Analyzing Kantian Ethics and its Impact on Modern HRM Practices

This essay delves into the application of Kantian ethics within the realm of Human Resource Management. It begins by introducing Immanuel Kant's philosophy, specifically focusing on the second formulation of the Categorical Imperative, which emphasizes treating individuals as ends in themselves, rather than merely as means to an end. The essay then outlines the core functions of an HRM department, including organizational culture, employee training, recruitment, and safety. The core argument of the essay is that HRM should not exploit employees to achieve organizational goals. The essay connects Kantian principles to HRM practices, highlighting how ethical considerations can lead to improved employee retention and organizational performance. The discussion includes the importance of treating employees with respect, ensuring their rights, and fostering a workplace that values their well-being. Ultimately, the essay concludes that implementing Kantian ethics can significantly improve the quality of the workforce and enhance internal company performance.

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Author Note

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Introduction
Immanuel Kant is one of the majorly celebrated philosophers of the eighteenth century
and is considered to be one of the key figures of the modern philosophy. The second major
formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” by Immanuel Kant discusses the humanity
formulation while the third formulation discusses the factors that are presented due to the
autonomy within the organization (Baron, 2018). The following essay discusses the
implementation of the Kantian ethics within the organizational management of human resources.
The essay aims to argue on the fact that the human resource management should not treat the
employees of the organization as a medium to attain the set goals of the organization. The essay
opens with a discussion on the second formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” as discussed
by Immanuel Kant. The essay proceeds to discuss the key functions of the human resource
department of any given organization. The essay nears its conclusion with the discussion on the
relationship that exists between the second formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” and the
core functions of the human resource department.
Kantian Philosophy
Ethics or the moral philosophy refers to a certain branch of philosophy that is majorly
dedicated to the systematization, the defense and the recommendation of the notions of correct
and incorrect conduct that is maintained within the multitude of the business organizations all
over the world. The moral philosophy of a person is useful in the exploration of the morality of
the concerned person. The branch of moral philosophy further tends to discuss the factors that
are presented due to the issues resulting from the comparison of the lives of people with others
who have been living in the surroundings of the concerned person (Evans, 2018). There are
many philosophers who have been undertaken researches in the matters that are related to the

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ethical factors related to the operations that are undertaken by the business organizations
functional all over the world. One such philosophy is the Kantian philosophy. The Kantian
philosophy states that the correctness and the incorrectness of a certain action does not depend
on the resultant factors but on the fulfillment of the duties that were to be fulfilled by the activity.
According to the Kantian philosophy, there exists a supreme principle in regards to the
morality or the ethical factors. This principle is, according to Immanuel Kant termed to be “The
Categorical imperative”. The categorial imperative as formulated by the eminent philosopher
comprises of three major formulations. The first major formulation talks of the formulation of
the universality with the help of the natural laws. Ward (2018) states that the second major
formulation discusses the humanity formulation while the third formulation discusses the factors
that are presented due to the autonomy within the organization.
The second formulation of the categorical imperative rests on the Formula of Humanity.
This formulation states that the people should not be utilizing the humanity of themselves or of
others in order to deal with the issues that are presented in the accomplishment of the given task.
The philosopher opines that no person is granted the rights to use some other person as a mere
means to attain the end (Werhane, 2018). The philosopher illustrates the concept better with the
imagery of a slave and his owner. The philosopher states that the owner of the slave might be
stated to have been using the slave as a means to attain the goal of a proper harvest. This
according to the author tends to defy the principle of the second formulation of the categorical
imperative.
Core HRM Elements

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Crawshaw, Budhwar and Davis (2017) argue that the core elements that are handled by
the human resource department within an organization refer to the elements that are related to the
organizational culture, the planning that is required for the changes that need to be implemented
within the organization, the training as well as the development of the employees of the
organization, the safety and the health conditions of the concerned employees of the organization
and the recruitment of the potential employees alongside the retention of the existing employees
of the organization.
The organizational culture of a company refers majorly to the values, vision, beliefs and
habits that are espoused by the concerned business organization. The organizational department
dedicated to the management of the human resource within an organization plays a major role in
the development of the organizational culture (Rees & Smith, 2017). The human resource
department within the organization might be held responsible for the practices that are followed
by the concerned organization.
The human resource department might also be held responsible for the several issues that
are presented within the organization that might demand a change in the organizational practices.
The human resource department within the organization might also be provided with the task of
helping the employees have a clear understanding of their roles within the company (Lim, Wang
& Lee, 2017). The human resource department of the company should also be responsible for the
smoothness of the communication among the several departments that are present within the
organization.
One of the major roles that is essayed by the human resource department of a concern is
ensuring the safety of the employees as well as their proper health. Tariq, Jan and Ahmad (2016)
opine that the human resource department is generally found to put forth a policy in order to take

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care of the issue, however, the department might at times take the extra measure of explaining
the factors in case the employees fail to understand the clauses that are mentioned within the
policy.
The training and the development of the staff is also considered to be one of the major
functionalities of the organizational human resource department alongside the recruitment of the
potential employees and the retention of the staff. One of the key duties of the human resource
department within the organization is attraction of the potential employees to the organization as
well as helping in the retention of the existing employees of the organization (Guest, 2017). The
retention of the employees might also require the company to implement and facilitate training
for the employees in order to help them cope up with the duties and job roles that have been
assigned to them.
Relationship between Kantian Philosophy and HRM
The implementation of the Kantian ethics within the management of the human resources
within the organization leads to the emerging of the two major fundamental principles. One of
the principles states that the action which is considered to be beneficial for one individual might
be beneficial for the other individual as well. This logical argument majorly leads to the
conclusion that the individuals should be treated equally within the given organization. On the
other hand, the other principle states that the reverence that is provided to the concerned
individual should be equated to the treatment of the concerned employee as the ultimate goal and
not as a means to attain the goal. The deontological ethics as discussed by Immanuel Kant is
majorly useful in the management of the human resources within a given organization (Lindner
& Bentzen, 2018). The deontological approaches generally tend to implement a major emphasis
on the construct of the duty.

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The philosophical approaches that were put forth by Kant also includes a construct that is
related to the intentionality. The Kantian philosophy also states that an action might be deemed
to be moral in the cases wherein the intentions as well as the goal of the doer of the action might
be noble. This construct however does not take into consideration the factors that are related to
the consequences of the concerned act. Thus, an act with severely adverse outcomes might also
be considered moral if the intentions of the doer were noble in nature. A major example of this
situation might be cited during the cases wherein the loss of the job on the part of the employee
is attributed to the closure of the site of the job as well (Joachim, 2017). The Kantian ethics,
however also provides for the proper addressal of the issues that are faced by the company. This
are majorly related to the core functionalities of the department of the human resources within
the organization. These include the attention towards the safety of the individual who has been
serving the organization (Bratton & Gold, 2017). The Kantian ethics further enables the
employees of the organization to exercise their rights to the privacy, the right to express their
own feelings as well as provide feedback to the concerned department of the organization as
well.
Conclusion
In lieu of the above discussion it might be stated that the implementation of the second
formulation of “The Categorical Imperative” by Immanuel Kant is one of the major important
factors that might help in the improvement of the issues that are presented within the
organizational workforce. The second formulation states that the people should not be utilizing
the humanity of themselves or of others in order to deal with the issues that are presented in the
accomplishment of the given task. The philosopher opines that no person is granted the rights to
use some other person as a mere means to attain the end. The implementation of the Kantian

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ethics within the workplace might help in the retention of the employees within the organization
thereby helping the improvement of the internal performance of the company.

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