Chapter 3 - Ethics Flashcards
When one government employee behaves in an unethical way, it reflects on ………
Every government employee
A standard of conduct for professional and personal behavior based on shared values.
Ethics
Most useful local government ………. are practical, easy to embrace, and based on organizational values.
Ethics policies
These three A’s help define ethics in action:
- Accountability
- Awareness
- Authenticity
Public employees are accountable to their supervisors, government leaders, and the community. This ………. also extends to their private lives
“Ethics”
Accountability
Public employers must be familiar with the standards they are expected to uphold. They must participate in continuous learning opportunities to ensure their knowledge of ethical standards guiding regulations is current.
“Ethics”
Awareness
Public employees must be genuine in character and willing to do the right thing even when no one is watching.
“Ethics”
Authenticity
Having professional ethics mean striving to do your best as a supervisor, including:
- Using consistent and supportive communication practices
- Genuinely listening to your employees and colleagues
- Making your expectations of employees clear
- Providing fair and consistent feedback on performance
Publicly support all decisions made at all levels of your government organization regardless of whether you………..in the decision making process
Participated Directly
“The behavior model: steps in the process”, offers eight actions that supervisors can use as an eight step process to coach employees on all aspects of their behavior including ethics.
- Ask
- Listen
- Think
- Thank
- Respond
- Involve
- Make changes
- Follow up
ICMA “guide to ethical decision making” has six questions to assess whether a possible action is ethical:
- The Law -is it legal? Does it mean the spirit of the law?
- Policy – am I violating a regulation or policy or breaking a rule that everyone else must follow?
- Integrity – am I breaking my word, a trust, a promise, or a value?
- Appearances – do I have a conflict of interest in fact or appearance? Am I the only or prime beneficiary of an offer or service?
- Clear thinking – is emotion or bias clouding my judgment?
- Perspective – when I look back on this situation, will I be proud of my conduct? Is it my finest hour or one I might regret?
The ……….test asks? What would my role model or mentor think or do in the same situation?
Ethical tool
Role model test
The ………..test asks, what would I say to my children or to the person who brought me up about the action I’m about to take?
Ethical tool
Parent or child on your shoulder test
The ……….test asks how would you feel if the headline in tomorrow’s newspaper announced what you are thinking about doing
Ethical tool
Newspaper headline test
The test asks, would I want to be treated in the way I am considering treating someone else?
Ethical tool
The golden rule test
