Ethical Dilemma in Human Resource Management

This article discusses the ethical dilemma faced by HR managers in companies with a good reputation. It explores how to tackle unethical behavior and enhance the company's reputation. Topics covered include understanding HR ethics, treating employees without discrimination, protecting employee rights, and creating an ethical work environment.

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Introduction
Human resource manager usually contributes substantially to corporate branding and
reputation of a company through changing the existed experience of employees, engagement
levels and in these, organizational identity, leadership and governance. A possible dilemma to
take into account when working in a company like Google which has a good reputation and
brand is an ethical dilemma. It is significant to understand the ethical function of an HR whereby
every employee should behave in accordance with the values and roles while the HR implements
the ethical practice (Hatch, 2018). As a new employee in the HR position in a Google company, I
will ensure that the decisions I make will not affect the lives of the people working and also
future employment. Consequently, I will act with integrity, honesty, and openness in order to
provide an improved working environment. It is vital to ensure that every employee cultivates
the right behavior even disciplining those who work in an unethical manner irrespective of
whether they are close associates or not (Browne, 2018). The discussion below focuses on the
ethical dilemma to consider when working in a company with a good reputation as an HR.
Tackling unethical behavior
As a new employee, learning the ethics of HR helps in understanding the cultural norms and
values of the entire organization. Individuals end up knowing what is to be done, where and at
what time. In most of the organizations, most of the HR experience dilemma on the
compensation and payment of salaries to the workers and discrimination of employees on the
basis of gender, disability, and race instead of performance. Through the application of HR
ethics, managers are guided on how to treat all the employees in a similar way without
discrimination (Fernando, 2010). Moreover, managers face the dilemma of hiring employees
who are recommended by friends and others who present fake resumes during the hiring process.

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Also, HR should be guided by ethics on holding hold confidential information about their
employees. Every employee has personal information concerning their health, restructurings, and
layoffs. Therefore, it is unethical to disclose the employee's private information (Reed, 2019).
Protecting the rights of every employee as an HR upholds the company's reputation and brands.
Consequently, putting in place goals towards profitable gains is a fundamental part of
every business strategy. However, the focus must be principally on supporting employees.
When employees feel that their efforts are appreciated by management and they desire to see
them flourish, the employees will be naturally aligned with attaining that success (Sheard, et
al., 2009). Various unethical behaviors in the workplace can be dealt with when noticed or before
they emerge where the employers allow the employees to understand what the organization
regards to be not ethical. For example, a person who takes home some pens may not consider
that as stealing up to when that is discussed with them. Also, various people don't understand
that their efforts at humor can sometimes be unpleasant to others, or spending time on the
internet as a misuse of the organization time. Therefore, it is significant to let all the employees
know what is unethical in a company.
Putting ethical guidelines in a handbook it’s not enough or supplying everyone with
copies assuming that they will read page to page. For an employee to work in an ethical manner
it requires one’s effort to ensure that their behavior does not affect anyone in the company. To
enhance this at least, employers must send a note which is marked important to anyone spelling
out ordinary practices which the organization regards unethical as well as the probable outcomes
for them. Additionally, as HR I can ask the employees to reply to the email so as to indicate
whether they have accepted and read the note. Also, I can schedule a must-attend the training
forum to ensure everyone understands what the company requires. Through this, the company

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will maintain and improve its reputation because the reputation of a company is basically
influenced by the conduct of all the staff(Gentile, 2012).
Enhancing the reputation of the company
Ethical behavior among employees and the staff help to create a positive picture of the
company in the marketplace thus building its reputation. A good image of the company can
attract new customers through referrals. Conversely, an unethical dealing builds a bad a
reputation thus it minimizes the organization’s chances to attract new clients. Specifically in this
era of social interacting unsatisfied customers can very easily broadcast information concerning
the poor experience they got (Nair & Á lvarez, 2019) .
Positive Work Environment
It is the responsibility of the employees to be ethical from the time they had their first
interview on the job. They should uphold honesty and integrity regarding their experience and
capabilities. Ethical workers are seen as team workers instead of people just out for themselves.
They promote confident relationships with other employees (Treviño & Nelson, 2011) .
Employees who are found disrespecting supervisors and coworkers damage their chances of
development in the company and they can be fired.
Conclusion
It is the role of the HR to know when the managers and supervisors are acting in an
ethical way to the employees. HR has to be guided by the moral codes and the experience which
contributes to a lot of impacts in all cases of an organization. HR should ensure that the
employees are mentored so as to develop their experience. Extended mentorship of the new
employees may contribute to an improvement of the duties assigned to these employees.

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Discussing with colleagues in the workplace helps the employees to gain the ethics of the
organization within a short period of time. Understanding of organization’s ethics helps the
employees and the staff to exploit their full potential when performing their responsibilities.
References

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Browne, S., 2018. HR on purpose : developing deliberate people passion. Alexandria, Virginia :
Society For Human Resource Management.
Fernando, A. C., 2010. Business ethics and corporate governance. Delhi : Dorling Kindersley
(India), licensees of Pearson Education in South Asia.
Gentile, M. C., 2012. Giving voice to values : how to speak your mind when you know what's
right. s.l.:New Haven [u.a.] Yale Univ. Press .
Hatch, M. J., 2018. Organization theory : modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives.
Oxford : Oxford University Press.
Nair, S. R. & Á lvarez, J. M. S., 2019. Handbook of research on ethics, entrepreneurship, and
governance in higher education. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.
Reed, S. M., 2019. PHR and SPHR complete study guide : Professional in Human Resources
certification 2018 exams. Indianapolis, Indiana : Sybex, A Wiley Brand.
Sheard, G., Kakabadse, A. & Kakabadse, N., 2009. Leadership teams : Developing and
sustaining high performance. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Treviño, L. K. & Nelson, K. A., 2011. Managing business ethics : straight talk about how to do
it right. New York : J. Wiley, cop. .