Question

You have been recently hired in the human resources department at the company you have always dreamed of working for. At the end of your first day, your manager, I.M. DeBoss, on her way out of the office says to you: “So Mr./Ms. Jones, what things come to mind when you think of the word 'ethics'?" Before you can answer, she asks you if you believe ethics are important for a company and if so why do you feel that way? Not letting up, because she is DeBoss, she then asks you if you think your views on ethics have evolved based on your life experiences or do you believe as suggested in the 60 Minutes piece, “Born good? Babies help unlock the origins of Morality,” that your ethics DNA was established at birth and why?

Just as you are about to respond to her, she says “I am sorry Mr./Ms. Jones but I really have to run but I want to continue our conversation tomorrow.” You are relieved because you will have a night to ponder her questions and wow her with your responses tomorrow. How would you respond to your manager?

Answer 1

what things come to mind when you think of the word 'ethics

Ethics are the beliefs that planned our actions, movements, steps on how we live, what we do and how we do for others. It is the understanding of an individual on what is good and what is bad and how we perceived others. It defined our culture, religion, the etiquettes which we learned through and things which have been taught by our parents and teachers and most importantly what we learned through our life experience as this mould one’s behaviour.

if you believe ethics are important for a company and if so why do you feel that way

Since we all are humans, there is sense of humanity that exists among us which we need to hear and recognise. The voice of your conscience is out of your ethical principles which you have in you stores in sub-conscious mind.

At workplace, ethics is really important to deal with. Office is the place where an individual spent almost half a day of his life daily which must be positive having good vibes and space for growth. Ethical principles allow each individual to grow in right direction towards right profession and be right individual in person. Ethics stand out an individual for his good endeavours, on the other hand, those who doesn’t have ethics also standout for their bad deeds. Therefore, if an employee and employer both follow their ethical principles, both will achieve their personal interest which is promotion for employer and financial growth for employee and also Organizational growth which is to achieve the Goal and creating the wealth for stake holders. To align interest leadership skills, inculcate the value of ethics among the individuals and guide them towards right direction.

if you think your views on ethics have evolved based on your life experiences or do you believe as suggested in the 60 Minutes piece, “Born good? Babies help unlock the origins of Morality,” that your ethics DNA was established at birth and why?

The Question whether we are born inherently Good or bad is something a debatable issue which is subjective to human perceptions. Babies at the age of few months hold are not in the position to understand anything or to recognize anything. Still they can judge the right things and wrong things for them. Out of the two people standing in front of them, they will pay attention to that one who is offering them helpful hand and a smile rather than a one who doesn’t offer them anything.

Again, if his mom is standing along with that person who is offering him hand, he will choose his mom over that person hand, because now he can sense his mother. Therefore, they can understand certain these, certain good or bad. But of course, an individual learns and grow from their life style and develop some habits and do their deeds based on it and mould their behaviour based on experiences they gained.

Example – if two people are fighting, ethics says to go and help them settle amicably. But these days many people have experience that a person who offer his advice to help to stop the fight, has in many circumstances forced to death or injuries.Therefore, experience also matters a lot.