The importance of a good work ethics to a business

(Source: Kamat, 2016)

Introduction

The importance of identifying, the ethical element to human resource management. It also subsists to serve organizational wants and needs for social validity.’ This means exercising social responsibility, ie being concerned for the interests (well-being) of employees and acting ethically with regard to the needs of people in the organization and the community.

HR professionals play a major role in securing and promoting core values in the organization on how people should be managed and treated. Furthermore, they shall take necessary action to achieve fair dealing, which means They need to take action to achieve fair dealing, stick to principles, equal and social justice which the employees understand the transparency and maintain consistency.  (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014)

Why is it Important to have good work ethics

Business ethics play a vital role beyond employee loyalty, determination, and the strength of a successful management team, as well as the growth of the company towards profitability in the long run.

The recognition of a business among the community, involved, related and other business, investors which self speaks about the company and investing in the same. Instances such as non-ethical practices may result in investors’ think twice to invest, purchase stock or involve in the operation.

Organizations that have more Socially Responsible and ethical investing keep growing. The increasing number of investors seeking out ethically operating companies to invest in is driving more firms to take this issue more seriously. (Horton, 2020)

What is Ethics? 

If you’re like most people, you don’t really spend much time thinking about the philosophy of it. But once in a while it is a critical exercise that you need to go through in order to clarify your values and principles (especially with regard to the workplace)

Source: Ethics in the Workplace - A Good Work Ethic, 2020)

Types of Ethics

Figure 1: (Types of Ethics)

• • Normative ethics: Rules that have direct implications upon human actions and institutions. It includes decision-making abilities on moral principles that direct good and bad leadership.
  • Personal ethics: This refers to individuals own code of ethics, with regard to scenarios involving third party and circumstances that they encounter in everyday life.
  • Social ethics: It governs the rightness of an action that is based on fairness, justice, poverty, and the rights of an individual from a particular society or community.
  • Professional ethics: These refer to a code of conduct, rules, and regulations which are to be followed by individuals within a professional space or business environment. It’s a total direction to people on how to behave or conduct themselves when in contact with other concerned in such environments

Business ethics:

1. Trustworthiness
2. Respect
3. Fairness
4. Caring

 

Types of Ethical Behavior in the Workplace

1. Customer comes first
2. Transparency
3. Workplace diversity
4. Secured customer information
5. Watchful on unethical behavior and reporting to relevant people concerned

 

Types of Unethical Behavior in the Workplace

1. Being Bias in an Employee Argument
2. Lying
3. Creating an unpleasant work environment
4. Ignoring Conflicts of Interest

(White, 2019)

 

Global Context

 Overview of Microsoft’s Compliance and Ethics Program

The three pillars of Microsoft's compliance and ethics programs are prevention, detection, and remediation. To achieve these objectives, employees are constantly evolving their programs.

(Compliance and Ethics at Microsoft, n.d.) 

 Prevention

To prevent compliance issues from arising in the first place, they focus on promoting a culture of ethics and integrity. They do this by creating a culture of compliance throughout their company, and through the Standards of Business Conduct, policies, and training, while also using data analytics, risk assessment, proactive investigations, third party vetting, and other compliance efforts to minimize potential risks.

Detection

 They detect potential compliance issues in several ways, including testing by their Internal Audit group, monitoring through their compliance analytics program and by their Controls & Compliance teams, investigating concerns reported by employees and others, and analyzing trends through their Office of Legal Compliance. Compliance is a team effort at Microsoft. Every employee is responsible for upholding the standards, fostering the culture of compliance in their Microsoft team and partners, and reporting concerns

 

Remediation

They assess the root cause of problems and continually enhance the controls and processes to minimize the risk of recurrence. This process is a core component of Microsoft’s compliance program and growth mindset culture. They discipline employees who violate their policies and standards, regardless of their level, and they stop doing business with partners and suppliers who don’t meet the ethical standards.

 

Awards and recognition

Microsoft is honored to have received positive recognition for their work in ethics, compliance, and corporate social responsibility. In 2019, Ethisphere Institute ranked Microsoft among the World's Most Ethical Companies for the ninth year in a row

 Conclusion

Dos and Don’ts are totally based on law and ethics. It is universally accepted while the latter is human conduct, agreed by people. In order to make it on par, the law and ethics don’t contradict each other and it goes side by side. Nobody is superior or inferior. Further, these two allow a person to think freely and choose. Practicing good work ethics promotes growth, employee retention.

References

Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. In 13 (Ed.). London, United Kingdom: Kogan Page Limited.

chegg.com. (n.d.). Retrieved 07 28, 2021, from Chegg Study: https://www.chegg.com/learn/business/introduction-to-business/ethics-in-introduction-to-business

Ethics in the Workplace - A Good Work Ethic. (2020, 05 15). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_n6i1ug0tQ

Horton, M. (2020, 07 01). The Importance of Business Ethics. Retrieved from investopedia: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/040815/why-are-business-ethics-important.asp

Kamat, S. (2016, 03 01). Online productivity solution (pvt) ltd. Retrieved from www.opspl.com/: https://opspl.com/blog/work-ethics/

microsoft .com. (n.d.). Retrieved 07 28, 2021, from Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/compliance

White, J. (2019, 07 24). https://www.thestreet.com/. Retrieved from The street: https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/what-is-business-ethics-15026364