Managers walk a tightrope as they seek to balance the jurisdiction’s basic values, the needs of workers, and the organization’s financial resources. When there is uncertainty about fundamental values, no matter whether it is because of reforms or organizational challenges, officials may lack direction in dealing with workplace issues. While reforms rarely shift values and norms dramatically, they can have a subtle impact that managers and HR specialists must understand, incorporate procedurally, and communicate effectively to subordinates. Clarification of basic values is important, and providing such clarification requires an appreciation of employee values and ethical awareness.
There is considerable variation among people regarding the degree of individual or organizational value consciousness. The distinctions among the various levels of values consciousness have important implications. If employees lack awareness of agency values, missions, laws, or standard operating procedures, managers need to educate them.
Conflicts among fundamental values create dilemmas once values are applied. Clarifying values, raising consciousness of values, and balancing conflicting values must be accompanied by an emphasis on ethics. Ethics involves behavior that is concerned with doing the right thing or acting on the right values.
In dealing with issues of legality, ethics, and fairness such as those listed above, managers are indeed required to weigh competing pressures. They are often squeezed from above and below in resolving such matters. Officials are also expected to conform to the organization’s stated values and ethics codes.
The strategies for ensuring integrity at work—moral management—might differ from setting to setting and from one subsystem to another, but ethics management is an important responsibility for administrators.
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