Working at the same place I attend school
credits my high opinion I have for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Worldwide. Working here is truly amazing and I am grateful for the opportunity
to also call myself a student here. From an employee perspective I feel my
personal Department practices a very ethical way of leading. From my previous
director to my current one I am pleased with how I am treated and the way in
which I am expected to treat others. We operate under a team mentality and no
one person is credited, as our work is an overall weight of the department’s
success. I have experienced unethical work environments in the past so coming
from experience I understand the difference all to well.
Working in an unethical environment was
miserable. I was constantly feeling bad about myself and for all those the
company was directly affecting. At times I would watch employees stealing time
from the company while still on company property. The employees would get back
into the shop early and then crack open beers, and although this is very
unethical the owners would reinforce the idea that it was acceptable behavior
as they would crack open a beer with them. Many times I was advised to lie to
creditors and businesses calling to obtain payments for their services. I was
told to lie and tell them payments were in the mail when I knew I as not
mailing them. I was told to ignore the phone calls and also to simply pretend
the owners were not present when they would be sitting next to me. However
disturbing the situations were they always found the means to support their
drinking habits. At times when the company was really facing closure they would
have me print paychecks for the employees and then hide them so that the
employees were unable to cash their checks until a check was deposited many
days later. This was down right illegal!
After watching the Chuck Gallagher
presentation “Straight talk About Ethics!” I became more aware of how truly
diluted the owners ethical values of the company were. In the video Chuck broke
down how one can become diluted with the slippery slope example. In the outer
shell there is the first mistake most people can make, “not good for the
customer”. At this stage the employee will operate from a psychological egoism
mindset in which “ a person will continually engage in an activity only if it
has the effect of satisfying what she perceive as to be in her own
self-interest” (LaFollette, p273 (2007). This type of behavior is not an
ethical acceptable way to act at Embry-Riddle however it was at the previous
company. At Embry-Riddle we are told to never deceive or act in self-interests,
as this is punishable behavior. The second level was “it’s not good for the
company” which can be compared to minor ‘no no’s many people do on a daily
basis. For example I have heard of people at Embry-Riddle Face Booking while at
work on company time, or printing homework assignments. Although these
behaviors are wrong the degree of the wrongness does not meet the same level
that the owners were doing to their employees. The idea remains the same in
both situations it is still stealing time and property and the behavior should
not be tolerated.
The third level is “policy violation”. This is
a purposely known act of lying to the employer or employee. An example I have
experienced was when I was forced to lie to our employees about their
paychecks. I felt so guilty knowing these men worked all day in the sun and needed
their funds to pay for their family’s food, but I was stuck between keeping my
job to support my family or staying ethical and lose my job. I made the wrong
decision for too long in which I now feel more capable of saying no in the
future. The next level of the shell is “unethical” this is again a factor I have
experienced and also committed at my previous employer that would never happen
at Embry-Riddle. I was lying to creditors and sharing information with others
in my town about the businesses unethical way of working while also being
unethical. One wrong does not make another wrong okay and this is a message few
fail to realize. At Embry-Riddle if you see someone doing something wrong then
you are encouraged to stop it by telling someone and they will keep you anonymous.
The last shell is “illegal”. Here again
involves drinking on the clock, stealing time, and keeping people’s wages from
them and so on. Illegally the company still operates today it is because of
their previous good reputation that so many people still do business with them.
Luckily for me I was able to get out and start working for an amazing place
like Embry-Riddle. Here we are encouraged to always do the right thing, treat
others with respect and remain honest. I cannot take back what I have already
done, but I can move forward with a better view on life and the goal to live
more ethically.
References
Source: YouTube
(Poster, Chuck Gallagher; Uploaded January 27, 2013)
LaFollette,
H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley- Blackwell.
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