How can one reduce unethical behavior in business

Unethical behavior is when a person, a professional, or an industry does anything that is considered unacceptable because they are against the social norms. Individuals, businesses, professions, and politicians may all engage in unethical behavior.

What is Unethical Behavior in a Workplace?

Any illegal behaviors, such as stealing or assaulting coworkers, are unethical in the workplace. However, unethical behavior can encompass a far larger range of activities, such as willful breaches of business regulations or the use of hard-sell sales tactics that, although technically lawful, take unfair advantage of human frailties. Unethical behavior may be seen in many sorts of enterprises and a variety of settings.

Workplace Unethical Behavior: What are the Different Types

  • Intentional dishonesty in the workplace

Claiming credit for someone else's work, calling in ill to go to the beach, undermining someone else's job, and, in sales, misrepresenting the product or service to obtain the sale are all examples of deliberate deceit in the workplace. Other examples of purposeful deceit exist, but they illustrate how destructive deception can be when it is used to undermine a person's rights and security.

Your sales boss summons you to his office and threatens to fire you unless you sell 50 huge toasters during the next two weeks. You're well aware that giant toasters are poor items, therefore you've been recommending little toasters to your consumers. To retain your job, you must go against your morals and advise your clients to purchase the huge toasters. Your supervisor is acting unethically by pressuring you to do something you know is illegal while also risking your job and maybe losing key customers to accomplish a product sales goal.

If you complete an important assignment by a specific date, your employer promises you an extra day off. You labor long hours and complete the job ahead of schedule. You suggest your day off to your employer, who replies, "No, we have too much work to accomplish."

Your supervisor acted unethically, ensuring your suspicion and refusal to assist in department emergencies in the future. Furthermore, you are likely to complain to your coworkers, prompting them to doubt the boss's assurances and refuse to comply with his requirements.

  • Theft and other illegal activities

Workers who cheat the organization by stealing items for individual use or inflating their expense accounts are involved in unethical activities. If a corporation chooses to ignore such theft to keep employee morale high by not terminating a popular employee, other employees will steal to feel like they are receiving the same deal as their coworkers.

Management/Employer’s Unethical Behaviors

Employees aren't the only ones who need to be concerned about workplace ethics. Employers are likewise subject to workplace ethics and may face legal action if they engage in unethical activity.

Managers, bosses, and key decision-makers frequently exploit their positions in the company to influence hiring decisions in return for sex.

  • Unpaid Overtime/Late Night Out

Some businesses take advantage of desperate job searchers and a tight labor market to take advantage of their employees' free time. They do so on the assumption that by hiring them, they are doing them a favor, not realizing that the favor is reciprocal. Employees who are afraid of being questioned or losing their jobs are unable to object to the employer's intrusion into their time.

Deadlines placed under undue stress are an excellent approach to ensure that work is completed on time. When staff is under a lot of pressure, they will sacrifice quality for on-time delivery. Giving an employee a one-day deadline for a project that would typically take a week is an example of unfair pressure.

This is a sort of workplace corruption that occurs often. Because of another employee who is a family friend, family, or friend of the boss, an employee who has been working hard for years while affecting company growth may be passed over for a promotion. Employee morale suffers as a result of situations like these, and brilliant people may be tempted to depart.

Techniques for Avoiding Unethical Conduct

  • Establish stringent policies

The company's policies should be stringent. In fact, the company's rules and regulations should be explained to the new members by the leader. If someone disobeys the rules and you discover unethical behavior in the workplace, you should warn them, and if the error is serious enough, that person will be fired. 

A surprise audit by management is something that should be done from time to time. As a result, workers will think twice before engaging in unethical activities.

  • Make the most of your position as a leader.

Leaders should put forth more effort than their subordinates. As a result, your staff will be inspired by you and attempt to emulate you. Studies suggest that managers in several organizations don't perform any job and instead shout at their staff. It is fairly common to find a case of unethical activity in the office of this type of employer.

  • Appreciate the hard work and loyalty

This is one of the essential factors that might help to avoid unethical behavior at work. Getting loyal employees is becoming increasingly difficult. If someone works diligently to achieve a goal, their efforts should be recognized. Employees that work well should be rewarded with a bonus, a present, or an extended holiday. As a result, they will realize that their efforts are valued by the organization, and they will strive to work even harder in the future. Others will compete for honor and recognition as well.

  • Choose the best candidate

The organization usually selects someone who has strong working skills and a decent education. They should also consider their loyalty, character, and interpersonal conduct. In the majority of situations when unethical activity is seen, such as taking papers or money from the workplace, a group of three or four employees has been identified as being involved in the crime. As a result, choosing ethical personnel will help to create a favorable work atmosphere. 

