Organization Ethics - Meaning and its Importance

Organization Ethics

An organization is formed when individuals from different backgrounds and varied interests come together on a common platform and work towards predefined goals and objectives.
Employees are the assets of an organization and it is essential for them to maintain the decorum and ambience of the workplace.

What is Organization Ethics ?

The way an organization should respond to external environment refers to organization ethics. Organization ethics includes various guidelines and principles which decide the way individuals should behave at the workplace.
It also refers to the code of conduct of the individuals working in a particular organization.
Every organization runs to earn profits but how it makes money is more important. No organization should depend on unfair means to earn money. One must understand that money is not the only important thing; pride and honour are more important. An individual’s first priority can be to make money but he should not stoop too low just to be able to do that.
Children below fourteen years of age must not be employed to work in any organization. Childhood is the best phase of one’s life and no child should be deprived of his childhood.
Employees should not indulge in destruction or manipulation of information to get results. Data Tampering is considered strictly unethical and unprofessional in the corporate world. Remember if one is honest, things will always be in his favour.
Employees should not pass on company’s information to any of the external parties. Do not share any of your organization’s policies and guidelines with others. It is better not to discuss official matters with friends and relatives. Confidential data or information must not be leaked under any circumstances.
There must be absolute fairness in monetary transactions and all kinds of trading. Never ever cheat your clients.
Organizations must not discriminate any employee on the grounds of sex, physical appearance, age or family background. Female employees must be treated with respect. Don’t ask your female employees to stay back late at work. It is unethical to discriminate employees just because they do not belong to an affluent background. Employees should be judged by their work and nothing else.
Organization must not exploit any of the employees. The employees must be paid according to their hard work and efforts. If individuals are working late at night, make sure overtimes are paid. The management must ensure employees get their arrears, bonus, incentives and other reimbursements on time.
Stealing office property is strictly unethical.
Organization must take care of the safety of the employees. Individuals should not be exposed to hazardous conditions.
Never lie to your customers. It is unprofessional to make false promises to the consumers. The advertisements must give a clear picture of the product. Do not commit anything which your organization can’t offer. It is important to be honest with your customers to expect loyalty from them. It is absolutely unethical to fool the customers.
The products should not pose a threat to environment and mankind.
Employees on probation period can be terminated anytime but organizations need to give one month notice before firing the permanent ones. In the same way permanent employees need to serve one month notice before resigning from the current services. Employees can’t stop coming to office all of a sudden.

Common Threats to an Organization

What do you understand by threats to an organization? Threats refer to negative influences which not only hamper the productivity of an organization but also bring a bad name to it.
Let us go through common threats faced by an organization.
One of the most common threats faced by organization is employees with a negative approach. Remember; nothing can harm an organization more than unfaithful employees. Believe me, employees who attend office just to earn their salaries are in fact the biggest threat to an organization. Non serious employees do not contribute much towards the productivity of an organization. They are a mere burden on the system. Even the best of clients, best of infrastructure or the best of machinery would not help if people associated with the organization are not loyal and committed towards it.
High attrition rate is another big threat to an organization. Organizations suffer a great loss when talented employees quit and join their competitors. When an individual who has been trained for six months by an organization leaves all of a sudden, it is both waste of time and energy. Make sure employees who know their job and responsibilities well stick to the organization for a long time at least for two to three years.
Another common threat faced by an organization is data and information loss. A lot of effort goes in formulating important strategies for the team and organization. It is unethical to share confidential information with your competitors. When individuals have their best friends within the organization but working in separate teams, they tend to share team strategies and policies. In such a case not only respective teams suffer but also the entire organization. Client data base, monetary transactions, company accounts, salaries of employees need to be kept confidential under all circumstances.
In today’s business scenario, where individuals are totally dependent on their computers, everything goes for a toss if system crashes. Believe me; a server failure can lead to major losses for the organization. A lot of time goes in first detecting as to what went wrong and then rectifying the problem. Employees find it extremely difficult to deliver if their machines are not in proper working conditions. They can neither fetch any data nor interact with their clients through emails. Instruct employees to take proper backups at regular intervals. IT department is the lifeline of every organization and they need to ensure proper softwares and anti viruses are installed in every machine. Do not keep untrained professionals in your IT team. Another major problem arises when telephone lines are out of order.
Security issues pose a major threat to the organization. Make sure you have appointed security staffs who are responsible for the overall security of the organization as well as safety of the employees. Proper measures need to be taken to protect the organization from fire, earth quake or any other disaster of similar sort. It becomes organization’s primary responsibility to take care of its employees and their basic requirements. Poor working condition does not allow employees to give their hundred percent.
Mass boycotts and strikes also pose major threat to organization. Situations where individuals tend to form groups and go on strikes not only affect the productivity of the organization but also spoil the work culture.
Lack of funds is another area of concern for the organizations. Financial stability is of utmost importance and organizations need to have a stable background. A situation where you are unable to give salaries to your employees and also meet daily expenses need to be avoided at any cost. Planning is essential. An organization needs to have sufficient funds to survive the challenging times.

