The actions we make, the thoughts we possess in our mind and the consequences we think of getting the result not only effects ourselves but it also affects the one who stays around us for a longer period of time.
One of the most important things which reflect one’s personality is the ethics that he or she possess. As we hear the term ‘Ethics’ different meanings start bursting up in our mind, but let us see the scientific meaning of ethics.
What does Ethics Mean?
As per the ethics definition, ethics are a general set of rules that are important to be followed, to be a part of society. Moreover, it guides one to live in the right way in society. These certain rules are common worldwide. These ethical principles are inherited as well as are learned by the individual from their family’s ways of living.
Every single individual possesses the same ethics and ethical behavior in different ways as the culture from which they are born and brought up are different.
Whenever we talk about the behavior of a person one of the most important things is ethics, whether the person reflects his ethics at home or office or in a professional environment, he should live with setting some set of rules, which make him acceptable in the society. There are some important ethical terms which matter the most in a professional environment. Let us see those elements:
Definition of Workplace Ethics:
Workplace ethics are nothing but the rules and procedures that should be carried out in an office by the employer and the employees to maintain a professional company culture and to build a better relationship with their customers by providing better services.
Workplace ethics plays an important role in company growth and development.
Examples of Workplace Ethics:
Secular values are the basis from where the ethics of the workplace have been derived from. Some of them are,
- Loyalty
- Comradery
- Citizenship
- Trustworthiness
- Integrity
- Respect
- Caring
- Fairness
- Responsibility
- Accountability
Most Important Ethical Terms and Principles:
1. Values:
The values of a person can be defined as the acts and actions which we make in our daily life. The true values of a person are devotion, respect, hard work and love. These acts of values make a person more valuable. These values tell more about a person’s behavior and responsive qualities which he can possess during work.
2. Morals:
Morals are the certain duties which he needs to do for the betterment of society. Moreover, these are certain duties which make society work in a synchronized manner. These morals apply to every single human being of the society and they can’t be judged in a specific manner, because the things in moral are either right or wrong.
3. Integrity:
Integrity means to be always honest and sincere under any circumstances. When any individual shows integrity in a professional environment and his work, it means that the person can be trusted as well as he is an honest man to rely on. The person who is honest and sincere always sustains for a longer duration in the company as compared to others.
4. Character:
The character is one of the most important ethics which in short describes a person. It tells about your behavior towards others and your reactions towards the different situations. A bad thinking mind can destroy your character and a positive attitude and healthy mind always keep you with a good character.
5. Laws:
These are certain rules and regulation fixed by you yourself. These rules define you and put a limit to events that are dangerous for your lifestyle. A man with rules always shapes up in the laws of the company and work accordingly in the best way possible, and a man with no rules always lands up in troubles. These laws give us the ability to differentiate between right and wrong.
6. Dedication:
This is also a person defining ethic. The stronger dedication in work, the greater the output and results. Dedication in work makes a man stronger for tough situations and he also becomes a key player in motivating the others during the hard times.
7. Accountability of responsibility:
The more a person is responsible in nature, the more efficiently and responsibly he will do the given task. Responsibility towards everything such as parents, family, society, nature, works, office, etc are certain things which not only should be kept in mind but also these must be followed by every human being for a healthier environment.
These were the 7 ethical principals which matter the most in a professional environment and these ethics must be present in every human being so that he leads towards a successful and healthier life. Ethical behavior in the workplace helps us to remain healthy. Yes healthy, but healthy not only means to remain healthy physically but it gives you the mental peace of mind.
This experience is the most beautiful experience of life, when you don’t have any regrets for anything and daily you are appreciated for who you are, gives your mind so much satisfaction and peace that in difficult situations when others can’t think of any solution, you are the only one thinking calmly and quietly and finally coming up with the solution. This is the strength of the stable inner mind of an individual. Moreover, there are some professional benefits which can be gained by professional ethics; let us see some of the benefits below.
Benefits of Ethics in the Workplace:
The following mentioned are few advantages of ethics in the workplace.
1. Asset Protection and Assurance:
When your workers possess an ethical working environment and ethical behavior in the workplace, your companies maintenance cost decreases to a remarkable extent because they are well aware of their duties and responsibilities towards the company.
They also realize that they should not do any damage to any of the machines and equipment are given to them as they are very valuable for the company and doing damage to these things will be a wrong act, so automatically things will be taken care of and everything will work systematically.
2. Productivity will increase:
When the working staff and the workers value the work given to them and then they will do all the given work in time and achieve their set targets, this will greatly affect the sales and the productivity of the company.
Due to this, it is assured that you will have a group of people who will sail your business even in the worst of the downfall of the market, and keep the growth of the company and business consistent.
3. Team Work will develop:
When all the workers do their jobs in a responsible way, then a time comes when they have achieved the target way before the given deadline, then a question arises What Next? So the situation automatically bonds up all the individuals into a team.
These individuals now work as a team and work in the benefit of the company for which they will be getting or achieving their incentives. This mutual understanding of the employees is a positive signal that the company will sustain for a very long period in the variable market conditions.
