Ethics and Interpersonal Relations

If workers treated each other ethically, the workplace would be a far happier place. All too often, however, co-workers hurt each other by committing unethical acts such as:

Gossiping: You should engage co-workers head-on with complaints, criticisms, and suggestions. Stay out of co-worker's lives as much as possible. Never listen or engage in gossip about them.

Manipulating; You should do your fair share of the work rather than burden co-workers with your assignments. You should be nice to co-workers all the time, not just when you need something from them. You should not falsely flatter supervisors to try to gain advancement.

Maligning: You should never undermine a co-worker to get ahead in the race for promotions and advancement. You should not criticise co-workers behind their backs, then compliment them in front of their faces. If you have a criticism, always voice it directly and offer advice to solve any problems.

Lacking Consideration: You should be considerate of your co-workers' needs and opinions. You should not interrupt them and expect them to drop everything to help you. If you break equipment, you should take responsibility and fix it, not leave it broken for someone else to fix. You should control your behaviour, so you do not harm or offend co-workers. Do not smoke at work if others object. Do not play loud, distracting music.

Taking Credit: You should never overlook the efforts of others or take credit for the work they do. If you are a team leader, you should make sure all members share in team recognition. You should never represent someone else's idea as your own.

Breaking Confidence: If co-workers confide in you, you should keep their secrets. If their problem affects work performance, you should encourage them to discuss the matter with the supervisor. You should never sneak behind their backs and tell the boss to embarrass them or gain personal favour. However, you may face a very difficult ethical choice if co-workers confess that they have been stealing from or somehow harming the company. In such situations, your values will have to influence your decision whether your co-worker's confidence is less important than the good of the company.

Sexually Harassing: You should never use your position to gain sexual favours from co-workers or use sexual favours to gain workplace favours. Sexual harassment may be subtle. You may suggest indirectly that someone would be better off if they win your favour, or you may flirt with a co-worker to get him or her to do something for you. Both are wrong. You should deal with co-workers professionally and, as much as possible, stay out of their private lives and private business.