UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE

Ethical Issues in a Global Workplace

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

3. Identify ethical considerations for communication in a global work environment.

3.1 Develop ethical codes of conduct for a workplace.

6. Illustrate appropriate problem-solving skills for effective professional communication.

6.1 Prepare a communication tool for addressing ethical issues in the workplace.

Required Unit Resources

In order to access the following resources, click the links below.

Articles

Agovino, T. (2018, November/December). Make ethics your guide: The best leaders care about doing what's
right—and want employees who will follow suit. HRMagazine, 63(7), 60.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A565734639/ITOF?u=oran95108&sid=ITOF&xid=b9b5ccbb

Ganju, S. (2020, August 22). Crisis communications: Recent learnings from Indian startups. Yourstory.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A633254138/STND?u=oran95108&sid=STND&xid=242634e2

Mhonderwa, B. (2012, October 16). Ethics code must be put into practice. The Herald.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A305403168/STND?u=oran95108&sid=STND&xid=36b649c9

Nordling, L. (2019, October 25). Codes of conduct aim to curb harassment at field sites. Science, 366(6464),
408.
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=asn&AN=139344428&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Ottawa University. (2021, April 29). Etiquette in the workplace [Press release]. U.S. Official News.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A660249182/STND?u=oran95108&sid=STND&xid=d63c1cd7

Unit Lesson

COM 2301, Professional Communication 1

 Overview UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
In this unit, our focus is communication and ethics. Workplaces face many ethical issues. We will learn how
communication, including codes of conduct, helps mitigate these ethical issues.

Ethics Defined

Ethics can be defined as a system of moral guidelines. We may have our own individual principals that we live
by; however, so do workplaces. For example, at your workplace there may be safety policies or even
guidelines for your professional image. Many workplaces may also follow legal guidelines such as HIPAA or
patient privacy laws and will use these laws to guide their ethics.

Ethical Issues in the Workplace

As in society, a workplace also faces many ethical issues.

• Ageism
• Racism
• Gender Equality
• Privacy
• Technology

Just as an individual will struggle with these ethical issues, so too will workplaces. Workplaces do not exist in
bubbles and often reflect their owners, management, and employees, or even an entire society’s ethics.

For example, a local business owner sends the message to potential employees that they do not hire a
specific race. This message may not be overt. However, a review of their employee website shows photos
such as these:

(Thampapon1, n.d.)

COM 2301, Professional Communication 2

 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title

(Bialasiewicz, n.d.)

On a different website, another employer shows the belief that it values diversity by including photos like
these:

(Rmarmion, n.d.)

COM 2301, Professional Communication 3

 UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title

(Uthairam, n.d.)

How can workplaces convey to management, employees, customers, clients, in other words, the public, what
they believe, and why? The message is in the code—the code of conduct.

Codes of Conduct Defined

A code of conduct is often defined as how a workplace communicates its ethical stance or what it believes to
be right. A code of conduct is often seen by employees as the handbook or manual given to them as part of
their training. Often, new employees will be asked to read and sign that they have read this handbook or
manual. Employees then may often be required to attend yearly training sessions where updates to the
handbook, manual, or codes are reviewed.

However, reading the handbook or manual may leave employees feeling confused. Often codes of conduct
are written in abstract language. As we learned in Unit I, abstract language is a noisemaker. When abstract
language is used, the message is not received as the sender intended or not at all. For example, do you
understand this common code?

Employees must maintain a professional image.

There are several questions employees may ask when reading this abstract code:

• What is a professional image?

• Who defines what a professional image is?
• What are the consequences of not maintaining a professional image?
• Who should I report to if I feel this code is being broken?

A code that uses more concrete language and thus will be more understandable may read as follows:

Employees must maintain a professional image. To do so, our company dress code does not allow
the following: open-toed shoes, jeans, graphic t-shirts, or hats. If your supervisor feels you are not
maintaining a professional image, they may ask you to leave work during a break or lunch hour to
return home and change. If you have questions about the company dress code, contact your
supervisor directly. If you wish to remain anonymous, please leave your question or comment via our
Human Resources link at HRcodesofconductquestions/ABCdepartment.com.

COM 2301, Professional Communication 4

This example answers the questions noted above within the code. However, even UNITwhen a code
x STUDY is
GUIDE
understood, these codes are often forgotten. Ask yourself: When is the last time
Title
I read my employee
handbook or manual? Do I even know where my employee handbook or manual is?

Employee manuals or handbooks are often dumped in desk drawers or piled under uniforms in lockers and
never considered a communication tool until an ethical issue arises.

Codes of Conduct—A Communication Tool

Knowing what is illegal and/or inappropriate behavior or actions at your workplace can help diffuse conflict or
even prevent lawsuits. Therefore, a code of conduct should be seen as a tool to mitigate ethical issues that
occur in the workplace.

Mhonderwa (2012) notes, a good code should be simply written, and management and employees should be
involved in writing the code as well as committed to following the code. However, many times this does not
happen. Management creates the codes; employees follow the codes.

Yet, this may be changing. After many negative news stories focusing on unethical behavior, ethics is
becoming the focus for many workplaces. From human resources departments to legal departments and
employees to leaders, workplaces as a whole are realizing that one bad decision and the negative media
coverage that follows can be devasting to their business’s bottom line.

Codes of conduct are becoming a workplace communication tool. How can this tool be best used? Two ways
have already been mentioned. First, codes of conduct should be written in concrete language. Second, codes
of conduct should be collaboratively written by employees and leaders.

