Ethical Explain what is meant by ‘ethical principles’ and ‘professional values’, and how these might inform the way people approach their work. (AC 1.1)
principles entail the attributes that guide people to do the right thing for the right reasons, not for one’s own personal or financial gain. Ethical principles are one of the qualities that serve as a moral compass by which individuals live their lives and make decisions (CIPD 2021). Some examples of ethical principles include Integrity, honesty, and fairness is some examples of personal ethical ideals.
Employees committed to upholding moral standards and concentrating on individual and group performance can better meet corporate objectives. A further benefit is avoiding friction with management by abiding by the company’s code of conduct. Furthermore, adhering to ethical values helps to show professionalism. These principles encourage collaboration by encouraging employees to accept inclusiveness and diversity (CIPD 2021).
- Professional values encompass the ability of an individual to exhibit special skills, knowledge, and behaviour (CIPD. 2020). A professional is a person who has special skills and knowledge in a certain field. According to the CIPD professional map, professional principles entail adhering to basic tenets such as core values, core behaviour, core knowledge, and specialist knowledge (CIPD, 2020). As such, professional principles do not only relate to the skills and knowledge but also the ability of a person to exhibit appropriate behaviour. The following are elements that define professional values:
- Core values: This entails the feeling of common purpose and industry standards guiding every professional in a certain field. These are essential to ensure that the organisation and department maintain a collective identity.
- Core knowledge: A professional ought to know key aspects of the field of interest. For instance, A HR needs to know about, Culture and behaviour, business acumen, and Analytics among others. These helpdeliver services efficiently, create value, and digital working.
- Core behaviour: This describes what it takes to be a successful HR professional in today’s unpredictable workplace.
- Specialist knowledge- An HR professional may choose one of the speciality areas such as employee relations, learning and development, people analytics, resourcing, reward, and talent management (CIPD. 2020).
Identify a piece of legislation and a Code of Practice that support ethical and professional practice, with examples of howa people professionalwould conform to these. (AC 1.2)
The Equality Act of 2010 and the code of ethics are examples of two pieces that support ethical and professional practice.
Equality Act of 2010
The Equality Act of 2010 plays a role in promoting people’s practice by acting to prohibit
discrimination. It strengthened protection in particular circumstances and made the legislation more easily understandable by consolidating earlier anti-discrimination statutes into a single Act (Wadham et al., 2010). It outlines the various ways that treating someone improperly is prohibited.
The law provides: The fundamental safeguards against direct and indirect victimisation, harassment, and discrimination in employment, education, organisations, and Transportation·
- Eliminating the need for medical supervision from the notion of gender reassignment
- Protecting those who are subjected to discrimination because they are thought to possess a protected feature or are connected to someone who does
- A definition of indirect discrimination that applies uniformly to all protected characteristics, a clearer protection for nursing mothers, and a harmonisation of the rules permitting voluntarily positive action (Wadham et al., 2010).
- People professionals conform to the Equality Act by ensuring that they do not discriminate against employees during recruitment, development, promotions, and other undertakings relating to HR (Wadham et al., 2010).
Code of Ethics
A company’s or organisation’s code of ethics and professional conduct lays forth the moral standards that direct actions and choices. They include basic guidelines for how staff members should act as well as detailed instructions for managing problems including arassment, safety, and conflict o