The Ethical context of HRM


Human resource management 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 specially those of compensation, development, industrial relations and health and safety issues. There is however sufficient disagreement from various quarters.
There are different schools of thought that differ in their viewpoint on role of ethics or ethics in human resource development. One group of thought leaders believes that since in business, markets govern the organizational interests and these interests are met through people, the latter are therefore at the highest risk. They believe that markets claim profits in the name of stakeholders and unless we have protocols, standards and procedures the same will develop into a demon monopolizing markets and crushing human capital; HR ethics are become mandatory.
There is another group of ethicists inspired by neo-liberalism who believe that there are no business ethics apart from realization of higher profits through utilization of human resources. They argue that by utilizing human resources optimally, there is more value creation for the shareholders, organization and the society and since employees are part of the society or organization, they are indirectly benefited. Nevertheless ethics in human resource management has become a perennial debate of late!
Globalization has brought about the concept of globalizing labor, trade unions have started to decline and the role of HR as such in issues like employee policies and practices has become a debatable topic. In fact many people are of the opinion that HR is nothing but an arm of the stakeholders through which major strategic and policy decisions are divulged geared towards profit making!
Thought there can be no single opinion on ethics in HR that is convincing. Market in itself is neither an ethical institution nor unethical and no policies and procedures alone cannot govern and align markets to human well being. However the requirement of such policies and procedures can also not be denied. In lieu of this HR ethics should take care of things like discrimination (sexual, religion, age etc), compensation, union and labor laws, whistle blowing, health and safety of the employees etc.

References


Buckley, M. R. et al., 2001. Ethical issues in human resources systems. Human Resource Management Review, Volume 12, pp. 11-29.
Dachler, H. P. & Enderle, G., 2009. Epistemological and ethical considerations in conceptualizing and implementing human resource management. Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 06, pp. 597-606.
Deckop , J. R., 2006. Human Resource Management Ethics. Greenwich: Information Age Publishing .
Schumann , P. L., 2011. A moral principles framework for HRME. Human Resource, Volume 06, pp. 93-111.


Comments

  1. Sameera Madhawa Thalakotune January 6, 2020 at 5:40 PM

    HR Basics is a series of short courses, designed to highlight what you need to know about a particular human resource management topic. In today’s HR Basics, we explore the three principles of human resource ethics – upholding the law, professional behavior and justice.
    Valuable Article Kavishka

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pubudu RajapakshaJanuary 7, 2020 at 1:08 AM

    Agreed! Even thought hard to implement ethical procedures in every aspect of the business, in an event of discrimination like sexual, religion and age these procedures must be brought forward strictly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Prasad KarunarathneJanuary 7, 2020 at 10:19 AM

    Ethics are vital for every thing. You have nicely related them for HRM.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yohan RatnayakeJanuary 10, 2020 at 12:09 AM

    Commonly, ethics is defined as principles that govern a person’s behavior. I believe that the path to sound organizational ethics begins with the professionals who lead in the Human Resource of that organization. That means that Human Resource professionals bear the responsibility of building and maintaining the foundation of ethics in their organization.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thilina RajapakseJanuary 11, 2020 at 12:50 AM

    Ethical factors of HR management include the basic civil rights and employment rights.you have briefly explained.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sandeep WarakagodaJanuary 11, 2020 at 5:17 AM

    Interesting topic! Ethics of HRM is must learning fact to all employers and employees! good job!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dr Amila Shashanka RatnayakeJanuary 14, 2020 at 10:01 PM

    Interesting argument raised in this blog about the ethics and HRM.

    ReplyDelete

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