Abstract
The idea of ethical behavior is of great relevance in the contemporary society. Individuals or organizations that observe unethical practices have a risk of facing the detrimental consequence of bad reputation. The cost associated with the process or effort for correcting situations created by practicing unethical behavior is essentially high, which affirms the significance of practicing good ethics. It is apparent that individuals who need to be successful in the modern world should have knowledge of what ethics entails and present high commitment of avoiding unethical behaviors. This should entail understanding and observing personal, organizational, and work ethics among others. The paper describes the consequences of unethical behavior by exploring two cases of individuals who failed to observe good ethics while executing their duties. The first case involves Johnny Jones, an employee who engaged in unethical habit due to lack of information regarding his work. The second case describes the ill actions of Tony who engages in unjust actions to serve his personal interests. The paper also proposes various strategies that a supervisor can utilize to address cases that present aspects of unethical behavior.
Ethical conduct is essentially important especially in the corporate world. Knowledge of ethical standards and values ensures that people are engaging in activities that are morally upright. People often engage in unethical behaviors, which result to detrimental consequences (Barsky, 2011). Unethical behavior can lead to many negative penalties especially when the jobs require employees and contractors to follow details of their jobs maximally. The paper evaluates the consequences of unethical behavior by making reference of the two cases of unethical practices. In the two cases, severe aspects were not tackled ethically as the participants lacked knowledge of the significance of assuming ethical behavior while conducting their activities. The paper mainly focuses on analyzing the unethical behavior in the two cases with the aim of helping a new supervisor deal with the issues associated with such situations in the future.
In the first case, Johnny Jones was not informed about the assignment he would undertake, the squad he would work with, or job description of the assignment ahead. Lack of information on the assignment at hand means that Jones did not know what was awaiting him at the job. For a new supervisor, according to Barsky (2011), information about the tasks must be availed to the employees before they can start the duties. A new supervisor can thus avoid the unethical behavior by providing all information on tasks to the new employees in their institutions. Jones did not also get information regarding the squad he would work with. Having knowledge of one’s colleagues in an organization enables one to study their profiles and know how to handle each of them. This means that Jones did not know how to interact with his colleagues although they were to work together. A new supervisor must ensure that a new person in the organization knows the workmates and colleagues so that they can know how to interact with the people in the course of their duties.
The job description of an individual enables the individual to know what he should do versus what he should not do at the work place. For the case of Jones, the job description would help him to know his actions and duties as he went out to take part in the military work. Lack of a job description in unethical dilemma that made Jones surprised at being introduced to the sergeant, then Tony. In essence, the statement to Tony not to put Jones in trouble makes Jones worried and confused because he is not aware of the roles likely to put him in trouble. A new supervisor must provide a comprehensive job description to the employees and juniors so that they understand what they must do during their jobs, and the safety measures they must take in the course of their employment.
Understanding the personality of employees will enable a supervisor to put them in the right circumstances and working conditions (Oyewobi et al, 2011). Tony likes working alone, and he is not a team player. However, the sergeant puts him in a team with Jones with whom they must work together. Tony understands that the sergeant wants him to work in a group but feels training that is more comfortable and developing other people than working with them. As a new supervisor, one must first have knowledge of his or her workmates. This will give the supervisor a chance of placing employees in the right positions and working conditions. By understanding, the qualities of the people one is working with, a supervisor will not force the juniors to get to tasks they do not like.
Ethical provisions require that employees must share true and honest information with each other. The supervisor through developing feedback sessions can easily obtain the information shared among the people (Chung & Khan, 2008). Some of the information that Tony shares with Jones includes not trusting Harry, being careful around Terri, the fact that lieutenant Marnings is a Jerk and a do nothing and convinces him not to give a lot of information to the sergeant in order to get help from him. This information is deceptive to Jones because it gets him into the wrong culture in the organization. Jones is likely to dislike Harry without reasons for the same. Tony uses his position over Jones to make him hate Harry who is in another squad. At the same time, Tony does not give Jones the reasons why he should be careful around Terri, which puts Jones in a confusing environment.
As a new supervisor, one should avoid such negative information getting to the people from the wrong channels (Harvey, 2006). Such endeavors can be facilitated through a number of ways. First, the supervisor should take new employees through serious orientation before they can send them out to the field. Second, the supervisor should introduce new employees to all colleagues and specify the source of information, which will go a long way in describing the profile of the organization. At the same time, the supervisor should specify the tasks that each group must undertake in order to avoid scenarios that make the employees think they are not interested in the quality of work delivered.
According to Harvey (2006), it is ethical for employees to stick to the instructions that they get and avoid getting to wrong tasks and committing unethical behavior. Johnny gets his own informants and starts to work alone as did Tony before Johnny came to the camp. However, he is involved in many unethical behaviors like delivering late on the duties give to him. This is because the monitoring by the supervisor is not sufficient and he knows as long as he will deliver the work, the supervisor gets satisfied. As a new supervisor, one should increase the level of monitoring on the employees to ensure they follow ethical provisions on their roles and responsibilities.
The hours of work and the limit on working should be as strict as possible according to the work ethics. The employees should work to the right time and have some time for their families and their private lives. Johnny works for long hours up to late in the night and has no time for his wife and family. This is unethical in the working environment. As a new supervisor, one must strictly monitor the working hours of employees to ensure they maintain high ethical standards, and they spare time for their families.
Ethically, every employee must be careful with the signatures that they append to documents especially where financial obligations are involved (Squire, 2007). Some of the employees misuse the funds, which is unethical and exploit others to sign the documents as their witnesses. Tony uses the funds in the wrong ways and convinces Johnny to sign as a witness. As a new supervisor, one should device a chain of command and strict accountability rules to ensure the employees comply with such procedures and account for all the funds they use.
Ethics and responsibility must prevail in all organizations as employees follow the provisions in the set code of conduct. However, employees may get into unethical behavior, which calls for the supervisor to devise methods to deal with such behavior. When individuals engage in unethical behavior, they must face serious consequences for their actions. The actions they may face include warnings, suspensions, and even temporary termination of some privileges.
References
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