Employees and Ethical Perspectives
Employees of any organization have varying ethical perspectives, which influence how they make various moral choices. There are decisions that are meant to favor the majority of citizens and are in accordance with human rights such as fact, security, and privacy. When making those choices, employees must weigh how successful the option is and whether the consequences are positive or bad. Such considerations mean that decisions are taken in accordance with one's religious duty. Any of the issues that employees face that force them to make moral decisions are discussed below.
Rewards and Misuse
They are rewards used in organizations to appreciate employees and reinforce positive behavior. However, gifts and tokens are illegally used for purposes of influencing an employee’s decision making process regarding the business. If misused, instead of serving as rewards, they act as bribes. Therefore, it is essential for employees to determine whether it is appropriate to receive the gift. He/she should consider its value, purpose, organization’s policy, and circumstances under which it is issued. If the gift is of very high value, there is a likelihood it is more of a bribe. The reason for receiving the present must be clear. For instance, is it for encouragement or appreciation? Employees should abide by the set policies, for example, whether the company allows gifts or not determines the worker’s choice to receive or refuse it (Shaw, 2016).
Obligation to the Organization
Employees have a duty to perform particular tasks in a firm. The employer sets rules and regulations that govern a workplace. Workers follow the rules and carry out their duties effectively to receive salaries. Besides performing the daily routine work, it is upon an individual employee to decide whether to be loyal to their employers. Loyalty is expressed in different ways such as accepting transfers if need be, defending the firm in public and accepting to work extra hours when necessary. In addition, when a worker’s interests differ from those of his/her job, and they are significant enough to affect their job performance, one must choose which interests to prioritize. If an employee is loyal to the firm, they decide to put the company interest above individual interests.
Misuse of Official Rank
It occurs when employees use their ranks in the organization to influence business decisions that benefit their interests. The abuse of official positions results to disloyalty. As Coughlan notes, misuse of power negatively affect decisions concerning moral issues such as handling proprietary information and insider trading (2005). Proprietary data involves the organization’s copyrights and trade secrets. It is the valuable information a firm holds on how it carries out its operations. Leaking such data to the public or competitors by the employees leads to damage and unhealthy competition to the company. However, when workers leave the company and secure new jobs with the competing firms, they have difficulties in deciding whether to use the trade secrets of the former employer in improving the new firm which is a competitor. On the other hand, insider trading involves an employee using significant information unavailable to the general public to manipulate stock prices for personal benefit. Insider trading is a complex moral issue because it’s unclear how much data a worker should inform the stockholders concerning the organization and the appropriate time to disclose it (Coughlan, 2005; Shaw, 2016).
Bribes and Kickbacks
Bribes unlike gifts or tokens are payments made to employees with the aim of inducing them to work contrary to the interests of their employers. On the other hand, kickbacks are benefits received by an employee who uses their rank to influence an income source to benefit a particular person. It is a common issue facing all levels of employees in different companies. It is upon the workers to decide to uphold loyalty in their jobs and prioritize the employer’s interests above their own.
Obligation to Protect Third Parties
Third parties to a firm are the customers, competitors, suppliers, or the general public. The duty of an employee to these third parties might conflict with loyalty to the employer. Employees must choose how to react when their obligations, interests, and work duties differ with the interests of their employers. As a result, there is the dilemma concerning when a worker is morally obligated to warn the third parties concerning unfair or harmful trade practices by the organization that might negatively affect them. It is important for an employee to openly discuss the ethical problem with a trusted friend and also examine themselves whether they are willing to go public with the accusations to resolve such moral dilemmas (Larmer, 1992).
Whistleblowing and Ethical Conduct
Larmer explains whistleblowing as an act in which a worker informs the general public concerning the indecent or illegal conduct of an employer or firm. The purpose or circumstances determine whether the action is justified or not. It is justified if the whistleblower's motivation is the urge to uncover unnecessary harm or infringement of human rights. However, if the worker is spurred by pleasure in causing trouble, desire for a benefit, or attention the action is wrong (1992). In addition, the employee must first push the management to remedy the problem by informing the relevant executives and giving them enough time. Also, a whistleblower should have compelling proof of the occurrence of wrong acts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, making moral choices is a challenging task because employees have to consider the circumstances they are in as well as the interests of all the people who are affected by their choices such as employers, customers, competitors, and the public. The kind of employment and position one holds in the society gives commitments and obligations. When carrying out job duties, it is important to ensure safety and truth to everybody by making wise choices on moral issues such as the obligation to the employer and third parties, gifts, abuse of power, and bribery.
References
Coughlan, R. (2005). Employee Loyalty as Adherence to Shared Moral Values. Journal of Managerial Issues, 17(1), 43-57.
Larmer, R. S. (1992). Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty. Issues in Business Ethics, 11(2), 125-147. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-4984-2_8
Shaw, W. H. (2016). Business Ethics: A Textbook with Cases (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
