Dealing with Unethical Issues (Essay Sample)

Name Course Date Dealing with Unethical issues Earlier this month I got the opportunity to meet Ms. Julia Hernandez who is a member of the Human Resources team at Compass Group in San Jose, CA. Julia mostly handles the ethical, legal and moral issues of the organization. As we sat at the Rose Garden in Starbucks, Julia explained to me the diversity of ethical issues and the different approaches that she and her team use to manage the ethical issues that arise at her place of work. “In all my years of experience working with HR teams, I have witnessed the managing and have also had to participate in handling unethical behavior at the workplace actively and I can guarantee you that learning to fairly and justly address and mitigate unethical issues goes beyond the classroom and relies greatly on critical thinking. Every situation is different and will require different solutions. You have to think critically before deciding n how to respond to unethical issues,” she said. Julia recounted the different unethical cases that arise in workplace settings differentiating between the moral issues, to the legal issues and the business ethical issues just as we had done in class. However, Julia noted that sometimes, the difference between the issues might be very fuzzy because some issues that may appear immoral to an individual, may have no ethical implications. In other scenarios, the employees of a company may feel the pressure to conform to engaging in unethical and even sometimes illegal action just so that they do not disappoint the rest of their team. In regards to this, Julia explained, “Working with a team comes with the pressures of conformity. If one is not careful and thinks independently, they may agree to everything suggested by the other team members just so that they do not lose that sense of belonging and being a part of a team. No one wants to be the ‘party pooper,’ and so, often people are caught up in unethical issues, simply because they were afraid of breaking team loyalty.” In regards to how Julia and her team handle the ethical issues, she explained that most of the ethical issues are covered in the company’s policy that every employee is required to read, agree to and sign to as part of the term of employment. Julia told us that, “Before anyone is given the job, they are given the terms and conditions of employment. Part of the terms is the company policy that clearly defines what behavior is acceptable at the workplace. Failure to comply with the stipulated ethical behavior, the company executes the disciplinary actions attached to the policy. A good example is in the case of fraternization in the workplace, which is followed by transfer of either or both of the guilty parties or termination of employment in other cases.” On the question of whether the process of dealing with unethical issues is fair, Julia only revealed that fairness is seen as relative. Julia explained that despite them following the right procedures of managing unethical behavior, most culprits still question the fairness of the process. Julia disclosed that“ Before we call someone in for an interrogation on the offense that they are reported to have committed, we conduct our thorough investigations. This is how we ensure that any claims hold and are true before pursuing any course of action. When the issue requires external advice, we make sure we follow and observe protocol. However, if any of the accused and found guilty parties are asked, rarely do they agree or see the fairness of the system.” Ultimately, from the information we retrieved from Julia, it was evident that ethical issues are not only certain in any organization but are also inevitable. Julia emphasized on taking time to critically analyze the situations before proceeding to take any course of action. In Julia’s final advice, she revealed that sometimes, ethical issues go beyond even the HR teams, especially when the management condone certain unethical behaviors that satisfy the company’s interest. Julia suggested that in such scenarios, it is best to recuse oneself politely to avoid any legal implications in the future. The information provided by Julia is similar to what was discussed in class. From the interview conducted with Julia, it is evident that some employees only behave unethically because they believe they are obligated to do so to prove their loyalty to the company, even if it means self-implicating or making up lies to satisfy the company’s goals and objectives (Chapter 1, 1). This line of thought also...