What is professional ethics?

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY WORK-PLACE ETHICS?

One of the most important responsibilities that we place on the leaders of organizations is upholding the highest standards of ethical behavior. In a nutshell, this comes down to doing the right thing even when the wrong thing might also have some attraction.  Work-place ethics are most often related to decision-making processes.  Most leaders face the opportunity to choose between alternative courses of action in their work situations and other aspects of their lives.

Work-place ethics refer to choosing the option that is determined to be the moral or legal “right” choice, even if the other alternative(s) are very attractive and even if you can “get away with” the less ethical choice.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO EXERCISE WORK-PLACE ETHICS?

Leaders are often put in decisions where they must choose among options that vary in their degree of ethical behavior. One of the reasons why this is a common issue for leaders is that there are often competing priorities for businesses.

organizations exist to generate profits for their shareholders, which may encourage leaders to act in ways that are less ethical in order to cut costs or increase revenues. On the other hand, organizations are made up of human beings who are personally invested in the company and often live in the communities in which they work.

If the individuals are harmed by decisions that maximize company profitability, then the decision is not an ethical one. Only one stakeholder is getting their needs met, at the expense of other stakeholders.

According to one theory, leaders may make bad ethical decisions and rationalize these decisions: For example, a leader may tell themselves it is not really illegal or immoral, or perhaps that it will never be found out or that their bad behavior will be rewarded.

Organizational leaders can make decisions in which professional ethics are not observed and they can justify it, for example, they may say to themselves that this decision I have made is not legally or emotionally wrong, or they may think that not observing professional ethics will never Others are not disclosed or rewarded by shareholders.

HOW DO I MAKE SURE MY DECISIONS ARE ETHICAL?

You tell us.