Employment Ethics: Mandatory Education Requirements in a Changing Work Environment

Matthew Warner

Published by: Psytext

1. Thesis

Employment is a necessary component toward the growth and development of our lives. 

2. Abstract

This article will explain how moral values effect an employee's emotional, physical and financial well being and using a case study analyze a specific situation. 

3. Post Secondary Education          

Let us look at the framework that is used to determine which job positions require post secondary education, and why. We will also take a look at payment structures, and the issue of organizational morale. These can be looked at from a few different angles, in some employment sectors, they are responsible for following specific legal guidelines and mandates, meaning that whoever they hire must have an educational diploma and or  some sort of a certificate, in order to be legally allowed to work in this field. Some examples of this can be looked at in the form of doctors, lawyers, some forms of contractors and education providers, but could  also be associated with other industries such as the current standard for the field of social services. The reason behind this is usually based on safety and productivity.

          Some educational facilities provide the necessary training that will teach a prospective employee the mannerisms and other details that will make them more efficient. Lets take a look at corporate morals and how it may or may not effect productivity. The morale and feelings of any businesses employees directly affect the productivity and profit that the business is able to generate.

Do you think that those who have the same skill set should be paid less than those with a diploma, or educational degree?

If there is a legal mandate attached to an industry with employees who are working in that field, then it is a requirement for them to have the necessary training to prevent the company from legal repercussions. If the company has simply attached this rule to their employees because of their own preference, this might cause a rift in the morale of the worker and other workers in that place of employment.

          One reason employers may choose to implement an education or specific training policy is to maximize the benefits of said training and benefit the company as a whole. In some industries, this will save the company money and could also be  saving products and man-hours because of efficiency. The framework behind ethical employment treatment is practiced in most companies and industries that respect and appreciate their employees, but this is not a universal trait. Simply put, not all employers share the same moral values as others or have the spending expenditure as other industries, but may simply be focused on longevity and donations as such would be the case in our organization. There are other internal factors that may contribute to why an employer may favor those with an educational background, as opposed to those who have technical experience working in the field (Murphy, 2009). One reason can be for public appeal, and consensus from stakeholders. If the majority of the employers and managerial staff in the workplace feel that the best decision is to hire those with a specific educational background, then they may simply adhere to that because of organizational morale. 

5. Workplace Morale

The following quote explains another person's view on the importance of proper ethics and morals in the workplace. 

“One of the most effective means of establishing the proper ethics and behavior at your workplace is specifying what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable among your employees. This must begin at the hiring stage and continue through each step that an employee takes in the hierarchy of your business. Specifying policies means writing them down in a manual that summarizes expected conduct while also detailing job descriptions.” (Quain, 2019 paragraph 2.)

          The method detailed in the above quote will also make it easier for employees to understand the education necessary to excel in their current career choice.  This also allows them to decide if they want to work in this job to begin with. Understanding the organization policies will help when making the most positive choice in their favor. The company policies should also be created in a way that benefits the employee. Integrity is also an important part of ethical workplace practices, it can be related to how the employee feels about their job and will make them more productive and happier at work. Doing something because you enjoy doing it, or because it needs to be done, makes the employee feel more needed and a necessary component in their chosen field (Quain, 2019).

          Corporate ethics are the essence of any successful business and should be looked at with the utmost importance not as a simple list of guidelines to follow but something that gives you pride and makes you feel good about your job that may or may not be attached to educational training (Smalley, 2016). This is the case in many social services organizations who have employees working there long before the educational demands for the field came into practice. The 1960s ushered in an era of alternative behavior and different attitudes to work and career life. This was echoed by the employers forcing the current employees to adhere to specific standards in the workplace, and company policies were created. Sometimes this means contracts need to be signed as well, to avoid termination of those who cannot or will not adhere to the new standards (Smalley, 2016).   Because of the new technological advancements involved with some of the new work environments, new dilemmas have been found when considering how to handle new hiring procedures. Employers have to deal with new challenges; this can be seen in forms of online privacy and cybercrime. This heightened sense of security and corporate responsibility is one of the reasons why this employer has decided to only keep those with the required educational training in the allotted positions. The available technology has also helped in the hiring process, allowing employers to screen thousands of applications before making any further decisions pinpointing the perfect applicants (Murphy, 2019). Hiring the best employee is a painstaking task for any employer. They have to consider their cultural values in conjunction with corporate policies. The most important aspect is that the candidate is fit for that role. Personality traits play a large part in finding out if this is the right person and sometimes that can be looked at by those who have undergone specific training (Clark, 2017).

