Ethics
Ethics is the practice of making a principled choice between right and wrong. Making decisions based on ethical principles prevents us from making decisions for personal gain or preference. These ethical principles are behaviours commonly acceptable to society.
Unethical decisions may lead to illegal actions and these unethical practices may lead to prosecution for criminal activities e.g., unethical financial decisions lead to criminal charges of fraud or corruption.
Poor ethical decisions by employers or employees can harm a business’ reputation, cause a business to lose customers, decrease profits, legal action taken against employer or employee(s) involved or lead to business closure.
Unethical decisions include the act of paying or accepting a bribe, omission of data or information, falsifying results.
Practicing ethical principles should be the norm in our personal capacity as well as in our professional capacity. The same set of ethical standards should apply in all aspects of our lives.
Most people agree that stealing, taking something that does not belong to you, is wrong. Most people also know that lying and cheating are wrong. Keeping quiet when you see someone behaving in these ways is also wrong. Doing something wrong or unethical might put someone in a better position (financially or otherwise) but choosing to do the right thing is imperative for the functioning of a strong business and reputation.
Ethical principles assist us in making difficult decisions and provide us with rules when evaluating the rightness of our actions.
An ethical activity will minimise the harm to a person or group of people that will be affected by the decision. An ethical activity will also treat people with respect and dignity.
In the workplace the actions of all personnel are influenced by the work relationships with employers, employees, clients and others. Work efficacy, the skill and knowledge necessary to do the work, must be used in a way that reduces harm or increases the public good. Confidentiality by protecting information from unauthorised access and use is critical in any business. Impartiality by treating all parties fairly and equally must be displayed. This results in a strong professional ethos in the workplace.
The duty to be truthful and faithful to our word.
The duty to act with integrity so that others are able to rely on our honesty.
The duty to foster trust, delivering work timely and competently.
The duty to do justice and deal with others fairly.
The duty to work towards self-improvement thereby not committing a wrong a second time.
- Ethics is the responsibility of every individual in the organisation and filters through for the benefit of society in general.