Seeking Guidance on Drafting HR Ethics: How Can I Improve My Skills?

Dear Seniors, I am working as an Executive-HR as a fresher in Project Management Consultancy (newly started). This citehr.com is helping me a lot in every aspect. Being a fresher, I need guidance. I sincerely thank every one of you for your contributions to this site. Because of this site, I am not getting scared of anything new that my boss asks me to do.

Need for Ethics in HR

Yesterday, there was a discussion that we need to have some ethics. So, they asked me to work on that. I tried searching on our website, but I couldn't get a clear idea. So, I kindly request every one of you to guide me in drafting ethics as an HR.

Thank you in advance.

One more thing I want to ask you, seniors: am I good at my drafting skills? Please kindly suggest what I need to improve.

Best Regards, Uma

It is good that you are liking Cite HR. The answer to your query lies right here.

1.0

Please refer to Related Information, Download thread, etc., that you see to the right of this reply.

2.0

You can also search by typing ETHICS in the box above and then pressing the Research button. You can get variations by typing VALUE or PRINCIPLES.

3.0

You can also browse by searching on the internet. You can search any popular corporate website to get an idea.

4.0

Organizations generally take Integrity, Responsibility, Quality, Seamlessness, Passion, Speed, etc., as ETHICS/VALUES/PRINCIPLES. Depending on your organization's nature of business, you can make a choice.

5.0

Being good at drafting is a relative term. If you are asking from the point of view of expression, it is somewhat alright. Grammatically, your drafting skills need a lot of improvement. Please leisurely read the draft you have posted. You will realize the mistakes. However, you need not worry on this score. Read the center page articles of newspapers. You can select some contributors in Cite HR who write well. Follow them. Again, you can type IMPROVE LANGUAGE SKILLS in the Type your query. You will be flooded with options. Practice, practice, and practice.

Good luck.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan

Thank you so much for your reply, and I will try to improve further. I already tried the way you suggested, but I have one more question. Please let me know what is the difference between HR policies/HR manual and HR ethics?

Regards

First and foremost, you deserve 'kudos' for your attitude of using every opportunity to improve yourself. Not many freshers or new-to-career members have this temperament. You can be sure this will take you very far in your career as long as you maintain this attitude.

Regarding Your Query on HR Ethics

I am not sure how you tried to search in CiteHR for the information you are seeking. I just did a search and here's the link: [HR Ethics](https://www.citehr.com/results.php?q=%22HR+Ethics%22&submit=RESEARCH). Please go through the threads and take your pick for your assignment/discussion.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

Dear Uma,

Find the answer to your query below:

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Based on your topic, I would like to quote:

All HR practices have an ethical foundation. HR deals with the practical consequences of human behavior.

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HRM deals with manpower planning and development-related activities in an organization. Arguably, it is that branch of management where ethics really matter, since it concerns human issues, especially those of compensation, development, IR, and health & safety issues.

Ethics and Values

Organizations are bound by laws to treat the people they employ fairly and not to discriminate against identified groups. Ethics is a key branch of philosophy, concerned with analyzing what is right or wrong in people's behavior or conduct. Ethics and morality are terms that are often used in discussions of good and evil. The term ethics is usually applied to persons, while morality applies to acts and behavior. Ethics is derived from the Greek word "Ethos," which means character. Morality is derived from the Latin word "moralis," meaning customs or manners.

Examples of ethics in HR:
- Ensuring that all assessment measures are fair and just.
- Ensuring fairness in the allocation of pay and benefits.
- Ensuring equal opportunities and equal access.
- Ensuring that procedures are not unduly stressful and that the needs of employees' work-life balance are not compromised.
- When redundancies occur, being fair and just in handling job losses.
- Dealing effectively with all forms of bullying and harassment.
- Ensuring that contractors, consultants, and franchisees are fair and honest in their dealings with employees, clients, and customers.

You can read and learn more about it on the following links:
- Five Key Steps to Aligning HR, Ethics and Compliance | NAVEX Global <link updated to site home> (Search On Cite | Search On Google)
- https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...paqFOxR-CYxT0w
- HRManiacs: HR ETHICS: AN EXAMINATION OF KEY ISSUES
- Ethical Issues in HR
- Ethical Issues Facing HR | Chron.com
- https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...06kjUcAdxobnKw

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HR Manual

An HR manual is also called an employee handbook and contains information about a company's policies and procedures. It is a place where all job-related information that an employee needs to know, such as holiday arrangements, company rules, and disciplinary and grievance procedures, is provided. It can also be a useful source of information for new staff as part of their induction process. A written employee handbook/HR manual gives clear advice to employees and creates a culture where issues are dealt with fairly and consistently by bringing in transparency.

