The Dilemma of Whistle-Blowing and Ethical Behaviour
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The Dilemma of Whistle-Blowing and Ethical Behaviour
Background
Whistleblowing is an occurrence that happens in the corporate world with the essence of helping every employee to adopt a high-levelled responsibility. Wrongdoings in a company are bound to occur and this can be harmful to the organisation’s operations. Therefore, it is necessary to keep unfairness at bay. Companies, through the human resources management, roll out the policies that govern and guide the employees. It is expected that every employee follows and acts within the provided guidelines. However, moments occur when the employers commit wrongdoings, either knowingly or sans their knowledge. The health of the workers, for example, may be in danger, which is an extremely wrong act that companies should avoid. On the contrary, the company may be ignorant to deal with such a case, which is endangering to the employees (Neville, 2012).
The employees have the right to take up various measures to curb the problems associated with the misfortunes happening in companies. For instance, the employees can report on the problems in the company through the right channel, which is the human resource management. However, if the company is not taking up action against the danger looming around the employees, the victims can decide to approach the authorities and talk about the problem, which in other words they become whistle-blowers. In turn, the authorities confront the human resources management with the information. The parties that do not follow the rules and regulations of the company face the consequences, which can be dire. Whistleblowing is an occurrence that has been in use, in various companies and over a long period (Lindblom, 2007). However, the whistle-blowers work in secret, which leads to a controversial issue in relation to the ethics associated with the activity.
Background
Some people do feel that whistleblowing has ethical issues that make it a wrongful act in the corporate world. The loyalty between the employers and their employees is distorted because the affected parties approach the authorities and the perpetrators face the law. The employees, by contrast, would continue to suffer in case they do not take up immediate actions through whistleblowing. Once an employee reports the violations at the place of work, they are bound to lose their jobs when their employers find out. However, the government and other societal groups have been established to protect the employees who decide to execute the whistleblowing activity in a company (Mbatha, 2005). The goal is to secure the employees’ jobs and help them attain a healthy working environment.
Confidentiality clauses do exist in the corporate world and are between the employers and their employees. They bind the employees from sharing information with outsiders of the companies. Indeed, the clause is not specific about the information not to share, which makes it clear that all details, both good and bad, are not to be disclosed. That is the cause of the dilemma experienced when employees are deciding whether to tell about the company to the correct authorities or not to since they have binding contracts with their employers. Breaking a contract is unethical and it has consequences (Pollock, 2001). For example, whistleblowing can land one in jail for breaking a contract when the reported company decides to retaliate by suing their employee for disclosing confidential matters to outsiders. Such an occurrence is also a dilemma that faces employees in an uncomfortable or risky situation. The employees have to decide as whether they will risk facing dire consequences or letting the ill-mannered acts continue in the company under the control of the management. As such, the involved parties are in a fix because they are not at ease in deciding whether to sell out the human resource management or not.
Analysis
The problem is definitely with the dilemma being to either report to the rightful authority or not to about the unfairness or wrongful acts happening under the watch of the management. Mostly, when employees commence work in a company, they develop a sense of attachment to the organisation and colleagues. Hence, some are mindful about the company’s working and operational matters. Despite the hardships or unjust wrongdoings that may occur in the company, some employees may feel too attached to the company to report the issues. They find themselves in a thick situation where their conscience does not allow them to report the disturbing matters to the rightful authorities (Hardcastle, 2011).
Cases occur when the consequences can be detrimental to the company when the report reaches the correct authorities. Companies that encourage wrongful acts face such occurrences when the employees approach the authorities. The authorities can decide to take up legal actions against the company upon receiving the reports. The unfortunate occurrence that can happen when such a matter is in the hands of the employees is the closure or crippling of the company. In turn, the employees may lose their jobs, which is a situation that creates another ethical dilemma that whistle-blowers face in their operations. Indeed, there may be various problems in the company, but it is not worth when the employees lose their job. Whistleblowing can create such a situation, which may end up hurting many people in the society through the crippling of the company. Hurting people through such action is unethical to many and some would prefer struggling through the problems rather than losing their source of income (Pierson, Forcht, & Bauman, 1993.
However, the correct authorities and societal groupings can come to the rescue of the whistle-blowers. Setting up a number of rules can help, and has proved to work in favour of the employees who take upon themselves to execute whistleblowing. The ideology of the law protecting whistle-blowers is not to encourage the activity, but to provide a safety net for those who decide to take up action against unjust companies. It is worth noting that some employees may be in fear and cannot become whistle-blowers. Additionally, some companies do realise that employees are in fear of the consequences and they take advantage of the situation. They continue exposing their employees to unjust situations because they know that the victims will not approach the authorities. However, in regions that embrace the whistleblowing protection, the employees are free to report unjust activities being condoned in the workplaces by their employers (Clarke, 1999). Such protection policies keep the employees safe, even after reporting the unjust activities in their companies.
