Ethical Behaviors in a Workplace

Sali Yakoub

 It is very important to have great ethical behaviors in a workplace. Having good ethics will make the job a lot easier as well as help stock prices of public companies increase dramatically. On other hand, public companies who suffer ethics problems can see their stock prices decline for up to six months after the public learns of unethical behavior (Kinsman, 2006). it is very important to take steps  when it come to hiring candidate for the HR position, the first thing to do is making sure this candidate can handle personal issues, does not lie in the resume or application. Make sure the candidate has good background in teamwork as well as technical skills. It is always a good idea to have the candidate be the talkative person throughout the interview process. A good interview should last up to 45 minutes interview. If the candidate is seen to be a good hire start by asking questions about some marketing and sales skills, all of these aspects test the candidate for good ethical behaviors.

 It is usually not a crime that would stop HR departments from hiring candidates, but the fact that the candidate lied on their application raises many red flags. We are then in a position of deciding whether we would hire this qualified person knowing that they might wind up lying to us down the road. It is a powerful ethical issue that HR faces (Kinsman, 2006). Dress code should not be so strict that the employer may lose potential candidates that are suitable for the position. According to Tamara Devitt, "a policy that is too prohibitive will keep out employees that employers might otherwise want to hire." For example, the number of tattoos and piercings should not be a topic that is talked about in an interview process. Another issue that HR departments encounter is religious discrimination. As reported by David Barron, "Religious accommodation and discrimination issues may come into play. If a tattoo or piercing reflects a genuine religious belief, the employer must accommodate that belief unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the business."

 HR department deal with ethical question that are carried out by real-life problems. People look up to HR and trust the department to help them with personal issues. Many companies these days have setup third-party reporting options, allowing people to anonymously report ethical lapses or inappropriate conduct (Kinsman, 2006). When showing good ethical behavior during work, workers will be encouraged and show the same ethical behaviors. It is always helpful when helping a client with a problem to consider everyday events as well as everyday challenges to help respond to the question through this process the response will be more effective. The following is an example of a typical situation that HR managers are dealing with: "Rumor has it that one of my employees has become very difficult to work with. Technically, her skills are superb but I know she can be a little "rough around the edges." I hate to say anything to her because I do not want to lose her or upset her." (Maxwell, 2004) The way to approach this type of situation is by figuring out the solution on your own without the help of a third party. Once the solution to the situation has been acquired, it should be acted upon as efficiently to avoid losing other staff that have relationship with the employee as well as avoiding causing harm to the company. Most employees will always act upon inappropriate behaviors but it is the manager's job to have discussions with the employees by using guidelines for providing feedback.

There are five guidelines to use when providing feedbacks. These guidelines are "one start with an 'I' statement, two identify the specific behavior and avoid focusing on the person, three describe the impact to you, others, or the organization, four suggest alternative behaviors or course of action and five follow-up with the employee quickly after the conversation to close the loop" (Maxwell, 2004). Have good work ethics could help improve work productivity. In order to progress the organization future, the organization must clean up its act by engaging and creating ethical behavior. For HR professionals with mandates to create productive, respectful workplaces, the negative impact on morale caused by leaders taking greed and corruption to new heights undermines the very goal of improving worker productivity (Hobel, 2004).Stephen R. Covey believes courage, honesty, fairness, and empathy as being traits necessary for ethical behavior (Danley, 2005).

 

Citation

Kinsman, Michael. "Ethical behavior in workplace is desirable, necessary." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. (2006): 1. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/463512991>.

Danley, Janet. "Ethical Behavior for Today’s Workplace." PACRAO. (2005): n. page. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.pacrao.org/docs/resources/writersteam/EthicalBehaviorforTodaysWorkplace.pdf>.

Deschenaux, Jaonne. "Workplace Dress, Grooming Codes May Raise Legal Issues." HRMagazine. 57.11 (2012): 18. Print. <http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/1283332437>.

Maxwell, Mary. "HR Help for Religious Holiday Scheduling, Behavior Issues, And Turnover." Nursing Economics. 22.1 (2004): 39-40. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/236936785>.

