GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS - JOB - 2024

The general considerations of professional ethics encompass the ethical characteristics that every professional must have, be they the head or employee of a company or institution. These considerations include all kinds of issues related to morals and human values ​​that define what is good and what is bad in a professional situation.

In the professional sphere, ethical considerations can be analyzed from an individual point of view or from a collective point of view. However, the considerations that each person takes into account are those that define them as a professional and govern their working life in regards to their human values.

These considerations are usually taken as moral obligations, since their practice is what draws the line between right and wrong in a professional setting. In fact, several of these considerations are written in legal documents and are considered laws in many countries.

Duties of ethics

Maximum job performance

It is difficult for an employer to be aware of all the actions carried out by the employees of a company.

It is important that every employee is able to act correctly even if he is not being supervised by his superiors. If you are assigned a job, you should finish it without waiting for your boss to pressure you to do it.

Many people often don't put their best effort into work if they are not being supervised. However, the ethical duties of each person require that they always give 100% when carrying out any work activity.

Honesty

Honesty is one of the most important ethical duties in the world of work. An honest employee helps his boss make better decisions regarding the company. For example, if the employee made a mistake and chooses not to tell anyone, his supervisor will not be able to act to correct the fault.

In the same way, it is important that every boss is honest with his workers. This makes employees more confident in their superiors. Furthermore, using manipulation techniques is a serious ethical fault and should be avoided at all costs.

Correct use of business funds

Money is one of the most common reasons why an employee can make unethical decisions, considering the great temptation that embezzlement represents.

An employee who is governed by the duties of ethics always keeps in mind that the use of company funds should be limited to the purposes of the same company.

One of the greatest ethical tests for an employee is when he is assigned the task of carrying out a monetary transaction in which he knows that he can embezzle funds without being caught. Maintaining moral composure and using money only for what the company assigns it is the moral duty of every employee.

Similarly, business owners must manage their funds cleanly, without relapsing to the use of bribes and other morally doubtful tools.

Ethical decisions in running a business

While employees have a host of ethical duties that they must fulfill in order for the company to work effectively individually, bosses and owners play an equally important role. In fact, the ethical role of the owner of a company is much more important than the sum of the collective of its employees.

This is because a boss's decisions often affect the image of a company as a whole, while an unethical employee or two may not have as long a lasting effect on a company.

Hiring staff and ensuring that all employees work in a pleasant professional environment are ethical responsibilities of every supervisor in a company.

Avoid conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest in the professional world usually occur when a person works for two or more companies simultaneously. Also, this applies specifically to employees who work for companies that deal with similar goods or services.

For example, a Coca-Cola employee should not work with Pepsi, as it would create a conflict of interest. The temptation to leak secrets from one company to another for monetary purposes must be avoided entirely, according to the moral principles of professional ethics.

Dilemmas and implications

It is very likely that every professional, at some point in their career, will encounter situations that put their ethical duties to the test.

Although these situations can occur in any type of company, it is more common for them to occur in workplaces where there is a tendency towards corruption; especially in government or monetary institutions. The implications of not fulfilling certain ethical duties are usually, firstly, personal.

That is, when you do not act in accordance with good morals but only for personal gain, there is a great possibility that the person will feel remorse or guilt for their actions. This usually occurs in occasional offenders; a repeat offender cares little.

However, if a group of people within a company is going to commit an unmoral act, there is also the dilemma that if one of the employees reports the action, they will be frowned upon by the rest of their colleagues.

Ethics dictate that the correct thing to do is to report the unmoral action to a supervisor, but it can be quite difficult on many occasions.

Elements to take into account

When deciding how to act ethically, it is important to consider the long-term effects that the decision you make may have.

In turn, this moral evaluation of what can happen must be made taking into account basic ethical principles, such as honesty, justice and equality.

The behavior of a professional should always be in favor of the company they work for, but it is ethically wrong to make arbitrary decisions that may negatively harm other people simply because the company may have additional benefits.

References

1. Ethical Obligations in Business, J. Lohrey, (nd). Taken from chron.com
2. Ethical Considerations, Australian Law Reform Commission, (nd). Taken from alrc.gov.au
3. What is a professional dilemma ?, T. Williams, (nd). Taken from chron.com
4. The Six Ethical Dilemmas Every Professional Faces, KO Hanson, 2014. From Bentley.edu
5. Ethical Obligations of an Employee, E. Schreiner, (nd). Taken from chron.com