Ethical Acumen as an Essential Job Skill
A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor discusses how the qualities of ethical judgment, compassion, intuition, responsibility, and creativity will become essential skills for the future workplace. They note the following:
- Wall Street is considering the idea of creating an ethical code of conduct
- CEO's are now being terminated for unethical conduct even when it doesn't affect the bottom line
I'll add the recent alleged school district scandals which have recently surfaced in NY - where there authorities have alleged serious misdeeds among the leaders of several school districts in NY. Increasing oversight and controls result. See also, the recent NY Times article citing an increase in terminations on Wall Street over ethics.
Futurist Richard Samson was cited as an authority who noted that the focus on ethics will increase as technology takes over more and more of the routine tasks of work. He suggests that this increasing reliance on technology will result in ethics being more "crucial." For instance, we can now check out of the grocery store without human interaction, we check in at airports through a kiosk, and when we purchase on the internet, we speak to no one. Recently, I have also found myself foregoing telephone customer support in favor of online chat or FAQ's.
What is even more interesting is the idea that technology makes us more interconnected and interdependent. One move in the wrong (unethical) direction could have substantial ripple effects. The article cites the August 2003 blackout in the northeast US and Canada as an example of a technological ripple (though not a result of unethical practices, but rather a decision by a few, with far-reaching implications). If unethical decisions are made, the possibility for tremendous damage exists.
While graduate business schools and law schools teach ethics, what responsibility do organizations have to ensure that their employees possess these basic qualities? I'd say they have an enormous responsibility - to identify proper and improper behavior and to make sure employees know the difference.
