Morality and HR

There’s been recent news regarding an HR executive caught in an uncomfortable position in a very social media way which made me think about morality and HR.  What does that mean and, as an HR professional, what standards should I be holding myself to?

Having grown up in my career in corporate environments, and especially given my role in HR, I’ve seen leadership in many compromising situations.  Depending on the level of hypocrisy (i.e., honest or even foolish mistakes versus patterns of behavior), this quickly trickles down through staff.  While some leaders think their actions aren’t noticed, especially if they don’t go viral, employees see more than they realize.

Human Resources professionals, in my opinion, should set a compass of high standards as we work to bring out the best in an organization and its staff.  When we see leadership behaving in an unacceptable manner, we need to speak up and share our concerns.  This isn’t easy to do and I can’t say I’ve always practiced what I’m preaching, but the more experience I gain, the more I realize speaking up in the moment is usually the best way to manage a situation. And HR professionals must set the right example, or employees could question the true motivation behind decision-making.

In helping to enforce the practices within a company, HR should set the standard in providing consistent and reasonable expectations.  Situations are not always clearly either right or wrong and conditions do sometimes call for an accommodation, but we need to ensure we’re being flexible in ways that support our values and not just our emotions.

I’m very aware of the lack of privacy in today’s environment, but I was told many years ago, prior to the installation of cameras everywhere, that I should live my life like I was in a fishbowl; I should have the same values in public as I do in private. I haven’t always been consistent in this, but I’m trying.  And I’d much rather work with leadership who does the same.

We all need to review our morals periodically and see if we’re living up to them. And we need to remember this in business and deal with each other honestly and respectfully.  Everyone in management should remember that we are role models for the organization and its staff.  And we should act accordingly, whether on camera or not.

#morality #HR #managementsolutions #consultant #positivity

We can't always hide when we've done something questionable.