ETHICAL

PRACTICE
Made by Numita
 About Ethical Practice
“Ethical Practice is defined as the KSAO's needed to maintain high
levels of personal and professional integrity, and to act as an ethical
agent who promotes core values, integrity and accountability
throughout the organization.”

Sub-competency
Personal integrity: Demonstrating high levels of integrity in
personal relationships and behaviors
Professional integrity: Demonstrating high levels of integrity
in professional relationships and behaviors
Ethical agent: Cultivating the organization’s ethical
environment and ensuring that policies and practices reflect.
 Ethical Workplace
Ethical workplaces aim for conduct that respects the
rights of others—their safety and well-being, their dignity,
and their privacy.

Benefit of Ethical Workplace

Natural advantage in attracting and retaining top talent.
Attract customers and investors and better candidates for open positions.
he organization is less likely to suffer costly lawsuits, fines and judgments,
potentially criminal penalties, and damage to its reputation.

Protecting the right of employees

Create a safe working environment: Protect from injuring, accident,
incident, violence, bullying, increase well-being
Maintain a fair working environment: fair HR practices
Protect employees privacy: right to freedom from intrusion (by viewing,
monitoring, reading, etc.) into matters, actions, or information that is
personal
HR role
Personal integrity: HR professionals model ethical conduct and the
organization’s values in all their actions
Professional integrity: apply their Business Acumen competency to
understand ethical risks in their industries
Ethical agent: certain actions HR can take to support the organization’s
ethical goals: communication, make means to report, up-skill,...
 Ethical Decision making
It is impossible to describe to employees every ethical dilemma they will face. Therefore,
HR professionals should learn how to make ethical decisions and ensure that employees
are trained in this skill as well.

Recognize Establish facts Evaluate ethical Apply relevant Consult others Decide & learn
ethical situations dimensions of codes of ethics & from mistakes
possible actions behavior
This requires having an Details as: Ethical criteria Organizations and HR leaders should When the issue has
ethical compass, a What are the different necessarily involve professions may have identify people, inside been satisfactorily
sense of right and paths that could be balancing interests and developed their own and outside the analyzed, a decision
wrong. If the possible taken? Who will be sacrificing one’s own codes of ethical organization, they should be made and
outcomes of an action affected? What are interests. behavior that can consider ethical communicated to
trigger uneasiness their expectations, and Various moral codes provide more specific mentors, individuals those affected by it.
about ethical or legal are they valid? What have proposed guidance. Global who are known for Leaders should explain
propriety, this is a will be the nature and different ways of organizations often their ethical behavior their rationales
signal to pause and extent of harm done? evaluating actions provide guidance in and the ability to thoroughly and accept
consider the situation Will a decision violate ethically. They can be situations in which the understand and advise reactions. Once the
more fully. written and unwritten used to help one ethical norms of a on complex situations. decision is made, it
agreements? understand the ethical parent country may not should not be remade
implications of one’s align with the legal unless significant
actions more fully. requirements and shortcomings in the
cultural expectations of original decision
host countries. making have been
uncovered
 Moral codes

Ultilitarian Rights Justice Common-good Virtue

A utilitarian approach A rights approach examines A justice approach A common-good approach A virtue approach asks
argues for the path that whether a decision violates examines the degree to considers the impact of the whether an action will
provides the greatest any basic human right, which an action might be decision on the entire promote or obstruct the
amount of good for the such as a right to truth, preferential or group (or society, in more decision maker’s character
greatest number. privacy, or physical well- discriminatory. general terms). development and the
being. character development of
those affected by the
decision.
Transparency, Honesty, Authenticity

Transparency
The concept of transparency supports trust in relationships with stakeholders
Transparency commits an ethical organization to disclosing details about dealings,
transactions, or processes to those who have a vested interest
Transparency provides assurance when behaviors cannot be witnessed and it
cannot be verified that they comply with laws, rules, or policies

Honestly
Honest dealings reflect a commitment to truthfulness and fairness, abiding by
social and business norms.
Honesty requires an avoidance of conflicts of interest and the use of bribery.

Conflicts of interest are situations in which a

person or organization may benefit from undue
influence due to involvement in outside Bribery is the exchange of anything of value to
activities, relationships, or investments that gain greater influence or preference
conflict with or have an impact on the
employment relationship or its outcomes

Authenticity
Refers to a person’s ability to stay true to their values and maintain their integrity in
both their personal and professional lives.
Refers to an individual’s approach to forming and maintaining relationships with
colleagues and others in the organization.
 Codes of Conduct
Principles of conduct within an organization that guide decision making and behavior. A written code of
conduct can help an organization promote ethical behavior by communicating to all its members the
organization’s commitment to certain values, by defining behavioral expectations for all employees, and by
providing direction to all employees when they are faced with ethical decisions.

CoC components

Values - based Rules - based

Describes the organization’s principles Defines the organization’s ethical
and obligations to its internal and expectations. Includes:
external stakeholders, includes: Ethical and conduct guidelines
Examples of ethical and unethical behavior
Communication from leadership reflecting Rules of conduct required to comply with
commitment to the code and its laws and regulations
enforcement. A description of the enforcement process,
The organization’s mission statement including how suspected violations should
and/or vision statement. be reported, how and by whom reports will
A broad statement of organizational values be investigated and assessed, and how
and principles. employees will be penalized for violations.
A more detailed statement of the
organization’s ethical obligations to all its
various stakeholders.

Creating CoC process

Gather Draft & Adopt & Monitor Evaluate &

information Review Communicate enforcement revise
periodically
Internal Ethics Controls/ Employee Investigation
Valuable tool available to HR in the pursuit of maintaining and ensuring ethical
standards within an organization

Common steps and elements to any internal investigation

Investigator
Should be experienced, neutral, and objective.
May be a member of the HR dept, a third party, or legal
counsel.
Depending on the scale of the complaint
Investigation
All parties involved in the situation should be interviewed, as
should potential witnesses and third parties who might be
able to shed light on events.
Documentation
Keep careful and detailed notes from interviews as well as
any other relevant documentation.
Document objective facts; avoid opinions.
Confidentiality
Agreeing to not share or make public personal information.
Especially important during an investigation of misconduct.

Credibility
Assess the credibility of the various parties involved.

Conclusion
Findings are presented in a confidential written report, which
is given to a separate decision maker who determines what
the appropriate outcome or punishment should be.
CoC in global organization
Ensuring Global Acceptability and Accountability of
Organizational CoC

Assemble an international task force on which all affected

cultures are represented.
Solicit feedback from a diverse cross section of employees

Identify a set of shared principles and develop mutually agreeable

policies to address each one
Ensure that training materials are available in the local languages

Avoid home-country biases

Consider creating ethical guidelines specific to at-risk personnel

THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION