Need for Ethics in Human Resources

Why do problems arise in organizations or in personal life of people? There are various reasons .These are dishonesty, secrecy; personal motives etc. Over a period 'Ethics'- science of conduct, has gained importance in organizations and in human life. Ethics act as indirect governing force behind human conduct.

Ethics have gained importance with the increasing complexity of market conditions and decreasing transparency in operations, Ethics help in better decision making, lead to credibility with public and employees. Human resources are the most important part any organization. The HR department decides who should join the organization. They have the responsibility to promote ethical culture in organizations. The way the H R Department hires, fires, trains and promotes people, directly affects the employees.

Before considering ethics relating to the HR department, we shall discuss the ethics commonly applicable to all departments. First comes 'courage'. This is the ability to analyze the failures. 'One must carefully learn from mistakes.' Second comes 'commitment'. This emphasizes the clarity of organizational goals. Last is 'consensus'. This encourages participation of people and demands providing a free and open environment.

The ethical issues involved in human resources are discrimination on basis of age, gender, privacy issues, occupational health and safety, policies relating to training, development, promotion etc. Selection is the foremost task to hire people expected to render their services. This needs careful scrutiny of the application without bias and measuring aptitude of the candidate, through tests. Test must be reliable and valid. While conducting interviews, experts must not be rude, coarse, and hostile towards the candidate. Promotion is one of the very crucial areas for management and it directly affects the performance of employees. Some organizations give promotion based on seniority as a result which the ambitious and skilled workers may not show interest in refining their skills. Management must strike a balance between seniority and merit while giving promotion. Nepotism must be avoided while promoting employees as it creates distrust among employees and hampers healthy organization culture. Employee privacy is the basic right of employee. Nowadays with technological advancement, employees who use phone and computers are monitored while doing personal or business related activities. Personnel policies should abandon the use of extraordinary methods like use of secret cameras, spies and hidden microphone. Wages should be based on equity fairness and justice.

Ethical considerations should form the basis of organizations right from the top management to lower levels of management and Ethics must be well defined and comprehensive.