Training Employees to Respect Privacy: Skills, Methods, and Approaches

This article discusses the skills, methods, and approaches needed to train employees to respect privacy in the workplace. It covers ethical decision-making, training methods, and self-approach towards rumors of ethical situations.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Case study question answers on Training employees to respect privacy
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Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Skills and abilities needed for making ethical decisions........................................................2
Training methods for respecting privacy...............................................................................3
Self-approach towards the rumours of the ethical situations.....................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Privacy is a fundamental right of every individual. In workplace, privacy connotes
securing the needs, demands and requirements of the employees and the customers. The
managers are entrusted with the responsibility to train the employees about the importance of
maintaining the privacy. Here, mention can be made of the Ethical Code of Conduct, which
enhances the awareness about the correct approach towards the clients and the customers
(Poell, 2017). Consideration of the standards and protocols of the employment legislations is
assistance in terms of averting the illegal instances. This assignment attempts to skills,
abilities and competencies needed for making ethical considerations within the workplace.
Discussion
Skills and abilities needed for making ethical decisions
Before undertaking any task, the individuals need to assess whether they possess the
skills, competencies and abilities needed. This assessment is crucial in terms of averting
negative outcomes. Conducting self-assessment is appropriate for examining the feasibility of
the possessed skills. This exercise is applicable for all of the tasks, including undertaking
ethical decisions.
At the initial stage, the employees need to be proficient with the mission and vision
statement. For this, the managers need to provide congenial environment to the workers,
which do not support unethical actions. According to Weinberg et al. (2015), conscious
approach is needed for the managers for enhancing the awareness of the staffs about the
illegal actions. Possessing adequate and accurate information about the standards of Ethical
Code of Conduct is crucial before making ethical decisions. Within this, awareness about
how to handle the unethical instances is important for undertaking ethical decisions.

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Mention can be made of Ethical Decision Making framework, which the employees
need to be aware of. According to this framework, firstly the employees need to identify the
ethical principles, which might be conflicting for a particular situation. Typical elements in
this aspect are confidentiality, fair dealing, diligence and independence. The employees need
to be aware of all these attributes. Consulting the senior and the experienced members is
effective in terms of enhancing the preconceived skills, knowledge and expertise in these
attributes (Bello, Armarego & Murray, 2015).
After identification of the principles, the employees need to consider the possible
factors, which might influence the decision-making process. Situational influences or
internal biases acts as obstacle in the process of making the ethical decisions. Accepting such
offers is unethical and might compel the personnel to encounter negative results. Instead,
evaluation needs to be conducted for assessing which factor might lead to the appropriate
decision. At the initial stage, the tendency would be to accept all of the factors for
undertaking the decisions. However, exposing open-mindedness is assistance for the
employees in terms of expanding the thought horizons. Time management is an important
aspect within ethical decision-making process. This is in terms of examining the feasibility
and effectiveness of the adopted decision. This reflection provides the employees with
effective learning opportunities. In the opinions of Hughes, (2018), using this method would
enable the employees to gain familiarity with their strengths and weaknesses.
Apart from this, the employees need to have cognitive skills for handling the unethical
situations. Placing themselves in different situations and applying various perspectives
broadens the scope and arena of judgmental decision-making power. Taking help from the
senior and the experienced managers is beneficial for the employees in terms of judging the
effectiveness of the adopted learning process. These skills lay the foundation for appropriate
ethical decision-making skills. Judgment of the decision-making skills enhances the

