TAAENV501A Maintain and enhance professional practice
Ethics shape individual and therefore organisational and societal values and standards. Concepts of ethical behaviour for an individual, a business and a society may vary. An individual may hold views on standards and ethical behaviour that can evolve through both work and life contexts. In many cases standards and values that underpin work may conflict with the individual's ethical basis. The definition of ethics is much debated. We firstly shall define ethics by determining what it is not. We will particularly concentrate on the relationship between morals and ethics. We will then move on to study how damaging conflict can be avoided when identifying and reporting poor work-based standards and values. Ethics, morals and values are often used interchangeably; however, ethical values are not necessarily the same as moral values. Therefore, from the outset we need to distinguish ethics from morals. Morals are standards of behaviour adhered to by a society concerning social mores and customs. Morals can thus change from generation to generation, from society to society, from culture to culture. What is communicated as morality today might be obsolete tomorrow. Ethics , on the other hand, concern those values beyond mores and customs that pervade human existence. Ethics concern the essence of human dignity and what is necessary to uphold it. The following table illustrates how ethics can guide societal thinking: Table 1 Comparative Protestant-Confucian ethical basis
With the above chart we could also encounter similarities and profound differences with Islamic, Hindu or Buddhist ethical beliefs. Equally, all instil and generate different values and moral beliefs.
To illustrate how personal values influence judgments on ethical behaviour of others, complete the following question: Do you support the following? Reflect on why or why not.
This section is not an in-depth study of ethics but we do need to appreciate that ethics guide collective action and that values, standards and morals that are based on ethics guide the everyday actions of a workforce. The ethics of leadership often revolve around balancing individual and organisational values. In some cases, unfortunately, ethical dilemmas arise that provide no clear-cut course of action. Actions that appear ethical at the time may be interpreted later by others as unethical. Business ethics is a complex subject because it can be argued that human dignity is often debased by the organisation of work. Philosophers argue that people deserve to be treated differently from other factors of production, that they need to be treated with respect and dignity and therefore that they should be treated this way. The concept of human dignity rejects the idea of using employees as economic tools. Ethics then: . . . [has] to do with the consequences of our acts to ourselves and to others. It recognizes that life has an overall purpose and accepts the inner integrity of each individual. Since organisational behaviour always involves people, ethical philosophy is involved in one way or another in each action. Human decisions cannot, and should not, be made apart from values (Davis, 1981:13). The concept of ethics in business and assessment is important to reflect upon. We will revisit this issue in other modules within the Diploma of Training and Assessment. The following reading is a very basic introduction that may provide some ideas to stimulate your thinking.
Give yourself a score of one (1) for every A. Give yourself a score of two (2) for every B. A responses-Absolutist: Believe ethics equal concrete boundaries on how all should live their life and that ethical behaviour revolves around goodness or ultimate virtue. If you scored less than 14 then it seems you have a strong commitment to this basis of thinking. B responses-Relativist: This may be argued to include utilitarian views. However, let us concentrate on how relativists believe that we can set a target to which all should aspire to achieve as a moral duty, but that other factors may impinge upon its ultimate attainment, e.g. legal obligations, ethnic variations in interpretation, self-actualisation/ satisfaction, family needs, etc. If you scored over 20 you are very strongly oriented to this ethical basis. While the Absolutist may argue that boundaries must not become blurred, the Relativist sees virtue and goodness as subjective and highly variable. Equally, actions may have been carried out with the best of intentions, but the consequences were not fully appreciated. Actions can also adhere to one set of ethical practices while they conflict with another (acting for the interests of your family may conflict with societal expectations). Some theorists, especially political theorists, argue that the purpose of business not only is to make money but includes a range of other factors such as productive employment, economic maintenance, co-operative pursuit of goals, occupational pursuit, and the application of aptitudes and skills for individual self-fulfilment. Considering the number of texts written on the value of human knowledge and people being the heart of competitiveness, ethical consideration can be a very strong force for forging staff commitment. That is, there may be a legitimate purpose in upholding ethics within an organisation because it harnesses and motivates individuals towards outcomes that also deliver bottom-line or performance indicators. Legal imperative is not related solely to environmental, financial or contractual concerns. The executive leader often holds direct and personal responsibility for organisational actions. Beyond responsibility to external parties, all leaders have an interpersonal obligation under law to communicate ethically as the following cases demonstrate. Case 1 Supervisor X had always been keen to avoid confrontation with fellow staff members. When conducting appraisals or meetings Supervisor X recognised that criticism or direct challenges to a person's working capabilities can be very damaging and in some cases, lead to legal action against an organisation. At best, such practices will undermine confidence and morale in the team. Supervisor X therefore held a personal values base that saw confrontation as possibly counterproductive to collective purpose. Unfortunately, one employee whose performance was below standard was continually rated as 'average' by Supervisor X on workplace review sheets (cyclic review of observed performance on standard customer service tasks). When the employee was later dismissed by the company for repeated complaints received from customers, the employee successfully argued that no prior indication of unsatisfactory performance had been received and therefore there had been no reason for him to improve it. Case 2 In a second case, an