LESSON 7: THE WORKPLACE
The Nature of Work
Work
- An activity that is necessary for our physical
survival and well-being.
- Essential on providing us our basic needs
for food, clothing and shelter.
- Preservation of life is our most important
duty because life makes possible the
performance of our other duties.
- Preservation of life is also our right
- An activity where man earns a living for
himself and for others through the use of his
knowledge, talents and skills.
- Essential for the continued existence and
welfare of society.
- Provides the duty and right of the state to
structure the processes and labors
necessary for its survival.
- Social activity with moral and legal
implications
Meaning of Work
Work
- Entails conscious and sustained physical
and metal efforts to do.
- Performed for remuneration, as means of
livelihood.
- Sometimes understood as employment,
occupation or profession.
Employment
- Implies work for which one has been hired
and is being paid by an employer
Occupation
- If work is the result of training and
performed in regular basis
Employee
- An employed worker
Laborer
- Worker who is paid in exchange for the
physical labor
Profession
- A form of occupation, which makes use of
specialized type of work.
- Defined as a calling in which members
profess to have acquired special knowledge
by training or experience or both., so they
may guide or advice or serve other sin that
special field.
Perceptions of Work
Work as Divine Punishment
- Because of pride and disobedience.
- Initially, a punishment.
- Later, form of praying, a way of fulfilling
one’s duty to God or a means of salvation.
- Protestantism- (Calvinism)- known for
teaching about the divine nature of work.
- The value attached to had work, thrift and
efficiency in one’s worldly calling is eternal.
- The wealth gained through hard work is a
sign of an individual’s election to God’s
favor.
Work as a right
- Everyone has the right to work based on
man’s natural right to self-preservation.
- To preserve one’s life requires one to have
a right over the means with w/c to satisfy
basic needs. (Food, clothing and shelter)
- Right of person to work also entails his full
and real right over the fruits that proceeds
from his labor.
- Renumeration of worker expects from doing
work should be treated as his property.
Work as a source of self-pride and self-respect
- Work is necessary not only for self-
preservation but for personal growth and
self-improvement.
- Work affords a person with a greater sense
of independence, self-worth and
independence.
Work as a Determinant of Personal Qualities
- Perceived for social significance in defining
a person.
- The quality of worker is reflected by the
quality of his work.
- Well organized worker implies a reliable and
conscientious worker
Work as a Determinant of Social Class
- Karl Marx, two classes
- Working class/ proletarian- who sell physical
labor for wages in order to live.
- Capitalists or bourgeoisies, those who
manage the business, or control the activity
of the firm.
- Knowledge workers
- IT professionals, software developers,
engineers, layers, doctors and professional
researchers.
Work as a basis of Cooperation
- Work to survive and to prosper materially.
- Businessmen do business for profit.
- Workers offer services as hey lack capital.
- Workers need businessmen just as
business need the workers.
Factors that Affect Work
Personal and Societal Values
- A person’s nature of values determines how
he performs his work and guides his actions
- His personal values are also derived from
the society he moves around in.
- The value system that a worker upholds
determines his perception towards work, the
decisions he makes and performs.
- Personal and societal values are effective
for regulation of work.
Code of Ethics
- A company or any profession adopts code
of ethics as an embodiment of their moral
ideas.
- An act involved in the performance of a
particular kind of work may be perfectly
legal but is not necessarily ethical.
- Failure to observe codes of ethics may
result in public distrust, loss of confidence,
becoming an outcast in profession or being
ostracized in workplace.
- CoE help ensure the development of
workers and professionals who are not only
competent in their respective work and
professions but also who work with a sense
of morality and decency.
Law
- Sets standards of how work is to be done.
- Regulates work as it imposes certain
limitations to workers.
- Violating these limitations may lead a
person to be criminally or legally liable
risking his employment or profession, his
freedom or even his limbs.
- For professional worker, his education does
not excuse him from his duty to observe the
limitations imposed by law.
Professional Associations
- Promotion of higher standards for the
practice of professional work is the main
reason why professional societies are
formed.
- Medical and legal associations are formed
to preserve and enforce higher standards of
medical and legal practice
Policies Enforced in the Workplace
- Expresses set of expectations from workers.
- Company expects the best form workers
and provide them with principle to guide
them in the conduct of their work.
- Company strictly enforces rules and
regulations which workers are duty bound to
observe and respect; otherwise, they can be
suspended or dismissed form employment.
Public Opinion and Perception
- The impression a person makes will
determine the success or failure of his work,
- A worker that has the skill and is equally
blessed with a sense of morality, good
public relations and dedication is well-loved
and respected by the people
Religion
- Religious belief of workers exerts
considerable effect on how well people
perform their work.
- People who possess religious values tend
to work honestly and diligently; more
respectful to employers and clients, more
obedient to law and authority.
