Values and ethics may not always
seem to hold a big place in business organizations, but this is a very
important topic with potential to largely influence the work environment. Value congruence is an important factor
for me in a positive work environment, if I don’t have this, my behavior and
work output suffer. Given ethical
dilemmas in the workplace, I feel confident in my own ability to make ethical
decisions, so I focus on my internal ethical radar before that of the
organization. I rely on my
personal ethics meter because I know that organizations may not always
represent what I deem ethical and often organizations are guilty of abuse of
ethics. I analyze the culture of
the organization and use social judgment, but return to my internal locus of
control because that way I know I can sleep at night. We all face difficult ethical dilemmas at certain points in
our lives and careers. Given
choices in ethical dilemmas I first evaluate what I believe in, then I
determine the organizational philosophy, then I find the best way to
incorporate both of these. The
ethics of an organization are only as strong as the individuals within that
organization and I do not believe that people always behave in the most ethical
fashion or represent the organization’s philosophy.
As
a human resources representative I have faced decisions on hiring people for my
organization where ethical concerns come into play. As a hypothetical example, Shockley-Zalabak presents a
scenario in which the president of the company does not want a woman on his
personal staff (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009).
According to the scenario presented, as the personnel director it is my
job to screen applicants for promotions to management positions and the top
three applicants are all women (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009).
Feminist values are a large part of my
personal value system and discrimination based on gender is a topic that upsets
me from an ethical point of view in a general sense, and infuriates me from a
personal perspective. I personally
know I have been passed over for opportunities in my career and educational
past even as far back as elementary school. Because this is an issue that has affected me personally,
when faced with a decision where the best people may not be considered for a
management position simply because they are women I cannot support this type of
behavior. Value congruence is the
amount individual values concur with the organizational values
(Shockley-Zalabak, 2009). If the
president of the company does not want women on his personal staff because they
are women, this is a sexist position and interferes with my personal
values. I also think
discrimination based on gender is unethical; discrimination in any form is
unethical. Faced with this
hypothetical situation I would ignore the president’s sexist preferences and
send the three top applicants to him.
The three top applicants are women and the president will likely not be
pleased, may even confront me on my impertinence. I feel strongly enough that I would be willing to sacrifice
my new position as personnel director to make sure hiring practices are
non-discriminating and that the top applicants are given consideration for
their performance and qualifications regardless of their gender. I would not confront the president or
behave in any way that is not befitting my position, but I would stand my
ground if questioned about my choices and show validation for the fact that the
applicants presented were the most qualified for the position. He may reject all three and force me to
continue the search, and I would continue to choose applicants based on merit,
not gender.
Personal
loyalty to a friend or loyalty to upper management within my organization
presents another hypothetical situation described by Shockley-Zalabak
(2009). In this hypothetical
situation I’ve overheard my manager and the manager of the department my best
friend works for and their conversation is unfavorable in regards to my best
friend (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009).
According to the scenario my best friend wants a promotion very much,
but she will not be chosen due to the fact that her manager is not pleased with
her performance (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009).
My best friend is also considering a job offer from another group
(Shockley-Zalabak, 2009). I assume
that my friend may not accept the offer from another group because she wants
the promotion so badly and the question is what I will do with the information
I am presented with. Social
judgment is our value of the feelings of others and our personal generalized
assumptions about the why of people’s work (Shockley-Zalabak, 2009). My friend’s feelings are the most
important to me in this scenario because I am personally invested in the
relationship and the two managers have no idea I overheard them. I do not feel that eavesdropping is
ethical, but in this situation I believe the eavesdropping was accidental and
my new knowledge is not known to anyone else.
What do I do?
This is not a simple decision for me and largely depends on how much I
trust my friend and how I feel she will react. I do not want her hurt and I do not want her to get me into
trouble if I try to help her. I do
not feel that the two managers gossiping about employees is entirely ethical,
but I also recognize they are human and need to discuss things, maybe even look
to each other for advice and support.
My concern for others is largely social and I am concerned about the
feelings of my friend as well as that of my manager, but ultimately my friend
will win in regards to my personal values. I would talk to my friend, outside of work and preferably
when she has the entire weekend to ponder her own choices. I would certainly not tell her the
exact words her manager used because that might hurt her feelings. I would explain that I overheard our
managers and that if it ever got back to anyone that I told her I would
probably be in a great deal of trouble, or at least a great deal of
embarrassment.
If she truly is my
best friend she will recognize the need to protect my position. After talking to her about what I
overheard in the gentlest way possible, I would talk up the position in the other
group, pointing out the things about her current group she may have
complained to me about in the past.
Hopefully this would remind her that she may indeed be much happier in
the new group. Also, if her
manager is not happy with her performance it may indicate that deep down she is
really not happy in her position and her group and that change will be good for
her. I would not recommend that
she confront her boss or ever let on that she knew about his displeasure
because that could possibly burn bridges.
If he is not pleased with her, moving to a new group may be a win-win
for both of them. This value
decision aligns with a basic rule between female best friends and I would not
feel in any way that I made the wrong choice even if I feel bad about hearing
information I should not have been privy to.
Within
business organizations values and ethics are not black and white. The way the organization approaches
ethics and the way the individuals within the organization approach ethics will
have a large impact on the work environment. Hopefully the value congruence between the individuals and
the organization will be strong and the work environment will be a positive
place. However, when faced with an
ethical dilemma, I have a great deal of self-confidence in my own ethical
values. This may be because I have
a high self-esteem and my internal locus of control points me in the right
direction. At some point everyone
will face a difficult decision in regards to ethics in the workplace, but
recognizing personal philosophy in relation to organizational philosophy will
make such decisions easier to make. The ethics of an organization are only as
strong as the individuals within that organization and I do not believe that
people always behave in the most ethical fashion or represent the
organization’s philosophy.
References
Shockley-Zalabak,
Pamela S. (2009.). Fundamentals of organizational communication knowledge, sensitivity, skills, values (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education.
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