Abstract
Ethics offer guidance on the most appropriate business behavior and the most desirable conduct for all the stakeholders in a business entity. In the context of business, ethics refer to the positive and good actions whose drivers are the individuals behind the particular business. These actions have to be integrated into the principles and norms that are supported at the company level. Ethical behavior in a company is associated with multi-faceted benefits. A key aspect of business ethics is the way employees spend their time during office hours. This brings to fore the need for strong workplace ethics. The use of personal e-mail in the workplace falls is a workforce ethics issue. While most companies respond by monitoring their employees, an alternative approach would be to develop a strong e-mail policy, to communicate this clearly and consistently, and lastly to create a culture of trust.
Introduction
Ethics entail the judgments made regarding what is right and wrong. The decisions made by a business entity are made by either groups or individuals. Irrespective of who makes the decision, the existing company culture plays a critical role in the process. Decisions regarding ethical behavior are moral in nature. As highlighted in figure I below, a society’s moral space is characterized by different norms. Thus, employees have to decide whether a chosen course of action is right or wrong. Ethical behavior within a company is associated with various benefits. These include attraction of customers hence increased sales and profits; increased employee retention, low turnover, and increased productivity; attracting talent and reducing recruitment costs; and lastly, attracting investors, increasing and stabilizing share prices so as to foster business stability ( Xesha et al., 2014 ). For instance, by knowing that their affiliate company is morally grounded and endeavors to work responsibly and ethically, investors would be assured that their financial investment will be utilized in a way that is well aligned with their moral standing. On the other hand, working for an entity that boasts strong business ethics increases the employees' satisfaction levels. Further, customers will be more drawn towards embracing products from such business entities.
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Illegitimate norms
Figure I: The norms that characterize a society’s moral space ( Jakšić, 2016)
A business that deliberately mainstreams ethical guidelines into its operations has reduced chances of encountering poor behavior amongst employees and flouting ethics-related laws. One of the biggest assets for any forward-looking business is its reputation. Mainstreaming ethics is a crucial approach to protecting a company's reputation ( Xesha et al., 2014 ). Unethical behavior is likely to damage an entity’s reputation making it less appealing to investors, employees, and customers. This ultimately leads to a decline in the profits attained. A key aspect of business ethics is how employees spend their time while in the office . This research paper is aimed at expounding on this aspect.
The Nexus of Business Ethics and Employee Activities and Engagement While at Work
Understanding Business Ethics
Ethics are responsible for offering guidance on the most appropriate business behavior that is bound to affect all the players in a given organization. It also guides the most desirable conduct for all the stakeholders of the business entity. Thus, ethics offer a perspective of the business world through the lenses of ordinary people ( Jakšić, 2016). It is based on the narrative that people share similarities in their rights, needs, and goals in life. Consequently, these individuals are bound to rally behind a particular leader which leads to the emergence of new business entities. Ethics should also be conceptualized as the systematic study of a society's conventional morality whose aim is to determine the rules that should govern human behavior, the virtues that are worth developing in the course of someone's life, and lastly, the rules that should be enforced by society.
In the context of business, ethics refer to the positive and good actions whose drivers are the individuals that are running a particular business. These actions ought to be integrated into the principles and norms that are supported at the company level ( Jakšić, 2016; Xesha et al., 2014). Business ethics is advanced at the individual level. However, it has to be adjusted and coordinated to meet society's most common ethical standards. In this context, business ethics comprise individuals’ ethical codes that are acknowledged and inherited from the earliest stages of their life ( Jakšić, 2016). They are subsequently adjusted in the different phases of the development of the individuals and society. Adjustments are also made based on the ethical standards that the individuals interact with courtesy of organizational codes, culture, tradition, rules, and climate.
Business ethics has undergone tremendous changes over time. However, its foundations in the writings and philosophical studies of such scholars as Kant and Aristotle has not changed much. Foundations of ethics such as rights and duty as highlighted by Kant, consequences of individual actions as emphasized by utilitarians, and mainstreaming of virtues into business operations as brought to for by Aristotle remain timeless ( Jakšić, 2016). Nevertheless, business ethics has expanded and developed with the expansion and development of business. The latter has led to a rise of concerns about the ethical behavior of business entities. For instance, if a company is interested in a philanthropic activity, the decision may be anchored on the need to do good for the society, in which case such an endeavor would be considered a socially responsible one. However, the company has to take care of its priorities as it embarks on such endeavors. Taking care of these concerns requires the business entities to establish a business ethics code of conduct that is well balanced. This approach ensures that all the possible socially responsible projects are assessed in the context of their contribution to the needs of stakeholders in the firm and that all priorities are duly addressed
One of the challenges encountered in the pursuit of ethical behavior is the discovery of the most appropriate way of implementing the ideal at the applied level. This is particularly the case given that ethics functions at different levels of an organization starting from the accountability of managers and employees at an individual level to the responsibility that businesses have to their employees and the communities they serve ( Berkley & Watson , 2009 ). In this case, it is essential to consider the employee in the process of carrying out an ethical assessment of an entity's stakeholders. Shareholders, who are a business entity’s core stakeholders often get the most attention from the management team and media with regard to ethics. However, employees are the most critical stakeholders for businesses and thus focus on them is critical. This group is mostly ignored in relation to the scope of ethical decisions.