Recommendations
There are several matters to consider in regards to the dilemma that employees face when exposed to wrongful acts in the company. The main issue to consider under such a situation is the employees’ environment. The employees are human beings and their environment needs to be conducive enough to accommodate them. As such, the employers should take up the requisite measures to ensure that their employees are working in comfortable conditions. The human resources management, which deals directly with the employees, should take up meticulous precautions to protect their employees against negative effects. They can do this using several ways, such as putting up suggestion boxes where employees can drop notes about the aspects that they find unbearable in the workplace (Matthewson, 2014). Such means have various advantages and demerits that can affect the company.
One of the advantages associated with the suggestion box at a workplace is that the employees can place the notes anonymously. As such, there is no definite way of identifying whoever placed the recommendations. However, some employers can take advantage of the anonymity of the employees who placed the notes in the suggestion box because no one will have the guts to approach the management about the anonymous recommendation notes. The human resources management can also hold meetings with their employees to determine the root of the problems facing the employees. It is essential for the human resources management to ensure that they keep the dialogues they have with the employee free of any consequences. In turn, the employees speak freely without fear and enter into an agreement with their employers (Fletcher, Sorrell, Silva, 1998).
The government and other societal groups should also involve themselves in works dedicated to protecting employees against unjust treatment while at the workplaces. As such, the two bodies can set up rules that protect employees against consequences associated with whistleblowing. Additionally, the rules help employees make appropriate decision when faced with the dilemma of either reporting the employers who are exposing them to unjust conditions or ignoring the problems because of ethical matters.
Cautionary Notes
Employees are the source of productivity in organisations, which makes them quite valuable for the essence of having a successful organisation. Therefore, the company’s human resources management should be mindful of their employees. They need to be exposed to a conducive environment for them to work productively and earn the company higher revenues and margins. Whistleblowing is an act purposed to help employees and not destroy companies. Despite the dilemma that employees face when dealing with a case of whistleblowing, it is essential for them to understand that they need protection against mistreatment. Therefore, they should choose the appropriate ways of approaching the problems.
As such, it is crucial for the employees to identify the law associated with whistleblowing in the corporate world. The government is an essential body that can come to their aid when dealing with the problems associated with whistleblowing. Societal bodies fighting against the repercussions of whistleblowing are also instrumental in ensuring that the employees do not face any problems. Employees should approach such bodies to gain protection from unjust employers that may react in a negative way because they were ratted out to the authorities.
Another notable point is the ethical dilemma that employees face when choosing between struggling through problems at work and reporting their employers to the authorities (Vandekerckhove, 2012). Indeed, there are ethical issues attached to the decision, but it is crucial for employees to perceive the process as a means of helping them. Loyalty is an essential aspect to observe within a company, and the employees should be loyal to their employers.
Summary
-Whistleblowing is an occurrence in the corporate world associated with the unveiling of unfair employers who mistreat their employees.
-There are high chances that the loyalty that employees have to their companies creates a dilemma in deciding whether to report unfair employees or not.
-The government and societal bodies that fight against discrimination and mistreatment of employees can protect whistle-blowers.
-It is recommended that employers should treat employees with fairness and create easy ways of interacting to avoid whistleblowing.
-Companies should take heed of the importance that the employees have in the organisation and treating them with care should be in the human resources management’s priorities.
-The above corporate briefing paper is essential in supplying the readers with crucial knowledge pertaining whistleblowing, its effects and appropriate means of avoiding it.
References
Neville, S., 2012. Hero or pariah? A whistleblower’s dilemma. [Online] (updated 22 Nov. 2012) Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/nov/22/whistleblowing-autonomy-hewlett-packard> [Accessed 8 May 2014].
Lindblom, L., 2007. Dissolving the moral dilemma of whistleblowing. Journal of Business Ethics, 76, pp. 413-426.
Mbatha, J. S., 2005. The ethical dilemmas of whistle-blowing and corruption in the South African public sector. [Online] (updated 2010) Available at: <http://uzspace.uzulu.ac.za/handle/10530/29> [Accessed 8 May 2014].
Pollock, J., 2001. Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Hardcastle, D. A., 2011. Community practice: Theories and skills for social workers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pierson, J, Forcht, K. & Bauman, B., 1993. Whistleblowing: An ethical dilemma. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 58-62.
Clarke, J., 1999. The Whistleblower’s dilemma. [Online] (updated 4 Oct. 1999) Available at:
<http://www.sme.ie/articles/business_ethics/whistleblowers_dilemma.pdf> [Accessed 8 May 2014].
Matthewson, K., 2014. Ethics and whistleblowing. [Online] (updated 2014) Available at: <http://expolink.co.uk/whistleblowing/blog/ethics-and-whistleblowing/> [Accessed 8 May 2014].
Fletcher, J, Sorrell, J, Silva, C., 1998. Whistleblowing as a failure of organizational ethics. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 3(3), 257-326.
Vandekerckhove, W., 2012. Whistleblowing and organizational social responsibility: A global assessment. Farnham: Gower Publishing.
