Code of Ethics

1060 Words3 Pages

Ethics and values apply to our personal and professional lives. If you are able to understand and implement values and ethics in everyday practices, you will encourage one’s success in personal and professional careers. Ethics is a concept of one’s actions, which derives from principals of an individual doing what is right not wrong. Velasquez, Andre, Shanks, and Meyer (1987), define ethics as a “well based standard of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues”. (par. 9) These beliefs are compiled to help a person determine how their actions will be carried out. Values can be applied as principles to a person’s way of living. There are people that view values as a personal code, and see them as a personal testimony of their beliefs.

Our professional values and ethics come from many different sources. In our early years, our parents and peers are instrumental in the development of our professional values and ethics. As we enter the workforce we align with our employer’s core values. Most organization will have a vision statement that identifies what values they believe are important according to a National Defense University article (NDU, 2009). We use these values to steer us in our decisions, when assessing problems and determining what action to take when problems arise. When we do not adhere to established values and ethics the trust factor is severely compromised and respect will be hard to gain.

For example, if a person believes that they are being treated unfairly in their work environment their values will determine how they react to that situation. The values and beliefs they adhere to when assessing unf...

... middle of paper ...

...rm superiors of unethical behavior in order

Professional Values 6

rectify the situation and protect the business. The unwillingness to do what is necessary to combat unethical behavior only exacerbates a situation and erodes employee morale. Professionals must possess some level of personal responsibility and ethics if they wish to have a successful career.

Ethics and values are fundamental, but they are also essential in day-to-day- life as well as our work environment. They are the principals which helps us determine our actions and conduct in professional settings and the building blocks for setting goals for us to work towards. Like a giant puzzle the pieces come together over time, and when complete defines who we are and what we believe.

Open Document