Introduction
In the workplace ethics are the guidelines towards my expected behavior. They are the guidelines on the way I relate to other people, in and out of the workplace. Ethics are moral principles and values governing an individual or a specific group. They are the rules of personal behavior accepted by society. Also, rules of conduct that a person(s) follow. Ethics are the ones that guide me in making the right decisions in day to day living whether in the workplace or at home. Work ethics is doing what is right whether it benefits me or not. Ethics require that I make the right decisions even if they are not in my favor.
The role of ethics in the workplace
I secured a sales and marketing job with an insurance brokerage firm and for the last five months I have been selling and marketing insurance policies. In my day to day experiences and learning in the world of marketing I use Kolb’s theory in practical experiences. Using Kolb’s model of learning- based on feeling, watching, thinking and doing. There are four roles in Kolb’s theory: diverging, assimilating, converging, and accommodating.
In the role of ‘diverger’, it was the first role that I played in my working environment. It combines watching and feeling. Reflective observation and concrete experience (Henke, 2001, p.5). I preferred watching rather than doing before I got used to the environment, and working in groups. I found it useful since it helped me to gain a wider perspective and understanding on the subject at hand, marketing, and to be able to tap into the market. The role of ethics at this point is that I should first be able to understand the concept of marketing, especially in the field of insurance, before I can engage in the real field work. This is a step I had to go through. Ethics and professionalism had to take the first role in molding me, because I needed to learn and get the necessary training first.
In marketing, inductive reasoning is very vital for learning and to influence others in some decision making processes. These include the issues of assimilation, watching and thinking. There is abstract conceptualization and reflective observation (Henke, 2001, p.6). This gives me a logical approach toward learning. At times I find clear explanations about certain issues, dealing with insurance matters, better before I can engage in the field for practical experience. In other words, it is a theoretical approach towards learning. This is the basis for practical field work in the future. Having to think things through before I commence in sales is what I found easier to work with at first. Looking into the logic of what I am doing in terms of which policies to sell to different clients in line with their different needs.
I use the experiences I have to solve practical problems in the workplace. How I can apply what I know and theoretical facts is the way to go, in experimenting new ideas. This is converging, doing and thinking –active experimentation and abstract conceptualization- This is the time to engage in the field operation in selling of the policies. This is where I gain practical experience in my career as a salesperson. The ethics act as the guidelines as to the way the job is carried out and the target market.
My intuition and guts also play a big role in decision making processes and working. Working with others to complete tasks and relying on them for information regarding certain issues gives me an easy time in marketing, as this line of work can be tough at times. Here logic is not important. The things that need to be done might not be logical but they are the right things to do. This is being an accommodator, feeling and doing. That is, concrete experience and active experimentation.
The interplay of personal values and ethical standards
A value is a meaningful belief or mission. How do my own personal values affect the way I observe ethical standards in my workplace? Do my personal values differ with the ethical standards that are expected of me in the workplace? We do not have to do the things that are in line with our values provided these things are right. At times I find that the things I believe in and have adopted to be my values are not in line with the decisions and actions that are expected of me in my workplace.
Looking at Kolb’s model, I at times find myself having to work in groups even with people I don’t like. I have to listen to their point of view regarding a certain situation at hand and this way the work is done, I find myself playing the role of diverger. My values do not have to agree with theirs but I have to do the right thing and work as a team player for the achievement of the set goals and targets.
Assimilation, logic plays a major role in deciding what and what not to do. I prefer thinking than acting. Broad consultations from experts are attending training sessions. I find it crucial in the sense that the marketing strategies that are needed to sell the insurance policies do change according to the different needs that arise on a day to day basis.
On the part of converging, new ideas are in the play in some days. Wanting to experiment new ideas given the fact that I have learnt on a number of issues from experience then I can be able to experiment new ideas, and in so doing the ability to be creative I conceptualize an idea and then experiment on it. Sometimes there are some decisions that are based on intuition rather than logic. Some decisions do not have to agree with my personal values. This is accommodation where intuition is used to make decisions rather than logic. When it comes to the sale of insurance policies, at times the terms in the policies are not customer friendly but I have to sell the policies regardless.
