Ethics at Work

07.8.2017

The moral tone of an organisation, that plays such a large part in how it’s perceived by customers, employees and other stakeholders, is set by the top. Leadership decisions define the organisations’ position on a huge raft of issues, both large and small. But a leader’s judgement can sometimes be impaired by their pursuit of personal goals, or the drive for organisational success at any price.

Ironically, refraining from ethical practices in the name of success can have huge adverse consequences for the reputation of stakeholders and the organisation itself. Scandals like VW’s Diesel-gate take place time and time again. Decisions made in a few hours can come back to haunt an organisation for years to come. How does it happen?

Unethical practice

According to Lamp et al 2012, ethics is not taught as widely as it might be to business students.  But even if it were, the soaring stress levels that are endemic at work today easily impair ethical judgement. When we’re working on autopilot, struggling to get through a heap of tasks, we can begin to make decisions without adequate self-awareness. Ruedy and Schweitzer 2010 surmise that a lack of such awareness is a significant cause of unethical decision-making. Those participants in their study who demonstrated lower levels of mindfulness were more likely than others to cheat and act unethically. So, could mindfulness help people in organisations act more ethically?

Living with mindfulness

Becoming more mindful is not just about finding time for meditation: it’s about finding the present moment. When we draw our attention to what’s happening right now throughout the day, an interesting shift occurs in our thinking. Although our thoughts still ebb and flow, we become more conscious of them. This allows us to focus on what matters in the here and now and file away what doesn’t. That can create the that enables us to behave and act more reasonably.

Mindfulness and ethics

When we live a mindful life, we develop a greater sense of self. We’re more aware of our ethics and values. When we’re mindful, our decision-making processes are more conscious, and that puts us in a better position to make ethical decisions. A small but promising research study suggests that there is an empirical link between constructs of mindfulness and ethical judgement, as well as mindfulness and ethical intent. This suggests that mindfulness training can be a helpful tool for improving ethical judgement and subsequent ethical behaviour. When mindfulness is practiced in an organisation, individuals and the organisation as a whole become more readily aligned with an organisation’s ethical framework.

Implementing mindfulness to improve ethical judgement

These two simple mindfulness practices can be easily carried out during the work day:

Noticing thoughts: this involves getting curious about thinking and observing thoughts as and when they come. Sometimes biases and attitudes can affect our ability to be ethical without us knowing. Noticing our thoughts can draw attention to this and stop us from making unethical choices.

Awareness of the Breath: by turning our attention to our breathing, we begin to notice sensations in the body. This experience of the present moment allows us to develop our awareness of our emotions, thoughts and feelings. When we acknowledge how we feel, we can choose what action we need to take. The ethical answer to a decision may come from experiencing the present moment.

To explore mindfulness and ethics in more detail, contact rachel@mindfulnessworks.com, or call (+44) 01223 750660.