Executives often want answers to two key questions when workplace ethics is discussed: "How do workplace ethics apply to the practical goals of an organization?" and "How does ethics in the workplace affect the work of employees?" In this article, GoPinoy discusses ethics in workplace and its role in any workplace.

What is "ethics"?

Let's first discuss what ethics is. In its simplest definition, ethics is knowing what is good and bad, right or wrong, and then establishing a set of principles which are accepted to be morally correct by a particular group or community. However, when it comes to workplace ethic, it is not as simple as stealing-is-not-allowed thing. Ethics in the workplace typically wrests on the fundamental foundations of a business, e.g. goals, products, services, yet not limited to these.

Although workplace ethics became a topic brewing debates and with increasing popularity it is not a 20th century phenomenon. In fact, it was Cicero who first discussed this topic some 2,000 years ago, in his book "On Duties". Managers and executives only revolutionized ethics in the workplace as commerce became more complex and dynamic, and because of the social responsibility movement that began in the 1960's.

FIVE Benefits of Managing Workplace Ethics

Some organizations are led to think workplace ethics is simply a moral, and even religious, issue. Thus, it's good to know that efforts to establish ethics in the workplace prove to have measurable and indirect benefits to an entire organization.

1. Attention to workplace ethics has improved society significantly.
   Decades ago, even children up to the age 17 were forced to work longer hours in a day; workers worked till they were physically worn out, and the incapacitated were condemned to starvation and poverty. Additionally, market prices control was rampant and held only by a few, killing small businesses and crippled natural economic forces. These and many more unreasonable and inhuman conditions brought society to react and demand for fairness and equality. Thus were born what is now called ethics in the workplace.
   
   
2. Ethics programs allow morality to prevail even in turbulent times.
   In times of fundamental change when executives need to iron out complex conflicts and there are no clear moral compass from which to base decisions on, continuing attention to your organization's ethics program gives staff members and the management with a headlight on the right things to do.
   
   
3. Ethics programs promote teamwork and productivity.
   Ethics programs put employees in tune with the top priority ethical values in your organization, thereby helping build openness, integrity, and community, which are critical to building strong bonds within teams.
   
   
4. Ethics programs aim to support employee growth and self-worth
   A study revealed that emotionally healthier executives perform better in their posts. Likewise, employees who are given clear-cut company ethical guidelines are more confident to do their jobs and deal with any challenges in the workplace.
   
   
5. Ethics programs set policies as legal.
   There is an increasing number of lawsuits regarding personnel matters that affect a company's products and services, and many of these are ironically avoidable. Ethical principles are legal entirely legal matters which are then applied to ethical issues in the workplace to become legislations. Legal policies are easier to enforce with lesser or no reactions coming from employees.

Workplace ethics set the standard for right and wrong, making policies more efficient and the workplace more orderly. If ethics programs in your workplace have become dull and toothless, it's probably time you remodel your program for the good of your organization.