Hoble , John. "An ethical boost for staff morale." Canadian HR Reporter. 17.6 (2004): 14. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/220819404>.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Resource Policies on Ethics

Kristin Clauw

Enron, Chevron, and Dow Chemical have all committed highly unethical acts in the history of their industries. They set examples for future companies to see how extreme decisions and punishments for them, made in a business can get. In order for a company to be able to defend itself in an ethical dilemma it has to have a solid policy on ethics. Policies and procedures included with added organizational values will promote an ethical culture. An ethical culture in the work place can prevent or hinder any "bad apples" from acting unethically. The reverse is true where an unethical environment can bring down good employees (Driscoll, 1999). Not only do these practices help to reduce risky situations they also reduce a company's punishment if they are found guilty of such actions. All businesses should adopt programs for this reason if nothing else, especially since the adoption of the 1991 of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations consequences include hefty fines and in some cases jail time for those involved.

The first step to creating and maintaining an ethical company is to have and enforce policies and procedures. Every company should incorporate a code of ethics into their employee handbooks. In a study done on five major company’s codes, including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), it was found that they were unorganized, unclear, and lacked specific guidelines for HR managers (Giancola, 2008). This is a main issue that needs to be tackled by HR professionals looking to promote ethics in a company.

 Once the code has been created to the best of the company’s ability it is important for all employees to read and understand it. If employees understand and respect the code of ethics they are more likely to act ethically in the workplace. The best way to ensure this is by required training. Not only upon hiring but annually employees should be obligated to review the ethics policy. This will remind them how to handle situations and the possible repercussions of their actions.   Other forms are training along with this can also benefit the company. For example, at Boeing they have an ethical situation test that creates a fun environment for a serious topic. Each supervisor is asked to question their employees on 54 situations and give four possible courses of actions, the employees then hold up cards with their choices (Kelley, 1998). This type of training stimulates collaboration and increases employee involvement in the issues. Personnel may be more likely to remember and use this training in the future based on the way it was presented.

Once these policies have been put in place the business needs to focus not only on itself as a whole but on individual employees as well. The most common forms of misconduct in United States business are on a personal level rather than companywide. These include conflict of interest, abusive and intimidating behavior, and lying. Not helping this situation is the fact that only 28 percent of businesses support criticism of their policies (Giancola, 2008). It is imperative that employees have a say in these guidelines because they are the ones affected by them. They should be allowed and expected to raise their opinions. This allows the company to create the most beneficial plan for their employees which will lead to a higher ethical following.

Another beneficial procedure for businesses to integrate is an ethics hotline. This is a confidential way for employees to report issues they believe to be or turn unethical. Employees can then feel safe to speak up without the fear of retaliation from co-workers or superiors.  As people have become more aware of business ethics some companies have found that employees are more willing to even leave their name when reporting misconduct (Kelley, 1998). HR personnel can then act accordingly to the reported activity without making anyone feel vulnerable.

In addition, many companies have found it helpful to hire an ethics officer as well. This person would work with the hotline to provide advice on situations and help prevent them from escalating. This position is increasingly being introduced to companies around the world for its obvious benefits. With an ethics officer on board it is much easier for dilemmas to be handled before legal action is taken. This position is not an easy one and it takes a strong and loyal person to hold it. They must be able to clear the line between right and wrong and sometimes even stand up against executives (Kelley, 1998). Even still, this person is vital to many organizations and can sometimes even save a company. 

Even with all of this put into place it is impossible to avoid unethical situations. However, if a company trains and prepares its employees to handle these dilemmas it has a better chance of extinguishing them before they get out of hand. This is not a cookie cutter practice either, each industry and business within said industry needs to create its own policy that best suits its needs. With these safeguards companies have a good chance at steering clear of serious issues and staying out of the unwanted spotlight. 

 

Driscoll, D., Hoffman, W. M., (1999). Gaining the ethical edge: procedures for delivering values-driven management. Science direct, 32(2). Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/science/article/pii/S0024630198001472

Giancola, F., (2008). A tool for developing ethical policies and procedures. ProQuest, 63(3). Retrieved from  http://search.proquest.com.huaryu.kl.oakland.edu/docview/216888020

Kelley, T., (1998). Earning it; charting a course to ethical profits. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/08/business/earning-it-charting-a-course-to-ethical-profits.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Compensation Plans by Paula Tomkiel

Compensation refers to the payment or award going to employee for the value he brought during employment. Compensation is awarded in many forms, whether direct or indirectly. It can be used as a strategic tool to either motivate and empower employees or be used as a bargaining tool by employees when deciding where they will apply their skills and knowledge.

