Given that human resources departments are often tasked with handling the ethics in the organization and typically these departments are also ultimately responsible for the training and development of employees, these two responsibilities may be married, producing ethics training.
“If one accepts the premise that nonethical or unethical people can learn to behave ethically, then training can be a valuable tool for enhancing such learning. It is our premise that people are not born with values and standards. They are learned (or not learned) at home, in church, synagogue, or mosque, at school, and in the workplace.
Inappropriate standards can be replaced with their own values. Voids in standards can be filled”
(Sims, 1994, p. 150).
Although the training may be performed either in-house or externally, it is becoming typical for organizations to con- duct their own ethics training, using training specialists. If the objective of ethics training is ethical awareness, then the initial effort to increase ethical awareness should occur at the orien- tation session for new employees, another task that typically falls to the HR department. Providing basic information on the ethical practices of the organization is critical in helping new employees begin their work experience in the organization with the understanding and confidence that will support their making ethical decisions (Sims, 2002).
While ethics training is becoming more common in the workplace, it is important to note that there are problems and myths associated with teaching ethics (The importance of busi- ness ethics, 2001). One myth is that it is impossible to teach ethical behavior in the workplace. “The truth: Teaching ethi- cal behavior in the workplace involves giving employees the opportunity to discuss relevant dilemmas in a non-threatening, supportive environment” (Importance, 2001, p. 17).
Reinforcing the ethics training
Let’s say new employees at a national hotel chain are run through an ethics training session. If those individuals observe unethical behaviors on the job as commonplace, then the training was useless and will be perceived as a waste of time.
Employees tend to pay more attention to what goes on and is accepted business practice rather than what was stated in a formalized ethics training program (NBES, 2005). Thus, it
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becomes important for leaders and current employees to put sound ethical principles into practice. Sims (1994) opines that
“the development of sound ethical practices becomes a realistic pos- sibility when those who hold positions of leadership at all levels acquire an understanding of how ethical reasoning changes as individuals mature, how organization culture supports or inhibits the practice of sound ethics, and how to strengthen and reinforce decision making that supports highest standards of ethical reasoning and conduct” (p. 84).
When organizational leaders themselves display ethical behaviors, this leads to the organization being perceived as an ethical organization, which reaps advantages. “Organizations that have strong ethical values and consistently display them in all their activity derive other benefits, too: improved top- management control, increased productivity, avoidance of lit- igation, and an enhanced company image that attracts talent and earns the public’s goodwill” (Sims, 1994, p. 5).
Beyond training
Having the HR department provide ethics training goes a way toward increasing the ethics in the organization, but it is not everything (NBES, 2005). Another way to augment the preva- lence of better ethical choices is to examine what causes indi- viduals to make the “wrong” choice in the first place. The Ethics Officer Association conducted a survey of 213 members from 150 different companies and found that the most commonly stated reason for contacting the ethics office was simply conflicts of interest. A whopping 74% of respondents mentioned this rea- son, demonstrating how pervasive and prevalent these conflicts are (Ethics Officer Association, 2000, as cited in Vickers, 2005).
Of all possible conflicts, it appears that management is at the core of the most cited, according to a 2003 study jointly conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the ERC. Specifically, when SHRM members were asked to rank sources of workplace conflict, the most often cited was the “need to follow boss’s directive.” This was cited by nearly half of respondents. The next two common responses were “meeting overly aggressive business objectives” (48%) and “helping the organization survive” (40%) (Joseph & Esen, 2003, as cited in Vickers, 2005). Looking at the commonality across all three popular responses, it is apparent that employ- ees feel pressured from above to do what is construed as neces- sary to directly keep their positions or indirectly by keeping the organization afloat. Other research supports this supposition.
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Numerous British HR professionals and accountants were interviewed about ethical dilemmas experienced in the work- place. Interestingly enough, results implied that “ethical behavior was only infrequently a function of personal values.”
This suggests that people inherently want to behave ethically.
On the other hand, ethical concerns were more often cited as being founded by “externally generated pressures, but most notably the fear of jeopardizing one’s current or future employ- ment prospects ad the consequences of this for the individu- al’s dependents” (Lovell, 2002, as cited in Vickers, 2005). The study went on to report that the combination of employees’
fear of losing their jobs combined with their loyalty to their fellow employees, supervisors, and the organization at large, led to many of them essentially turning their heads when they observed unethical behavior. Let’s examine the expe- rienced fear. When perception of losing one’s position, for example, is involved, it may be that this is a realistic impres- sion based on something written, such as an outrageously high sales goal for someone selling timeshares, or it may be voiced by a supervisor. However, the other possibilities are that the threat is implied or simply imagined by the employee.
Regardless, the pressured feeling experienced by the employ- ees is tangible.
A culture of ethics
Code of ethics • • •
It helps to have a culture of ethics. This can begin with a code of ethics. In 2000, only 50% of respondents in a survey reported their organization had either a code of ethics in place or one in progress (Conaway & Fernandez). However, a 2003 SHRM survey shows that nearly 80% of respondents report having an ethics policy (Business ethics, 2003) and a 2005 ERC survey showed 86% (NBES, 2005).
Beyond a simple code of ethics, it is important to create a strong culture of ethical behavior. According to recent research, employees in organizations with strong ethical cultures and formal ethics programs are 36 percentage points less likely to observe misconduct than employees in organizations with weak culture and full formal programs (NBES, 2005). This national study also revealed a strong relationship between formal programs and cultures, leading to the conclusion that, where cultures are strong, it is in part because a formal ethics program is in place (NBES, 2005).