3. Why Ethics in the Workplace?
70%
of people in America leave their jobs
because they do not feel valued.
Source: Ned Herrmann, The Whole Brain Business.
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4. Ethics in the Workplace
• Introduction to “The Drum Beat of Ethics™ - Workplace Ethics
Workshop
• Suggested as a 1 or 2 hour in-service seminar or a ½ day
workshop
• Appeals to various audiences:
– Utility Workers - Manufacturing Back Office
– Engineers - Sales Teams
– Educators - Health Care Professionals
– Law Enforcement - Professional Service Providers
– Entrepreneurs - Civic Staff
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5. Teaching Results
• 400 people completed 6-8 hour training
• After training, employers agree they see positive
differences
• Employees generally enjoyed the training and
found information on respect and conflict
resolution most helpful in addressing their
workplace issues
• LSU results
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6. Curriculum Based On:
• Josephson Institute of
Ethics, CHARACTER COUNTS! Curriculum
• LSU AgCenter’s Workplace Ethics
curriculum
• Managing High Maintenance Employees
• The Drum Beat of Ethics
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11. Other Cultures
• Buddhist's say, “Hurt not others with
that which pains yourself.”
• Confucius says, “What you do not want
done to yourself, do not do to others.”
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12. Building Blocks of a Successful Career
Others…..
Ability to network
Communication Skills
Technical Expertise
Professional Integrity
Personal Integrity
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13. Integrity
Integrity is important to everyone.
Here is a slogan I saw in the bathroom of a restaurant:
Ethics is not something you should flirt
with…It is something you should be married to.
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14. Conscience Vs Convenience
• Confucius said “There are three marks of a
superior man: being virtuous, he is free from
anxiety; being wise he is free from perplexity;
being brave he is free from fear.”
The question is, can all decision be determined
by either Conscience or Convenience?
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16. Exercise 1:
• Line up by shoe size
• Line up by birth date
• Split into groups of 5-10 people and find 10 things your group has in common.
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17. GROUP DISCUSSION
• How easy was it to discover something in
common with others?
• What does this reveal about the extent to
which we are alike?
• How can knowing our similarities help us to
respect one another?
• How can knowing our differences help us to
respect one another.
18. Exercise 2
• Divide into groups of 5-10.
• In your group using a flip chart, list ways you can
show respect at work.
• Share your ideas with the whole group.
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19. Respectful People
• Live by Golden Rule • Value people for who they are;
not for what they can do for them
• Courteous, polite
• Listen to other’s points of view
• Appreciative
• Respect property of others
• Accept others
• Allow others to have a voice in
decisions that affect them
• Show tolerance
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21. Exercise 3:
• Divide the group into 3 or 4 small groups by numbering off.
• Next, select an envelope with a scenario about a workplace situation.
• Open the envelope and read the scenario aloud to your group.
• As a group, answer the questions posed on the Worksheet .
• Select a recorder from your group to record the group’s answers.
• After 15 minutes, ask each group to report to the larger group by reading their scenario
aloud and sharing how they answered the questions.
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22. Respect Resource Sheet Questions
• Who are the stakeholders?
• What problems does the situation present? To whom?
• What costs are incurred in terms of monetary costs, lost
productivity, lost sales, frustrated
workers, supervisors, employers, customers, and suppliers?
• What do you recommend to address this situation?
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23. 1797 France – Benjamin Constant
• p. 123:— “The moral principle that, it is one’s
duty to speak the truth, if it were taken singly
and unconditionally, would make all society
impossible.”
• p. 124:—“It is a duty to tell the truth. The
notion of duty is inseparable from the notion
of right.”
• “To tell the truth is a duty, but only towards
him who has a right to the truth.”
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25. The Challenge with
Communication
We talk about it as though it is one process.
In truth, communication has a number of
components, including:
•Verbal
•Non-Verbal
•Listening
•Written
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28. Discomfort
Incidents
Five The five levels of conflict are:
levels 1. Discomfort
of
2. Incidents
conflict
3. Misunderstandings
4. Tension
5. Crisis
Misunderstandings
Tension
Crisis
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29. 5 STEPS
TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION
1. VERBALLY ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT A CONFLICT EXISTS
2. ANALYZE, IN A NON-BLAMEFUL MANNER,
HOW THE CONFLICT DEVELOPED
3. EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES
THAT ALLOW ALL PARTIES TO "WIN“
4. SOLIDIFY COMMITMENT
TO THE ALTERNATIVE CHOSEN
5. AFFIRM SUPPORT
OF OTHER INVOLVED PARTIES
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30. “I” Messages
To discuss a problem in a non-threatening
manner use the “I” Message.
