Reference no: EM133527340
Problem
Ethics play an important role in shaping the culture and behavior of organizations. However, there can be several ethical challenges within a company that can jeopardize the integrity, reputation, and stakeholders trust in an organization. Here I will discuss some of the potential ethical issues in my last organization in my home country.
I. Discrimination: One critical ethical concern in my organization was discrimination based on gender and race. For instance, there was situation in which we were hiring for a certain IT category, and I overheard my superior's comment on why we should hire men over equally or more qualified women or not hire people from a certain location. There were situations where they systematically promoted hiring men for certain roles solely based on gender bias. This not only violates the principles of fairness and equality but also undermines employee morale and engagement. That is why our company had only 25% women as compared to men and people from only certain part of the country. Such discriminatory practices can lead to legal consequences, damage the organization's reputation, and hinder its ability to attract and retain diverse talent.
II. Data privacy and security: With the increase of digital technologies, organizations must consider the ethical issues surrounding data privacy and security. My organization collected certain private information while hiring people and not everyone was hired in that particular situation. They used to keep that data for situations when they need to hire for same roles in the future but there was no proper security of those files, and it was a serious issue related to security and privacy. Such breaches erodes trust, damage brand reputation, and can result in regulatory fines or legal actions against the organization.
III. Conflict of interest: This is basically a situation when the personal interests of an individual conflicts with the company's interests. A very good example that I observed about this unethical practice in my last company was that the Director of the company hired an unqualified relative for a manager post to cater the needs of the company. This relative did not know how to run a team and had a very casual approach towards her work and was often on leaves for long periods and still whenever she joined back, they kept her position secured. This created a fuss in the company as the team needed a manager and it created a bad impression on the employees regarding the organization's culture.
IV. Employee exploitation: Ethical concerns can arise when organizations prioritize profits over the well-being of their employees. I feel that in many parts of my country people are still not aware of their employment rights and this creates an opportunity for the employers to exploit them in whatever way they can. So, my last organization had a certain mentality that only the IT people in the company actually works and rest other departments are not that important for their business. This is why they were giving competitive compensation to them as compared to others while created work pressure on the other departments. Issues like these compromise the ethical standing of an organization.
V. Favoritism: I believe being someone's favorite is not bad but using it for seeking unjust favours is unethical. There was a person in my company who used to be a listener and never objected to any of the issues related to our department in the company. She was getting her leaves approved for attending marriages of her cousins and false sick leaves from the manager while others were not even getting leaves in serious family situations. I found it absurd as it was just because she was listening to every wrong and unjust things to get these favours and created a negative impact on other employees who started leaving the company.
Analyze the above situations and give a report on the analysis and recommendations for changes in the organization to solve these issues.