Module 2 : Conducting Professionalism at Workplace

Professionalism is the conduct, aims or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or

professional person; it implies quality of workmanship or service. Every organization knows that a
professional reputation is the difference between success and failure and they seek to keep their
most professional staff. Professionalism is all about success and influence; having a reputation for
excellence and being thought of as someone who exhibits professionalism under any circumstances
can open doors for one either in the workplace or in one personal ambition

Unethical behaviour in the work place can be defined as any actions that does not
conform to the standards of conduct established by the organisation. It can occur in the
relationships between employees, in the way an employee goes about his business or how he uses
company resources. It can even break the law in some situations. Thus unethical behaviour is
defined as behaviour that contravenes rules designed to maintain the fairness and morality of a
situation.

Factors leading to unethical behaviour

Some of the factors responsible for unethical behaviour are as follows.

 Greed
 Career Advancement
 Pressure
 Organisation culture
 Ignorance
 Misguided Loyalty

Greed : one of the main causes of unethical behaviour is greed. A person often chooses to act
immorally or unethically for personal financial gain.In business, there are a number of opportunities
for employees and employers to do the wrong thing. For example an employee who has contact
with a client may be willing to give them a discount in exchange for a kickback.

Career Advancement : A person acts unethically because he/she believes it helps their career.An
unethical act is used as a means of impressing superior or hurting the career of a competitor.

Pressure : Pressure can drive people to do things they would not normally do. Pressure to succeed ,
pressure to get ahead, pressure to meet dead lines and expectations , pressure from co-workers,
bosses, customers, or vendors to engage in unethical activities or atleast look the other way.

Organization‘s Culture – Organization‘s culture consists of the shared organizational values. These
values reflect what the organization stands for and what it believes in as well as create an
environment that influences employee behavior ethically or unethically.

Ignorance : ethical conflicts or violations are not always transparent, and it is easy for an employee
to perform an unethical actwithout knowing it. So it is important for companies to make employees
aware both of the company’s general ethical policy and specific examples of ethical and unethical
behaviour.
Misguided Loyalty: it is another reason for unethical conduct on the job. People sometimes lie
because they think in doing so they are being loyal to the organisation or to their bosses. Ex.
Managers at automobile companies who hide or falsify information about defects that later caused
accidents and kill people .But the manager believed they were protecting their employers.

Lack of knowledge : some people make unethical choices because thaey are not sure about what
really is the right thing to do. Often , ethical problems are complicated , and the proper choice may
be far from obvious.

Unethical Behaviour of Employees

 Bribery
 Deception
 Black money
 Coercion
 Theft
 Conflicts of Interest
 Insider Trading
 Corruption

Bribery : Bribery is a manipulative method where manager buys th power or the influence of other
person in order to satisfy his selfish need. Bribing is commonly practised in India today and is
considered to be part of conducting everyday business. Bribes create a conflict of interest between
the person receiving bribe and his or her organisation. This conflict could result in unethical
practices. When manager is bribed for something his or her thinking and actions are oriented
towards his or her personal goals.This direction towards personal goals always results in a mismatch
between the interest of the organisation and that of the individual. When there is mismatch
between the goals, naturally manager cannot be loyal to the organisation and in turn, he or she will
indulge in unethical practices.

Deception : Deception or frauds are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole
truth. Deception often leads to feelings of betrayal and distrust between employees. Deception
violates relational rules and is considered to be a negative violation of expectations.

Black money : Black money refers to the illegal earning made by people, whether they are
businessmen or others, in violation of legal channels of earning income.Black money generation is
the consequence of the system of controls, permits, quotas and licenses.

Coercion : coercion is forcing a person to act in a manner that is against his or her personal benefits.
It is an external force or a manmade constraint created that compels the other to act against his free
will. The authority of the person who demands such activity plays an important role.it may be in the
form of black mail to an individual in an organisation. It may be i the form of a threat of blocking a
promotion or loss of a job.

Theft : Theft is the illegal taking of another person’s property without that person’s consent. Most of
the times employees have seen stealing the display products.
Conflicts of interest : in an organisation, conflict of interest arises when managers as well as
employees at any level behave with private interests that are substantial enough to interfere with
their job or duties. This would result in the individuals interests acting against the interest of the
owner.

Insider trading : This is one form of misuse of official position by an individual in the organisation.
Here the employee leaks out certain confidential data to outsiders or to other insiders, which in turn
ruin the reputation of the company. Insider trading may lead to the bad performance of the
company.

Corruption : corruption is the illicit use of of one’s position or power for perceived personal or
collective gain. There is huge pressure on the managers to deliver short term results. When these
financial goals prove difficult to achieve , managers ay resort to aggressive or illegal accounting
practices. Corruption includes corporaye wrongdoing, management fraud, illegal corporate
behaviour like paying bribe to get a contract, altering a financial document, and individuals receiving
money or being promoted for altering a financial document.

Unethical conduct of Employers

Employers generally use their privileged position as owners or managers of an organisation to place
employees at a disadvantage.

Some unethical conduct of Employers

 Expoliting workers
 Threat of termination
 Biased recruitement
 Favouritism
 Inhuman behaviour towards employees
 Nepotism
 Tax evasion

Exploiting workers : Every year, lawsuits are filed against employers who are accused of using child
labour, doing sexual harassment, or discrimination against their employees. Some employers have
been sued for threatening or firing whistle blowers, or employees have been sued for threatening or
firing whistle blowers, or employees who point out illegal practices or safety violations in the
workplace. Some business also use undocumented workers because they can pay them less than
minimum wage.