 

Role of Employees in Reducing Threats to Organization

Employees are the backbone of every organization. They play a crucial role in controlling and also reducing the threats to organization. The major threat to an organization is a non serious employee who attends office just for the sake of it. Individuals need to love their organization for them to deliver their level best.
The first initiative towards reducing threat to organization is to genuinely develop a feeling of respect for your organization. Do not love your organization just because your Boss has asked you to do so. The feeling needs to come from within. The moment you are loyal towards your organization, your productivity would increase manifold eventually benefitting the organization. Do not work just for your salary. After all money is not everything. Your career and professional goals are more important.
Keep confidential information to yourself. You can have best friends at the workplace but you really do not have to discuss work and team strategies with him /her. There are other things to discuss as well. Do not pass on information to your competitors. Trust me; it is in fact a crime to do so. If caught, not only would it spoil your entire career but also bring a bad name to you and your family. A sense of commitment towards the organization is essential. It is unacceptable on part of a mature professional to share data, figures, balance sheets, salaries of employees, business strategies with not only competitors but also clients as well as friends within the organization. Data hacking is one of the cheapest activities an employee can indulge into.
Take care of your office property. Make sure your office machine is used only for official purposes and not for downloading movies, uploading personal pictures and so on. Use your office computer the same way you use your personal laptop. Make sure the computer is switched off properly. Do not simply turn off the main button. It will crash your system. Your official email id should be strictly used for official purposes only and nothing else. Do not chat with your friends and relatives from your official email account.
Do not indulge in nasty office politics. Remember, going on strikes is not the only solution. Rather than indulging in unproductive activities, damaging office property, influencing co workers not to work, it is always better to sit face to face, discuss, sort out issues and reach to mutually beneficial solutions. Do not play blame games at workplace. Never spoil the work culture. Make your organization a happy place to work.
Respect organization policies. Keep important documents and files at proper places and make sure you lock your drawers properly before you leave for the day. Also lock your cabin properly so that no one else can enter and steal important data once you are out of the office. If you do not adhere to the security policies of your organization, do not be surprised if your competitor comes out with marketing strategies which you have formulated a month ago with your team mates. Lock your systems carefully. Do not keep common passwords which others can predict easily. Keep your workstations tidy and never write important pass words, account details on loose papers. All important documents need to be put in the paper shredder first before finally disposing. You never know when someone can misuse the information written on them.
Memorize routes to safe areas from your work station in case of fire. Do know where the fire extinguisher is kept and also how to operate the same. An employee needs to know all emergency exits and also acquaint themselves with emergency evacuation procedures. Be prepared to face unwanted situations and remember never to panic.

 

Role of HR Consulting in Redesigning Organizational Structure

Organizational structure is the driving force behind the performance and growth of the organization. For an organization to achieve success and competitive advantage, it is highly important that there should be complete alignment between the organizational structure and the strategic goals of the organization. A properly coordinated organizational structure improves the flow of information and communication within the organisation.
Generally, changes in different aspects like political, cultural, competitive, market, technologies, business requirements, resources, regulations, business goals, organic growth, leadership changes, mergers and acquisitions, etc. may trigger the need to redesign the structure of the organization.
The organization’s structure should fit properly with the changing needs and objectives of the organization, and the market conditions as well, to maintain its efficiency in the long run.
An obsolete organizational structure results in:

• Inefficient organization
• Lack of both, inter as well as intra units/ departmental, coordination
• Ambiguous role definition
• Emergence of conflicts in the workplace
• Disrupted or elongated flow of work and processes
• Multiple superior/ supervisor issues
• Creation of various extra organizational committees, departments, and units
• Improper utilization of resources
• Employee dissatisfaction
• High turnover rates

Therefore, for an organization it is very important to revise and update its structure to maintain its purpose and functionality. Further, redesigning organizational structure helps in improving internal processes and employee engagement, thereby, favourably affecting the financial performance and competitive position of the organization.
Organisational structure redesigning involves alignment of the organizational structure to the business strategies by providing appropriately redesigned model for the existing structure, implementing the new structure, and necessary strategies for downsizing or related changes in the structure.
An HR Consulting Firm can diligently perform the task of analyzing and redesigning the structure of the organisation in accordance with the strategic goals, objectives and mission of the organization.
While performing the task of organizational structuring, HR Consultants should consider following issues:

