Perspective at Work and Ethics

[AnthroHeart]

Ooh, I just learned something new about myself.

Well, at work, we take annual training on ethics and code of conduct stuff. It's quite interesting actually being an experience in life.

They set up scenarios of some employees doing such and such, and someone if they followed suit may or may not lose their job and status and bonus and such.

I was like "omg, such trivial stuff" I'm thinking of the Logos and the galaxy and multi-dimensional realities. What to the company appears to be a big thing is so minisculely trivial in the grand scheme.

Anyone else get this feeling?

Or am I somehow wrong in that focusing on "being ethical" is of utmost importance? I would think as an employee, it is almost automatic anyway. So I know which answers to choose in our little quizzes here at work, but it's all so unimportant to me for some reason.

[fairyfarmgirl]

It is all BS as far as I am concerned. I have little respect for 3D corporations and their "ethics." For thier ethics are only ethical if it serves them... otherwise it is business as usual. And that is only concerned with the bottom line. But hey it is great marketing to say they actually care.

fairyfarmgirl

[Questioner]

I can see a few different ways to think about this.

In my experience, employers who talk about "work ethic" mean that you are supposed to sacrifice your health, time, and boundaries to whatever is convenient for them, whether or not they created a problem and keep the problem in place by their own arrogance and stupidity; meanwhile, "work ethic" doesn't include anything about their responsibility to provide good management, clear priorities or effective supervision. I've worked for some ethical bosses, and for some bosses that talked about work ethic... and they were two different groups of people. Just a bit of cynicism that's probably similar to FFG's experience.

Wolf, you signed up for the advanced course, so the first-grade quiz will be a breeze if you don't get too bored to pay attention. I have a thread here about "old souls" with a link that might be interesting to you, if you can't find it I'll dig it up.

For some employers, being ethical is not automatic. They just want a CYA tool so they won't get busted if a worker does something unethical. If the company tells employees how to do the job and the employees don't do it right, then the company can blame any problems on the employees.

If the company doesn't provide this training, and an employee decides to lie or skip some steps, or violate harassment laws, etc., the company might be legally responsible for the damage done by the employee. So an STS based employer would probably still provide ethics workshops just to try to keep themselves out of trouble. Training costs less than lawsuits and bad publicity.

On the other side of the desk, some employees want to get away with whatever they can at work, goofing off until they're caught. For these workers, being ethical is not automatic! The training lets them know what the rules are. Some people will quit at that point, or be less of a slacker if they really need the job.

Some people want to do the right thing, but they don't know what it is. Maybe they never learned about how to behave appropriately at work or how to get the job done. These people are willing but ignorant. Training lets them know what is expected so they can do it.

And then there are people like you who will always properly check out and return any borrowed items, unless you left them behind on your last flying saucer ride. You need to be instructed that company property should only be transported in company cars. It's easy to tell a company car because it runs on fossil fuels and is limited to travel within the local space/time continuum.

Just enjoy the variety of perspectives, find out what the company's policies are, and make sure to collect all your personal belongings before the UFO arrives at your final destination.

[Lorna]

i used to find work things like that similarly pointless when i was an employee - the whole thing just seemed completely ridiculous - actually the whole concept of 'managing' people hals always seemed completely ridiculous to be honest, but then i was never cut out for that kind of environment

when i went for my first job after uni i got onto this really sought after graduate training programme with a big pr firm - we went through two days of psychometric testing, iq testing - the whole works... and we had a one on one debrief with the psychologist. she said to me that i'd never fit in in that environment, that the two faced, deceptive, status seeking nature of offices in that industry would damage me. i've always been amazed at how right she was.

anyway... that's beside the point... there is indeed humour to be found in embracing your alien nature at these kinds of moments and realising the ridiculousness of the corporate world

[AnthroHeart]

Well, I know for public companies, the shareholders and SEC require ethics programs. So without these requirements, I don't think a company would spend the time or money on such.

[thefool]

Ooh, I just learned something new about myself.

Well, at work, we take annual training on ethics and code of conduct stuff. It's quite interesting actually being an experience in life.

They set up scenarios of some employees doing such and such, and someone if they followed suit may or may not lose their job and status and bonus and such.

I was like "omg, such trivial stuff" I'm thinking of the Logos and the galaxy and multi-dimensional realities. What to the company appears to be a big thing is so minisculely trivial in the grand scheme.

Anyone else get this feeling?

Or am I somehow wrong in that focusing on "being ethical" is of utmost importance? I would think as an employee, it is almost automatic anyway. So I know which answers to choose in our little quizzes here at work, but it's all so unimportant to me for some reason.

On a larger perspective note- I would say just enjoy while it lasts. There are only few more years of this wonderful limiting experience left on planet earth. As strange as it may sound like- this is what we came here to do, experience BS. That can be a wonderful experience if you have never had the opportunity to do so in the heavens It is like a long movie you came to watch and forgot that it is a sad and/ or scary movie (that you bought the golden ticket to watch)...

On a practical note- 'ethics' is cultural as well and different people coming from different backgrounds and upbringing may not view the situation the same way. The 'ethics training' is a way for the corporations to homogenize and automate the response to a situation in a way to promote their stated objectives.

On a personal note- I agree that it feels trivial and feels like another STS attempt to control all aspects of an employee. While the top of the hierarchy behaves like they are above the law...

[Monica]

Do you think there is any possibility that, regardless of the noble or ignoble intentions of the company, some of the employees might actually get some value out of the ethics classes? Can we assume that all the employees are already ethical people, or is it possible some of them might actually learn something worthwhile?

[Questioner]

Yes, it can be useful. For example, if a company is in an industry that is regulated by the government, it could be illegal to spend more than a certain amount of money for business lunches. Somebody might be a sincere, conscientious, kind person, and not know about these legal standards until they get the training workshop.

[fairyfarmgirl]

Ooh, I just learned something new about myself.

Well, at work, we take annual training on ethics and code of conduct stuff. It's quite interesting actually being an experience in life.

They set up scenarios of some employees doing such and such, and someone if they followed suit may or may not lose their job and status and bonus and such.

I was like "omg, such trivial stuff" I'm thinking of the Logos and the galaxy and multi-dimensional realities. What to the company appears to be a big thing is so minisculely trivial in the grand scheme.

Anyone else get this feeling?

Or am I somehow wrong in that focusing on "being ethical" is of utmost importance? I would think as an employee, it is almost automatic anyway. So I know which answers to choose in our little quizzes here at work, but it's all so unimportant to me for some reason.

On a larger perspective note- I would say just enjoy while it lasts. There are only few more years of this wonderful limiting experience left on planet earth. As strange as it may sound like- this is what we came here to do, experience BS. That can be a wonderful experience if you have never had the opportunity to do so in the heavens It is like a long movie you came to watch and forgot that it is a sad and/ or scary movie (that you bought the golden ticket to watch)...

On a practical note- 'ethics' is cultural as well and different people coming from different backgrounds and upbringing may not view the situation the same way. The 'ethics training' is a way for the corporations to homogenize and automate the response to a situation in a way to promote their stated objectives.

On a personal note- I agree that it feels trivial and feels like another STS attempt to control all aspects of an employee. While the top of the hierarchy behaves like they are above the law...

Agreed!