Developing Ethics at Workplace - Assignment Example

?Developing Ethics at Workplace Introduction: Business ethics is the responsibility to deal with employees, s, investors, vendors, distributors, and every one working in the organization, with sincerity and esteem. Ethics in business begin from the upper level with corporate social responsibility, which is connected to every business system and procedure. Business ethics creates a good business image in the society, increases moral of he employees and also improves the relation with customers. Ethics benefits the business and the employees. “Ethics in the Workplace can also refer to staff being reliable, punctual and work as a team with the rest of the staff and management. If the employees have the opposite attributes like laziness and show lack of values, the company will not prosper, and the employees should not be there very long” (Eileen, 2008). The Need and Importance of Ethics In order to establish in a competitive environment, the managers must possess ethical values, and use item in the organization. Existence of Business: Business ethics is compulsory for the existence of any business. If the business does not follow any ethical values, the business flops in the market and will creates a bad public image among the customers. Eventually, this will lead to the collapse of the business. Therefore, for a business to succeed and survive in the market, it needs to develop ethical principles. Protecting Rights of Consumers: Business ethics should be developed to look after the rights of the consumers, which includes the right to be informed about the products availability, features, safety, right to be heard, etc. Protecting Employees and Shareholders: The employees and the share holders play an important role in the proper functioning of the business. Therefore, ethical values protect them from unethical activities. Increasing Number of Consumers: When the business follows good ethical principles, there will be increase in the number of customers. Customers prefer honest and reasonable dealings. They have the right to file a case against businessmen who indulge in unfair practices. Satisfaction for Customers: Customers are the ones who lead the business. The main objective of any business is to satisfy its customers. Consumers will be happy, only if the company employs business ethics in their dealings. Benefits to Employees: Business ethics provide the employees reasonable wages and compensation benefits. It includes, giving them better working conditions. Maintenance of good relationships between employer and employees. The employee’s proper facilities or amenities. The employees should also have the right to argue for their benefits to the management. Benefits to the Society: By reducing unfair trade practices, there will regular supply of better quality products and services to the customers. This results in establishing good relationship with the society. Efficient Performance: If the business practices all the ingredience of business ethics, the employees of the organization contribute and cooperate with the managers. This will lead to increased sales, higher profits, and expansion of the business. Healthy Competition: Business organizations must make use of ethical principles while dealing with the competitors. They must have strong values while opposing the competitors. There must be equal chance for small-scale businesses to survive in the market. “Buyers Market: In recent times, structural changes have taken place in the concept of business. In the case of many products, sellers market has been converted into buyers market. Under such changed business conditions, business ethics is needed to stress the importance of consumer satisfaction and service orientation, in place of profit orientation” (Haider, 2010). Reduces Business Misconduct: There are chances of malpractices in some business such as high pricing, black marketing, adulteration, and selling of false products to the customers. This reduces the image and sale of the products. Developing ethical principles help in reducing these actions. Increases Customers' Self-confidence: Business ethics as required to develop the confidence of the customers' regarding the price, quality, and quantity of the products. It increases the confidence and loyalty of the customers, with the view that, the concerned business does not cheat them, and will continue to deliver them quality products. Types of Workplace Ethics: It includes: Environmental Ethics: Environmental ethics implies integrating principles of sustaining ecology into business system. Diversity Ethics: “Respect for diversity is important in the workplace environment. Employees should be free from comments and behaviors offensive to their particular cultural differences” (Cowgill, 1999). Employer and Management Ethics This involves practices such as selecting and dismissal of employees. It also includes treating the employees with esteem and self-respect at the workplace. Business Ethics in the Workplace: The business ethics is to promote a high level business practice which is common in every company. “At the very foundation of business ethics is the commitment to treating customers, employees, investors, vendors, distributors and anyone else involved with your organization with honesty and respect. A high level of ethics in business starts at the top with the owner's values and sense of corporate social responsibility, which are then infused into every business process, practice and procedure” (Sharpe, 1999). There are 6 important aspects in developing business ethics at workplace. They are as follows Improving employee morale Strengthening customer relationships Improving company image in the community Giving you a competitive edge Improving the bottom line Creating a better workplace with a strong sense of business ethics Improving Employee Morale: The morale of the employee is defined as the final result of the various factors present in the working environment. The improvement of employee morale is based on several factors involved in the work situation itself, such as the satisfaction of worker and action, supervisory input, salary, status, working conditions etc. These factors keep the employees on right track. Strengthening Customer Relationships: Most of the companies have to determine that customers are the most valuable assets of business. For this reason, an improved focus is given to the loyalty of customers and their behaviour and the need to achieve and retain it. Developing the strong customer relationship should be the priority for the best buy of the product. The behaviour of customers keeps changing, and the business has to predict and understand this behaviour to ensure long term customer loyalty. Improve Company Image in the Community: Another important aspect of ethics in workplace involves, improving the company image in the community. The image of the organization is very important in business. Company logo is an important image of any company, as it attracts potential customers. To develop the brand image several techniques like promotion, packing, road show tradeshow, website etc are employed. Giving a Competitive Edge: At workplace employees need to have a variety of skills, and the skills give the employees a competitive edge to succeed. Nowadays, workplaces witness more competition between the employees. Improving the Bottom Line: “The bottom line