
Are ethics at your tech company waning? - mojomark
What happened to tech executive (e.g. HR leadership) setting the ethics bar high the company? That notion seems to be disappearing. Does your company have similar ethics issues?<p>2 Examples:<p>Instagram photo by
@stylesbydoniel https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.instagram.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;BfNXOoWhEy_&#x2F;?utm_source=ig_web_share<p>@stylesbydoniel 
https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.instagram.com&#x2F;p&#x2F;BkLLyVEhJUV&#x2F;?utm_source=ig_web_share
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relaunched
Ethics standards aren't set by HR leadership. They are set, modeled and
reinforced by the CEO.

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mojomark
I agree. The ethics policy is certainly set by the CEO, but the public actions
that any given leader in the company chooses to make represent that leader's
interpretation of the set policy, and these action set an example (i.e.
establish a standard of acceptable conduct) for all of the employees under
their charge.

I also 100% agree though that the CEO is responsible for enforcing the ethics
policy and also setting a good example to ensure a healthy and
physically/mentally safe workplace. In this case (and my company), I believe
the CEO is failing his employees.

To me it's like an increasing number of modern CEO's lack the power or perhaps
just the willingness to step in and get their people in line.

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mojomark
Forgot to mention - those are instagram posts made by the executive head of HR
at PayPal.

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crazypyro
What is unethical about her posts? I must be missing something...

This post reads like a personal jab at one individual, rather than a
discussion about the broader tech industry.

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mojomark
Sorry for the delay.

Certainly not a personal gripe of mine, I don't work for PayPal and don't know
this person from adam. These were forwarded to me, but similar ethical
concerns are growing at my company as well.

The fact that the ethics violations in the examples are not obvious is
concerning in and of itself, but perhaps acceptance of such behavior has been
woven into the fabric of society and I missed that evolution.

By definition, ethics are moral principles that govern a person's behavior or
the conducting of an activity.

Using this case as an example, the head of HR is entrusted with the
responsibility of overseeing not only the administrative management of human
resources, but also the social welfare of those employees. As a leader their
actions are representative of all corporate leadership and set the standard
(social boundaries) under which all employees act and behave in and out of the
workplace.

If the HR executive exploits company resources for personal gain while other
employs lose their job due to lack of funding, is that not an ethics
violation. The first instagram post this person is using the corporate jet for
personal travel and boasting about it on instagram, imolying
(#byebyecommercial, #ballin, #corporatejetlife) that she is in a class above
all other lower-tier employees 'stuck in coach'. That could, I suppose be
chalked up to poor taste and judgement. The actual ethics violation, which
perhaps isn't readily apparent (you have to follow the trail of this instagram
account a bit), is that her posts serve to boost traffic to publicize her
private fashion clothing business:
[http://www.stylesbydoniel.com](http://www.stylesbydoniel.com)

That is unethical.

In the second example, in publicly declares the sexual availability of her two
underage daughters and (very high) price at which their favor can be
purchased. It's clear that this person (again, who is responsible for the
social welfare of all employees in the company, from cleaning staff to call
center workers, some of whom do not receive a living wage) is very happy to
advertise the privilege afforded to her daughters at the expense and
exploitation of others. As she is entrusted with establishing a standard of
conduct for the company, this clearly is not the standard that the other
executives, share holders, and employees expected when they charged her with
the responsibility. A clear violation of trust.

At my company, we've had similar exploits. Corporate officers, awarding
special non-dilutable shares while employee stock is purposefully devalued.
Hiring of friends and family despite lack of qualification. Using company
resources for personal gain. The list goes on and I don't feel it was nearly
this rampant a few decades ago.

To me, the moral principles that underpin actions such as these are poor at
best, and lead to being outright corrupt.

