It doesn’t matter whether you work from home or commute to work every day, workplace ethics is required to build a successful career. Organizations are known to embrace ethical practices and behaviors to increase productivity and uphold integrity—while sanctioning workers who default workplace ethics.
These ethics are implemented by employers to foster both employee-employee relationship and employee-customer relationships. An organization may decide to put these ethics into writing or not — they are however meant to be followed.
- Communicate effectively.
Effective communication is very important to avoid misunderstandings when dealing with issues in the workplace. Communicating effectively may mean different things to people at different points in time.
Effective communication if done well may even have an employee go unpenalized for breaking one of the company rules and regulations. For example, an employee reaching out to HR that they will be coming in late due to some unforeseen circumstances may be spared for coming late if the situation is properly communicated.
- Develop Professional Relationships
Good professional relationships do not only foster teamwork among employees, but also help with individual career development for employees. Developing professional relationships with coworkers or other professionals outside the workplace will also directly or indirectly improve productivity.
Professional relationships between low-level and high-level employees will make it easier for ideas to be shared and knowledge passed to junior employees. That way, the company can confidently have an intern work on a tough project to meet a pending deadline due to the guidance from older employees.
- Take Responsibility
It is important for employees to always take responsibility for decisions made both individually and in a team. This is, in fact, a leadership trait that every employee who is looking to take up a managerial position in the future should exhibit.
- Uphold Professional Standards
There are professional standards that regulate everything an employee does in the workplace. The use of informal words in a formal workplace is highly unprofessional. These standards should be held high and applied to every part of an employee’s activity in the workplace. This should include the way they speak, the kind of work they deliver, and their relationship with coworkers and customers.
- Be Accountable
Accountability is also a very good trait of an employee. One of the things that may shortchange a talented and responsible worker is a lack of accountability. Lack of accountability may result in your superior thinking you have an “I don’t care attitude” to the company’s project or worst take you as a liar and may lead to job loss in the long run.
- Uphold Trust
An employee should not do anything that may make his or her employer withdraw trust. As an employee of a company, your employer trusts you to get work done perfectly on time.
Things like missing deadlines regularly or delivering work that needs to be revised over and over again will deny you a promotion.
- Show Initiative without being told.
Is the company running behind deadline and you feel you can stay a few extra hours after work to finish up? Just do it.
- Work Smarter
Don’t just work hard, work smarter. The reason why you see an employee promoted to the post of manager after just 2 years and a hardworking employee who has been with the company for 10 years failed to get a promotion is smart work.
- Show Loyalty
Loyalty encompasses all relationships a person has including those with colleagues, partners, investors, and customers. Loyalty allows a person to make decisions benefiting these relationships and overcome influences from outside conflicting interests. This shows the person values the advancement of the company and employees over personal gain.
- Get Outside Your Comfort Zone
Employees that get outside their comfort zone always demonstrate a wonderful work ethic, especially since they think out of the box, which always improves their work. This applies to employees that are willing to volunteer and to take on new projects, learn new skills, and show that they are passionate about their career development. Employees that embrace change should be recognized and acknowledged.
The writer is Head of HR at UMB Capital. She is passionate about Human Capital Development. She enjoys providing support for SMEs who cannot afford to set up full-scale HR Departments. She loves everything about People & Culture in the corporate environment
