Ethics In The Workplace

Workplace Ethics is a subject that we have all heard of. In fact, the subject of Ethics in general is something that most people are familiar with. And, what is commonly understood about ethics is there are ethics and then there are workplace ethics. What most people don't realize, however, is that there is no such thing as workplace ethics; ethics are the same, (or, should be) whether in the workplace or in personal life.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT

Ethics are about making choices that may not always feel good or seem like they benefit you but are the "right" choices to make. They are the choices that are examples of "model citizens" and examples of the golden rules. We've all heard the golden rules: Don't hurt, don't steal, don't lie, or one of the most famous: "Do unto others as you would have done to you." These are not just catchy phrases; these are words of wisdom that any productive member of society should strive to live by.

In our personal lives, most people try to do exactly that. Ethics are thought of by many people as something that is related to the private side of life and not to the business side. In many businesses, having ethics is frowned upon or thought of as a negative subject. This is because business is usually about doing what's best for number one, not about what's really the right thing to do. You probably are already feeling uneasy just reading this.

A GOOD EXAMPLE

Take ENRON, for example. Were the actions of ENRON's CEO's a good example of ethics? No. But, what they WERE was a CLASSIC example of was two things: One, those actions displayed how ethics were not used in any way. Two, their actions painted a grim and realistic picture of what can happen when ethics are neglected. Had ethics been considered in the first place by the leaders of the company, there would have been no scandal. If ethics were used on a daily basis in every company, there would never be scandals.

Martha Stewart comes to mind when speaking of ethics. Again, there is a feeling of uneasiness when dealing with this topic. But, why is it like that? Ethics are supposed to improve our lives and invoke good feelings. Perhaps the reason ethics is such a sore subject is because they are so often poorly used, if used at all.

A NEW WAY

Ethics are making a comeback. To begin with, more and more corporations and businessmen and woman are now realizing that ethics aren't checked at the door when entering the workplace. Ethics have every bit as much a place in the public as they do the private. How is it there should be separate sets of ethics, depending upon whether it is your personal life or your work life? The answer is that there shouldn't be a separate set and in light of recent events that we see on our television sets as of late, more and more companies are realizing this fact.

Some companies are incorporating ethics into their training. It is s subject that can go hand-in-hand with business and when employees and CEO's alike understand what ethics are about, business can improve. Not only will the community take note of the ethical nature of a business but also so will customers.

Periodic reevaluations are suggested in ethics training as well, since times change many things that some would never consider ethical or non-ethical. For instance, when the first computer hacker to send a work into a university computer system crippled the entire network that the system was a part of, including that of public utilities ? simply because he could do it ? a question of ethics is hard to pose. Computers were new, at the time. And, no one had ever been able to do such a thing before. With new times comes new technology and new ways of doing things. Ethics will still play a part of it all and refreshing ethics training only re-strengthens what has already been learned, when new ages come about.

In the end, it's all about what a person understands about ethics. Many university curriculums are now heavily applying the teaching of Ethics and for good reason. Young minds will take this information into the workforce and understand that ethics need to be applied there as well as in the private sector. Corporations will be able to avoid embarrassing scandals that are presented all over national news. Small business will be able to keep and attract more clients and customers. Negotiations between businesses could be accomplished with more consideration for the other company in mind, which would only help both.

Above all, a high level of ethics in your business should be in place at least for the customers. If anything, it is the customer that should be considered the most when it comes to ethical business practices. In the long run, a company will reap great profits from a customer base that feels it is being treated fairly and truthfully.

