Company-client confidentiality has become increasingly important due to the rise in competition and litigations. In fact, when a firm fails to secure and protect company-client secrecy, it ends up losing its customer or dignity. In the wrong hands, any information about the company can be used to conduct illegal activities such as discrimination, fraud, or victimization.
Fundamentally, confidentiality affects one’s personal and professional ethics. Companies are expected to keep personal information such as social security numbers, telephone numbers, passwords, Surnames, and addresses confidential. During lawsuits, however, a business may be required to provide such information without their employees’ consent (Perrino, 2015). Notably, ethical dilemmas always occur when people try to choose between right and wrong in situations that require an individual to sacrifice one side for the sake of the other. In this case, it is crucial that every employee should sign a confidentiality letter so as to ensure staff and companies refrain from sharing confidential information (Fotea & Neagoie, 2016). Primarily, various companies have put in place numerous strategies to ensure that information is secured at all times. For instance, firms keep confidential files in locked rooms where only specific people can access them. Also, employees are asked to clear their desk every time they are not around so as confidential information is kept secure.
It is worth ensuring that all sensitive information whether electronic or written documents should be marked as confidential. Sometimes this method draws attention to curious and ill-intentioned people as they want to know what is so sensitive about a document. Companies also regulate employees from discussing confidential information in public places and limit them accessing information about other workers (Fotea & Neagoie, 2016). One recommendation that is worth emphasizing is that companies should regularly communicate with their employees, have them ask questions, discuss essential but not confidential information with them, and always pay attention their concerns. It is also important to train your employees what to say or not say in case of a lawsuit (Shinde, 2016). Primarily, this is so because employees will always know what is going on within a company whether we like it or not. People are social beings, and individuals tend to share our concerns and fears. Making sure that employees are satisfied and fairly treated will ensure peaceful coexistence and loyalty at all times.
Reference
Fotea, I. S., & Neagoie, D. S. (2016). Domains where business integrity matters. In integrity in the business panorama (pp. 15-37). Springer International Publishing.
Perrino, C. (2015). Between a rock and a hard place: what to do when one must take equity in a client. Geo. J. Legal ethics, 28, 825.
Shinde, e. M. (2016). Employee assistance programs: Emergent ethical issues. In ethical issues in counselling and psychotherapy practice (pp. 155-168). Springer Singapore.
