Ethics

Ethical Filter Worksheet

Date due 05/06/2007

Value

Personal Source

with Examples

Justify the Value's Position in the List. Include any challenges to employing these values consistently when making personal and organizational decisions.

Honesty

There is a Russian proverb that goes like this "With lies you may get ahead in the world - but you can never go back."

I know of a man who was forced to tell lies to save his career and he did so to keep his job and not lose his wife and children, but eventually the lie caught up with him and now his wife left him and his children went with her.

It may be easy to lie and get away with it, but guilt will eventually get to us. Sometimes it may seem as if honesty does not pay off in the short run, but in the end doing the right thing always pays off. This man could have told the truth and perhaps have lost his job; but who knows his wife would have appreciated him for standing up for the truth and stayed with him to make things work. I guess one will never know.

Fairness

As the Corporate Webmaster at McKee Foods Corporation I was interviewing applicants for the post of graphic artist. In the process I met with several talented individuals and not so talented individuals. Some applicants came dressed very well and some others did not bother to spend time on personal appearances. But since I wanted the very best, I had to go beyond how they looked or presented themselves and had to dig deep down, below their presentation layer to find the person I was looking for. Incidentally I hired Quantal, the worst dressed person in a field of 20 applicants just because he had skills that none of the others could match. Quantal justified my faith in him and created some of the most beautiful websites that McKee Foods has ever had.

Fairness is very important part of a business culture. When management does not care about being fair they will lose the trust of their employees. Once a company or employer loses the trust of its employees then there is no return. I have seen many managers lose some of their best employees because they were partial to certain other employees. Every employee should be given a fair chance to succeed. They should be evaluated on their performance and be allowed to succeed. Hiring should not be done based on "who knows who" but purely based on merits and abilities.

Loyalty

I once interviewed a Food Scientist at McKee Foods who was 93 years old. When asked why he was still working after more than 60 years of service he told me that he could never forget the kindness that Mr. McKee, the founder of the company showed toward him when he had nothing in his life. He said "Mr. McKee took me under his wing and gave me all that I needed to survive during tough times. It is now my time to payback."

A loyal employee is truly priceless. True loyalty cannot be brought with gold or silver but true loyalty comes from deep within. It comes with a commitment to a cause or a heart of gratitude. Loyalty goes along with a feeling of being personally involved in the matters of the business. That is why a truly loyal employee is priceless. Loyalty is something that is missing in many work places because employees tend to move from job to job and that should be a cause for concern to employers.

Responsibility/Ownership

While working at McKee I was asked to lead the web development efforts of the company. My manager told me that she trusts my judgment and that I should take ownership of the entire process. The trust that she placed in me created a sense of ownership and so I was committed to do the best that I could. In five years my team and