Creating a compensation plan will vary on many factors that HR will consider. Legal issues will involve laws such as the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which determines which employees are exempt or non-exempt based on the salary basis and duties act. Then the 1963 Equal Pay, which states equal work for equal pay, regardless of gender.  The 1964 Civil Right Act goes further to make discrimination based on race, color, religion, or origin illegal. HR will need to be sensitive to its union labor, as the NLRA of 1935 gave the unions the right to organize, bargain collectively, and engage in concerted activities for the purpose of mutual protection.

It’s important that employees feel that they are being paid fairly and viewed equitable compared to other employees’ pay in the organization. To determine the pay rate, we first consider the job description, which defines the responsibilities, requirements, functions, duties, location, environment, conditions, and other aspects of jobs. HR will then perform a job evaluation, or a system for comparing jobs for the purpose of determining appropriate compensation levels for individual jobs or job elements. This may be done through a pay structure, which is designed in increments. Salary surveys are a collection of salary and market data. The salary pay is then made up of the importance of difficulty of the job, or the job assignment, as determined by the job evaluation.

Now we consider incentive plans. Much like an award, these are bases on productivity. The award may be non-tangible and be expressed through recognition. “Fringe-benefits” are usually expenditures made be the employer on behalf of the employees. Consider profit sharing plans, stock options, paid time not worked, and paid health insurance. Compensation can directly related to job recruitment, satisfaction, and performance. It is an important tool for management and should be adjusted according the goals and resources of the business. 

Perhaps incentive based, indirect compensation has the largest effect of boosting job performance. “The biggest problem with a straight-pay structure is that employees quickly become used to earning a certain level of income regardless of the results they produce. Promotions do usually increase pay, but the motivational influence stems from recognition, increased responsibility, more challenging work and a personal sense of accomplishment - all of which are motivating factors, according to Herzberg.”  (Kokemuller)

However, these incentives should be paid out immediately in order to recognize performance and as an employer, obtain the most benefit. The researchers at PwC and the London School of Economics and Political Science performed a survey and found that employees prefer for immediate bonuses such as cash or equity, rather than long-term incentives. “If you simplify your compensation structure and remove some of the uncertainty from it, you can actually pay senior managers less in absolute dollar terms without putting a damper on performance -especially if you're careful to pay everyone the same.” (Klein)

It’s worthwhile to recognize that these performance incentives should be not handed out freely and only with careful consideration to avoid a repetitive pattern. According to Donald Delves, of Forbes.com, “One of the detriments of extrinsic incentives, researchers have found, is that they can be addictive. It will quickly feel less like a bonus and more like the status quo, which then forces the principle [owner] to offer larger rewards to achieve the same effect.” (Delves)

If HR can design a well-planned compensation program, it can have a measurable impact on bottom-line results. The right compensation program will align with the organization’s business strategy and goals. In order to achieve these, an organization must recruit and select best possible employees. To attract these employees, there must be an attractive compensation plan. Competitors will be offering an array of payment options, whether it’s based on pay rate or special perks, such as a company car or generous stock options. Organizations must be aggressive yet reasonable in order to compete. Retaining and encouraging employees to perform at their peak can be achieved through an immediate incentive award program.

As a student beginning to enter the workforce, it would be highly beneficial to do research regarding pay grades in your industry. Being knowledgeable and informed will bring more negotiating power when it comes to salary discussions. Many factors will affect this rate; keep geographical location in mind. Even if a salary isn’t as desirable, there are non-tangible payments available; it’s never too early to begin thinking about retirement options.

Works Cited

Delves, Donald. "Is Incentive Compensation a True Motivator?" Forbes. (2011): <http://www.forbes.com/sites/donalddelves/2011/02/16/is-incentive-compensation-a-true-motivator/>.

Klein, Anne. "Time to rethink long-term incentives for executives?" CNN Money. (2012): Web. <http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/25/time-to-rethink-long-term-incentives-for-executives/>.

Kokemuller, Neil. "The Effects of Monetary Compensation & Promotions on Motivation." Small Business Chron. (2012): <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-monetary-compensation-promotions-motivation-14394.html>.