About The Author

Myron Curry is President and CEO of BusinessTrainingMedia.com a leading provider of workforce and business development training programs designed exclusively for corporate deployment. Myron has over 20 years of successful management experience with leading fortune 500 companies and has written numerous articles about workforce management issues. You can contact Myron at: myron@business-marketing.com or visit his company's website http://www.businesstrainingmedia.com

In The News:

---

The Herald | HeraldOnline.com
South Carolina's Wilson under wider probe for overseas trips
MiamiHerald.com
Congressional staff members with detailed knowledge of the probe said ethics investigators are examining Wilson's unusually high number of foreign trips ...
Wilson ethics probe widensThe State
Butterfield to cooperate with ethics investigationGreenville Daily Reflector
Timing Is Key In Investigations Of Donations From Financial InterestsTPMMuckraker (blog)
TPMMuckraker (blog)
all 35 news articles »

Sportsnet.ca
Football player tested positive for HGH, ethics group says
Montreal Gazette
In what the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport calls a first in North America, a University of Waterloo football player has tested positive for human ...
Canadian football player tests positive for HGHThe Associated Press
Waterloo football player tested positive for HGHCBC.ca
Canadian Is Positive For HGHNew York Times

all 202 news articles »

New York Daily News
Is Appearance Of Impropriety Now Enough To Open An Ethics Investigation?
TPMMuckraker (blog)
The Office of Congressional Ethics told the Ethics Committee that the conduct of three members of the House in the time leading up to the vote on the ...
Rep. John Campbell, other lawmakers face ethics inquiryLos Angeles Times
Queens Rep. Joseph Crowley says he's clean in House ethics probeNew York Daily News
Three Ethics Cases Referred to House PanelFOXNews (blog)
Dallas Morning News -USA Today -Politico
all 326 news articles »

Waters forms legal defense fund to wage fight against ethics charges
The Hill
has established a legal defense fund to pay for any expenses associated with her full-throttled battle against ethics charges that she used her position to ...
Rangel Hearings to Test His Party, TooWall Street Journal
Waters opens legal defense fundPolitico

all 3 news articles »

GPB
Attorney: Grand jury not looking into Nathan Deal
Rome News Tribune
That's just not true," said Randy Evans, who has also represented Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and other notable Republicans facing ethics charges. ...
Barnes says Deal's release of tax returns gives incomplete pictureAtlanta Journal Constitution
Candidates Duel Over Deal Tax ReturnsMyFox Atlanta
Barnes And Deal Fight Over Tax ReturnsWABE
WXIA-TV -Gainesville Times -WDEF News 12
all 52 news articles »

New York Daily News
Despite ethics woes, Rangel holds vast fundraising edge ahead of primary
The Hill (blog)
Y.) may be embroiled in an ethics scandal in Washington, but in his home district the longtime congressman appears to be in a solid position ahead of his ...
Harlem voters on Charles Rangel-Adam Clayton Powell race: Do we have to vote ...New York Daily News
Charles Rangel foe Adam Clayton Powell took campaign cash from ex-con who owns ...New York Daily News
Et Tu, Harlem?RedState (blog)

all 9 news articles »

Kline ethics hearing postponed again
Kansas City Star
TOPEKA| A hearing on an ethics complaint against former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline has been postponed — again — until Feb. 21. ...
Ex-Kan. AG's ethics case postponed until FebruaryNTV

all 10 news articles »

Rangel Should Resign, Manhattan Voters Tell Poll
New York Times
Richard Catalano, 61, who lives on the Upper East Side, outside Mr. Rangel's district, which stretches from the Upper West Side to East Harlem, said ethics ...

and more »

mediabistro.com (blog)
Ethics show focuses on Muslim center
Pueblo Chieftain
Here's the lineup for next week's "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" program, to run at 1 am Tuesday on KTSC-TV. - "Islamic Community Center Controversy” ...
PBS' Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly Ready for Season 14mediabistro.com (blog)

all 2 news articles »

FITSNews
More Ethics Rumblings
Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)
The new Office of Congressional Ethics continues to ruffle more feathers in Congress, as now it has evidently spurred a probe of how lawmakers spent travel ...
Wilson responds to ethics investigationThe Gamecock
Wilson target of ethics probeCharleston Post Courier
Rep. Wilson under House ethics investigationLive 5 News
MiamiHerald.com -The Right Perspective (blog)
all 28 news articles »

Google News

__________

Business Ethics: The Law of Corporate Karma

According to the shamanic traditions, the great mystery of being is that all things are alive and have a level of intelligence. This is because all things... Read More

