Ethics Competency
Also, cases Like stealing are hard to report since collecting evidence Is not always easy unless the act is captured by a security camera or another employee witnesses the same situation. 2. Waste My answer to this question was NO, as I feel that waste is hard to be defined and measured. Waste can be as simple as waste of paper, wasting valuable work time where tasks can be performed or wasting resources such as not matching up employee’s potentials with the type of work performed. Waste of paper is something very simple and can be quickly corrected by setting up an environmental awareness policy at the workplace.
But, waste of valuable work time or resources Is more serious, especially If It affects everyone else on the team (I. E. ) deliverables to the client and would have to be reported to a superior. 3. Mismanagement My answer to this question is YES, as mismanagement might lead to waste of resources and time. This also leads to frustration amidst employees as they might have to repeat a task over and over again due to mismanagement of Information or work long hours due to miscalculation of time.
This should be reported to a superior as mismanagement over time leads to economical problems in an organization as more money has to be spent to fix something that should have been done right in the first place. Safety Problems 4. My answer to this question Is YES, as workplace safety Is top portly as It affects the life of employees, productivity of the team and also costs an employer a lot of money in worker’s coma and employee’s compensation. Workplace safety is very important and needs to be reported as the damages caused by safety issues might involve one or several people and may turn out to be fatal if neglected. . Sexual Harassment and quality of work. Many employees may not report this issue for fear of losing their jobs, but it is important to report such behavior to stop the issue from occurring gain and to protect the overall morale of the team. It is good to collect evidence, such as taped conversations or emails so that the person is unable to deny his/her behavior. 6. Unfair Discrimination My answer to this question is YES, as the corporate culture today is very diverse and people from various countries and cultures work together. Unfair discrimination on the basis of race, religion, culture, sexual orientation etc… s very demoralizing and brings down an employee’s morale. Unfair discrimination also leads to stereotyping as the group or individual who faces discrimination feels that no matter how good hey perform, it will never be acceptable. Unfair discrimination needs to be reported as it squashes good talent, new ideas and innovation. Good support from superiors above managers is necessary to curb discrimination. It is also helpful to collect evidence in the form of emails or support from other employees who have experienced similar discrimination. Legal Violation and Financial Reporting 7.
My answer to both of these is YES, as legal and financial violations both face serious consequences from the Judicial system and the company might incur huge fines as a result of these violations. Companies can even get shut down as a result of legal violations and financial reporting issues and both of these must be taken seriously and reported. Types of Retaliation 1 . Coworkers not associating with person. I have not witnessed this yet as many of us on my current team confide in each other and discuss common issues, we maintain an open dialogue and do not dissociate with a person who brings up an ethical issue.
We collectively work and support each other to resolve the issue. 2. Pressure from co-workers to stop complaint. I have personally not witnessed this till date, but have seen it in other cases where there co- workers have persuaded another co-worker to not complain against my boss as several other people who complained before about similar issues were let go. My boss being the director of the department has the support of the UP of our department who can influence HRS decisions even if a person chose to report to HER.
It would be nice to have a non biased and approachable person heading the department or a HER manager or UP who was open to review issues. But the key is collect adequate and relevant evidence to support the case. I have witnessed this in work environments where people have been with the organization for a very long time and consider any new hire or entry to be a threat or challenge to their position. Ego, insecurity and narrow mindedness play a key part in this issue, as people feel that though they have done a task inefficiently for several years, it is right as nobody has pointed out otherwise.
If a person new to the team points out the inefficiency, egos flare up and hostility begins. 4. Poor performance appraisal. This happened to a co-worker of mine who no longer works for the organization as my boss felt that he was a threat to her position as he was very knowledgeable and ride to suggest new processes for existing tasks (I. E. ) new ways of doing things more efficiently. His probation was extended during his review stating that he did not complete his tasks on hand in a timely manner, did not communicate effectively etc… Which were all false accusations.
He did have adequate evidence to go to HER to report my manager and chose not to come back to an environment of hostility but was well compensated by the company for the entire mental trauma he went through and for the time he spent on the issue. 5. Verbal harassment or intimidation. I did witness this in several situations at different workplaces. In my current workplace (I. E. ) in the case I mentioned in the previous item (#4), my ex-coworker had to put up with verbal harassment from my manager who would snap at him for reasons unknown or would confront him on issues in staff meetings and try to put him down.
In another case at a previous workplace, my immediate manager would always give one of my co-workers a hard time as she was recently promoted to a Project Meg’s position but he expected a lot out of her and offered no help to mentor her. He loud constantly criticize her work and would lower her morale with his demoralizing comments. She finally resigned after feeling intimidated and threatened by her superior. This type of issue hampers team work and lowers the teams morale as people get scared to present new ideas for fear of getting shunned or losing their position.
Tighter scrutiny of daily work by management, reassignment to a different 6. Job, reassignment to a different Job with less desirable duties and denial of a promotion. I have seen this happen in cases in my current organization when an employee rises to report a manager’s unethical actions such as discrimination to higher authorities and the manager indicates hostility towards the employee as the manager is under scrutiny. s run and tries to apply for another position within the company, the current manager starts getting hostile and indifferent as they consider a person transferring from their department to be an indication of bad management on their part. A simple dialogue and an effort to resolve the issue is all that is required which most managers tend to ignore. As stated in an article published in the Ethics Resource Center (2009) about Enron’s downfall: To help avoid the fate of Enron and other companies whose ethics are called into question.