• The purpose, objectives, goals and strategies of the organization or the specific units
• The navigation of work flow and processes to be simplified and standardised
• The needs, requirements and expectations of the clients are met with
• Maintaining effective flow of communication within the organization
• Enough room for employment development and career progression for the employees
• Efficient as well as effective utilization of the resources available for the organization
• Complying with the legal formalities
• Creating a structure which creates a motivating and satisfying environment for the employees
• Understanding the market trends and industry norms/ best practices

The process of organizational structuring involves following comprehensive stages:

• Assessment of the organization’s structure, as it exists in the current situation and as it had existed before any of the previous changes or revisions.
• Identification of the root causes of organizational performance related issues.
• The analysis is them examined in relation to the organizational culture, strategic goals and business objectives. Again, both the existing factors as well as previous factors are considered here. Future, future strategic goals and objectives are also taken into consideration so that the revised organizational structure caters to the current as well as the future needs of the organization.
• Preparation of the revised or updated organizational structure.
• Implementation of the structural changes keeping in mind that the implementation should bring in least distraction to the organizations operation.
• An evaluation is then carried out regarding the efficiency and fluency brought in by the changed organizational structure.

Thus, HR Consultants can facilitate in the development and designing of an effective organizational structure which optimizes the resource utilization and promotes growth of the organization.

Relationship Between Organizational Structure, Design & Change

Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture

Organizational structure determines the organizational behavior and influences the organizational culture. In addition, design of the organizational structure often determines how flexible or adaptable it is to change.
The linkages between the design of the organizational structure and its resistance or acceptance to change are indeed deep. For instance, it is common for technology organizations to have a relatively flat structure because of the nature of the industry that is rapidly changing.
Considering that technology companies ought to be flexible and adaptable to changes in their environment that is fast paced and always in flux, such organizations design their structure with less hierarchy and more openness.

Manufacturing Organizations

On the other hand, manufacturing organizations have well developed and deep hierarchies mainly because they need the differentiation between blue collar workers and white collar executives. These terms have come about because the shop floor workers often wear blue uniforms whereas the executives and the engineers often wear white shirts. Having said that, it must be noted that this is not always the case and since the terms have been in use throughout the history of organizational behavior, they are used for convenience.
Manufacturing organizations also need hierarchies since they operate on a command and control mode meaning that the decisions are made at the top and percolate to the bottom instead of the knowledge organizations or the services sector wherein the employees often are more autonomous in addition to their being creative and innovative.
Turning to the relationship between organizational structure and culture, we find that in manufacturing organizations, the employees address each other with honorifics rather than on an informal or first name basis as is the case with the services sector. This creates a culture that is more formal and governed by rules and regulations covering all aspects of organizational culture.
Indeed, it is very common for manufacturing organizations to have separate canteens and lunch areas for the workers and the engineers and the executives. One rarely finds a manufacturing organization that has workers and executives mingling with each other except for business purposes.

Software and Technology Companies

On the other hand, most software companies and financial services companies have codes of conduct that specify addressing each other on a first name basis in addition to having common public areas and dining halls where there is no difference between the software engineers and the managers or for that matter even senior management. Of course, some multinationals have executive dining halls mainly because of the fact that external clients tend to visit for meetings and hence, the negotiations and discussions are carried out over lunch and dinner as well.

Industry Characteristics Drives Organizational Structure

The reason for mentioning all these aspects of organizational culture is that each industry has different environmental characteristics and drivers of growth and hence, the organizations in them have their own sets of rules that determine the structure and design of job roles and responsibilities. For instance, workers in manufacturing organizations just need to work as they are told and that too in a routine and repetitive manner.
Further, the assembly line mode of manufacturing means that unless there is significant innovation and improvement, the basic work remains the same. On the other hand, the technology companies have jobs where each day is different and each project and parcel of work has to be handled differently and in a new manner. This means that there is constant change and hence, the culture as well as the design of the organizational structure has to be as adaptable and flexible as possible to encourage innovation and stimulate creativity.

Geography and Type of Organizations Play a Role as well

Finally, the design of the organizational structure is also determined according to the geography, type of organization, and the vision of the founders and the continuing vision of the CEOS. For instance, it is common for western multinationals to be informal and flexible whereas Asian companies are often rigid and strict and formal in their approach. Even the technology companies in Asia often have different designs of organizational structure when compared to technology multinationals.
The design of the organizational structure depends to a great extent on how the original founders want the organization to be and how well the same vision is either being carried forward or being changed by the new incumbents. This can be seen in many family promoted/owned businesses which once the initial founders retire often have major changes in the way the organizational structure is designed.