An effective employee handbook or HR manual is a very obvious, simple, and inexpensive answer to the question: "How does a business protect itself against lawsuits based on employee behavior?"

One of the most important aspects of any handbook or company policy manual is that it is to be kept current and should be regularly amended.

- Human Resources Manual | Human Resources Manager Toolkit
- Human Resources » Policy Manuals
- Human Resources Policy Manual | Rules and Regulations | University of Missouri System
- Hr Manual Template
- A-Z of Policies, Procedures & Guidelines <link updated to site home> (Search On Cite | Search On Google)

Regards,
Uma

Thanks to Ankita Shah, you now have all the material you need. Maybe I would go to the extent to say that you have sufficient material to even do a PhD in these topics 

All the Best.

Regards,
TS

Understanding Ethics in HR

In very simple terms, 'ethics' is doing things rightly, as per rules and as per the system. For HR, being ethical can be illustrated in an easy-to-understand manner. Suppose you are appointing a candidate. The individual is not suitable. Taking money from him "under the table" and then appointing him is unethical. Similarly, if you notice something wrong with a candidate's marks card, suspecting that he has altered it, not reporting it to your superiors is also unethical.

For every job role and every employee, 'ethics' is applicable. Ignoring the organization's safety policies, customer service policies, or business practices for personal gain is considered unethical. Practices like favoritism, disregarding merit, and nepotism are also unethical behaviors.

Being 'ethical' presents a challenge in any job role, but by performing your duties correctly, you can always hold your head high. There is an old saying: Honesty is the Best Policy.

Best wishes

The Role of Ethics in Business

Ethics is not about answers. Instead, ethics is about asking questions. It's about asking lots of questions and, maybe, if you're lucky, even asking the right questions every now and then. In my experience, ethical organizations don't shy away from asking potentially embarrassing questions, ones that might disturb the status quo.

The complexities of business and our human/social society make corporate ethics a very interesting study. To a practicing manager in the working world today, this becomes critically important, especially if they don't get it! And many obviously have not and still do not.

The questions are really simple to ask - yet hard to answer:

- What does good business today really mean?
- What does ethics have to do, if anything, with good business?
- What impact can the human resource function have on either?
- Within business, what is my responsibility as a human resource professional?

Evaluating HR Systems

With regard to HR, you need to see how all major systems perform and you need to ask the following kinds of questions:

- Is there a formal system or process in place?
- Has the system been validated?
- Is it clearly understood and communicated?
- Has the system had unintended effects?
- Has it been analyzed for adverse effects or impact?

Each time you ask questions, I bet you will go back to learn more and more, and you will surely begin to ask more sophisticated, intelligent questions. You might even go on to ask questions with regard to leadership development and talent management, which are things some of the higher-ups will never want to get involved in. For instance, you might start asking if there is a formal assessment of the key capabilities/talents needed in the company. You might even ask if retention rates are monitored. Did the monitoring include an analysis of criticality? Did it include competitive practices, capabilities, and performance? To what degree was the expertise of key people captured by the organization? Were there non-compete agreements with key technical people? Does the reward system lock key contributors into the organization?

In the beginning, you will not have a clue what answers you are looking for, and over a period of time, you will constantly be asking every possible question that you can think of.

Succession Planning and Training Policies

For example, when we were looking at the succession planning system, we asked if the system was formal, who was involved, and how it was related to business strategy. We asked what metrics were used and whether they were related to the assessment of needed capabilities. How do we monitor for derailment? Is there a system of mentoring and coaching? Is it seen as effective and fair?

That led us into questions about training policy: Who participates? What are the purposes of the programs? How are they evaluated? How are they related to business strategy? How do these programs deal with ethical and legal issues? Are there unintended gender, race, or age biases in who attends? Then, we started looking at selection procedures: Did we use validated instruments for identifying the "right" people? How were these related to business strategy? What methods were used? To what extent is an effort made at branding our company as a great place to work? Finally, we looked at retention policies: the retention packages for key personnel, how we are monitoring satisfaction, whether the packages are tied to system performance appraisal, what metrics are used to identify key personnel, and so on.

A famous Chinese curse reads: May you live in interesting times!

No times are more challenging and interesting than the ones we live in! And within today's business arena, ethics are both important and vital if one is to succeed over the long haul.

Regards,
TSK. Raman