Ethics for HR Training and Development Professionals
Ethics has been a topic of conversation almost since time began. Ethics are defined as “the specific values, standards, rules, and agreements people adopt for conducting their lives. Ethics is the study of human behavior and its consequences in the light of what is ideally possible” (Washington Ethical Society, 2012, para. 1). As responsible humans, ethics should be a part of our daily life. Although there is no Code of Ethics for Human Resource Training and Development professionals, there are general guidelines to help HR Professionals avoid potential problems. Training can help individuals reach their full potential for an organization.
For a Training and Development Professional ethics are a vital component of the job. It is the responsibility of the Training and Development Professional to administer the program in an ethical fashion to insure the integrity of the program. There are ethical considerations that have been legislated to be requirements of the workplace. “Equal Employment Opportunity, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, labor unions, and affirmative action control the amount of flexibility an employer has in hiring and in creating a work environment (Albright, 1978, p. 2). These rules and laws pertain to training programs as well.
There are many ethical issues that trainers must be mindful of, not only when planning or designing a training program but when they are implementing it as well. For example, training cannot cause an undue hardship on employees. This is especially true when an individual has religious considerations that conflict with a training schedule. “Reasonable accommodation without undue hardship as required by section 701(j) of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” ("Reasonable Accommodation," 2013, para. 1) addresses this issue. An employer must offer reasonable accommodations to the employee who needs to leave early or perhaps arrive...