employee with a disability was constantly rated as average when the supervisor completed the quarterly performance appraisals. Despite claims by the employee that their performance was superior and consistently met customer requirements, the supervisor graded performance over the appraised period as only average. For promotion the employee was required to achieve superior or excellent grades for at least two consecutive quarters. After three years the individual placed a formal complaint with the relevant government agency enforcing anti-discrimination and equal opportunity legislation. The case was upheld. The employee demonstrated to an independent external assessor that they were able to complete their work tasks to a level that should be graded excellent. The company and the supervisor (the third who had supervised the employee in the three years) contested they were enforcing not just performance but performance indicators that related to standards requiring a certain numbers off forms and tasks be completed in a working day. The employee consistently attained 10 per cent below the requirements for the office. The commission found that the performance indicators were discriminatory and had not been considered in light of disabilities of the employee/s. However, the decision actually stated in the cause for upholding the complaint revolved around the performance appraisal process. It was found that the supervisor(s) had not used the appraisal process for the purposes of enforcing standards relating to improved organisational performance. Should they have done this, the company would have identified the problem and instigated a solution. This would in turn have raised performance and overall standards of customer service and competitiveness. Training of supervisors in how to effectively communicate with staff during appraisal processes and report improvements to management was recommended. (See also CCH Publishing, 1988:107-86.) Building trust and confidence-Treating people with integrity, respect and empathySince the late nineteenth and through the twentieth century, and now in the early twenty first century authors argued that the function of leaders and management was to build and then reinforce understanding and agreement from all employees on how the organisation can achieve its goals. Planning has provided the major tools for stating the goals and communicating these to individuals at all levels within the organisation. Basically, planning was viewed as the core communication process and served to enable management to align staff towards an agreed sense of purpose. Credibility and trust in management was based around delivering the plan. Individuals in the organisation were then able to apply a common reason or meaning in the performance of their roles to complete tasks.
It is rare that organisations today do not identify the importance of behaviours and the frontline manager's role as a model and reinforcer of positive behaviours. The concept of treating people with integrity, respect and empathy is innate to people, and as such often has to be reinforced through deliberate communication strategies. Integrity, respect and empathy all involve one person acting and communicating in relation to another person's values, beliefs and expectations. To instil trust and confidence managers have to communicate in empathetically with their own staff and peers. Praise It is easy to criticise and find examples of work that individuals have done incorrectly. Equally, it is easy to set your own standard and impose that on others without finding out if there is a better way to complete tasks, or even if the staff member knows a better way to complete a task. Often the hardest thing to do is to offer praise for those things that an individual does well. While some may see this as 'soft', it is important that we recognise the achievements of others. The ability to communicate in a positive manner, to encourage people to improve, to actively seek feedback from others, and to avoid conflict often relates to how well we recognise that all people have some common needs. Physical survival We work to earn money. We seek job security. We make investments and buy houses that have to be paid for from our wages and salaries. Conflict inevitably occurs when our physical survival is threatened. Recognition We need to feel worthwhile, to feel valued and be recognised for our value. We need to have a reason for our existence. In our encounters in the workplace, we put a price on our worth. Conflict inevitably arises when others view us as being of less value than the value we put on ourselves. Independent capability We need to feel capable. We need to feel adequate, strong and, in that sense, independently able to achieve what we want. This involves being accountable and some individuals find this difficult to accept. They want independence without accountability. Our independence is threatened when we are asked to undertake tasks that we do not understand. When independence is threatened, cooperation breaks down and conflict results. Affiliation Affiliation refers to a connection, a 'belonging' in a community where we are accepted. While we seek independence, we also seek a reference for that independence. Our needs are meaningful only in a communal context of relationships. The organisation and our work teams need to provide affiliation with a meaningful frame of reference (the corporate culture) in which we can contribute. The affiliation need is very strong. When people are denied a community culture they often form a counterculture. Conflict results when affiliation is threatened: that is, people are excluded. Purpose We need a purpose for our existence, a reason to get up every morning, a reason to continue. Some people sustain a belief system by which they interpret their life experiences. Others find a purpose in the fulfilment of goals which they set and try to accomplish at work. Conflict often occurs in the workplace because people are asked to do things without understanding the purpose. If purpose is clear then we make it easy for the other person to understand why we are asking them to do one thing and not another.
© Graham 1993 Figure 8 A hierarchy of workplace needs If we consider that every action and activity by a manager has a communication dimension then can be used to impact both culture and relationships within and outside the organisation in a positive or negative manner.
Figure 9 Values, ethics and standards contribution to culture In effect communication and workplace relationships are strengthened where the purpose embeds values and beliefs that relate to integrity and credibility.
Figure 10 Building values and beliefs into purpose
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Activity 9 
Reading 3 
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