Personal and Professional Ethics
Every person is an individual, a parent, a child of someone, an employee or a boss. In each role, one makes millions of decisions. Each role has different duties and responsibilities to themselves and others. Each person will have to make ethical decisions at some point.
There are broadly two types of ethics — personal or individual and professional.
Personal ethics are the values and morals one refers to while making decisions in one’s individual roles.
Professional ethics refers to making decisions in one’s professional roles, such as being an employee, a boss, or a client.
Personal ethics are, by definition, “personal”. These are specific to the individual and could be derived from various sources such as religious philosophy, moral philosophy, logical argumentation, cultural background, societal norms, or personal experience. There is no rulebook or set of defined guidelines for personal ethics. They are made and regulated by themselves.
A professional code of ethics is a framework for ethical judgment for a professional. It lays out the professional responsibility of the professionals in the industry. It is a set of guidelines that help to create an ethical and healthy corporate environment for people where people would work.
The code of ethics is not a comprehensive set of rules. It only guides the professional and does not supersede a good sense of judgment or common sense.
There is always a personal element in our professional lives. We cannot wholly separate personal and professional ethics from each other. In the end, it is the individual who has to decide and take action. It is in their hands whether to follow their or the organisation’s code of ethics. In most cases, personal ethics and professional ethics agree on the decision. Still, if there is a conflict, it is up to the individual or the group of individuals to decide.
The personal ethics, likes, dislikes, and emotions of a person should not be involved in one’s work life. One should keep their private life compartmentalised from their work life. Emotional attachment hinders your analytical decision-making skills.
For example, the great warrior Arjun had an ethical dilemma before the war of Mahabharata. He could not imagine fighting against his brothers, teachers, and family. However, he knew they had done immoral things and deserved to be killed. If he had let his emotions and personal attachment cloud his judgment, he could not have possibly fought them.
Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most outstanding leaders. He once supposedly said that if he left the image of a dying soldier in his mind, he would not be able to eat, sleep or enjoy his personal life. And if he thought of the enemy as a father or a son, he could not possibly kill the enemy.
For example, one cannot make a sound judgment if one lets their relationship with a colleague or a junior while thinking about their performance and whether or not to fire them.
Another example, while hiring an employee, one should avoid nepotism or bias due to one’s personal life.
One should hire only based on the credentials of the interviewee. One should always look at the bottom line.
The organisation’s values and ethics also make a huge difference. If the organisation’s standard of ethics is below one’s standard of ethics, then one would find it challenging to work in such an environment.
For example, suppose corruption and bribery are the standard norms in a company’s culture. In that case, a person whose personal ethics don’t allow corruption will find it difficult to work there. According to the company’s standards, being uncorrupted in such an organisation will be unethical. Still, it will be ethical according to the person’s standards.
Suppose the ethics and culture of the company are not up to someone’s standard. In that case, the person has three options: either fall to their standards, try to bring their company’s standard up or leave the job.
Also, one has to be pragmatic while taking a decision as well. Ethics is a fluid term. One should not be overly strict about ethical standards. One should not expect everyone else to follow the same standards as them.
For example, if you know that a senior is taking undue credit for something you or one of your associates did, it would be ethical to call the senior out. But snitching on someone is also unethical. Also, calling your boss out then and there would not be pragmatic. Hence, it would be best if you asked an ethics board or committee of the organisation for advice before taking any decisions for yourself.
Suppose the company does not follow its code of ethics. In that case, an ethics board or committee usually helps the individual make the correct decision and report any issues if necessary.
Of course, there are exceptions where people have gone out of their way to do the right thing and superseded the professional code of ethics.
Edward Snowden was a computer programmer who worked as a subcontractor for the NSA(National Security Agency). He revealed classified information about the United States government secretly tracking and monitoring the general public through their phone calls, text messages, and emails.
He broke the professional code of ethics as he thought his standards were much higher than the US government. He thought he had a moral obligation to inform the public about this.
In conclusion, we cannot completely separate personal and professional ethics from each other. The organisation in which the individual works significantly impacts the differences between the two. We need good leaders who create healthy professional environments where people feel safe, have a just cause and love to work in the organisation. When people work in a healthy environment, then morale goes up. People will behave more ethically, and the gap between the two will narrow as the people will not have to think about which code of ethics to follow.
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