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Professional Values and Ethics Where do values and ethics come from? Many people believe that values develop from the day we are born to the present-day. Our lives experiences of family, childhood friendships, adolescence, and adulthood are the areas said to be the main contributor to the formation of our personal values. Ethics are also instilled in us from various sources with the difference being “that personal ethics act as the foundation for your moral compass; the internal guide that tells you what’s right and wrong” (Scivicque,??2007).
Therefore, the relationship among professional values, ethics, and career success provide many answers and approaches which are intricately connected. Defining values and ethics one would have to consider each word individually as well as together, and identify how to perceive each term as it pertains to professionalism and career success. A value is a principle, standard, or quality regarded as worthwhile or desirable. Webster’s dictionary defines ethics as “principles of right or good conduct and a system of moral values” (1996). In a profession many workers use values and ethics in decision-making to solve issues or set standards.
Because of differences in personal backgrounds, a high standard of values and good ethics and moral principles may prove helpful in establishing the conduct of a workplace. The first step in determining the influence of professional values and ethics on an individual’s career must be to establish what a person’s values and ethics are. Establishing and maintaining professional values and ethics is an important part of our effectiveness and can dramatically enhance performance or negatively affect our potential to succeed in our chosen career field.
Ethical conduct is an indicator regarding what can reasonably be expected of an individual in any given situation whether that conduct is personal or professional. A person’s career goals and ultimate sense of achievement can be adversely influenced if one’s ethics are questionable. A person in a position of authority that could affect the outcome of important decisions must be someone who can be trusted to ‘do the right thing’ when it counts. They must ask themselves during the ethical decision making process, “Is this right? “, “Do I want others to know what I did? , “How does this decision affect the employees and the organization? ” An example of a person in a position of authority “doing the right thing” would be an employee whose job performance, work ethics and personnel conduct has been consistently substandard. This employee recently had his California Drivers Licenses suspended due to driving under the influence. Subsequently, this employee could no longer operate any motorized equipment which is required in the performance of his duties. This same employee recently accepted a position with another organization and is expected to start his new job in two weeks.
Should the current employer disclose this information when asked for a job reference, or should he withhold the information in order to get rid of a substandard employee? Would it be unethical to withhold the known information about the employee? Ethical decisions have the potential to impact employee morale, customer satisfaction as well as develop the goodwill of the organization’s customer base and provide assurance to stakeholders that their best interest is adequately considered. Positive impressions could result in an improved business reputation and opportunities that otherwise may not have been available.
An example of how ethical decisions can impact employee morale and customer satisfaction is during the recommendation for end of the year cash awards and bonuses. An employer is bias and favors an individual employee, section, or particular group within an organization over another because of personal reason. The employees that the employer favors receive cash awards or bonuses and the other employees receive a job well done or a slap on the back. This could have a negative effect on the employees that did not receive an award or bonus.
This in return could make the employees feel like they are not a part of the team and their efforts are not important to the organization. Subsequently, this could impact the employee’s morale and their desire to produce the best work possible. Unethical decisions could affect the organizations overall customer satisfaction, and its image of goodwill and fairness possibly could be damaged. So how an individual’s values and ethics can affect his professional judgment and decision making will have a dramatic effect on business performance.
This performance directly influences the individual’s career success. In a professional sense, individual values and ethics are interwoven with professional values and ethics, which thereby impact business performance and success. References Scivicque, C. (2007). Developing personal ethics. Suite101. com. Retrieved from http://personalethics. suite101. com/article. cfm/developing_personal_ethics (1996). Webster’s II new riverside dictionary (Revised edition). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.