Running head: Ethical Standards and Guidelines 1
Ethical Standards and Guidelines 3
Ethical Standards and Guidelines
Shawn D. Mathew
Bellevue University
06/13/2018
Ethical Standards and Guidelines
Not every business has solid ethical standards however the ones that do are often leading the pack. America has come a long way in the last 50 years and so has business ethics. No longer do we call a executive assistant a secretary due to its negative connotations. No longer do we tolerate bad conduct like holding someone back due to the color of their skin or their accent, we are closer now more than ever to treating people as people and not commodities.
Conduct
There is a higher accountability in today’s business world, our conduct is important to our customers and our fellow employees. When I started Gulfstream around 18 years ago there were a lot of pranks and unsafe clowning around. Today there is a much better atmosphere and you don’t feel like you will be the victim of some prank every time you turn around.
Confidentiality
Trust is a key value in your leadership, without trust there can be little room to grow in a work relationship. It is vitally important that we, as leaders, earn our employees trust and having a confidentiality rule in the work place is one of the first step to build it.
According to S. Ashe-Edmonds (2018),” You’ll be more likely to climb the corporate ladder during your career if you get along well with co-workers, build strong professional networks and have a reputation as a trustworthy employee. If you repeat confidential statements made by co-workers, even if the original source doesn’t hear about your gossip, the people you tell might lose respect for you and no longer trust you.”(n.p.).
Respect Company Property
Often we get complacent in our jobs, usually if you have been working at the same location for several years. A mindset starts to be created, one that seems to think that the tools you use every day is your personal tools when the reality is they belong to the company. Often this mindset leads to not taking care of the tools or personalizing them. If the company supplied you with a tool then you should take care of it and maintain it so that it works well for many years to come, this includes any electronics.
Avoid Conflicts of Interest
At Gulfstream, we have many wealthy clients and they sometimes offer rather nice gifts however we have a policy that does not allow us to take gifts that have a value of over $25. This can be a tricky proposition since the customer might feel unwanted by rejecting a gift, it is best to always run the items thru HR to make sure that you are not putting yourself in a bad spot.
According to R. Blakely-Gray (2017), “Rather than making decisions for the betterment of your business, the employee might make decisions based on their own personal gain. It can lead to unethical behavior, ruined reputations, and lost business”(n.p.).
Obey the Law
Just because you are not at work when you drink excessively and drive does not mean that it will not affect your business in a negative way. If you were to get jail time, kill someone or just not come to work because you can’t function, it all affects your workplace.
Being ethical protects yourself and the people around you, both inside the walls of your workplace and outside. Your family and all the people around you will appreciate it.
References
Ashe-Edmonds, Sam (Feb. 15, 2018). What is the meaning of confidentiality in the workplace. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/meaning-confidentiality-workplace-21886.html
Blakely-Gray, Rachel (Sept. 25, 2017). What is an employee conflict of interest. Retrieved from https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/training/blog/how-deal-conflict-interest-workplace-business/