Types of Activities
1. Formal Activities
o Includes all acts that is official and
considered to be the official duty of
an employee. Example: as a teacher
it is expected that he/she should
teach his/ her students via
conducting a class.
2. Non-Formal Activities
o These includes practices that are
customary in certain work groups.
Example: In offices “pakikisama, and
mababang loob” is observed.
Workplace across Nations and Culture
Culture
- defined as a set of values, practices,
traditions or beliefs a group shares, whether
due to age, race or ethnicity, religion or
gender.
- other factors that contribute to workplace
diversity and cultural differences in the
workplace are differences attributable to
work styles, education or disability.
- Generational Impact
- Educational Differences
- One’s Personal Background
- Ethnicity
Noting Generational Impact
- A diverse workplace includes employees
considered traditionalists, baby boomers,
Generation X, Generation Y and Millennials.
- Each generation has distinct characteristics.
For example, employees considered baby
boomers tend to link their personal identity
to their profession or the kind of work they
do. Baby boomers are also characterized as
being committed, yet unafraid of changing
employers when there’s an opportunity for
career growth and advancement.
- Employees considered belonging to
Generation Y, on the other hand, also value
professional development, but they are
tech-savvy, accustomed to diversity and
value flexibility in working conditions.
Being Aware of Educational Differences
- Differences exist between employees who
equate academic credentials with success
and employees whose vocational and on-
the-job training enabled their career
progression. The cultural differences
between these two groups may be a source
of conflict in some workplace issues when
there’s disagreement about theory versus
practice in achieving organizational goals.
- For instance, an employee who believes
that a college degree prepared him for
managing the processes and techniques of
employees in the skilled trades may not be
as effective as he thinks when compared to
employees with years of practical
knowledge and experience.
Impact of One’s Personal Background
- Where an employee lives or has lived can
contribute to cultural differences in the
workplace. Many people would agree that
there is a distinct difference between the
employee from a small town and the
employee from a large metropolis.
- New York, for example, is known for its fast
pace and the hectic speed of business
transactions. Conversely, an employee from
a small, Southern town may not approach
her job duties with the same haste as
someone who is employed by the same
company from a large city where there’s a
sense of urgency attached to every job task.
Ethnicity
- Ethnicity or national origin are often
examples of cultural differences in the
workplace, particularly where
communication, language barriers or the
manner in which business is conducted are
obviously different.
- Affinity groups have gained popularity in
large organizations or professional
associations, such as the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce or in-house groups
whose members are underrepresented
ethnicities, such as the Chinese Culture
Network at Eli Lilly.
- The pharmaceutical conglomerate
organizes affinity groups to bridge cultural
differences and establish productive
working relationships within the workplace
and throughout its global locations.
Duties of Workers and Employers
1. Respect the human dignity of the workers
2. Appreciate their work
3. Never treat them as slaves for making money
4. Never assign them task beyond their strength.
Do not employ them in work not suited for their age
or sex
5. Pay them commensurate wages
6. Provide for their health and social recreations
7. Provide time to practice their religion
8. Advise them on how to use their money wisely
9. Instruct them to love their families
10. Provide them with the opportunities and
promotions
Duties of Workers to their Employers
1. Work honestly and comply with all agreements
2. Never injure capital or steal from employer
3. Never outrage the person of the employer
4. Never employ deceit or violence in presenting
cause
5. Never consort with agitators or men of evil
principles
Disputes and Disagreements
1. Wage and salary that are not fair and
commensurate to the difficulty of the job and the
responsibilities inherent to it.
2. Poor working conditions.
3. Unreasonable personnel policy
4. Lack of job security and stability or employment
5. Lack of opportunity for advancement and self-
improvement
6. Inconsiderate supervisors or managers
It needs to be noted also, that among workers there
are cases that these employees tend to have
certain disagreements.
Top 10 Workplace Annoyances based on the
Survey of 6,000 Employees done by the TMP
worldwide.
1. Loud and irritating mobile phone rings
2. Outdated equipment’s
3. Job jockeying
4. Body odor and bad breath
5. Colleagues who do not change an empty roll
6. Colleagues who arrive late and leave early
7. Know-it all colleagues
8. Colleagues who do not reload paper trays or fix
jams on printers
9. Messages taken down incorrectly
10. Colleagues who take items from your desk
without asking
LESSON 8: ETHICAL DIMENSION OF HUMAN
EXISTENCE
Ethics
• Is about matters such as good thing that we
should pursue and the bad thing that we
should avoid;
• The right ways in which we could or should
act and the wrong ways of acting.
• It is about what is acceptable and
unacceptable in human behavior.
• May involve obligations that are expected or
fulfill, prohibition that are required to respect
or ideals that are encouraged to meet
• A subject to study regarding the grounds for
the values with particular and special
significance to human life.
