employees concerning its operations. Employees can easily get agitated if they are not sure about the operations of their organization. It is important for Human Resource practitioners to understand that employees represent the image of the company. It is through how employees perceive the organization they work for that brands the organization. Coming up with policies that ensure transparency amongst the employees themselves will also ensure that the employees are always true to their work. There should be creation of a culture that encourages transparency among the employees. 4. VALUES In every organization, development of values is crucial. Every organization must lay down its values as the guidelines that control the operations of its employees. Achieving and upholding these values become the core drive to the success of the organization (Schwartz, 2011, p211). Values are the accepted standards that govern the behaviour of every employee in the organization. In preparing policies and plans in Human Resource, there are various issues that affect the values of an organization that must be put into consideration. The key strategic issues to consider when coming up with Human Resource Policies and plans are communication, training and recruitment, organizational culture, vision and mission statements. a. Communication Communication is an important aspect of every organization. In order to come up with policies that will enhance proper adherence to the values of an organization, communication becomes a key factor. This is more evident in various large organizations or companies such as Google Inc. Communicational structure should be developed in such a ways that is allows for both upward and downward flow of information (Worthington, 2012, p1). Human Resource management should take into consideration how the various departments of an organization operate and this is only possible through enhancement of proper communication between these departments. Enhancement of communication between employees is also important because it ensure that the employees are continuously reminded of upholding the values of the organizations (Mele & Garriga, 2004, p69). Failure to enhance proper communication can result to serious mismanagement with an example being City Bank during economic meltdown. b. Training and recruitment Various policies and plans concerning the values of an organization are essential during training and recruitment. This is because it is during training and recruitment that various employees get to know more about the organization (Draft, 2009, p110). Instilling organizational values at this stage is effective since the employees will start by knowing the values within the organization first then strives towards their achievement. It is thus through the Human Resource management policies that these new employees will find the support to the organizational values. If the Human Resource policies and plans are not value-oriented, then the new employees will not have a common ground to have their support during their first experience in the organization. This can lead to different employees coming up with different behaviours instead of developing a common behaviour that is value oriented. It was due to lack of enhanced policies that are value oriented that corporations such as ABC were in the verge to downfall especially when an employee who had been in the organization for only six months was selected to lead a recruitment project. Without proper supervision, the new employees were not effective and lacked teamwork (Draft, 2009, p30). c. Organizational culture An organizational culture is a key aspect of upholding the values of an organization. Various practices that are majorly applicable to an organization affect achievements of its goals. Organizational culture refers to those practices that an organization lay down as the guiding factors to the daily operations that enable achievement of its goals and upholding of its values. Human Resource should ensure that the policies that it sets, are those geared towards upholding the organizational culture. Policies such as those dealing with time management should in such a way as to encourage employees to get to work early (Worthington, 2012, p1). Other cultures such as giving rewards and benefits, organizing retreat to enhance employee-management interactions are important aspects that should be considered during the development of the policies and planning. d. Mission and Vision statements Organizational values are always in line with the mission and vision of the organization. Therefore, it would be improbable for Human Resource management practitioners to come up with policies that are contrary to the mission and vision of the organization (Draft, 2009, p30). In coming up with the policies and plans, Human Resource management should ensure the policies allow for a proper framework that provides for proper and effective leadership. These policies should ensure acceptable norms or actions which ensure the accomplishment of the organizational mission and goals. Therefore, considerations must be given to the mission and vision statements of the organization. 5. SUSTAINABILITY In an organizational point of view, sustainability refers to the practice of ensuring proper connection and balance between natural environment, society, the economy and the available resources to ensure equity and continuity (Coates, 2011, p1). Sustainability therefore, aims at ensuring that the progress of an organization is in such a way that the future employees will benefit from the laid down policies and plans without straining. In ensuring sustainability therefore, the Human Resource management should ensure and consider three key issues during the process of policy making and planning. These key issues are work-life balance, individual responsibility and employability. a. Work-life-balance In coming up with the policies, Human Resource Practitioners should ensure their policies provide their employees with proper work-life balance. It is important for Human Resource management to understand that every employee with family issues is affected by professional career, private and family life (Ehnert, 2009, p109). Therefore, policies developed should encourage employees to continue enhancing their professional careers, and at the same time provides them with the opportunity to lead a comfortable family life. Various organizations are currently developing policies that allow for programs of daily child care at work place in order to enhance sustainability (Willard, 2012, p1). This is an important aspect of sustainability because it ensures that the employees with younger children continue working without interference during working hours. b. Individual responsibility Every employee values professional development. Different employees have different professional skills that if the policies adopted in an organization provides employees with the opportunity of exercising their skills, then the organization can easily achieve sustainable growth. Policies to be adopted should put into consideration, the autonomy and self-determination of employees. This is important since it gives the employees the self-confidence required in ensuring achievement of organizational goals (Coates, 2011, p1). Allowing for individual responsibilities also provides a platform for new ideas to flow within the organization which can greatly improve the process of achieving the organizational goals. An example of such companies is like Apple Inc. That taps individual talents and new ideas. c. Employability Technological advancement is drastically changing how organizations conduct their businesses. Therefore, during the process of policy making and planning, considerations must be put to the fact that changes are unavoidable occurrence in an organization (Draft, 2009, p67). The policies must create allowances for changes due to continuous development. Human Resource Management should also consider incorporating any professional agility that comes up rather than specific activities. Coming up with policies and plans that focus on continuous development ensures that the organizations stays up to bit and thereby encouraging proper survival and sustainable growth over and above its competitors (Ehnert, 2009, p120). An example of a company that has maintained this is Google Inc. Google has managed to continuously acquire new technology in order to ensure that its customers get proper services. This has been through embracing various changes such as coming up with various applications such as Picasa through innovations. 6. CONCLUSION From the information gathered hereby, it is evidently visible that being ethical and socially responsible is more than just the right thing for an organization. This is because ethical and social responsibilities act as critical success factors for various organizations in attaining sustainability. It is also evident that in order to achieve these two critical factors, an organization must consider various strategic issues mentioned especially in preparing Human Resource policies and plans. These issues are essential in ensuring sustainability. 7. RECOMMENDATIONS Various organizations need to embrace sustainability as a factor of continuity. Concentrations should not only be given to profit maximization but should focus on the viability and responsibilities of the organization. In an ethical view, Human Resource Management should not only focus on the welfares of its employees only, but should give considerations to the effects of its policies and plans on the neighbouring communities too. Human Resource Management should also focus on improving the welfare of its employees as a branding factor. 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Ledwidge, Jonathan, 2007, “Corporate social responsibility: the risks and opportunities for HR: Integrating human and social values into the strategic and operational fabric”, Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 15, 6, pp. 27-30 Deckop, Raymond, John, 2006, Human Resource Management Ethics, Charlotte: IAP. Worthington, Carolyn, 2012, ‘Building an Ethical Organization for HR Professionals’ retrieved August 30, 2012 from strategic-workplace-solutions: http://www.strategic-workplace-solutions.com/services/articles/building-an-ethical-organization-for-hr-professionals-1 Schwartz, Mark, S, 2011, Corporate Social Responsibility: An Ethical Approach, Peterborough: Broadview Press Willard, Marsh, 2012, ‘Making Sustainability Every Person’s Job’ retrieved August 30, 2012 From awareness into action: http://www.awarenessintoaction.com/whitepapers/implementing-sustainability-strategies.html Mele, Domenec, Garriga, Elisabet, 2006, “Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory”, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 53, 2, pp.51-71. Doi: 10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039399.90587.34 Read More