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
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