Clarification and Terminology
Kinds of Valuation
A. Aesthetics - Derived from Greek word
aesthesis (sense of feeling) and refers to
the judgments of personal approval or
disapproval that we make about what we
see, hear, smell, or taste.
B. Etiquette - Concerned with right and wrong
actions but those which might be
considered not quite grave enough to
belong in the discussion
C. Technique and Technical - Greek word
techne - which are used to refer to a proper
way of doing things but technical valuation
may not be necessarily be ethical
Ethics and Morals
Ethics vs Morals – In most cases, when one of us
does something, we try to act according to what
society believes is right. More often, we listen
closely to what our own beliefs about right or wrong
are telling us, even if they’re different from society’s
views. These two have to do with ethics and
morals.
Ethics – rules that a social system provides us with
Morals – our own principles
• Moral or Ethical may be ambiguous.
Morals – used to refer to specific beliefs or attitudes
that people have or to describe acts that people
perform.
• Individuals personal conduct is referred
to as his morals and if he falls short on
behaving properly, this can be described
as IMMORAL.
• Moral Judgement and Moral Reasoning
Ethics - Discipline of studying and understanding
ideal human behavior and ideal ways of thinking.
• Acknowledged as an intellectual
discipline belonging to philosophy
• Acceptable and unacceptable= ethical
and unethical
• Professional ethics
Philosophy - is Greek in origin, and it is the
composite of two Greek roots: philein, a Greek
word for “love,” and sophia, the Greek word for
“wisdom.” the love or pursuit of wisdom.
• Philosophy is not merely a static
compendium of great thoughts
espoused by great thinkers—it is an
activity that reflects passion,
commitment, and intellectual ambition.
• The ultimate goal of this passionate
activity is not mastering a certain
amount of information but rather the
achievement of “wisdom.”
• What exactly is “wisdom”? Think of
several people you know whom you
would consider to be “wise”: What
qualities do they possess? It’s likely that
although they are knowledgeable
regarding certain areas of life, it’s their
ability to use and apply this knowledge
 with great intelligence that distinguishes
them.
• Among the ancient Greeks, people from
Mediterranean, made a mental effort to
make sense of the world and of human
life in a unique way.
The Two General Fields of Learning
The Sciences - Deals with natural, physical
phenomena
The Humanities - Deals with human phenomena
Descriptive and Normative
Descriptive
• Descriptive study of ethics reports how
people, particularly groups, make their
moral valuations without making any
judgment either for or against these
valuations
• Studying moral across cultures-
historians, sociologist or an
anthropologist.
Normative
• Normative study of ethics as is of then
done in philosophy or moral theology,
engages the question:
o What could or should be
considered as the right way of
acting?
• Normative discussion prescribes what
we ought to maintain as our standards
or bases for moral valuation
Issue, Decision, Judgement and Dilemma
Moral Issue - Issue is also used to refer to those
particular situations that are often the source of
considerable and inconclusive debate.
• Example: capital punishments,
euthanasia
Moral Decision – What a person makes when
he/she is placed in a situation and confronted by
the choice of what act to perform
• Example taking something that person
did not pay for.
Moral Judgement – What a person makes when
he/she is an observer who makes an assessment
on the action or behavior of someone
• Example taking something that person
did not pay for.
• Fear of punishment & desire for rewards
can be a reason for someone to act in a
certain way.
• Thinking may take on the level of
abstraction, that is detaching itself from
the particular situation and arriving to a
certain recognition to the proper reasons
for not acting in this way
Moral valuation – decision and judgement
- Principles
Principles - Rationally established grounds by
which one justifies and maintains her moral
decisions and judgments
• WHY DO WE MAINTAIN ONE
PARTICULAR PRINCIPLE RATHER
THAN ANOTHER?
• We can maintain principles but we
can also ask what good reasons for
doing so.
Moral Theory - A systematic attempt to establish
the validity of maintaining certain moral principles.
- A system of thought or ideas------
framework
Reasoning
• A person’s fear of punishment or desire for
reward can provide him a reason for acting
in a certain way. (e.g., “I did not cheat on
the exam because I was afraid that I might
get caught”. “I looked after my father in the
hospital because I wanted to get a higher
allowance.”)
• In a certain sense, fear of punishment and
desire for reward can be spoken of as giving
someone a “reason” for acting in a certain
way. But the question then would be: Is this
reason good enough?
• The promise of rewards and the fear of
punishments can certainly motivate us to
 act, but are not in themselves a determinant
of the rightness or wrongness of a certain
way of acting or of the good or the bad in a
particular pursuit.
✓ Beyond rewards and punishments, it is possible
for our moral valuation – our decisions and
judgements – to be based on a principle. Thus, one
may conclude that cheating is wrong based on a
sense of fair play or a respect for the importance
and validity of testing.