          “The Post-Great Recession economy has divided the country along a fault line demarcated by college education,” Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, said in a report last year. (CBC News, 2017 “Workers with no college degree fall further behind than ever”, paragraph 3)

This quote from CBC is an illustration of the importance employers are now stressing on having an education, post-secondary facility. It was up until the recession that employers were hiring post-secondary graduates out of college more frequently. It slowed down for a while during a time when less resources were available, but is now becoming a mandate based on the new legal statutes that are currently attached to safety and privacy related issues.

          Depending on the type of company/organization, the managerial hierarchy will change. This means that in some instances, you will have one manager who is responsible for running the company, hiring and terminating employees and all the other necessities that go along with the business. In larger companies there are managerial teams and or groups that run the company as a whole, working together and or dividing responsibilities among themselves. The managerial team and or individual also monitors the progress of the company. If they notice that the current progress will benefit those who are trained in a different manner, then making that move and initiating a corporate policy would be in their best interest. This is referred to as an operational decision. In smaller organizations like the one I work at, The Islamic Family and Social Services Association, the employee related matters are done with the board members consensus thus giving them more power to dictate these types of hiring and firing without ever setting foot in the organization. 

The standard managerial decision making process is as follows:  the first step is to identify the hiring need to find out what their company needs specifically. They must consider who would be the best person to complete that task. The second is to create a plan. They will start to compile the information they have and start looking at the best way to go about implementing it. 

          After a plan is created the next step is to create a job description once you have posted your job description in the appropriate mediums that will attract those most likely to suit your position, you have to begin the recruiting process. Part of the recruiting process involves application screening. Most of this is based on previous work history and education. The first initial interview is usually a phone screening. This will give the manager and or interviewer a sense for the person they are going to be interviewing, preparing them for what to expect during the interview process. An applicant assessment picks out real-life workplace situations, and then determines whether or not the prospective applicant would have the skills necessary to handle these situations. This can be done in a practical fashion, or by a written test. An interviewer may also simply aso a question of irrelevant situations to the applicant, during one of the interviews. The next step is a background check, this will find out whether or not the prospective employees history will reflect any negativity on the current job prospect. Once the interviewer has made a decision, an offer for a job will be given to the applicant. A job offer will include any benefits that come with working for the company. Their corporate responsibility is any rules and mandates that they have to follow papers that will be required and identification. They will also be told their pay rate including any chances they would have full raises or promotions. Once the employees are ready to start work the staff and other team members should go through a process called onboarding. This makes the employee feel more welcome at work, and at home in their new surroundings, which they will be spending large amounts of time at. Because the case study highlights a woman who has been working at a company for a long period of time, it would be very difficult and emotionally traumatizing, for her to be forced to accept a demotion based on her educational background, even though it might be out of everybody's control (Murphy, 2019).

6. Conclusion 

In conclusion I would say that the issue of equality in the workplace should not be mixed with your general skill-set or ability to complete your job correctly. If company/organizations mandates or corporate policy requires you to have a specific level of education to work in that career, this might be based on external and internal factors, but these are all for the positive progression of the company/organization that you are working with. If changes in the organization occur while an employee is on sick leave, the organization should consider that and inform the employee well in advance and not upon their return. An appropriate action for the organization to consider would have been to allow this valuable employee the opportunity to increase her skills through education and the raise she has worked tremendously for through the years. Employee retention should be of paramount importance to the organization, and supporting them would in turn boost organizational morale.  Education could be attained through online or part time classes and while still maintaining her employment status and requirements.  However, this matter was handled terribly and the employee felt she had no other choice but to terminate her employment with the organization all together. When it comes down to the ethics of whether or not she should be allowed to keep her position, it really is not a matter of morals, but a matter of functionality. The best possible method  for them to maintain their donations and their appeal in the community was to part ways with the employee so leave the position open for someone with a degree seeing that the communities we serve value education over experience. Although this may have damaged some of the morale of others in the organization for a period of time, once the decision was explained correctly, and the organization stated that a portion of grants this year will go towards employees education funds, the decision seemed adequate for most of these employees. Effective communication is key when making decisions that will not only affect a particular employee livelihood but the overall organizational morale. 

References

         Alex Murphy, (2019) “Leadership Framework” published by, ARN, revised by, Tad Lawrence.  

        Sampson Quain, (2019) Workplace Ethics & Behavior 

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-ethics-behavior-5239.html 

        Kristen Smalley, (2016), “The evolution of workplace ethics: from norma rae to corporate hacking”, published by  Randstad https://www.randstad.ca/workforce360-trends/archives/the-evolution-of-workplace-ethics_504/

         Terri Tierney Clark, (2017) “How to Decide Between 2 Awesome Job Candidates”,https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-decide-between-2-awesome-job-candidates

          CBC News, (2017) “Workers with no college degree fall further behind than ever”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/workers-with-no-college-degree-fall-further-behind-than-ever/ The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

          J Shen, (2019) A Chanda, B D'netto The International Journal of Taylor & Francis “Management: An international perspective and conceptual framework”