Ethical behavior includes accountability, fairness, integrity, honesty, and speaking the truth. There are several ways to foster a culture of an ethical workplace, such as developing a company-wide code of ethics. If you want to establish an ethical behavior culture and enrich the workplace with moral values, this article is for you. Keep reading!
“I don’t think of myself as a role model for others, but I like to live my life by my own integrity. So, in that sense, I might be a positive influence. I do believe you should get over your insecurities and just try to be the best you can.”
Lily Cole
Why is Ethical Behavior important?
Ethics and moral behavior in the workplace have the ability to promote positive employee attitudes that result in organizational growth. Unethical behavior in the workplace can cause damaging headlines that result in organizational demise.
1. It Builds Customer Loyalty
Do you know what is the key to long-term business success? It’s customer trust in your business that develops by your ethical behavior. If customers believe they have been treated unethically, by not attending well or being overcharged, they will not be repeat customers. So, they may let a business take advantage of them once. Having the same customer line is since serving a loyal customer does not include marketing costs, whereas coming by a new one does.
2. It makes a business successful
Your moral conduct will tell the degree of benevolence that you get from others. When you are employed in a business in which your work somehow depends on others, developing ethics is a must to have. Not only you but if your organization has an inconstant moral history, others will typically view you with caution. Isn’t it an expectable case where reviews of customers are readily accessible on social media? You are unlikely to engage new clients through word of mouth, and, therefore, a business may slow down its rate of prosperity. Want to know how to succeed in life_ keeping moral and ethical values in mind? Read this.
3. It promotes a Positive Work Environment
When you get hired, you have a responsibility to be ethical from the day first. You must be true, accountable, and honest about your qualifications, capabilities, skills, and experience. A company perceives ethical employees as remarkably performing team players rather than as an individual. Your supervisor will trust you with confidential information. You should develop positive relationships with your coworkers that will, in turn, promote a healthy positive work environment. A manager may often give you more autonomy as a result.
Examples of ethical behavior
Business ethics facilitates the law by sketching acceptable behaviors beyond control. Establishing workplace ethics is crucial to promoting integrity among employees. It also plays an integral role to earn the trust of key stakeholders, like investors and consumers. While business and workplace ethics programs have become quite common, the quality differs. Here are some examples you must practice.
1. Communicate Effectively
Effective communication is something extremely important to deal with issues in the workplace. It may mean different things to you at different points in your career. Effective communication is also a key to your promotion making you a successful employee. Check out the ways to communicate effectively.
Good communication can also help you break one of the laws and rules of the organization without getting penalized for it. If you do it in the right way, you will be appreciated as well. If you reach out to HR that you will be coming in late due to some uncertain situations may be excused for coming late if the whole situation is communicated effectively.
2. Be Accountable
Accountability is also the best trait of ethical behavior. Lack of accountability gives an idea of your “I don’t care attitude”. Managers may perceive your wrong image and take you as a liar. Lack of accountability can also result in your job loss in the long run.
When you are a manager, you are given a certain amount of money that is allocated for your department. At the start of each year, you are meant to supervise how this money will spend. If at the end of the year, you could not make an account of how the money was used, you may then be questioned for stealing the company funds.
3. Work Smarter
It may surprise you that working smart counts in ethical behavior. Not just working hard, but working smarter makes you a professional employee. Ever seen an employee who is promoted to the manager post just after 2 years? Sometimes a hardworking employee who has 10 years of working experience with the company failed to get a promotion. The reason is smart work, when you work smarter, professionalism and ethical behavior may develop aside.
Think of 2 employees who are business graduates working in the company. Their task is to collect data and make a file. A smarter employee will use the excel sheet or any other data collection tool for accurate collection of data and acquire real-time data analytics. On the other hand, a hard-working employee will type data or may print paper-based data and do the hard work to share it with the respondents.
4. Telling the Truth
There’s no doubt in one thing for sure telling the truth consistently is very letting out. Isn’t this easy you can eliminate your stress by simply always telling the truth? Sometimes, being honest may come up with revealing uncomfortable news or letting down someone. Should you really disclose to your friends that the dressing they have done makes them look awful?
So, in such cases, it is okay to not tell the truth. But, overall, telling a truth is probably the most distinct example of ethical behavior. Avoiding telling a lie is not as easy as it sounds, however, you should always try speaking the truth not only at your workplace but at your home as well.
5. Asking For Permission
When you take things from other people without asking, remember you are acting unethically. Some highly professional companies may even call it stealing.
Ask for permission is the most ethical thing you can do, actually, it is also a case of learned behavior. When you want a drink of water and look at your colleague with a water bottle, ethics say you should ask them if you can have a drink. By asking, not only do you show ethical behavior but due deference and respect to the person who owns the water. Similarly, it’s a good element if you ask for permission from your colleagues before entering their rooms or offices at work.
6. Confidentiality
It is harmless when, sometimes, employees spread the word around the office. The news spread like a wildfire. It is simply meaningless drivel that sums up to nothing much more but gossip. You might not involve in it when it is about you, but the upshot will not be so tragic.
If you are a professional employee and an ethical colleague, you won’t gossip at all. If your friend lets you in on any other’s personal life and the latest news about the business’s downsizing plan, you would surely know how to keep your lips sealed. They will ask you not to tell anyone that a friend who works side of your table is getting a coveted promotion to Europe.
READ MORE: Morality Is Subjective Or Not?
What is a code of ethics?
There must be a perfect standard for ethics to be set in the workplace throughout the company. A few companies have also created a code of ethics, which may involve generic guidelines and communication ethics for good behavior about doing the right thing. Some other companies are mentioning certain protocols in the workplace. For example, a code of ethics at a college can include being true, honest, and impartial when grading students. Ethics demand to be a catalyst for diverse interpretations in the classroom. At the same time, a code of ethics at a doctor’s office may include seeing and attending to the patient first. A doctor should be polite enough to understand and talk to patients in tough situations.
In order to clearly state the business’s vision and goals that can be visible to both employees and clients, it is significant to create and display a code of ethics publicly. Businesses should be held to those standards for long-term success. A code of ethics not only develops trust and reliability in a firm but creates an environment of open and honest communication.
READ MORE: Passive Aggressive Behavior and how to deal with it?
