Metropolitan Transit Authority
Established and operating in New York City, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has 7 entities that make up its huge Transit system that provides service to commuters in New York City’s five Boros, Westchester County, Upstate New York, Long Island, and Connecticut. I have been employed by the MTA for about fifteen months and believe the agency as a whole has some major HT issues that can use effective mitigation plans in the near future. Due to the Transit authority large size, times, there is a bit of oversight when it comes to various areas of personnel training, development, and communication. One area in particular I am concerned about is the communication and training on employee ethics.
Although, MTA has an Agency Wide online (intranet accessible) employee ethics manual and code of conduct, there are no real on-going discussion or training on topics such as harassment, tolerance, integrity, netiquette I that should be implemented by the MTA Human Resource Department. I personally felt a culture when I the transition from the private sector on to the public. My experience with my last employer with regards to ethics training was for outstanding. I was shock to learn that such a relaxed approach has been taken with regards to ethics training within a public entity especially given our current social and political climate. I believe the MTA should review its current ethics communication and training practices and consideration consider revamping how these areas are approached.
I believe the TOWS analysis may be a beneficial approach to determine a mitigation plan for the MTA with regards to the Issues of ethics policy training and communication. The TOWS Analysis examines an organization’s external opportunities and threats and compares them to the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. The TOWS analysis allows an organization with developing strategies that can be implement in real time such as training. As it stands with the MTA, the relaxed ethics related training can increase the possibility of indiscretions that can result in emotional or physical harm of an employee and ultimately lead lawsuit. Training and development in my opinion can aid in reducing these types of occurrences as employees will be well informed of the policies as well as what behavior is deemed acceptable.
The Importance of Developing Workplace Polices on Employment Laws
As we know, employment laws are put into place to protect employment candidates, and employees from any possible discrimination wrong doing by an organization or employer. Without these laws these laws everyone in the workforce is left vulnerable. These laws offer structure to the organizational workplace and guidance on how issues should they arise be mediated. These laws also help to promote organizational integrity as they can be utilized to develop ethics and policies of an organization.
Organizational policies and procedures are important to an organization because they provide clarity when dealing with various types of issues; one such example is employment laws and accountabilities because of the possible legal ramifications associated with them. Polices especially regarding employment laws are useful for employers because they are utilized to inform the workforce of the laws, the appropriate behavior with regard to said laws, and finally the consequences to the individual and even the organization if they fail to comply.
What are Workplace Ethics?
Ethics in workplace is an integral part of the success of any business. Workplace ethics in many ways dictates the way the company is ran as well as provides insight into the company’s culture. Employers must feel confidence and trust in their team which plays an essential role in increasing capital and productivity not only for the company but, also for the individual employees as well. Most companies have a set of principle and or code of ethics/conduct of some sort which is implemented to set standards for its employees at all levels. As we are aware of there are two types of behaviors, acceptable and non-acceptable behaviors. These behaviors as well as additional topics such as harassment, workplace language, workplace attire, etc., should be discussed during the candidate screening & interview process as well as through out an employee’s time within an organization so everyone is made aware and educated on what is expected.
Upon hiring and throughout an employee’s time within an organization they are required to follow their organizations ’s implemented code of conduct and ethics. Employees must be given a written code of conduct as well as a copy of the organization’s ethic’s or policy manual for their reference. In addition, it would be an effective tool if training be implemented in such as open discussions, workshops, one-on-one meeting with employees and managers/supervisors.
According to J.R. Lawsons’ Book, How to Develop a Personnel Policy Manual, Lawson states that “interviewing supervisors has practical value”. “It’s can identify areas that given rise to complaints, inconsistencies, grievances, and misunderstandings in the past, and it can assist in the development of new policies to prevent additional problems from arising in the future” (J.R. Lawson, 1998).
It is important that training be utilized to give employees the opportunity to get to know and understand these standards outlined in the code of conduct as well as bring forth to management any questions and or issues they may have. I also believe that the MTA must consider annual refresher training courses for ethics polices as overtime amendments may occur. In additional purposes for these refresher training courses can be utilized as a reminder employee of their obligation and role in following said polices.
