Ethical Issues In HRM - Balancing Company Goals & Employee Rights

Human resource management is one of the crucial factors in running an organization. The fundamental tasks of the team are not just about acquiring the right talent and placing them in their ideal positions, but their work revolves around the dynamic realm of management.

From navigating the daily challenges of the employee force to getting things done accordingly, balancing company goals and employee rights is crucial for the overall functioning of a business. 

However, managing that leads to some of the major issues that are stated as ethical issues in HRM. Professionally solving these complexities is not only vital for business but effectively eliminating these issues should be the prior task of every organization. 

Understanding Ethical Issues In Human Resource Management

In an organization, while running efficiently, major ethical issues occur due to invisible complexities and fundamental issues. Concerns such as harassment, unequal importance, discovering unseen talent, etc should be addressed on time to retain major talents for the ultimate growth of an organization. 

As the workforce of an organization becomes diverse, the need to address these ethical issues with effective strategy and proper research becomes crucial in order to make the organization function beneficially. In addition to these, market trends and industry needs should be taken into consideration to direct these issues to a positive outcome. 

9 Common Ethical Dilemmas in Human Resource Management

As the need to address these complexities cannot be ignored, let's look at some of the primary ethical dilemmas in human resource management:

1) Selecting of Right Talent 

Selecting the right talent is the utmost crucial aspect that leads to the growth of a business. Talent can even make or break the organization's end objectives. Majorly, in the majority of organizations, biased selection is preferred and the neglect of skill-based is promptly absorbed. This biasedness will lead to the recession of an organization as the workforce is directly responsible for the growth of a company. 

Usually, the recruiter favors candidates who have similar backgrounds, personalities, and experiences, but on the grounds that the reality is slightly different. An ideal candidate should not always exactly match the needed job description, he or she should be willing to learn, willing to adapt to changes, and willing to support the growth of an organization. 

The strategy for hiring the right candidate should prioritize skills over any secondary factor. Most jobs in this world can be taught in a short period, so recruiters should prioritize hiring talent with the potential to learn and grow significantly.

2) Equal Employment Opportunity

EEO or Equal Employment Opportunity is one of the major factors that has to be taken into utmost consideration. As equal importance to each individual is essential, the workforce expects the same correspondingly. Regardless of gender, salary, religion, caste, disability, race, etc, treating everyone equally becomes the primary task of human resource management. 

However, on the ground, these parameters don't work and the discrimination is running between the hidden agenda of the HR team. To address this major complexity professionally, HR managers have to be aware of the function at the ground level. They should monitor and actively assess the process of selecting the employee so that the employee gets their deserved chances. 

Every employee should receive thorough training on the EOO so that everyone gets a clear idea of the needs and opportunities that they cannot miss in the near future. This will not only free the function from discrimination but it will uphold the EOO principles and practices beneficially. 

3) Development and Training 

Employee training and development are crucial in order to keep the workforce updated and advance with the current industry standards. When companies neglect essential training and development programs, the result comes out to lead to major complexities among those fundamental ethical dilemmas. 

Recognizing the need for essential training and development programs is important to make the organization’s workforce free from discrimination, bias, and favoritism. To make the required and future training a success, HR professionals must be aware of the needs, preferences, and choices of employees so that ideal programs get introduced routinely. 

The initials, such as the purpose, objectives, budget, etc., should be identified by the HR professionals so that they fully utilize the available resources and make the most of the training and development programs. 

4) Workplace Health and Safety

Workplace health and safety is essential to overcome potential health and safety concerns. Due to the life and health-threatening hazards increasing day by day, the need for essential and impactful strategies should be adopted by the human resources department. 

Implementing crucial robust safety measures like emergency response mechanisms, safety training, proper lifting techniques, and neatness of the workplace. These beneficial techniques will lead the workforce to a better work environment because these major strategies will help the direct growth of a company. 

Additionally, proper assessment and risk assessment should be adopted by the HRM so that the ethical dilemma of safety and concern can be addressed significantly which will eventually make an organization's work culture and objectives presentable. 

5) Performance Management 

In the majority of organizations, the weak often stand out and the ones who are actually contributing to the direct growth of an organization could not lead the show. This concern is significantly increasing, and so the need to address it significantly rises. Performance management is the key area that should be adopted by almost all organizations so that the wise leads and the development of the weak should be enhanced internally. 

Moreover, favoritism of managers also leads to this crucial concern as the employees close to their managers often tend to stand out compared to others. The Human resources department should alter its strategies and opt for a quantitative-based calculation to check the performance of its workforce because numbers can show more than just oral calculation. 

These calculations of KRI and KPI should be transparent and the human resources should have a frequent eye on the data so that effective and tailored necessary steps towards individuals should be taken, whether negative or positive. 

6) Termination and Layoffs

The unethical elimination of employees is increasing day by day as this issue is a major concern running in almost all organizations. The termination of employees should be based on facts, underperformance, behavior, etc, and before the layoff companies should see the aspects in which the performance is decreasing and tend to improve that by proper training if the issue could be solved.

Employees who go through unethical termination create a sense of insecurity and mistrust in all the organizations they are going to work with. Resolving this issue should be among the prior objectives of organizations as addressing this issue professionally would help the growth of a business significantly. 

However, effective termination could be done if there is some critical happening occurring in the workplace. Issues like misconduct, poor performance, absence without leave, etc could be initially treated professionally but if the same continues for a long period of time, then strict action should be taken by the human resources management. 

7) Fair Compensation and Benefits

One of the essential ethical dilemmas in the corporate world that human resources tend to neglect is the salary aspect. Usually, good talent have to compromise their salary aspect, just to meet the recruiter's negotiation offer. As per recent records and statistics, the company gives an offer of 46% less than their actual budget to hire a talent, which will lead them to hire a professional who will end up leaving the company in a very short period. 

