Ethics Training in the Workplace. Most ethics policies are written and published to employees in some type of employee handbook or training manual. This isn't enough to ensure that employees.
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Creating ethical standards in the workplace is the foundation for happy employees and satisfied customers. When ethical standards are set forth clearly and without ambiguity, fewer human resources issue arise, morale picks up and productivity increases. The ethical standards in the workplace are partially set by laws and regulations and partially by the moral standards the company seeks to live by.
Legal Ethical Standards Definition
Legal ethical standards are those company policies put in place that are based on laws, rules and regulations that come from government or regulatory bodies. These standards define more than the law for a company; they define the expectations for employees, for company leadership, and they set the protocol for any violations or allegations of wrongdoing. It is the law that you cannot harass or physically harm someone. A company ethical standard goes beyond the law, and it states how allegations of harassment will be handled, investigated and of how disciplinary actions will be taken. The company may have one set of internal standards, even while law enforcement is brought in to handle the legal external side of an issue.
Companies are responsible for staying apprised of changes in laws and regulations and for updating policies, as needed. The mortgage industry had to revamp all of its ethical processes when the _Truth in Lending Ac_t, which updated how advertising and explanation of rates had to change, so that consumers would be protected from unethical practices.
Morally Based Ethical Standards Definition
A morally based ethic's standard is a company standard for doing the right thing. This standard could be regarding laws, regulations or customer service and human resource standards. When it comes to the laws falling into morally based standards, the company has decided to exceed the law. An example is when a company voluntarily sets its minimum wage higher than the required minimum wage for the betterment of its workers. A company could exceed minimum safety standards. These are morally ethical standards that have foundations in legal standards.
Beyond the law, a company could offer customers an unconditional money-back guarantee. This isn't required by any law but is the standard the company seeks to set. The company sees the high level of ethics as a good business practice breeding loyal customer and set the tone for high customer service from its employees to ensure they deliver the goods without incident.
Ethics Training in the Workplace
Most ethics policies are written and published to employees in some type of employee handbook or training manual. This isn't enough to ensure that employees understand and meet the ethics standards that employers seek. Consistent and regular training helps employees fully grasp and absorb the expectation. It also helps people realize that the situation might have been an inadvertent violation. For example, many diversification standards are not understood and are often violated accidentally, such as when people are merely trying to be funny. But jokes can be interpreted as mean or discriminatory.
Human resources leaders conducting diversity training with role-playing sessions get to show employees how conversations or actions that are not intended to violate an ethics standard actually do violate those standards. Often, employees concede that they had not thought about their language or actions in that fashion, and so they then make conscious efforts to change. With regular training on ethics, employers are able to avoid employee complacency on ethics subjects and to make sure that everyone is following the same standards of excellence.
When business leaders demand that employees follow a set level of ethics, those who don't want to follow them usually weed themselves out and quit, or they get fired for repeated violations. It is imperative that leaders spend the time to properly recruit those who meet the standards and who fit into the company culture. This reduces legal risk, customer conflict and employee unhappiness. Preventing these types of risks leads to better company morale and greater employee productivity.
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About the Author
With more than 15 years of small business ownership including owning a State Farm agency in Southern California, Kimberlee understands the needs of business owners first hand. When not writing, Kimberlee enjoys chasing waterfalls with her son in Hawaii.
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Leonard, Kimberlee. 'What Are Ethical Standards in the Workplace?' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-standards-workplace-11576.html. 17 October 2018.
Leonard, Kimberlee. (2018, October 17). What Are Ethical Standards in the Workplace? Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-standards-workplace-11576.html
Leonard, Kimberlee. 'What Are Ethical Standards in the Workplace?' last modified October 17, 2018. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-standards-workplace-11576.html
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Ethics are the guiding principles – or lack thereof – that determine how people conduct themselves in every aspect of their lives, including the workplace. While ethics and workplace behavior has always been important, there’s been a shift over the past few years in how the public and employees view major issues such as sexual harassment. As a result, there is increasing pressure on business leaders and human resource departments to ensure that ethics and behavior at the workplace are treated seriously.
Honest, hardworking employees who are driven by principles of decency and fairness increase overall morale, improve your company’s reputation and help ensure long-term success. Understanding the elements and challenges of ethics and behavior can help you create a harmonious working environment.
Establish Company Behavioral Policies
![Work ethics test Work ethics test](/uploads/1/2/5/7/125737595/536367296.jpg)
One of the most effective means of establishing the proper ethics and behavior at your workplace is specifying what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable among your employees. This must begin at the hiring stage and continue through each step that an employee takes in the hierarchy of your business. Specifying policies means writing them down in a manual that summarizes expected conduct while also detailing job descriptions.
Behavioral guidelines typically address topics such as harassment, work attire and language. Workers who don’t follow codes of conduct may receive written and verbal warnings, and ultimately be fired.
Stress the Importance of Integrity
It’s easy to forget the role that integrity plays in a harmonious and efficient workplace. For many business owners, the productivity and skills of a prospective employee are the preeminent characteristics they seek, but stressing the importance of integrity is vital to future success. Integrity is all about behavior that is honest and forthright. Employees who have integrity are transparent in their actions and willing to do the right thing, even if it means personal sacrifice.
You can create an environment of integrity at the hiring stage, ensuring that your human resources department discusses this principle during employee interviews. Integrity is especially important in industries such as health care. For example, caregivers who work with mentally or physically challenged patients must possess a high level of integrity because of the amount of authority they have over those who depend upon their services.
Give Employees a System to Report Unethical Behavior
It’s important to give your employees a means through which they can alert business owners about unethical behavior at the workplace. Business owners are often the last people to know that some members of their staff are behaving in ways that could negatively impact the long-term reputation of their companies. This is less likely to happen if you have a strong system in place that gives employees a means to report unethical behavior.
Some of the key elements of this type of system should include:
- Easy for all employees to use.
- Swift response to any report of bad behavior.
- Anonymous reporting to prevent retaliation.
- Follow-up after the initial investigation.
Promote a Team Concept
A vital aspect of the workplace is working well with others. That includes everyone from peers to supervisors to customers. While not all employees will always like each other, they do need to set aside their personal or even work-related differences to reach a larger goal.
In many instances, those who are not considered “team players” can face demotion or even termination. On the other hand, those who work well with others often can advance on that aspect alone, with teamwork sometimes even outweighing performance.
Define the Consequences of Unethical Conduct
Employees who violate the ethics rules you’ve established for your business must face consequences for their actions. This can range from a verbal warning, written reprimand, suspension or even termination for violations such as repeated sexual harassment, theft, physical abuse and embezzlement.
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About the Author
Sampson Quain is an experienced content writer with a wide range of expertise in small business, digital marketing, SEO marketing, SEM marketing, and social media outreach. He has written primarily for the EHow brand of Demand Studios as well as business strategy sites such as Digital Authority.
Cite this Article Choose Citation Style
Quain, Sampson. 'Workplace Ethics & Behavior.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-ethics-behavior-5239.html. 25 February 2019.
Quain, Sampson. (2019, February 25). Workplace Ethics & Behavior. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-ethics-behavior-5239.html
Quain, Sampson. 'Workplace Ethics & Behavior' last modified February 25, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-ethics-behavior-5239.html
Note: Depending on which text editor you're pasting into, you might have to add the italics to the site name.