Some other guidelines for effective codes of conducted are noted by Agovino (2018).

Codes of conduct can be reinforced by teachable moments. For example, during a meeting a colleague
conveys a questionable message about a fellow coworker’s culture. Leadership can use this action as a
teachable moment instead of punishment. Communication tools such as perception checking, active listening,
and empathy can all be part of this teachable moment. In this meeting, leadership could ask what the
intended meaning of the message was in order to show they are actively listening and willing to be empathetic
with the colleague who may not have realized they have sent a questionable message.

COM 2301, Professional Communication 5

Codes of conduct should also include consequences for breaking a specific code
UNITand offer scenarios
x STUDY GUIDE or
examples of how a code may be broken. We not only learn from but also remember
Title scenarios or stories.
Thus, these scenarios can be used as a tool to convey the conduct code.

Code of Conduct Example

Safety: All warehouse employees must wear steel-toed boots.

Scenario: Safety Steve comes to work in flip flops. Manager Michael, attending a meeting, does not
see Safety Steve’s footwear. As Safety Steve climbs into his forklift and begins moving a bundled
pack of steel pipe, he notices the binding around the pack sliding. He jumps off the forklift just as the
binding breaks. Hundreds of pounds of steel pipe smash down onto his flip-flop wearing feet.

Safety Steve has broken the code and has been injured.

This scenario included in the code of conduct and conveyed in training meetings may be more memorable
than a one sentence statement noting the requirement or rule.

However, not only should breaches of codes of conduct be reviewed, but integrity should also be celebrated.
Workplaces should publicly praise an employee’s adherence to the codes of conduct. This sends positive
feedback not only to that one specific employee but also throughout the workplace that integrity is valued and
respected.

As mentioned in the video 4 Essentials for a Respectful Workplace (Seven Dimensions, 2019), respect in the
workplace ranks number one for job satisfaction. Perhaps respect can be considered another tool used to
help uphold our workplaces’ ethics. The transcript for this video can be found by clicking the “Transcript” tab
to the right of the video in the Films on Demand database.

We also must remember that our workplace is not only the local office or site; workplaces have become
global. Nordling (2019) notes, as an example, anthropology dig sites in South Africa. When considering codes
of conduct, fieldworkers at this site must understand the culture including local customs. Otherwise, codes of
conduct, although unintentionally, may be broken. This may jeopardize not only the project but also the
company’s standing as a global workplace.

Our workplace may not be physically located in another country; however, because the workplace has clients
and customers world-wide as well as a diverse set of employees, this should be considered when creating
codes of conduct.

How can a workplace recover their global positive image from a publicized violation of their codes of conduct
whether by an individual employee or the company itself? Ganju (2020) notes four key steps:

1. Transparency: Announce any codes of conduct violations first and not just have reactionary
responses from breaking news stories.
2. Acknowledgement: Send a concrete message to the public. State the problem and how you are
resolving the problem.
3. Communicate: Be consistent, reassuring, and frequent with updates to the public.
4. Channel: Send reassuring messages through various channels such as social media, email, video, or
press releases to the public.

Each of these four steps shows how important communication is when a workplace faces a code of conduct
violation public crisis. If these steps are followed, the public may be more forgiving, just as a supervisor may
be more forgiving if an employee who has broken a code respects their supervisor and workplace and sends
a clear message of regret for breaking the conduct code.

Summary

In Unit I, we established the fundamentals of communication and began putting our professional
communication puzzle together. In Unit II, we continued building our puzzle by focusing on workplace
relationships including conflict causers, conflict resolution, and stress management. In Unit III, we added our

COM 2301, Professional Communication 6

third puzzle piece—crossing cultures. In Unit IV, our fourth puzzle piece, ethics, canxnow
UNIT be added
STUDY GUIDEto our
professional communication puzzle. Title

References

Agovino, T. (2018, November/December). Make ethics your guide: The best leaders care about doing what's
right—and want employees who will follow suit. HRMagazine, 63(7), 60.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A565734639/ITOF?u=oran95108&sid=ITOF&xid=b9b5ccbb

Bialasiewicz, K. (n.d.). ID 72768205 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-

happy-smiling-construction-workers-looking-camera-image72768205

Ganju, S. (2020, August 22). Crisis communications: Recent learnings from Indian startups. Yourstory.
https://yourstory.com/2020/08/crisis-communications-learnings-indians-startups/amp

Mhonderwa, B. (2012, October 16). Ethics code must be put into practice. The Herald.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A305403168/STND?u=oran95108&sid=STND&xid=36b649c9

Nordling, L. (2019, October 25). Codes of conduct aim to curb harassment at field sites. Science, 366(6464),
408.
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=asn&AN=139344428&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Rmarmion. (n.d.). ID 23650428 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-

photos-senior-construction-foreman-image23650428

Seven Dimensions (Producer). (2019). 4 essentials for a respectful workplace [Video]. Films on Demand.
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPl
aylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=204054

Thampapon1. (n.d). ID 107953132 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/caucasian-

businessman-architect-engineer-holding-hard-hat-helmet-standing-modern-city-building-construction-
site-as-image107953132

Uthairam, V. (n.d.). ID 159824758 [Photograph]. Dreamstime. https://www.dreamstime.com/construction-

workers-wearing-safety-clothing-discussing-site-checking-office-laptop-image159824758

COM 2301, Professional Communication 7