Blog 7 : Unethical Behavior at Work

 

Unethical Behaviors at Work  

What is Unethical Workplace Behavior?

Unethical behavior in the workplace could refer to any kind of harmful behaviors that are against morals and ethics in that community or organization or actions taken by a member of the firm in violation of accepted norms (Kish-Gephart_et_al.,2010,1986)  

These unethical  behaviors at work can occur to many people in any company sections from Top managements , employees , suppliers,  partnerships , sponsors, clients and even between organizations. Sooner or later the actions will cause damage to the company, economy and society  as a whole. The more it spreads the more damage it will be incredible costly. In addition, employees can suffer from stresses due to workplace threats. 

Unethical behavior in the workplace could be related to these 5 aspects

Unethical Behavior and Illegal Behavior

Unethical behaviors normally defines with " MORALS" deciding by the man’s own conscience, while Illegal behaviors will defines with "LAW" or "LEGAL".  Sometimes doing something against morality doesn't mean it is against the law.

Unethical Behavior in the Workplace can be Unintentional or Intentional

The definition of unethical behavior implies that employees may behave unethically on purpose or unintentionally.

Intentional unethical behavior or "counterproductive "in the workplace means a person knows to be wrong and is crossing an ethical boundary yet purposely engage in action that is against morality for their own benefits, preferences or to avoid their unwanted consequences. Employees conducting Unethical Organization Behavior (UOB) can also be driven by self-serving interest to acquire personal gains or benefiting their organization or group  while benefiting themselves accordingly   For example; take some office suppliers more than actual needs for personal use. 

Unintentionally unethical behavior is  when a person engage in unethical action beyond their own awareness. At workplace , it can be the result of a failure to note essential information when making a decision, failure to designate between ethical and unethical behavior or failure to recognize the implications of a decision.

Unethical Behavior in the Workplace is Socially Anchored

When it comes to workplace , organization or community, we need to apply morality to prevent selfish and wrongdoing actions for damaging their viability and to encourage moral behaviors within communities in the same understanding and directions.

For example, due to each community has their own morals rules and norms, sometimes outsider might not agreeing on what is right or wrong at work. Therefore any community have to implement ethical rules to avoid wrongdoings from arising in organizations  

Context Partially Defines Unethical and Ethical Behavior in the Workplace

Besides illegal and blunt unethical behavior, workplace ethics is extremely contextual. As the community’s judgment largely determines what is considered ethical or unethical behavior, the context of the situation is the deciding factor on whether an act is ethical or unethical.

For example, providing your former sales manager with a gift as a friendly gesture may be considered acceptable, but doing the same with your current manager may be violating company policies and is, therefore, deemed unethical behavior.

Many behaviors in the workplace environment are not conclusively unethical or ethical. The reasoning and context of the behavior determine its status.

Both Aggregates and Individuals Can Be Unethical

unethical behavior can occur at any level  inside the organization from CEOs, employees, managers, owners, and executives 

5 Most Common Unethical Behaviors

• Misusing Company Time

A person uses company time to conduct his/her personal business. Although turning a blind eye to an unethical activity might make you a more popular employee among your co-workers, it remains wrong.

• Abusive behavior

Misusing their authority and power to treat others unfairly.  The situation involves gender, race, religion, or cultural origin, there is very little protection against abusive behaviors in the workplace. Abusive behavior is one of the worst forms of unethical behavior and, sadly, also one of the most common.

• Employee Theft

Or " Internal Theft", can happen through the acts of larceny, embezzlement, skimming or fraudulent disbursements. Luckily, in many instances, it can be prevented

• Dishonesty 

Commonly known as  "Lying" which is highly unethical yet typically occur and can range from being white lies to more significant deceptions that violate company values. Lies could happen from top people to lower ranked people, lower ranked people to Top and same ranked people lie to same ranked people as well.  

• Internet Violating  Policies of the Organization

Misusing an organization’s internet is surprisingly a multi-billion-dollar problem among businesses. The terms Cyber loafers and Cyber slackers have been used to describe employees who use the company’s internet for matters unrelated to work.

Many don’t realize that scrolling through Facebook pages and posting on Twitter can be such a huge problem, but when this happens during working hours, and most people are engaging in this unethical behavior, it results in substantial losses.

Dreamstime.com 

Conclusion 

Being unethical can be intentional and unintentional. Unintentional issues could happen because of being reckless and unaware of the consequences. On the other hand, intentional actions seems to be a deal breaker and costs trust issue. Anyhow, both intentional and unintentional could bring damages to the company. To avoid and prevent unethical behaviors , organization should encourage everyone in company apply morality in daily basis to keep peace and to avoid the damage that might occur. In order to set up a standard, Top managers must be the good example for all subordinates. Company should not compromise when it comes to unethical actions. Also must enforce the policies and punishments to deal with different unmoral issues and .  

My Reflection and Key takeaway : 

Company should not compromise when it comes to any abuse or any unethical behaviors even in small issues. If company let small things slide, soon the unethical small actions will become company bad cultural behaviors. Company has no idea which  bad behavior will impact what part of the company or how much the damage it will be. The best way to prevent it by set up policies and announce with in company so that the employees will know the consequences of actions. Most importantly, leader must be good examples before educate their people. Moreover, leaders should get more punishments than their own staff because they are the ones who set up the rules and to be examples of the next management team in the future.

Reference : 

• DeltaNet. (n.d.). What is the Difference Between Unethical and Illegal Business Practices? [online] Available at: https://www.delta-net.com/knowledge-base/compliance/ethics/what-is-the-difference-between-unethical-and-illegal-business-practices/#:~:text=.

• Team, T.M.L. at W. (2021). Unethical behavior in the workplace: Definition, examples, and statistics. [online] Managing Life at Work. Available at: https://managinglifeatwork.com/unethical-behavior-in-the-workplace/#:~:text=Most%20experts%20define%20unethical%20workplace.

• Elshaer, I.A., Ghanem, M. and Azazz, A.M.S. (2022). An Unethical Organizational Behavior for the Sake of the Family: Perceived Risk of Job Insecurity, Family Motivation and Financial Pressures. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), p.6541. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116541.

• Klein, G. and Shtudiner, Z. (2020). Judging severity of unethical workplace behavior: Attractiveness and gender as status characteristics. BRQ Business Research Quarterly, 24(1), pp.19–33. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/2340944420916100.

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