Moreover, the HR management department should consider their pay grade for every employee according to what they bring to the table. Their expertise matters a lot when it comes to deciding the compensation they are getting. The management of a company should set their compensation system fair and transparent so that every individual associated with a company should be aware of their benefits. 

Moreover, all this could happen if the HR management considers crucial factors such as experience, skills, education, and expertise the candidate brings to the company. 

8) Harassment and Bullying

Harassment and bullying are one of the primary concerns that are ongoing in almost all organizations. The majority of workplaces face this issue as the toxicity created by some affects the overall functioning of the work environment. From harassment cases to bullying occurrences, we often read these major news stories in the media and to come out with positive results, the human resource department should handle it professionally and with law and order. 

Numerous kinds of toxicity should be handled by HR managers, and they play a major role in maintaining effective strategies like a zero-tolerance policy. These policies act to create a safe environment so that any employee does not cross the borderline towards toxicity. 

Effective training in the workplace should be conducted by HR professionals and every individual should be aware of the consequences. This method will lead them to the positive functioning of the organizations. 

9) Privacy and Confidentiality

Data drives this technological world and the company generally holds almost all quantitative data of its employees. As data plays an important role it is among one of the major issues in HRM. The employees should be aware of their data and the privacy they hold in the company. All these sensitive data should be stored with privacy during the functioning of the organization. 

HR managers must adhere to the right to privacy to get access to certain data, as ignoring the right, would lead to legal consequences and matter to elimination. Every employee should carefully consider the business purposes and not every individual should have access to the data associated with the organisation. 

As these data are crucial, HR managers should keep them in safe hands and take strong data measures to safeguard the crucial information of their employees. 

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Consequences Of Avoiding Ethical Issues In Human Resource Management 

Addressing the ethical issues in Human resources Management is as crucial as anything else. However, sometimes organizations fail to avoid these critical issues which lead to major consequences. Down below there are some of the consequences listed when there is a neglect to address the major issues in HRM.

1) Legal Sanctions 

Legal sanctions such as fines, imprisonment, etc are some of the major consequences of human resource management. If a company fails to address the ethical issues in HRM, legal sanctions could be taken on individuals who are involved in the mishap. In order to not meet this consequence, human resource managers should professionally and ethically handle the critical dilemmas related to human resource management. 

2) Damage To Brand Reputation 

HR professionals and the workforce fail to address the crucial dilemmas in HRM will lead to damage to a bad reputation. The social presence of a brand is crucial to meet its objectives and if a brand's reputation is damaged, this will lead to degradation of a brand's presence in all aspects. 

3) Increased Unethical Behaviour 

Avoiding the professional handling of ethical dilemmas will lead to an increase in unethical behavior among employees and the workforce. As issues like unprofessionalism, upsurge of toxicity, and growth of negative factors will surge in the workplace, this consequence will guide organizations to recession in the work environment in every manner. 

4) Low Employee Satisfaction 

The growth of a company is directly related to the work satisfaction of employees. The lower satisfaction among employees towards the business functioning will lead to a decrease in the brand's growth. This nonmeasurable consequence is as crucial as handling qualitative factors, as this consequence can affect organizational performance. 

5) Financial Losses 

Ignoring addressing the ethical dilemmas of HRM can even lead to the financial loss of the organization. This consequence arises due to the ignorance of some of the critical issues in HRM. In order to align business ethics with its objectives, addressing the critical dilemmas is essential, otherwise, the negotiation will lead to extreme financial losses.

Major Tips To Promote Ethics In The Workplace

The above-mentioned are some of the major consequences that organizations face as the ignorance of handling the ethical dilemmas takes place. As there is a risk of critical problems, effective solutions are a must. Down below are some of the major tips that promote ethics in the workplace. 

1) Creating An Impactful Code Of Conduct 

Creating a clear code of conduct should be on the priority list of every HR manager. Creating such blueprints and telling employees about the consequences of their words or actions will lead to a better business function. This helpful strategy will lead to fewer critical conditions that happen in the organization’s workplaces. 

2) Maintaining Transparency 

By being open and transparent about the complete process, policies, and decision-making capabilities among the employees. The principles behind companies' actions and consequences should be clear and transparent so that employees are aware of the course of action and the overall policies of organizations. 

3) Evaluating The Company’s Culture 

The overview of every company seems positive from above, but generally on the grounds the reality is completely different. What HR managers can do is create assessments and surveys so that they get a clear idea of what is happening on the floor. As feedback from the workforce is extremely important, HR managers can create impactful strategies to overcome critical issues.

4) Encouraging Open Communication 

Every employee has the right to speak, the right to decision making, etc., and HRs by encouraging open communication can know better about the professional lives of employees. This beneficial strategy could help solve internal complexities internally without making them an ethical dilemma in HRM. 

5) Implement Fair Policies 

By implementing fair policies, the HR department plays a crucial role in the overall functioning of workplaces. By fairly applying effective policies among departments, HR managers can eliminate the need to address critical dilemmas in Human Resource Management. 

Conclusion 

Maintaining ethical functioning in workplaces is not just about the ultimate growth of companies, but it's about the peace of mind, loyalty, and trust among the employees towards companies. Addressing these issues by HR managers reduces the chance of meeting consequences but it will lead to the ultimate growth of the organization, improvement of the work culture, and most importantly the growth of the brand's internal function. As human resource management is core to conducting every necessary step, they must also adhere to the company's policies and objectives so that every step is aligned with the company's objectives legally. Initially, HR managers should focus on ethical and productive factors in minor steps that will eventually make the function of business beneficial in the long run.