is, productivity is lost because people are unhappy at work. When we get employees into something that they like to do, “in their zone or flow”, their productivity goes through the roof” (Can Employee’s Happiness Improve Your Bottom Line? 2011). Creating a Better Workplace with a Strong Sense of Business Ethics: Observing ethical principle at workplace can develop a company in different ways. If an employee in an organization makes a decision to care for each other more ethically, “such as by refraining from certain kinds of office politics, the workplace will not only be a more amicable place, but also will, in most cases, be more productive” (Wolfe, 1999). In turn, the employees who are bound by ethics often work for a better reputation for an organization, and public reputation can lead to better customer loyalty and frequently higher revenues. The manager of an organization by creating ethical sensibilities in workers can tactically improve the productivity. Implementation of Ethics in Workplace: “Implementation is the carrying out, execution, or practice of a plan, a method, or any design for doing something. As such, implementation is the action that must follow any preliminary thinking in order for something to actually happen.” (Definition: Implementation, 2000). The implementation of business ethics at workplace considers several aspects, and they are: Having Standards Assigned Responsibility - Adequate Resources Due Diligence in Hiring Communications and Training Monitoring, Auditing, Reporting Promotion and Enforcement of Ethical Conduct Reasonable Steps to Prevent Misconduct The implementation of ethical principles at workplace improves productivity, and also the satisfaction of employees. Factors Influencing Workplace Ethics: Ethics helps to study the ways to distinguish, and decide on accurate and ethical behavior, as differentiated from wrong and unethical behavior. It is essential to note that workplace ethics is created by two key factors. One is the workplace policy. It should be in harmony with all rules and regulations that exist within the jurisdiction of business operations. This facilitates to ensure that basic workplace ethics prohibits any form of coercion or pressure to hold actions that are deemed to be illegal, or that which promotes inequity at workplace, and hold up the practices of inequitable hiring and firing, or allowing the wages to be fixed below the minimum standards regulated by legal authorities. Along with the rules and regulation factors, business ethics also influences workplace ethics. In decisions that consider ethical issues, a business must take into account several factors. These include: Importance of profit and other related motives of the organization and company managers, in relation to the significance of honesty, morality and such other values. The responsibility that a business has for particular areas, affect the society in general. It comprises environmental protection, fairness and equality in dealing with people, reliability and quality of product and also preventing corruption. Ethical behaviors influence short and long term prospects and performances of business. “While businesses tend to comply with laws and regulations set by local jurisdictions, not every company sees the need to develop workplace ethics that affirm the worth of employees and motivate them to be productive on the job. When a company chooses to do no more than what is required by local law, the chances of heavy employee turnover are much higher” (What are Workplace Ethics?, 2003). Lapse in Workplace Ethics: In spite of hundreds of pages of policies, ethical codes, codes of conduct, organizational values, vigilantly defined organizational work environments, and company culture, lapse in ethics of workplace happens on a daily basis. "In the competitive environment to attract and retain talent, it is imperative that employers provide employees with the means to attain a healthy work/life balance," says Sharon L. Allen, chairman of the board at Deloitte & Touche USA. "This is not only key to job satisfaction and retaining your most valued employees, but it is also critical in fostering an ethical workplace culture" (Worthington, 2012). Lapses in workplace ethics happen due to the improper behavior of officers. As examples, insider stock trading, fraud in expense account, sexual harassment, and participation in conflicts of interests can be cited. Lapses in workplace ethics may occur due to simple issues. Policies most often exist for the reason that some employees remain untrustworthy. The mere reason behind the existence of policies to describe the bond between employers and their workforce is that a few among the workforce take the benefit of employer’s efforts to offer break for rightful like reasons. Lapses in Workplace Ethics: Examples: An employee knowing well that the quality of work done is low, haves the workplace expecting that the superintendent or the quality supervisor will not notice. Claiming credit for the work of another employee, or failing to give public credit to a coworker’s contribution, when one shares results, makes a presentation, turn in a report, or in any other way that appear to be the sole owner of a work product or results” (Heathfield, 2012). Conclusion: Many organizations are conscious of the significant need of ethics in their cultural framework. Yet, there are a great number of opportunities for improvement. Firstly, organizations should consider ethics as their social responsibility, and that they are obligated towards that. Secondly, ethics only can locate its apt place in organizations, which make it a main concern by formulating expectations in terms of relation, that provide a sense of well- being to everyone. Lastly, excellent organizations snatch the opportunity, by influencing the cultural needs through the implementation of ethical values, in order to shape the future. Reference List Can Employee’s Happiness Improve Your Bottom Line? (2011). F. Curtis Barry & Company. Retrieved from http://www.fcbco-blog.com/can-happiness-improve-your-bottom-line/ Cowgill, C. (1999). Types of Workplace Ethics. eHow. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/list_6691598_types-workplace-ethics.html Definition: Implementation, (2000). SearchCRM. Retrieved from http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/implementation Eileen, (2008). Good Business Ethics in the Workplace. InfoBarrel. Retrieved from http://www.infobarrel.com/Good_Business_Ethics_in_the_workplace Haider, M. J. (2010). Need of Business Ethics. IndiaStudyChannel.com. Retrieved from http://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/127787-Need-Business-Ethics.aspx Heathfield, S. M. (2012). Did You Bring Your Ethics to Work Today? About.com. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/businessethics/qt/workplace-ethics.htm Sharpe, (1999). Business Ethics in the Workplace. Business.com. Retrieved from http://www.business.com/guides/business-ethics-61/ What are Workplace Ethics?, (2003). WiseGEEK. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-workplace-ethics.htm Wolfe, M. (1999). How to Improve Ethics in the Workplace. eHow. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_7392531_improve-ethics-workplace.html Worthington, B. (2012). Work/Life Balance Influences Workplace Ethics. Human Resource Executive. Retrieved from http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=12614425 Read More