Employees sometimes lack ethics

Many small businesses are faced with a very familiar problem. How to find good employees? For businesses, this seems to be an old question. A question that seems to have many answers but no real solution. Hiring a good employee can be a make or break proposition. Hopefully though, once you’ve gained some experience and learned from your mistakes, your percentage of good hires will increase. But because good hires are so hard to find, you need to be on the lookout for unethical behavior from your employees.

However, many small businesses will still be stuck with a large number of employees that they would rather do without. Many of these small businesses rely on manual labor to get the job done. The reason why is quite simple. Skilled occupations generally require some type of education. Either a formal education that requires a university degree or a more practical education such as an apprenticeship in a business.

So what exactly does this difference mean when the question of ethics arises? Simply put, getting an education in a particular field requires commitment. And people who make such commitments are more likely to value the rewards they earn. With education can come a better paying job and perhaps what they consider to be a better life. Now apply that fact to the workplace. An employee who has vowed to improve her life now has something to lose. And because they value what they have earned and don’t want to risk it, they are more aware of acting ethically in their workplace. They consider the consequences of doing something stupid.

Now let’s look at the other end of the spectrum. A worker who works for a small company is not looking to have a long-term career with the company. Most likely it’s just another job for them. They may have spent some time at a particular company and know the ins and outs of it. And because they are familiar with how the business works, they know what they can and cannot do. This provides the temptation.

Now, just because someone doesn’t have a more formal education doesn’t mean they are bad people and willing to rob the company blindly. But that person has less to lose and might be more willing to give in to his temptations even though he knows better. If their own moral code of right and wrong is anything but solid, they may not really consider the consequences of acting inappropriately. This is where your ethics will be tested every day.

The solution for someone in this situation is simple. You need to make them feel like they are part of the team. People want to belong to something. They need to feel that their contributions, no matter what they are, are valued. Once again, a person needs to feel that he has something to lose if he wants to value what he has. And you are in a position to provide them with that value. If a person has a reason to think twice before doing something, he is more likely to act ethically.