Interplay of professional responsibilities and ethical standards
Professional responsibility, in general, is the use of specialized knowledge and skills to the benefit of society and individuals (Kriesberg, 2000, p.4). The professional responsibilities must be observed at all times and must be in line with the ethical standards in the workplace. The professional responsibilities are confidentiality, impartiality and fairness, professionalism, competence, communication and loyalty (Stein & Jeffrey, 2010, par.27). In my daily workplace procedure, I have to make sure that I observe these professional responsibilities. The Kolb’s model again finds its way in my life as I try to apply and influence others in the workplace and the clients I deal with. A diverger in that the dynamism in different needs by our clients requires that I do research and generate ideas. Brainstorming with my fellow sales people is the best way to generate workable ideas and at the same time I influence them, workmates, by giving ideas to them. This portrays my competence and knowledge of the work I do. Competence is a professional responsibility that generates excellence in my work.
As an assimilator, I give my clients clear explanations so that they can be able to understand the terms of the policies well. This way I can be able to persuade them into buying and subscribing to the policies and at the same time provide valuable information and explain to them, clients, on the importance and the advantages of having a policy that best suits their needs. I have to be able to communicate effectively with the clients so as to sell the policies and the company at the same time. Effective communication is very vital as it enables me to express myself in the best way possible and convince the client(s) to buy these policies as competition in the world of marketing and sales, in insurance, is high.
As a converger, experimentation of new ideas is one duty I have to deal with once in a while. The basis of this approach is to try and tap new market opportunities. Good communication to clients, my fellow workmates and the superiors is essential so as to have a clear point of view and see the best approach toward new ideas that need to be experimented. After the experimentation I benefit myself from the knowledge and information I acquire. At the same time the company benefits with information they will use in forecasting the market for future expansion and modification.
As an accommodator, I follow my guts and intuition, logic is the least of my concerns. Rules are rules and they have to be followed regardless of my views or other people’s views. Customer satisfaction is the first priority, as the motivation behind the sales job is the incentive I get as a commission and the profits that accrue to the company. This is where loyalty comes in play. Though some workmates and clients are hard to convince and please, I have to manipulate them, positively. I keep the interests of the company first, and then the professional responsibility of loyalty to my employer will be reflected.
Lastly, on professionalism, the ethics I use demand that I be professional. I should not have any conflict of interests regarding my job. The kind of relationship I have with the other group players, clients and the company I work for is always professional. This helps me to maintain objectivity and soberness in decision making.
A model for ethical decision-making
A good model for decision making that is ethical in practice will have the following aspects: public reflection, shared meaning, joint planning and coordinated action (Tancig, 2009, p.110-111). This is a practical model that is in line with Kolb’s model. I will expound on it in the sense that I rely on others before I make ethical decisions, keeping in mind that their contribution and views matter because at the end of the day the decisions will affect all of us directly or indirectly. This is an ethical requirement in the company I work for. Again, it is a healthy process in making sound ethical decisions.
Thinking in a critical way, for my part, and other members of my group thinking on their own regarding a certain idea or a decision to be arrived at is the first step that I engage myself in decision making process. I contribute my ideas, values, and beliefs just like every other member of the group. This is the step that engages dialogue and communication. I can be able to influence decision making in an ethical manner, through brainstorming and airing my views regarding a decisions to be made. I find that other members have different insights on the same because we all have had different experiences, regarding a particular issue. This is where public reflection comes in.
Agreeing with the other members of the group and reaching a common understanding, after debating and engaging in constructive discussions on an agenda is the step that I follow after the first one. Through sharing of thoughts and ideas that I and others have makes the issue of making decisions easy and in a professional and ethical manner. It is always good for me to have a point of view that is in line with those of others so that when a particular decision is made, regardless of whether it favors me at that moment or not, I can be able to embrace it and work with it. This I look at it as the shared meaning of a decision that has to be arrived at and implemented
Since I cannot be able to work on my own, as team work is a requirement in our company, joint planning comes in. This is a phase of preparation where action by the whole team is taken. This I find to be a formal process and the decisions thereof are in line with the ethics of the institution. Before I can commence in implementing the decision(s) made, I have to wait for the team members to come up with a plan on the best criterion in the implementation of the agenda, decision made. This helps me as it assists me to breakdown the issue at hand, to simple and easy bits. Team work in planning is the best approach for a successful business, be it in marketing and sales or any other venture.
The last step is coordinated action. This way I do not have to be involved in a joint action on a particular issue at a ‘prescribed’ time period as long as there is a plan that is made in joint effort. An agreed agenda of tasks is to be followed at the best suited time for each member. This is because time in sales and marketing differ according to the sales representatives and their clients. Again I have the freedom to decide on the best time that suits me in implementing the decision that was arrived at, keeping in mind that it has to be ethical and in line with the code of conduct of the company.
I find this model of decision making ethical since there is no subjectivity. The decisions to be made either by myself or by other members in the group go through the necessary process to qualify them to be ethical and of the right moral standards. Again, it is a process for me to learn and apply different issues on a wider perspective that is not subjective or biased.
