What I Know It’s About Experience

Ethics as an employee

Hi and سلام to All

‘In this post, the use of the male ‘him/he‘ is used for easy reading and can be replaced by ‘her/she‘ depending on who is reading the post. For the ladies out there, I make a profuse apology.

The subject I am posting today is what I have experienced in my careers in the Military and into IT then management and finally GRC.

As all of you know, when you work for a company, you get to know many people both in your department and outside. You can also see how they react to circumstances whether good or bad and how they handle themselves under stress and finally what their values in life are.

If we look at people who work in IT, the majority of us want stability and routine and to be in the know of what will be happening in the company. When I was in the Military, our primary focus was to look after our 'buddies' and ourselves and to follow 'reasonable' orders. How you differentiated them I still don't know, but we survived, some didn't but most did. The amazing thing was, we had things we would do and things we would not. We learnt very quickly to treat others right and to learn from our mistakes, why? One of your buddies could die if you did not. I believe that the Military has not changed in the past 20 years or so. You can see what the soldiers of all nations are saying, maybe not through their words, but through their deeds. And no, I do not mean the soldiers and officers who abuse their positions of trust with civilians and prisoners alike.

When we look at life out of the military, you see different scenarios in different professions. Take a lwayer for instance, he is legally bound to protect his client whether he is guilty or not. If the lawyer knows his client is guilty of the crime, the lawyer must go to reasonable means to get his client found not guilty/the case thrown out of court or remove himself from the trial.

Now look at directors of companies, their 'only' contract with the company they work for/with is to increase revenue and/or profitability. Why do I say this? They have a legal obligation to make sure that the  company performs, failure to do this could result in them being prosecuted either criminally or civil (a great motivator if not the only). Another motivation is the nice 'bonus' they get at the end of the year based on the performance of the company. Look at the current Credit crisis and you should see what I mean.  Watch the documentary 'The-greed-game' from www.freedocumetaries.org (http://www.freedocumentaries.org/film.php?id=275) to see how this could happen.

As mentioned previously, a person gets their ethics from more than one place, the foundation is laid by our parents and as we go through life, we either add to or remove from it depending on the situation. One of the entities that we learn 'business' ethics from is management in the company you work for. Why? Simple, they are the people who pay you and give you your bonus and/or can hire/fire you. So, everything you do at work should be focussed on what management want you to do, or rather, what the company requires. Failure to do this WILL have an impact on your family, finances, career and personal outlook on life.

So, where does the ethics come in, you work for a company as an employee or contractor/consultant and are bound by the company's rules and regulations. This is both good  and bad, good because you are earning money to support your family, bad because you are being sucked into the corporate (company's) culture and everything that goes with it.  You may be called upon to do a task that you do not agree with or don't like. What do you not like about the task? Is it personal or professional or both? If it is personal, is it against your principles, ethics or religion? If professional, is it against your ethics or 'professionalism'. As previously mentioned, ethics is relevant to the position you are in and the situation you find youself in. What are your options? Do the task and shrug it off (Nuremberg comes to mind), or tell management that you would prefer not to do the task for reasons a,b,c?

Having been in this situation many times in the past and I  am sure to be there in the future, it is difficult to make the decision. As a consultant, the choice is easier, as an employee NOT. As a soldier it was easy as well, we were clothed and fed and the worst that could happen is to be court martialled and go to military jail. Not so in the civilian job market, failure to do the task could impact on your (amongst others);

• Name,
• Family,
• Job status,
• Future earning potential and
• Career progression.

You could move from been employed to unemployed quite quickly especially if you annoy your management by saying you will not.

There is a way out of this, unless the task is against your religion. Mainly, make management aware of your concerns (in writing) and request that they agree in writing. This takes you out of the hot seat and puts them in it. As a manager, they need to then either confirm your concerns and tell you to continue or taking into account you concerns, tell you to continue. Remember, no one may tell you to do something that is illegal under the laws of the land, not even the police. So, with this piece of paper in hand, you do the task. I do not believe that you have lost or forgotten your ethics but rather have placed the ethical decision on the person who pays your salary and allows you to eat every day and have proof of their decision.

In my humble opinion, as an employee, you can keep your ethics and your job by transferring the ethical decision to a higher authority. Believe me, management starts thinking when they are presented with the concerns of their staff about a task.

REMEMBER: A religious decision is another thing that is personal to yourself and NOT management, they employed you (maybe knowing your religion) but it was not the deciding factor (or was it?). How you handle this, I don't know and can not give you any advice other than to think it through and find someone to talk to who has been in the same situation or has helped others make a decision along the same lines.

Another decision you will need to make; knowing the ethics of the company you work with/for. Are you willing to continue working for them or to seek alternative employment. The decision does, as always, rest with you and your family.

Just a parting note, a few weeks ago, my daughter asked me why I was not going to work everyday like I used to (which has impacted my family to the extent that I will again have to leave my home country [ZA] and seek employment overseas), I asked her 'how can I teach you about ethics if I did not live them?'. Even at 7.5 years, she said I could not.

My next post will be about 'Is there ethics in business?'

Cheers and Wa Alaikum As-Salam until next time,

Enjoy the rest of the week and may you and yours travel safely.

1. The primary function of a supplier,
2. The primary function of a consultant,
3. The differences between client and supplier,
4. The differences between supplier and consultant,
5. The differences between client and consultant,
6. Ethics as a consultant,
7. Ethics as an employee and
8. Is there ethics in business.