Threat of termination : Various employers give termination threats to their employees and compel
them to accept lower wages, unsatisfactory working conditions, undertake tasks for which they are
unqualified, carry out unethical practices, tolerate abuse and harassment.

Biased recruitement : Worthy potential employee may be left out due to biased hiring policy of a
company. Since, employees are an asset for any organisation, unfair hiring practices inflict a lasting
damage to the organisation in the long run.
Favouritism : The organisation often discriminates employees based on various grounds such as age,
gender, religion, colour, nationality etc. The management have its favourite handpicked employees
in the organisation. Similarly they also not hold grudges against some employees due to personal
conflicts. Employee’s performance and productivity should be considered as the only parameters for
an appraisal or promotion.

Inhuman Behaviour towards Employees : Generally the top executives of an organisation adopt
inhuman practices to promote productivity or multiply the profits of the organisations.
Unreasonably long working hours, undue workload, etc., all adversely affects the morale of the
employees. Though these unethical practices may result in short-term profit for the organisation, it
hampers the growth of the organisation in the long run. Due to such practices, the organisation may
even lose some of its valuable employees.

Nepotism : It is a form of discrimination in which family members or friends are hired for reasons
that do not necessarily have anything to do with their experience, knowledge or skills. It occurs
commonly in family owned businesses & non profit organisations.

Tax evasion : Many large corporations hire the services of professional tax consultants to take
advantage of loopholes in the law and evade taxes.

Measures to control unethical Behaviour :

 Create a Code of Conduct

 Lead by examples
 Reinforce the consequences
 Show appreciation for employees
 Organise ethics lectures
 Ethics Committee
 Ethics hot line
 Ethics training programs

Create code of conduct : A written code of conduct provides employees and managers an overview
of the type of conduct and behaviour that the company expects. Describe what behaviours are
acceptable and what measures will be taken if an employee violates the code of conduct.When the
code of conduct is well spelt out, punishing erring workers would help to enforce the rules.

Lead by examples : Employees are always looking up to owners and business managers to find a
guideline on how to behave. As a business owner, one must make decisions based on ethics and
control the people who are in leadership positions in the company by the same values. Whwn an
individual set a standard by his behavioyr and action, his subordinates would follow the same. If he
does one thing and ask employees to do another thing, his employees might not do that. Getting the
employees to comply to do what manager says may become a herculean task simply because he is
not leading by example.

Reinforce the Concequences : business owners must make their employees aware that they are
responsible when they act unethically. Start by informing new employees about the rules during
counselling sessions. If an employee is acting unethically, see the code of conduct and take the
necessary measures to warn or fire. Always take appropriate steps to reinforce the consequences of
unethical behaviour to the employees.

Show appreciation for employees : Loyal employees feel that a company values the hard work they
put in the performance of daily tasks. A loyal employee is less likely to act unethically. Showing
appreciation to employees for a job well done on daily basis or monthly basis builds loayalty.

Organise Ethics Lectures : Organise ethics lecture and invite an ethics trainer to the workplace to talk
about ethical behaviour and explain why it is important in organisations regardless of company size
or industry in which people work. Ethics trainers use role plays, motivational talks, videos, and
brochures to illustrate the importance of ethics in the worklplace. Ethics lecture would build a lot of
ethic value into the employees and one would reap the dividends for developing the workforce.

Ethics committee : There are ethics committee in many firms to help them deal with and advice on
work related ethical issues. The chief executive officer can head the committee that includes the
Board of Directors. Such a committee answers employee queries, helps the company to establish
policies in uncertain areas, advices the Board on ethical issues and oversees the enforcement of the
code of ethics.

Ethics hotline : A company’s ethical hotline helps its employees report any ethical issues they face at
work. The ethics committee then investigates these issues. Such hotline calls are treated
confidential, where the caller’s identity is protected to encourage employees to report on ethical
issues.

Ethics training Programs : Most firms take ethics seriously and provide training in for its managers
and employees. Such training programs help the employees become familiar with the official policy
on ethical issues. Thsese programs demonstrate the use of these ethic policies in everyday decision
making. Ethics training is most effective when conducted by managers and when focused on work
environment.

Rewarding Ethical Behaviour :

 A code of ethics, or a guideline to manage the behavior of employees, should be enforced in

all businesses regardless of size. These guidelines allow companies to create responsibility
and integrity. Enforcing and rewarding ethical behavior is equally important as creating the
code of ethics. There are a few things to keep in mind when rewarding ethical behavior in
the workplace, including whether to reward the person publicly or privately.
 Communicate with employees what ethical behaviors are expected. Be consistent so that
rules apply to everyone in the workplace. Let employees know how they should act before
you can reward them for their behavior.
 Create a suggestions box so employees can remain anonymous while acknowledging other
workers' ethical behavior in a short note.
 Write a thank you note to employees who exhibit ethical behavior. Supervisors can also
acknowledge these individuals by saying "thank you" in public or private, depending on what
is appropriate.
 Acknowledge employees for their ethical behavior in a meeting or at lunch in front of other
employees if it is appropriate to do it publicly.
 Develop an incentive program for all eligible employees. This could include small prizes, a
free dinner or even a day off.
 The reward approach is to provide either a financial or non financial incentive to employees
to take ethics seriously. Among thsese are tangible rewards for consistent ethical conduct.
Rewards may be linked to annual performance appraisals which require the employee to
demonstrate awareness and understanding of the organisation’s ethics policy and how they
are applying it in their day to day business life.