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awareness of the employees about the impact it creates on others’ thought process. The sub
skills required in this aspect are implementing the decisions and reviewing it.
Here, mention can be made of the different approaches, which the employees need to
possess for undertaking decisions, which are ethical (Simmel, 2017). These approaches are
utilitarian, right based, fairness or justice and virtue. Utilitarian approach helps the
employees to gain an insight into the consequences of the actions and decisions. Right based
approach is fruitful in terms of assessing whether the rights of the people have been respected
in the process of undertaking ethical decisions. Fairness or justice approach is productive in
terms of assessing whether the undertaken decisions provides fair treatment to the clients and
the customers. Virtue action is productive for examining the actions, which results in
embodiment of the strengths.
Training methods for respecting privacy
Training regarding privacy is crucial for inculcating the values of securing the
feelings of privacy and security within the employees. However, I think adherence to
integrated frameworks help in achieving positive outcomes. The managers take into
consideration the modules, which consists of the basic ways for maintaining privacy,
confidentiality and security. I can make the mention of the induction trainings, which helps
the new joinees to gain familiarity with the confidentiality and security policies (Martin,
2016). Within this, I can point out c omputer based training module. When the systems
receive the information of ID card, the course is delivered to the employees. The duration of
the course is 20 minutes, within which the employees are made acquainted with the dynamics
of security, privacy and confidentiality within the business networks. Special initiatives are
taken for helping the employees in renewing their ID cards.

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The managers take into consideration the latest versions of Privacy Act for
transmitting the essential information about maintaining the security of the workplace. Within
this, reference to Access to Information Act, is fruitful in terms of assessing whether the
employees can access necessary information regarding their private and confidential
information. Here, the managers undertake practical training methods, which provides an
easy understanding to the employees about the basic ways and means of preserving the
security (Birnstill, 2016).
Within the training methods, the trainers take into consideration, the statistics and the
objectives. These consideration helps in improving the focus on teaching the employees the
basic ways of preserving the privacy. After the provision of training, assessment needs to be
made regarding whether accurate control and protective measures have been adopted.
Practical training methods are adopted for enhancing the familiarity of the employees
regarding accessing the confidential files and storing them effectively. Here, mention can be
made of the practical trainings, which upgrade the knowledge, skills and expertise of the
employees regarding averting the instances of cybercrimes (Boehm, Hey & Ortner, 2016).
Preparing frameworks for providing trainings help in systematizing the activities
according to the priorities. This is on the grounds of dignity, respect, disagreement and other
attributes. One of the typical components of the framework is the group work, which
generates interest for collaborative output. Allow ample opportunities to the employees to
read about the cases, which violates the privacy or respect the privacy, helps in enhancing
their skills towards ensuring that the privacy and security is maintained. These group works
seem effective for assessing the capability of the employees towards responding to the
allocated tasks.

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Evaluation of the adopted training methods helps the trainers in assessing its
appropriateness, feasibility and effectiveness. Using checklists and templates for evaluation is
assistance for the trainers for gaining an insight into the capability of the trainees to grasp the
basic concepts related to securing the privacy (Gheorghe, 2017).
Self-approach towards the rumours of the ethical situations
If somebody from other department comes to me with the rumours, I would judge the
reality of the news. This judgment would enhance the practicality of the situation, assisting
me to assess whether the situation is ethical or not. However, in order to maintain the
courtesy towards the clients and the customers, I would first thank the member, who
informed me about the issue. I think his spontaneous nature needs to be applauded in terms of
reporting the issues at the right time for averting the unethical situations in the workplace. I
would instruct him to inform HR.
This is not the end of the actions for me. I need to study and research on the issue for
excavating the circumstances, which compelled the member to consider the situation as
unethical. Here, I think journey mapping would be effective in terms of assessing the
appropriateness of the proposed decision. Involving the stakeholders and shareholders in the
decision making process would be beneficial for me in terms of gaining an insight into their
approach. I feel that conducting question answer session would help me to delve deep into
their mindset. This insight would be fruitful for undertaking plans and programs for securing
the privacy of the employees and the clients.
In the research, I would refer to the company policies. This approach would act
assistance in terms of aligning the claims with the identified and the specified objectives. I
would take special permission from the higher authorities and the statutory bodies of law for
establishing contact with the third parties. I think privacy policies is vital for me in the

