Do you know what ethical behavior is? Ethics authority Michael Josephson has an excellent explanation: “Ethical behavior involves four principles: honesty, integrity, fairness, and concern for others. These four principles are like the four legs of a stool. If even one leg is missing, the stool wobbles, and if two are missing, the stool falls. It’s not enough to pride oneself on your honesty and integrity if you’re not fair or caring.”
Ethical Behavior in Business
Ethical behavior in business has been a topic of great concern lately. Looking back at the last year, it seems that “business and ethics” are contradictory terms. Between Wall Street, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AGI and all the mortgage companies being investigated for questionable business practices, it is indeed depressing. It looks like the “greed is good” era of the 1980s has not left us after all.
Our business leaders are turning out to be crooks and you would think this would encourage people to be more ethical in their behavior. But, it can just as easily be used as an excuse for continuing their bad behavior. Why not use the company computer for personal business; your department head uses the company phone to make personal long distance phone calls? Employees begin to feel no remorse for their little indiscretion when comparing it to what they see the company leaders doing.
Managers might be inadvertently encouraging unethical behavior by demanding more work from a smaller, downsized staff. It is not unreasonable for employees to try to increase productivity any way they can, ethical or not, when they are being pressured by management to meet company goals. The message becomes, “Go ahead, it's OK to lie, steal, cheat, whatever it takes to meet your goals.”
As the economy dips back and forth, we need to take a look at ourselves and make sure that we don’t slip into unethical behavior just because it appears easy to get away with it. One area you might want to improve is your business communication.
Here are five tips to help you become an ethical business communicator: (source: "Business Communication, Process & Product," Mary Ellen Guffy, 2000)
- Tell the truth. Do not make statements that are deceptive or untrue. Half-truths and exaggerations are also unethical.
- Label opinions. Don’t try to pass off an opinion as a fact. Do your research and make sure you aren’t just repeating someone else’s opinion.
- Be objective. Do recognize that your biases may show up in your writing. Even if you feel strongly about a topic, it is your ethical responsibility to be objective in the way you present the information.
- Communicate clearly. Do write in such a way that your message is understood easily and quickly. Use words that are easy for the reader to understand. Don’t intentionally bombard the reader with long confusing sentences or terms the reader wouldn’t understand.
- Give credit. Don’t plagiarize. Most people know to use quotes when you are using the author’s exact words. But I’ve found many people don’t realize they also need to give credit for ideas. Reworking a sentence and adding a few words of your own to the original text is still plagiarism if you don’t give credit to the author.
Conclusion
Being an ethical communicator is not only necessary; it is the right thing to do. Lead by example. Your success in business, by being ethical in all your business dealings, will encourage others to follow your example.
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