4. Public Image and Brand Value Increases:
Yes if all the members of the company are dedicated to work as well as figure out there values and responsibility towards the environment, then it is for sure that the type of cleanliness and the disposal of the waste product of the company will be unbeatable in the market, hence resulting in attracting a bigger customer base due to the clean and quality of the services or products.
Moreover, an increase in the public image and an increase in the customer base is directly proportional to an increase in brand value. In simpler words when you gain popularity amongst your customers you start to develop your company into a brand.
5. Adaptive to changes:
Workers with professional ethics in the workplace are definitely the master key to the lock of success. The team of understanding, trustworthy, reliable, motivate, concern and responsible people will defiantly adapt themselves into any kind of position and work they are filled with.
Moreover, in general, it has been seen worldwide that in the digressive market conditions, if the company asks for any changes in the production or changes in the kind of work then the workers oppose.
In some situations, the company is left empty-handed falling short of workers as they leave the company due to changes, but things are just opposite when you have a trustworthy and responsible bunch of people as they themselves demand changes according to the companies situation and let the company run even in the hard market situations.
6. Decision making and implementing is always easy:
Whenever there is a need to take a big decision then the best one made is by the advice of the employees of the company, and what will be better than every single employ respecting the decision and supporting the company to go ahead with their decision.
This is the power of ethics in the employers who respect the decision of the company and let it go along with the flow. This is very rare in the big companies but where this scene happens; the company turns big brands over the night.
7. Trouble-free working environment:
Generally, where everyone is unknown and moreover no one wants to know each other there are higher chances of great trouble and where there is a friendly, respectful and great workplace or environment between the employees there are fewer chances of the least troubles from the employees end.
If in case, a situation arises where there is some little misunderstanding between the employees, it gets solved within them due to a better and strong understanding between all the employees. Even the management does not have to bother about those small little things as they know that the employees will take better care of themselves.
8. There is no one left negative:
When people are detached from one another and someone gets negative regarding the companies’ work then it has been seen that from that single negative employee many are affected.
Thus there is a sudden decline in the working of the employees, but when everything is good to go and everyone is concerned about one another then things become systematic and in case if someone gets negative, the positive and supportive environment works as a boost up for the person and again he/she starts working to their best.
9. Less Legal Issues:
When everything is systematic and functional and in addition your workers are cooperative and understanding then you won’t be facing any problems or legal obligations from the employee’s end, because all the workers are treated equally and all are well known with their duties which the job requires from them.
When everything is managed and systematic then all the paperwork and the legal formalities are the primary things which are considered the most, so there is no question of any legal issues.
10. The company will Touch New level of Success:
When everything is so managed and systematic along with the understanding of the employees because of their strong ethics, the company will surely touch new heights of success and even the growth of your business will be assured.
When your employees become experts in their respective works and respective fields, then their dedication and will, to do the work will show true colors and give more fruitful results.
Workplace Ethical Laws in Business:
There are few Occupational Safety, Health Administration and anti-discrimination laws mandated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These laws help the employees to make sure that certain things are practiced completely unbiased, such as:
- Anti-discrimination policies
- Anti-harassment policies
- Policies for interactions with clients
- Safety policies
Examples of Workplace Ethics Violations:
Usually, violations of workplace ethics in companies are not tolerated. Strict actions are taken depending upon the level of violation done. It is better to know, understand and follow ethics as it helps you build a professional value in you.
Examples of ethical violations that can occur in the workplace include:
- Asking a candidate whether she has children or no is the clear violation of ethics
- Discrimination of clients when quoting the price for a service is a violation
- The supervisor not taking any safety measures for their employees when doing the dangerous task
- An employee taking a step ahead for lying, making decisions even if he is not responsible for it.
- Spreading rumors about co-workers
- Not providing exact updates to the supervisor
- Not helping out a colleague who has experienced sexual abuse at the workplace, even after being a direct witness
How to Teach Workplace Ethics?
Most of the companies include the rules and regulations the employee should follow, which must be relating to the ethics of the workplace in the employee handbook.
Usually, all these terms are not discussed during the interviews or hiring process. It is only introduced after the employee joins the company. The organization’s ethical standard levels play an important role in its work culture.
Teaching workplace ethics must be mandatory especially to the employees who are new like freshers to the company culture. In most of the organizations, new employees undergo workplace ethics training to make them understand the importance and advantages of it.
Effective ways to teach workplace ethics :
- Role-playing complex ethical situations
- Discussions about workplace ethics
- Creating ethical dilemmas
So, these were some of the importance of ethics in the workplace. Truly ethics play a vital role in a person’s life, it decides all the characteristics that you will possess under different circumstances, moreover all the emotions, vision of your life, way of living, struggle, happiness, desires are greatly influenced by the type of ethics you have learned from, which moreover makes you a part of a society and people judge you from the ethics you possess in the society.
The more you take a hold on your ethics, the more stable and perfect you will become in your lifestyle. Ethic not only improves the way of our living but it also sets up a defined path which we can follow by following our ethics, and which will be finally leading you towards a final destination. The more you improve and travel on the perfect path, the more successful your achievements will be.