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process of referring to the third parties, which would help me to maintain safety, security and
privacy of the personal belongings in case of the employees.
In the process of research, if I do not find any relevant policies, I would place request
before the higher authorities conduct meetings and develop one. This needs to be done
rationally and logically for gaining the trust, dependence and loyalty from the clients and the
customers. I need to establish contact with the personnel of IT department for gaining
accurate information on the issue reported by the member. Here, policies are important for
aligning with the standards and codes of the requirements. I can make mention of Data
Protection Act (1998), which would help me to protect the interest of the members as well as
the victims of the concerned parties. Moreover, it would be my duty to protect the interest of
the culprits in terms of maintaining their individualism within the workplace.
Apart from this, one of my duties would be to organize training programs for the
employees. This would be done by me after the discovery of the negative results or
drawbacks in the research process. In this case, if I follow the Ethical Decision Making
framework, I would achieve positive results in the forms of enhancement of the skills,
knowledge and expertise of the employees towards the ethical considerations in the
workplace. I can relate the framework with Gibbs reflective Cycle. This is in terms of
assessing the effectiveness of the proposed decisions. In this assessment, reflection and
evaluation are the essential elements, enabling me to re-exercise my thought process about
undertaking decisions for the reported incident.
Inclusion of the latest revisions of the laws and legislations would be beneficial for
me in terms of enhancing the skills relates to handling of the unethical situations and cases. I
think contacting the managers would help me to design quality training programs. Hiring law
experts for delivering lectures and seminars would yield productive results. However, identity

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verification needs to be conducted for maintaining the safety and security of the
organizational data and the personal data of the employees, clients and the customers. I would
propose the installation of privacy cookies within the profile of the customers. This would
help me to keep a track of what the employees are sending to others. Along with this, the
cookies would assist in security the privacy of the personal information belonging to the
employees.
Sending email to friends during the lunch hour is unethical. This is because emails are
kept for contacting the managers and the supervisors regarding the completion of the
allocated tasks or to sending drafts regarding the progress of the tasks. However, emails have
been used by the employees for personal usage, which is unethical. Instead, if the employee
notified the manager regarding the absence, it would not have been considered as unethical.
Here, I would take the initiative of instructing the employees about sending emails directly to
the supevisors in case of any issue. I think this step would be beneficial in enhancing the
stability in the relationship between the managers and the employees.
Conclusion
Management of the human resources is vital in terms of maintaining the order and
harmony within the workplace. Within this, mention needs to be made of the employees and
their approach towards preserving the privacy in the organizational data. Training and
development regarding maintaining security and privacy is effective in terms of enhancing
their preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge. Taking into consideration, the privacy
cookies and policies proves beneficial for the personnel for averting the illegal instances.
Establishing contact with the statutory bodies of law is assistance in terms of maintaining the
pace with the latest revisions and updates in the employment legislations.

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References
Bello Garba, A., Armarego, J., & Murray, D. (2015). Bring your own device organizational
information security and privacy. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied
Sciences, 10(3), 1279-1287.
Birnstill, P. (2016). Privacy-Respecting Smart Video Surveillance Based on Usage Control
Enforcement (Vol. 25). KIT Scientific Publishing.
Boehm, F., Hey, T., & Ortner, R. (2016). How to measure IT security awareness of
employees: a comparison to e-mail surveillance at the workplace. European Journal
of Law and Technology, 7(1).
Gheorghe, M. (2017). Considerations on the conditions under which the employer may
monitor their employees at the workplace. Juridical Trib., 7, 62.
Hughes, C. (2018). Conclusion: Diversity intelligence as a core of diversity training and
leadership development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 20(3), 370-378.
Martin, K. (2016). Understanding privacy online: Development of a social contract approach
to privacy. Journal of Business Ethics, 137(3), 551-569.
Poell, R. F. (2017). Time to ‘flip’the training transfer tradition: Employees create learning
paths strategically. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 28(1), 9-15.
Simmel, A. (2017). Privacy is not an isolated freedom. In Privacy and Personality (pp. 71-
87). Routledge.
Weinberg, B. D., Milne, G. R., Andonova, Y. G., & Hajjat, F. M. (2015). Internet of Things:
Convenience vs. privacy and secrecy. Business Horizons, 58(6), 615-624.

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