Workplace Behavior Ethics

Following workplace behavior ethics closely will not alone eliminate unethical issues. The best defense against unethical issues is to train your entire staff how to handle them. Good companies understand where negative ethical behavior in the workplace begins. Proactive leaders then attempt to limit the amount of unethical issues by creating business code ethics. This three step process will allow you and your staff to be prepared for any unethical issue.

Step #1 Determine Locations Of Possible Negative Ethics

There are countless places were negative ethics can originate from. Here you will find four of the most common ones.

Individual Character Qualities

I have said it before and I will say it again. Knowing what makes your employees tick, will make your life easier. Determine what makes them mad and happy for example. By digging deep into each workers personality you will have the ability to recognize an issue.

Employee Diversifcation

Almost all workplace cultures today have wide mix of different nationalites and ethinicity backgrounds. We all act and react diffently. We all have different thoughts on how to accomplish something. We also know that sometimes we will always not get along.

leaders here can gauge if there are future issues on the horizen. My experience here has found that some issues here go on for a while before they pop up. These workplace behavior ethics have a tendency to be mean and nasty.

Sometime Stress can play big role in ethics, learning where the orgin of a stressor is will help. The importance of stress management in the workplace will shed light on this key management skill.

One more comment on locating negative ethics. Make sure that there is open communication path between you and your employees. There may be unkown existing barriers that will hurt your chances of fining negative ethics issues.

International Corporate Relationships

When dealing with an overseas company its important to remember that their ethical behavior in the workplace may vary. Not to mention that many people are unhappy with outsourced jobs and production going overseas. Leaders should not be surprised if tempers flare. The only thing we can really do as leaders "is make the best of it".

Unethical Influences

A strong workplace behavior ethics program dosen't gaurantee there will be no issues. Leaders at times can be the source of an issue. There are a variety of reasons this might happen. Stress for example can cause major issues.

Step #2 Positve Workplace Behavior Ethics

The importance of ethics in business will give leaders the ability to conquer unethical issues. Every comapny needs to instill these five workplace behavors.

Strong Corporate Image

Many companies promote their strong ethics by doing what is right and help society in some way. Strengthing their companies public image will also improve cutomer relations.

Professionalism

This one will go a long way. Always act professional no matter what your job title is. Talk to everyone in the same tone and be pleasant. Treat others with respect no matter how good or bad they are performing.

The point here is to treat others the way you want to be treated.

Honesty

Promoting workplace behavior ethics like honesty in the workplace will have an overall positive effect. Employees need to understand that they need to make the right choices. They need to own up to mistakes for the greater good. Admitting to mistakes will allow time to make corrections.

Leaders can achieve this by letting employees know that they will not get in trouble. At the same time there should be some type of tracking of mistakes for performance reviews.

Trust

Employees and leaders need to be able to count on each other. There needs to be an understanding of "I have your back". One very effective way to establish this is to cross train everyone. This will allow leaders to cover sick days, vacations, or just to give some extra help were needed.

Responsibility

One of the most important workplace behavior ethics you can think of is responsibility. Each and every worker of a company needs to know what is expected of them. It is then their responsibility to make sure they follow through.

The employees have the resposibility of completeing job descriptions correctly. Make sure they are following policies and making the right decisions. Leaders can control this ethical behavior in the workplace by holding everyone accountable.

Step #3 Continuous Ethics Training

Continous training must take place for workplace behavior ethics to work. New ideas and adjustments need to be introduced. Maybe it just might be the time for a refresher or simple refocus. Though there are no set guidelines for training. Many companies do training classes on a semi or annual basis.

There are lot of tools that can be used to handle ethics. Keep in mind that ethics problems will turn into conflicts in the workplace. Check out this article on how to use TKI to resolve workplace conflicts.

Buisness Ethics issues are always going to exist. It will come down to the organizations ablility to provide acurate ethics training. Ethics training will provide employees a road map for how to act and react. Check out this article from The New York Times that covers

"How to handle an unethical request from an supervisor"

Return from Workplace Behavior Ethics to Employee Motivation Skills Return to Ethics InThe Workplace

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