Ethics in Business...A Lost Art

While watching Face the Nation one Sunday earlier this year, Bob Schiffer discussed the airline industry, his mother and ethics in business. Like Bob, I think it... Read More

Ethics in Business - Please Have Some

Is your business ethical?What I mean is "Does your business do the right thing when faced with that decision?" It's a simple question, which many businesses struggle... Read More

Top 10 Principles for Positive Business Ethics

This morning, I read about a company using on-line auctions to defraud customers. Last week, I consulted on an ethics complaint where a business coach betrayed a... Read More

How To Build A Business Ethics Program

Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business ethics and legal compliance. Yet a recent National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) survey of 280 corporate... Read More

Ethics In The Workplace

Workplace Ethics is a subject that we have all heard of. In fact, the subject of Ethics in general is something that most people are familiar with.... Read More

Do Organizations Serve Us Or Do We Serve Organizations

We have seen an erosion in the confidence that society has in organizational leadership and its integrity recently with the numerous accounting scandals that have become public.Clearly... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Shifting Culture and Climate in Todays Corporate World

This articles relates to the AlphaMeasure core competency Culture and Climate. AlphaMeasure defines climate as the effect an organization has on the employees, while culture refers more... Read More

Business Ethics: An Oxymoron

An oxymoron: the juxtaposition of contradictory words or concepts. That is what we have with the term "Business Ethics". The very contradiction that is inherent in this... Read More

Laws and Ethics?. Who?s Kidding Who?

Years ago I read an article by a renowned psychologist wherein he wrote his studies found one percent of all human beings would never lie, cheat or... Read More

Enron?s Ultimate Victim: Ethics

FROM the 'MORAL HIGH GROUND', where we imagine ourselves, the Enron fiasco should have come as no surprise. Enron is simply a quintessential example of the degradation... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Work Ethics and the Customer

This article relates to the Ethics in the Workplace competency, commonly evaluated in employee surveys. It gives examples of how employees and customers consider ethical behavior and... Read More

Business Ethics

There is much talk today about ethics in business - as there should be, but there should be more than talk; there should be a high moral... Read More

Work Ethics ? A Paradigm Shift

Work ethics is a hot topic in today's business and educational worlds. Yet, how do we define this hybrid phrase with the word work meaning more than... Read More

Business Ethics: How The Sales Function Can Transmit Company Values

I recently got a "thank-you" call from a man who read my new e-book Buying Facilitation."Boy," he said, "this method sure helps me close more deals and... Read More

Ethics? How To Take the Measure Business

When asked to write a small piece pertaining to ethics and integrity in the business world, my first inclination was to draw on personal experience.Everyone has bad... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Diversity And Success, In The Workplace

This article relates to the Diversity in the Workplace Competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. This competency explores whether your organization provides understanding and supports interaction... Read More

Business Ethics: An Oxymoron?

Why do I believe good PR and business ethics are inextricably linked? It comes down to definitions. Ethics is learning what is right and what is wrong... Read More

Are You Selling Out Your Integrity?

Integrity in business is a quality that is highly under-rated by executives these days. Many executives are so "pushed and pulled" by a not so hidden force... Read More

The Need to Survive; A Death Knell For Organizations

Changing the driving force upon which business decisions are based is crucial in order to not only restore ethics in business but to truly improve the lives... Read More

The Views of Karl Marx VS Max Weber

Compare and contrast the views of Karl Marx and Max Weber with regards as to what motivates people to work.Karl Marx: [1] Exploitation[2] Proletariat have to sell... Read More

MacDonalidisation: Braverman, Taylor & Mayo

Background: George Ritzer defined McDonaldization as "...the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society... Read More

Six Reasons to Give

If you run a business, you undoubtedly feel many pressures on your time and money. Why would you want to add "giving to the community" to your... Read More

The Social Implications of Computing

Directed by Mark Harrison, "Visions of Heaven and Hell" is a three-part cautionary tale come documentary commissioned by Channel Four, that warns of the impending infiltration of... Read More

The Three Schools of Business Ethics

G. Richard Shell, author of Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, identifies three primary schools of ethics in negotiation. To me, they are equally valuable... Read More