Ethical and professional behaviour Flashcards
Examples of ethical behaviour
-Businesses don’t make use of child labour
-Businesses don’t engage in illegal business practices such as price-fixing
-Businesses keep promises to their employees and partners
-The business operates within the law and other restrictions
Examples of unethical behaviour
-Deliberately falsifying tax returns
-Engaging in price- fixing to force smaller competitors out of business
-Classifying an employee as a contractor to reduce payroll taxes and avoiding other compulsory deductions
Examples of unprofessional behaviour
-Using rude language with colleagues and clients
-Abusing work time for example coming late
-Giving some people special favours
-Being unprepared for tasks or assignments
Examples of professional behaviour
-Exercising reasonable work morale and self-motivation
-Using polite language with colleagues and clients
-Treating colleagues and clients the same
-Taking responsibility for your actions
Differences between ethical and professional behaviour
Ethical behaviour:
-Refers to the principles acceptable in society
-Conforms to a set of values that are morally acceptable
-Forms part of the code of conduct to guide employees to act ethically
-Focuses on developing a moral compass for decision making
Professional behaviour:
-Refers to what is acceptable in a business
-Set of standards of expected business behaviour
-Applying the code of conduct of a business
-Focuses on upholding the reputation of a business
Types of unprofessional business practices
-Abuse of worktime
-Sexual harassement
Challenges posed by Sexual harassment
-Sometimes the victim prefers to stay away from work and the business loses productivity
-Sexual harassment causes emotional trauma and the victim’s attitude will become negative in the workplace
-The business can lose workers because they don’t feel safe in the business
Challenges posed by unauthorized use of work funds
-Fraud increases the cost of doing business
-It may affect the competitiveness of the business
-It could discourage customers when prices are increased to absorb the losses
Challenges posed by the abuse of work time
-Decreased productivity and causes businesses to lose profits
-Businesses can also lose customers and not meet work deadlines
-Time is money therefore a loss of work time affects the profits of the business
Ways businesses can deal with sexual harassment
-Every business must implement internal complaints and disciplinary procedures
-They must educate employees on sexual harassment matters
-The business must formulate a policy regarding sexual harassment
-Businesses must ensure that they compy with the law
Dealing with unauthorized use of work funds
-The business must conduct regular audits
-They must identify risk areas
-The business must implement fraud prevention strategies
-The business must educate employees about the impact of fraud
Dealing with the abuse of work time
-Speak directly to those employees who abuse work time
-The business should conduct training on the contents of the code of conduct
-The code of conduct should contain clear rules about the abuse of work time
-The business should monitor employees to ensure that tasks are completed
