Ethics in the Workplace - a New Business Endeavor

What is Business Ethics?

"The concept has come to mean various things to various people, but generally it's coming to know what is right or wrong in the workplace and doing what is right - this is in regard to effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders" (McNamara, 2006).

In the past few years with the media highlighting business scandals and organization misconduct, a greater emphasis has been placed on organizations to conduct their business in an ethical manner and to develop formal ethics and compliance programs for all members of the organization. However, an organization can not rely on only these formal ethics and compliance programs that have been developed to ensure that the organization conducts all aspects of its business in an ethical manner. It must rely on other sources to help develop an ethical culture. One of the concerns a business has is how its leaders handle ethics in the workplace and what they must do to ensure that the stakeholders in the workplace act in an ethical manner. This paper seeks to address this role of the leader in influencing and guiding ethical behavior in the workplace.

Leaders - Ethics by Example

A business's approach to ethics depends on the actions of its chief executives and its managers. It is set by the qualities and styles that characterize how the organization behaves from how people are greeted at the reception to how the smallest insignificant task is accomplished.

A business's values reflect those at the top. How management interacts with its employees, with each other, and with outside sources builds relationships. As the business changes so do all these relationships. Employees bring to an organization values, ideas, and aspirations of many kinds. These values, ideas, and aspirations are an important part of any organization in helping it develop. However, they do need to be managed. Leaders of the organization need to help guide these ideas and values. If guidance is not provided problems can develop that will hurt the organization. A leaders' responsibility is to help guide an employee to act in an ethical manner. For example, if a leader notices that a particular employee is acting in an unethical manner, the leader, should take that employee aside and help guide that employee. This can be done by discussing the proper way of behavior in an ethical environment for that particular instance.

Leadership, not only defines the person at the top it includes many levels of leaders. This range includes the team leader, the project manager, and many more. It is very important that a true leader recognizes the example that he or she is setting by their actions and attitudes. It is in everyone's nature to mimic his or her leaders' actions. If an employee sees that their boss acts rough and snippy with people within the organization then they might act accordingly to coworkers believing it is an acceptable attitude within the organization.

In 2005 there was a National Business Survey (NBES) of more than 3,000 American workers which was conducted by the Ethics Resource Center, a nonprofit organization in the United States devoted to the advancement of organizational ethics. This survey report identified "that the actions of leaders and peers significantly influenced employees ethics." It also pointed out that the "Actions of managers at all levels speak much louder than all the words contained in a formal ethics and compliance program" (Verschoor, Dec. 2005, p.20).

Even though these actions by leaders and peers helps create a culture in the workplace that makes an impact in ethical behavior, formal ethics programs are still essential in developing this culture. We will now examine formal ethics programs in the form of the Code of Ethics.

Code of Ethics a Guide for Leaders and Everyone

How do leaders of an organization ensure that their actions and the actions of the stakeholders act in an ethical manner in accordance with the organizations standard? The easiest way is to develop a Code of Ethics for the organization.

Leader's of the organization forms an ethics committee made of stakeholders within the organization. This committee develops a Code of Ethics that is tailored to the needs and values of the organization. This Code of Ethics will outline ideals that the organization wants to live up to and the principles that the members of the organization will be expected to adhere to.

Developing a Code of Ethics defines the acceptable behaviors of an organization and it promotes high standards of practice. A formal Code of Ethics also establishes a benchmark for stakeholders to use as a tool for self-evaluation and a guide for leaders to determine if all employees within the organization are acting