  • Invite motivating speakers to your event

Most individuals nowadays are dissatisfied with their jobs since there is nothing fresh to look forward to. In fact, circumstances such as a motivating speech by a well-known figure can inspire individuals to reach virtue by doing the right thing. Furthermore, these programs will instill ethical ideals in your staff and keep them away from unethical activity.

  • Make sure your staff knows you believe in them

In the corporate world, don't put your faith in just anyone. You'll learn who you can depend on. Leaders, on the other hand, should treat everyone as though the leader trusts them the most out of everyone else. As a result, others will appreciate your faith in them and work to maintain that trust factor.

In a Nutshell

A perfect company/organization doesn't exist. Negativity will always be there in some form or the other. The organization will undoubtedly flourish if the leader is someone who knows how to get work done from all types of people. And if the leader doesn't know how to treat his people, there's a probability he'll engage in unethical behavior. The rational solution is to receive behavior training from an expert.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

While it may not rise to the level of being illegal, unethical behavior in the workplace can have serious consequences if unaddressed. And it can create a toxic work environment in which your employees and business ultimately suffer.

When the authors of Crucial Accountability gave an online survey to more than 900 working people in 2013, the three most common unethical workplace behaviors cited were taking credit for someone else's work, indulging in extra long breaks and calling in sick when actually well. One-third of the respondents reported having witnessed at least one of these violations the week prior to participating the survey.

Moreover, with the 63 percent of the survey respondents who witnessed unethical behavior, only half of the time was the misdeed reported. When asked why this was the case, four main reasons were cited by survey participants: It might have damaged their career. It would have made the offender harder to work with. They didn't think they would be taken seriously. Or they weren't sure how to bring up their concerns.

At large businesses, a human resources department or manager can provide a way for employees to voice their concerns about unethical behavior of colleagues and provide policies, procedures and training. At smaller businesses with few resources and little or no HR support, creating an avenue for reporting or disclosing unethical behavior is challenging, as is putting in place the proper guidance for addressing such behavior.

If your business lacks robust HR support, it's critical for employees to have an easy way to report their concerns and for your company to put in place policies, protocol and training related to unethical behavior. Entrepreneurs can take the following steps to proactively address unethical behavior at work:

1 Create a code of ethics.

Set the tone for behavior in your workplace by creating a code of ethics. A code of ethics establishes the values that are important to a business and creates a common framework for understanding the boundaries within the organization.

Codes of ethics should be written in broad, idealistic terms to communicate the company's ethical vision, yet be succinct enough to be contained in a values statement. If it makes sense, include ethical expectations in the company's mission statement and employee handbooks.

Be sure to involve key employees in the process of drafting and formalizing the code of ethics. This will ensure that leaders are on board with and committed to the values.

Related: J.D. Power: How I Stayed True to My Values Over 50 Years

2. Establish a protocol.

Include in your code of ethics instructions about how to report unethical behavior. For example, set up an anonymous ethics hotline as well as a clear protocol for reporting, such as requesting a private meeting with the appropriate manager or supervisor.

Additionally, if a concern or violation is reported and the company lacks internal HR resources, ensure that the person tasked with responding is the furthest removed from the concern.

Delegating someone as far removed as possible sets a tone that the concern will be taken seriously and creates trust in your company's ability to address the matter fairly. If retaining an appropriate internal person isn't an option, consider investing in an external HR partner who can bring impartiality to the process.

Related: 5 Ways to Help Build Your Integrity

3. Empower employees.

Grant staff the know-how to appropriately identify and handle ethics violations. Accomplish this by implementing ethics-training programs for all new and existing employees to increase the effectiveness of the code.

Ethics courses are available through books and other written materials as well as through online, private or live instruction trainings. You might even choose to tie to ethical behavior some compensation incentives, such as an end-of-the-year bonus or additional paid time off, to further increase the code's relevance to employees.

4. Continuously review the code.

Keeping the code updated is an important step in keeping a company's ethics top of mind. Each year, share copies of the code of ethics with every employee or communicate it through a brown bag lunch and learn or workshop.

Ensure that your employees confirm their understanding of the code by requiring them to sign a form of acknowledgement afterward. In doing so, you'll proactively set up an atmosphere, reinforced by both formal and informal measures, that promotes the values you've set forth.

If you disregard the importance of developing an ethical culture, lawsuits, high turnover, low morale and even the demise of your business could result. A smart business leader should champion a written code of ethics from the outset, establish protocol and continuously review and promote these guidelines.

This will show staff that you're serious about creating a positive and ethical workplace. At the same time, you'll also set clear, specific expectations that everyone can understand. Ultimately, the outcome will result in better business processes, as well as happier and more secure employees and therefore a more successful business.

Related: American Apparel Tries On Something New: Ethics.

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