What is Scenario Based Training?
I believe scenario-based training would be the best training option for the MTA to implement. Training on ethics for the most part is boring and many times can fail to engage staff on the issues that relate to their specific organization however using scenario-based training can certainly aid trainers in conveying the lessons necessary for employees to learn so they are able (on their own) to not only identify possible issues but also mitigate r resolve them as well. If the MTA fails to train their staff on these ethics policies they organization can be susceptible to an array risks. The goal of an effective ethics training program conveys ethical policies and procedures on to the workforce in the hopes that employees utilize the knowledge and skills throughout their specifically during their day to day organizational roles and duties.
According to Bradshaw, K’s Sourcing effective scenarios for use in business ethics training Industrial and Commercial Training “one of the key benefits to using scenarios to communicate ethical values is their flexibility: they can be brief Q&As in a code of ethics, fictionalized case studies in a staff newsletter, printed on a pack of cards for team leaders to use throughout a business, serialized ‘‘ethics soap operas’’, dramatized performances at an away day, or used in group discussions as part of a dedicated ethics training workshop”.
In addition, Bradshaw states that “Scenarios give employees practice at applying ethical frameworks and company standards to workplace situations”. “Scenario training is an opportunity for a ‘‘dry run’’ so that employees will know what to do when confronted with a real situation; “your organization is full of stories – use them to communicate the importance of doing business ethically”.
Employees retain information when they can relate to the content; such real world and work-related connections being utilized during training. Bradshaw believes “to be effective, learning needs to fit with trainees’ experience of the way their world operates, and be practical and applicable to their lives. Using scenarios in a learning situation supports these three elements – i.e. experience, practicality and application – and also adds a fourth dimension of participation”.
“If the desired learning outcome of ethics training is ultimately to encourage personal responsibility for the ethical conduct of the organization, it is imperative that trainees are engaged in the learning process. Scenarios can foster that engagement” (Bradshaw, 2013.).
Why is it Important to Implement Ethics Training?
In the article A Proactive Approach to Addressing Unethical Behavior in the Workplace the author Burton Goldfield, discusses the importance of empowering employees and continuous review of the code. Empowering employees with regards to identifying and reporting unethical behavior is important to maintaining the organizations morale and culture.
According to Goldfield this can be accomplished “by implementing ethics-training programs for all new and existing employees to increase the effectiveness of the code”. Goldfield also shares a very important view on review of the code which was “If you disregard the importance of developing an ethical culture, lawsuits, high turnover, low morale and even the demise of your business could result”. It is important for organizational leaders to “champion a written code of ethics from the outset, establish protocol and continuously review and promote these guidelines” (Goldfield, 2015). In continuous policy training and review the MTA can certainly lower the possibility of organizational risks and grievances.
One example of a legal issue with regards to an MTA ethics I was able to find was in a NY Daily News article from 2011 titles MTA HR staffer vis being investigated for taking bribes in exchange for entry level jobs. The article alone is the very basis of my paper. This article reports that staffer allegedly took bribes from applicants in exchange for entry level positions within the agency. The plan backfired when many of the now employees were laid off due to budget cuts and the complained to the accused as they wanted a refund for the paid positions as they weren’t “safe positions” from the lay-offs and cuts. As HR employees we must work by the same standards we expect employees in other departments to live by and follow. We must lead by example. This situation is one that can certainly result in further legal action for the MTA.
“A human resources manager who isn't capable of enforcing workplace policies and realizing that violations lead to termination may need to consider another occupation that doesn't require handling difficult situations (Mayhew, 2016)”
The above-mentioned quote means to me that it is the organizational obligation of HR professionals to inform all employees regardless of tenure, position of power, and knowledge and of any polices and guidelines, and to offer support to managers who may require it. In addition, HR professionals must also educate employees on said polices throw well planned and throughout training such as scenario based and to enforce these guidelines. It is also important for HR professionals as well as management to lead by example and follow these guidelines. In addition, in order to keep up with the changing work force HR professionals my constantly review and possible amend these codes to fit the company’s needs, changes in technology, as well as laws on the state and federal levels.