Ethical Dilemma in Hrm
Ethical Dilemmas in Human Resource Management
Of all the organisational issues or problems, ethical issues are the most difficult ones to handle or deal with. Issues arise in employment, remuneration and benefits, industrial relations and health and safety.
* Cash and Compensation Plans
There are ethical issues pertaining to the salaries, executive perquisites and the annual incentive plans etc. The HR manager is often under pressure to raise the band of base salaries. There is increased pressure upon the HR function to pay out more incentives to the top management and the justification for the same is put as the need to retain the latter. Further ethical issues crop in HR when long term compensation and incentive plans are designed in consultation with the CEO or an external consultant. While deciding upon the payout there is pressure on favouring the interests of the top management in comparison to that of other employees and stakeholders. * Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal lends itself to ethical issues. Assessment of an individual ‘s performance is based on observation and judgment. HR manager are expected to observe the performance in order to judge its effectiveness. Ethics should be the cornerstone of performance evaluation, and the overall objective of high ethical performance reviews should to provide an honest assessment of the performance and mutually develops a plan to improve the ratee’s effectiveness.
* Race, gender and Disability
In many organisations till recently the employees were differentiated on the basis of their race, gender, origin and their disability. Not anymore ever since the evolution of laws and a regulatory framework that has standardised employee behaviours towards each other. In good organisations the only differentiating factor is performance! In addition the power of filing litigation has made put organisations on the back foot. Managers are trained for aligning behaviour and avoiding
Of all the organisational issues or problems, ethical issues are the most difficult ones to handle or deal with. Issues arise in employment, remuneration and benefits, industrial relations and health and safety.
* Cash and Compensation Plans
There are ethical issues pertaining to the salaries, executive perquisites and the annual incentive plans etc. The HR manager is often under pressure to raise the band of base salaries. There is increased pressure upon the HR function to pay out more incentives to the top management and the justification for the same is put as the need to retain the latter. Further ethical issues crop in HR when long term compensation and incentive plans are designed in consultation with the CEO or an external consultant. While deciding upon the payout there is pressure on favouring the interests of the top management in comparison to that of other employees and stakeholders. * Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal lends itself to ethical issues. Assessment of an individual ‘s performance is based on observation and judgment. HR manager are expected to observe the performance in order to judge its effectiveness. Ethics should be the cornerstone of performance evaluation, and the overall objective of high ethical performance reviews should to provide an honest assessment of the performance and mutually develops a plan to improve the ratee’s effectiveness.
* Race, gender and Disability
In many organisations till recently the employees were differentiated on the basis of their race, gender, origin and their disability. Not anymore ever since the evolution of laws and a regulatory framework that has standardised employee behaviours towards each other. In good organisations the only differentiating factor is performance! In addition the power of filing litigation has made put organisations on the back foot. Managers are trained for aligning behaviour and avoiding