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].
[Accessed 28 05 2019].
This write up gives a brief account of the ethical aspect of the HRM. This is a very important aspect of modern day HRM.
ReplyDeleteAs 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.
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