There are times when I am forced to make decisions based on my feelings and intuition. This is a different model that is known as the intuition model, though I use it rarely, or the other members of the company I work for. The authorities do not encourage it either. Therefore, I will not concentrate on it as it is for minor decisions that are to support the model that I have discussed in the above paragraphs.
Practical implications of ethical decisions
I have come to know that ethics have their implications. Implications like objectivity, public perception and opinion are some of the implications that I have come to see. The decisions that I make affect other people, in the same company and out of the company (clients). I have noted that in the implementation phase, the implications are very evident. For my case, the issue of objectivity is always evident. This is due to the model I and the rest of the group members use in making decisions. The use of dialogue and brainstorming gives me a wider understanding in practice and operation in making and implementing the decisions in my sales job. I see the world of insurance and the different needs of my clients from a wide perspective. This helps me to correctly assess the needs and the best suited policies to sell to what people, relative to their financial abilities.
The decisions that I make and the way I implement them, at times, clash with the opinions of other people. When I am ethically correct, I proceed in implementing the decisions. This is because the company’s ethics require me to go ahead and implement the decisions that have been approved. This is in line with my professional responsibility. Again, as a sales person I have to be treacherous in a way. Though good explanations are vital to the clients, I have to concentrate on the clauses that favor their interests so as to make the selling easier and to make the highest number of sales possible.
Ethical dilemmas/ conflict of values
Ethical dilemmas or conflict of values are common. Ethical dilemmas are conflicts between two or more values that a person holds, conflict between values of a person and other people’s values, conflict between the need to achieve a goal(s) and my basic principles, and conflict between two or more individuals or groups to whom I have an obligation (Bettina, 2005, par.7).
Conflicts between my values are evident in the sense that both my beliefs and my ethics which I have adopted all add up to form my values. Some of the ethics, however, do clash with the beliefs I hold. I have priorities of my own and then the priorities of my job and both of them require my devotion. My own free time and the time to work for the company do conflict in the sense that I find myself working even when I am supposed to be off duty. The things that I need to do for me and the issue of ‘conflict of interest’ with the company’s requirements is an ethical dilemma.
My own values occasionally conflict with the values and interests of others. In the working environment I find that we all possess different perceptions and different points of view. As a result, most of the times dialogue becomes difficult because our own interests take the first priority in our lives and in the process of decision making too. This makes brainstorming and learning from others difficult because of subjectivity in the agendas at hand. Learning and contributing to the process of decision making becomes hard.
There are basic principles I possess, basically because of the faith I hold, and the need to meet the company’s targets. This is the most difficult of them all. At times I am forced to violate my own principles so as to achieve the set goals and targets. Days that are meant for rest, I find myself going to work so as to avoid piling of work as each quarter has its own target and has to be achieved before I can proceed. These targets are set for each person. When business is slow there is no recognition of ones values as I cannot violate the ethics which are on the terms of employment contract, that ‘I will be available and willing to work for odd hours when needed to by my employer’. This reduces the scenario of having to follow my guts and intuition in making decisions.
To the groups and persons I have responsibilities to, it is worse when they cannot perform to satisfactory standards and our nature of work requires that we move in a rhythm that has been ‘prescribed’ by the code of ethics by the employing company. The kind of work that we have to carry out as a group like in making decisions regarding the strategy(s) to follow in the marketing of the policies, may be difficult as there may be persons or groups involved but they fail to make the expected contribution. This delays the work as per the schedule and as a result I fail to accomplish the targeted goals in time. This is a major set back to me because incremental benefits that would accrue to me by hitting the target are reduced.
Conclusion
Ethics in the workplace are important for the smooth running of the business. They, however, conflict with my personal values and principles at work. Using the Kolb’s model of learning, I have analyzed my experiences in the workplace as regards to ethics, professional responsibilities, decision making and ethical dilemmas, and the way they relate to my personal values and interests
Reference
Bettina, L. A. (2005). Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace: A New Focus for Career Development. Eric Digest No. 112. Web.
Henke, H. (2001). Learning Theory: Applying Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory with Computer Based Training. Web.
Kriesberg, N. (2000). Professional Responsibility and Codes of Conduct. Web.
Stein, S. G. M., &Jeffrey, H. W. (2010). The Straight and Narrow Path: Ethical Issues for Design Professionals. Web.
Tancig, S. (2009). Expert Team Decision–making and Problem Solving: Development and Learning. Interdisciplinary Description of Complex System, 7(2): 106-116. Web.