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Ethical context of HRM


 Ethics are standards of right and wrong, good and bad. Ethics are concerned with what one ought to do to fulfil one’s moral duty.

Ethics, also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad, right and wrong. (Singer, 2019)

Ethics in HRM indicates the treatment of employees with ordinary decency and distributive justice. The ethical business contributed to the business goals as the employees will feel motivated and they will work with efficiency and effectiveness. Ethics in HRM basically deals with the affirmative moral obligations of the employer towards the employees to maintain equality and equity justice.
‘All HR practices have an ethical foundation. HR deals with the practical consequences of human behaviour’.(Johnson, 2003, cited in Rosa,2007)

‘The entire concept of HRM is devoid of morality.’ (Hart, 1993: 29, cited in Rosa, 2007)

Against this background, management style and management ideology have undergone great change. New organisational forms and new ways of managing, including the emergence of more flexible working patterns, have come into force. During this era, HRM has become more strategically focused and more concerned with facilitating the achievement of organisational goals.

As cited in Rosa,2007, Winstanley and Woodall (1996) highlight a number of ethical concerns in HR practices
These includes
1.     Increased job insecurity – arising from ‘flexible’ work practices; short-term and Temporary conditions of employment

2.      Increase in surveillance and control – this ranges from the use of psychometric Tests to electronic surveillance of work patterns through the application of ICT;

3.     Deregulation

4.     Aligned to this is a decline in management integrity, leading to accusations of Recourse to rhetoric and deceit among HR professionals.

Organizations are bound by law to treat the employees fairly. But this ethical context in HRM differs based on the organization. As an example, if we consider about military they have their own set of ethics, rules and regulations for their employees. But when we look at the business organizations these ethics are bound to them by the legislature.

References

Rosa, A., 2007. Ethics and Human Resource Management. s.l.:s.n.

Singer, P., 2019. Britannica. [Online] 
Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy
[Accessed 28 05 2019].


Comments

  1. SudarshanaJune 8, 2019 at 2:59 AM

    This write up gives a brief account of the ethical aspect of the HRM. This is a very important aspect of modern day HRM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shardha_LondonMet_MBAJune 8, 2019 at 6:04 PM

    As you mentioned in this briefing, ethical code of conduct goes beyond rules and regulations. Acting ethically will build employee moral and improve the binding to the organization.

    ReplyDelete

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