Ethics in Workplace Essay

Submitted By am1192
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Pages: 5
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As an employee in today’s workforce it is not uncommon to come across a decision in which you must make an ethical decision. Let’s say one day you are working for a major company and your boss comes to you and tells you to go to the file cabinet and shred a couple of files and he leaves it at that. What do you do? Do you go ahead and listen because you are afraid of being fired or do you ask him what the files are about and decide to make a moral decision? What if without your knowledge your boss messed up the files and he stole money from clients in order to increase company profits. He knows that people are finding this information out and asks you to erase the files completely so no one will know the truth and the company will be saved. Although you know that the files contain important information do you still go ahead and shred them even though your boss can turn on you in order to save himself. These are the tough ethical decision that one must face. Personally I believe that if you follow some simple steps you can make ethical decisions that will help you in the workforce. The first step towards making an ethical decision would be to realize your values and beliefs. In order to make an ethical decision you must choose to do what you think is the right thing to do no matter what you are asked. If you have any doubts in what you are told you must voice up and stand by what you believe in. If someone jumps off a bridge would you follow them? No! You have to be a leader and do what you feel is right just like if someone asks you to do something you are uncomfortable with; you are not forced to do anything unless you agree with what you are doing. In my own opinion I strongly believe that honesty and hard work are the keys to success. I am always honest with people and I do not lie which makes me into a strong and trustworthy person. I know this attribute will lead me to great success in the business world. Becoming successful does not happen overnight it takes hard work and if you have these simple values, any decision you are given can be an easy decision to make. The next step towards making an ethical decision would be to take a step back and look at the situation as a whole. Analyze the situation to come up with a rational thought. Like the example above, if your boss asks you to just shred some files, do you think they are just files. Take a step back from the situation and think about what you were asked to do. Since your boss asked you to shred files in a major company what could they be? He could be asking you to shred away any evidence of fraudulent conduct. It could be important evidence in a lawsuit and all of a sudden you are brought into the mix. Instead of your boss getting in a lot of trouble and you out of a job, you could be brought into the lawsuit and seriously fined with jail time. Think about that, instead of just being out of a job you will be jailed and the rest of your life could be in ruins. All it takes is some time to step away and analyze the situation you have been presented. After coming up with a rational decision you can ask someone you trust for an opinion. Calling ones parents or close friend or even a loved one could be crucial in making a moral decision because the decisions you make don’t only affect you. If you take part in a decision like the one above and you are found guilty you are not only ruining your life but you are also hurting the lives of people close to you. What parent wants to turn on the news and see their child being taken to jail as the headlines? No
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