When ____________ occurs, I feel
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35. Exercise 4
Whistle-blowing: To convey
information outside approved
organizational channels to
bring attention to a problem
within the organization.
Read the case studies and then make a list of pros and cons for
being the whistle blower.
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36. Whistle-Blowing (cont.)
Case Study: Citi Group – defective mortgages 2006-2007
60% of the roughly $50 billion of prime
mortgages that Citi group bought and sold
annually were “defective. ~ Dick Bowen
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37. Whistle-Blowing: Considerations
Personal liability: loss of job or career
The moral obligation to be a whistleblower is based on the responsibility to
society.
Evidence of potential harm to public is usually necessary.
Documentation is important
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38. Whistle-Blowing (cont.)
Recommended steps before proceeding:
• Recognize moral issues (vs. technical ones).
• Gather the facts (not just opinions).
• Keep good documentation.
• Rank moral consideration for importance.
• Talk with others for a sense of perspective.
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39. Whistle-Blowing (cont.)
Although his career was damaged, he did the right thing…
Bowen oversaw quality control in Citigroup‟s consumer-lending department. A
licensed CPA, Bowen worked as a senior vice president in the Citigroup‟s
mortgage unit from 2002 and 2005. He was promoted to the chief business
underwriter in the consumer division unit in 2006. He no longer works at Citigroup.
“In mid-2006, I discovered that over 60% of these mortgages purchased and sold
were defective,” he said. Although Citigroup didn‟t underwrite the loans, Bowen
worried that investors who bought the loans from Citigroup could force the bank to
buy them back because it had vouched for their credit quality.
Bowen also described what he termed the loosening of Citigroup‟s standards on
the pools of subprime mortgage that it was willing to buy from mortgage
companies.
“During 2006 and 2007 I witnessed many changes to the way the credit risk was
being evaluated for these pools during the purchase processes.” He said a large
number of underwriting decisions were reversed on “mortgage loans from „turn
down‟ to „approved.‟ And variances from accepted Citi credit policy were made.
Subprime mortgage pools, many over $300 million, were purchased even though
the minimum credit-policy-required-criteria was not met.”
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40. Whistle-Blowing (cont.)
Positive changes:
I would like to report to you that there are clear meaningful and
positive
Changes that have come about as a result of this heroic effort
On the part of Mr. Bowen.
Currently this is still under investigation by congress and the
Fed.
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49. Exercise 5
• Divide class evenly into groups, with five or less in a group
• Instruct half the groups to act out a scene in which
people at work are showing responsibility.
• Instruct the other half to act out a scene in which people
at work are being irresponsible.
Allow 5 minutes to prepare and 5 to act out.
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50. Good Work Habits
• Come to work
• Arrive at work on time
• Work your committed
days
• Take your turn working
holidays and extra
hours
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51. RESPONSIBILITY
• Take pride in work
• Show initiative
• Do what needs to be done
• Manage time and resources well
• Loyal
• Punctual
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52. Establishing Guidelines
• Our suggestion:
– Is it Legal?
– Is it True?
– Does it comply to organizational rules &
guidelines?
– Is it Fair to all concerned?
– Will I be comfortable and guilt free if I do it?
– Would I do it to my family or friends?
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53. References:
“Workplace Ethics, Lessons to Strengthen
Character by Modeling,” LSU AgCenter
publication.
CHARACTER COUNTS!, Josephson Institute of
Ethics.
“Managing High Maintenance Employees” –
Lin O’Neill
“The Language of Conscience” – Tieman H.
Dippel, Jr.
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54. References:
Pickering, Peg, How To Handle Conflict &
Confrontation, National Press
Publications, 2000.
The Whole Brain Business, Ned Herrman,
1996.
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55. The Drum Beat of Ethics –
in the Workplace
Power point created by:
Drum Beat Productions
Orchestrating Buy-In
www.drumbeatproductions.com
Jack Howe & Lin O’Neill
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Editor's Notes
Aggressively encourage everyone to pick up the pencil and draw a portrait of their job.The act of drawing, regardless of skill or final product, is important to the learning process. Drawing allows us to connect to our inner most authentic self. Stick figures to abstract and anywhere in between is fine. Encourage the act.
Choose from among the scenarios in your kit – The Drum Beat of Ethics - workshop
Display this slide and encourage an open discussion on the ethics of telling the truth. If we save someone’s life by telling a lie is that ethical?This moral imperative is an underlying principal in Immanuel Kant’s approach to ethics.