Corporate Ethics

Now that I’m less than a year away from graduation, I need to begin considering what type of companies I would be willing to work for. In class we discussed what “Ethics” means to us and what kind of Ethics we expect companies to have if we’re going to work for them.

The word “Ethics” should stop being seen as a noun, rather, it ought to be viewed as a verb. It is a verb because it is the way in which other words such as morals, fairness, justice, and responsibility are employed. We decided that morals are a set of personal beliefs that help an individual determine what is right from wrong. It’s debatable whether or not a company can have morals given this definition. My personal conclusion is that a company can’t have morals but that the individuals working for a company can share similar morals. I believe this to be true of a company’s values as well. A company cannot have a set of values, but it can require or promote a certain set of values that it would prefer it’s employees (and even it’s consumers) to have.

Additionally, I don’t believe that companies can be fair or unfair, rather, I think the people who work for a given company can show fairness towards employees and consumers. For instance, at my current part-time job in customer service my employers tell me to be fair to the customer. If they purchased some rotten fruit, I should first offer to get them a better looking version of what they had purchased. However, if that doesn’t please them, I am supposed to refund their money. My employers don’t mind refunds as long as they are under $10, but anything more than $10 I have to use my better judgement of the situation. When there is no product physically being returned, which is usually the case with perishable items, myself and the customer usually settle on a gift card instead of a cash refund. Each situation is different, but when there is no receipt or product going back on the shelf, my company feels as though a gift card is the most fair way to go. Typically, I don’t have an issue when I tell customers that this is our policy; everyone thinks it’s quite fair.

In customer service roles it’s actually really easy to be overly fair to customers. For example, when a product doesn’t scan properly and the price is unknown I usually ballpark on lower end of what the price might be in order to satisfy the customer and make sure they don’t feel like they’re being ripped off.

As far as fairness to employees, there is always room to grow. I think a lot of the thought behind fairness has to do with equality. Although we like to believe that everyone is equal this simply isn’t the case. I believe that being fair is having the ability to recognize people’s inequalities and acting accordingly to make the playing field as fair as possible. Some of my co-workers have exceptionalities that cause them to work at a slower pace and they need longer or extra breaks throughout their shifts. I do believe certain companies, including my own, are getting better at accommodating these employees and their needs. However, it does make me wonder if companies are doing this because it’s “the right thing to do” or if they’re only hiring people with exceptionalities because they need to hit certain diversity requirements. In either case, at least I’ve never seen any of these employees at my company being treated unfairly.

From the point of view of a professional writer, I think it’s important to consider a company’s Ethics and their practices of some of these branches of Ethics before I decide to start producing written content for the company. I wouldn’t want to write for a company whose head honcho has a skewed moral compass because that could indirectly start negatively influencing my own morals. When competitive salaries and honorable titles are involved it is going to be difficult to choose one company over another if the more Ethical company is offering me less. I hope I continue to have the senses and strong beliefs that I have now to know which company would better suit my personal goals.