Workplace ethics play a crucial role in guiding employees’ engagement while at work. Workplace ethics refer to the principles that ought to guide the individual employees’ decisions and behavior while at work ( Miller & Weckert , 2000 ). Various similarities exist between these principles and those that guide decisions at a personal level. However, the seriousness with which business ethics are taken varies. For instance, some individuals hold workplace ethics to a lower standard compared to the ethics at play in their personal lives. As a result, while some individuals refrain from doing some things while at home, they may do these same things at their workplace. A notable workplace issue is the use of company time and computer for such matters as checking personal emails. Given the impact of this on employee productivity and ultimately a company’s profitability, workplace ethics is a crucial aspect of business ethics.
Workplace Ethics: Using Time Online in Pursuit of Personal Activities
Often, employees use mobile phones and office computers to attend to various personal tasks during office hours. These devices may be used to check and respond to e-mails. While this is understandable when carried out in moderation, it may spin out of control thus becoming a source of distraction ( Drover et al., 2012; Miller & Weckert , 2000 ). The average employee spends a significant amount of time using his or her office computer for non-work activities. Cumulatively, this translates into loss of company time and productivity. This is likely to be worse if the employees are relatively young. The younger the workforce, the more the amount of time wasted per day. In cases where an individual employee is interested in pursuing a personal matter via e-mail, the most ethical approach to take is to wait for a break during which he or she would address the matter. Likewise, the individual may explore spending extra time after the official working hours to respond to personal e-mails. This way, the employee would be displaying his or her concern for and commitment to the employer. This is because the employee should not spend company time in pursuit of personal issues. Likewise, workplace ethics entails an employee’s behavior in the absence of his or her boss.
To address the challenge, some companies have banned personal e-mail use during office hours. Since employees spend a significant amount of time at work, they inevitably use a proportion of this time checking their personal emails. Personal use of e-mails at work is also likely to pose a security issue ( Miller & Weckert , 2000 ). For instance, sending large files via office e-mail is likely to slow down a company’s network and thus threatening the entity’s computer systems. Moreover, personal use of e-mails increases the risk of infecting the computers with viruses. On the other hand, the e-mails sent out may be characterized of objectional material, language, messages or images that may have controversial content.
Companies ought to establish policies that guide the use of e-mails at work ( Drover et al., 2012 ; Miller & Weckert , 2000 ). Such policies should clearly outline what is acceptable and unacceptable. Vagueness of these policies is bound to create more confusion than clarity for the employees. For instance, if the company’s strategy is to enhance monitoring of e-mails, the policy has to clearly specify that both official and personal e-mails will be subjected to scrutiny. Likewise, if limited use of personal e-mails is allowed, the policy has to be clear about the times of day when this is permitted. It may, for instance, clarify that personal e-mails are only accessible during the lunch hour and other breaks. Vague ethical policies are also challengeable in court. Thus, failure to address such matters may drive a company into a legal and ethical quandary.
Monitoring Employees’ use of Personal E-mail While at Work: A Critique
With the growth of such elements as remote working, use of personal devices at work, and the increasing demand by employers for workers to be increasingly available, the line between personal and work activities online has been blurred. Subsequently, cases of misuse of corporate computers, e-mail account, and mobile devices are on the rise. Such cases expose both employees and employers to security and legal risks ( Miller & Weckert , 2000 ). This necessitates the need for policies on such aspects as the use of work e-mail account. This is especially vital given that most employers have the right to access company-issued devices and e-mail accounts at any given time. Likewise, the need for a policy to guide this highlights the thin line that exists between the rights of an employer and the employees' right to privacy. Ultimately, a company would be motivated by the need to foster optimal performance from its employees. A notable approach in this regard is the monitoring of employees online activities.
Companies monitor their employees by tracking their content, time spent typing, or keystrokes; storing and reviewing computer files; monitoring social media, and lastly monitoring the blogosphere for content that touches on the company. Other may monitor the employees’ e-mail communication. The most common justification for monitoring is that it is necessary for the sake of employees’ productivity, safety of company data, legal issues amongst other reasons ( Miller & Weckert , 2000 ). Often, monitoring of employees is a sign of mistrust and goes against the importance of creating an employee-focused culture ( Drover et al., 2012 ) . A more sustainable approach would be to establish a solid e-mail and internet policy that gives employees clear expectations with regard to the employer's position on the use of personal e-mail while at work ( Arnesen & Weis , 2007) . Similarly, there is a need to communicate this policy continuously to avoid any form of confusion. To achieve this, training of supervisors and managers is requisite. Lastly, employers should establish and fan a culture of trust.
Conclusion
Business ethics is vital to the success of any entity. One vital aspect of business ethics is workplace ethics, and in particular, the use of personal e-mail in the workplace. Most companies have responded to this by monitoring their employees. However, given the downsides of employee monitoring, a more sustainable approach would be to establish a solid e-mail and internet policy that gives employees clear expectations with regard to the employer's position on the use of personal e-mail while at work. Similarly, there is a need to communicate this policy continuously to avoid any form of confusion. To achieve this, the training of supervisors and managers is requisite. Lastly, employers should establish and fan a culture of trust.
References
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