Posted by What is ethical behaviour?
Ethical behaviour in the officer usually refers to a set of rules that determine the standard of moral conduct that is expected by a company or organisation. These rules often impact the way the employees interact with each other, clients and managers at the company. Strong ethical rules promote a healthy, positive and wise behaviour where it encourages employees to act with integrity while at work.
Examples of ethical behaviour
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Resolving a conflict
When settling a problem between two people, it is critical to pursue resolution in an ethical manner. Because these two people will most likely need to collaborate even after the problem is fixed, it is critical to establish a long-term and meaningful solution. For example, in order to settle multiple complex issues in a timely and effective manner, an employee may need to talk with the team leader.
2. Maintaining customer privacy
For companies that work directly with clients and their private information, it is important for employees to act ethically with this information. Some companies have clear procedures on how to protect client’s privacy that employees must follow.For example, suppose a corporation requires the consumer to provide their credit card information. As a result, it is critical that the salesperson provide step-by-step instructions on how the organisation intends to preserve this information ahead of time.
3. Acting with care
Ethical behaviour sometimes may be a combination of small actions that could result in a positive outcome. For example, if you notice a consumer entering the store 10 minutes before it shuts. Instead of getting angry and telling the customer to leave, you as the store employee can assist the consumer in finding their belongings. This type of positive action with a customer reflects ethical behaviour in a small but meaningful way.
Related link: How to Deal with Workplace Bullies
Examples of unethical behaviour
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Leaving work early
If a company has a vague or unspoken expectation on time off and working hours, employees may take advantage of this by acting unethically. For example, an employee may claim they need to meet a client nearing the end of the day in order to go back early. Instead of attending a meeting with a client, the employee goes home. This is unethical behaviour because the employee lied to the company and didn’t work the appropriate amount of time a day. Therefore, to prevent this kind of behaviour from happening, the company can develop extensive procedures and policies on time. These policies can encourage employees to be honest about their schedules.
2. Providing misinformation to clients
When a company works with a client, it may be appealing to give misleading information in order to generate business. For example, an employee may need to complete a final sale for their quota, the employee provided the client with misleading information to encourage them to buy the service. Rather than achieving the sale ethically, the employee completed the sale on the basis of false information which could harm the future of the company. In order to amend this behaviour, the company should implement a procedure that involves the client receiving extensive information on the product. Additionally, the company may revise its policies about end-of-quarter sales to ensure that employees don’t feel pressured to meet a certain quota.
3. Taking credit of others’ work
If another employee takes credit for your work, you can always notify the managers regarding this behaviour. For example, a team was asked to present a marketing plan to a client. However, the marketing manager did not help with the design nor the creation of the plan. During the meeting with the client, the marketing manager decided to take full responsibility for the marketing plan, instead of crediting the team. Acting in this way can harm relationships between employees and it may lead to unfair outcomes such as an undeserved promotion. In order to prevent this behaviour at the office, a company can build a culture of encouragement, appreciation and affirmation.