What might the information in the figure have to do with labor relations or unions? Think outside the box here.
Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE ETHICAL ISSUE 0
Human Resource Ethical Issue
Name
Institution
Human Resource Ethical Issue
Presently, the global Human Resource (HR) practices have come under intense scrutiny owing to their tendencies of being exploitative, manipulative and in extreme cases, they have been known to be immoral. According to Islam (2012), this presumption is embedded in the construct that HR management reify human capital through the employment of suppression of any forms of resistance and conflict sets the dawn of a new reality in regards to employment. Besides, there has been a proliferation and augmented emphasis on the need to sustain competitive advantage over business rivals including ensuring profitability. Accordingly, the HR department has been delegated the duty of ensuring efficacy in the management of employees in a bid to achieve organizational goals leading to the euphemism commonly termed as “using people.” In essence, the nature of efficient utilization of human capital varies with the organizational culture, and where aggressive measures are adopted, adverse consequences are bound to affect the staff.
Approaches to Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
The development of a workplace policy that is in tandem with the organization’s philosophies and code of conduct would be integral in providing a framework that would aid in holding employees accountable for their actions. Additionally, such an approach would be instrumental in the perpetuation and upholding of professional standards including informing on the employee's expectations insofar as their responsibilities are concerned. The issuance of employee handbooks has been deemed as a conventional measure where workers are handed an informed consent, and they sign through their volition certifying that they are in agreement with the ethics of their given organizations (Fenwick & Bierema, 2008). Another approach would integrate the used of training methodologies where employees are equipped with the necessary knowledge on how to lodge and resolve ethical dilemmas. In most cases, experiential learning is considered where different scenarios are simulated touching on sensitive themes such as inappropriate workplace relationships, misuse of company resources and negligence of regulatory controls. This initiative may be supported by the establishment of a safe communication channel which provides confidential services to employees who encounter these dilemmas while at the same time protecting their anonymity.
Ranking of Ethical Issues
The top most concern for most employees is employee conduct as their input of human capital is directly proportional to the business outcomes which are denoted by factors such as sales revenue and profitability (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). The second ethical concern would involve the employee working conditions including performing the health and safety checks while ensuring fair compensation of the personnel so as to avoid lawsuits that may prove to be an added cost. Finally, the relationship between employees and external clients is important in sustaining the perpetuity of the business through the development of a strong brand and corporate image.
References
Fenwick, T., & Bierema, L. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: issues for human resource development professionals. International Journal of training and Development, 12(1), 24-35.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Islam, G. (2012). Recognition, reification, and practices of forgetting: Ethical implications of human resource management. Journal of Business Ethics, 111(1), 37-48.