✓ From this, we can define principles as rationally
established grounds by which one justifies and
maintains one’s moral decisions and judgments.
Sources of Authority
The authority of the LAW
• It is supposed that the law is one’s guide to
ethical behavior. The term positive law
refers to the different rules and regulations
that are posited or put forward by an
authority figure that require compliance.
• Taking the law to be the basis of ethics has
the benefit of providing us with an objective
standard that is obligatory and applicable to
all.
• Taking the law to be the basis of ethics has
the benefit of providing us with an objective
standard that is obligatory and applicable to
all.
o The prohibitive nature of law. The
law does not tell us what we should
do; it works by constraining us from
performing acts that we should not
do. The law cannot tell us what to
pursue, only what to avoid.
o There are certain ways of acting
which are not forbidden by the law,
but are ethically questionable to us
(e.g., contractualization)
The authority of one’s RELIGION
• The idea that one is obliged to obey her
God in all things, and as a foundation for
ethical values which is referred to as the
divine command theory.
• Many of us had been brought up with one
form or religious upbringing or another, so it
is very possible that there is a strong
inclination in us to refer to our religious
background to back up our moral
valuations.
• In addition, there is an advance here over
the law because religion is not simply
prohibitive, but also provides ideals to
pursue.
• HOWEVER, there are some problems with
this.
o On the practical level, we realize the
presence of a multiplicity of religions.
Each faith demands differently from
its adherents, which would
apparently result in conflicting ethical
standards.
o We can see a further problem where
one requires the believer to clarify
her understanding of the connection
between ethics and the Divine (e.g.,
Is it holy because it is loved by the
gods, or is it holy in itself and that is
why is loved by the gods?)
The authority of one’s own CULTURE
• Our exposure to different societies and their
cultures makes us aware that there are
ways of thinking and valuing that are
different from our own, that there is in fact a
wide diversity of how different people
believe it is proper to act.
• From the reality of diversity, it is possible for
someone to jump to the further claim that
the sheer variety at work in the different
ways of valuation means there is no single
universal standard for such valuations, and
that this holds true as well in the realm of
ethics.
• Therefore, what is ethically acceptable or
unacceptable is relative to, or that is to say,
dependent on one’s culture. This position is
referred to as cultural relativism.
• Cultural Relativism
o First, conform to what we
experience, which is the reality of
the differences in how cultures make
their ethical valuations.
o Second, by taking one’s culture as
the standard, we are provided a
basis for our valuations.
o Third, this teaches us to be tolerant
of others from different cultures, as
we realize that we are in no position
to judge whether the ethical thought
or practice of another culture is
acceptable or unacceptable
• Criticism of cultural relativism by James
Rachels
o Because different cultures have
different moral codes, we cannot say
that any one moral code is the right
one.
▪ Disagreement may mean that
the question of who is right or
wrong is not immediately
evident, but it does not
necessarily mean that there
is no one correct resolution.
o Second, we realize that we are in no
position to render any kind of
judgment on the practices of another
culture.
▪ But what if the practice
seems to call for comment?
(e.g., What if a particular
African tribe thought that it is
advantageous and therefore
right for them to wipe out a
neighboring people through a
terrible practice of genocide?
What if some Middle Eastern
country was highly repressive
toward women reaching to
the point of violence?). Are
we in no position to judge
any of this as wrong?
o Third, we realize that we are in no
position to render judgment on the
practices of even our own culture.
▪ We would be unable to say
that something within our
cultural practice was
problematic, precisely
because we take our culture
to be the standard for making
such judgments. (e.g.
arranged marriage)
o Fourth, perhaps the most evident
contemporary difficulty with cultural
relativism is that we can maintain it
only by following the presumption of
culture as a single, clearly-defined
substance or as something fixed and
already determined.
▪ But it is also becoming
increasingly difficult to
determine what exactly
defines one’s culture.
• We can conclude this criticism of cultural
relativism by pointing out how it is a problem
in our study of ethics because it tends to
deprive us of our use of critical thought.
• On the positive side, cultural relativism
promotes a sense of humility, that is, urging
us not to imagine that our own culture is
superior to another.
• As with earlier discussions on law and
religion, this is not to set aside culture
entirely as if it were irrelevant. Instead, we
urge to think more carefully about how one’s
understanding of her belonging to a certain
culture could be more fruitful and
meaningful for her ethical discernment.
Senses of the Self
Subjectivism
• Starting point- recognition that individual
thinking is the heart of all moral valuations.
• One is confronted with the situation and is
burdened with the need to make a decision
or judgment.
• Leaps to the more radical claim that
individual is the sole determinant of what
morally good/ bad, right or wrong
• No one can tell me what is right or wrong.
No one knows my situation better than
myself I am entitled to my own opinion. It is
good if I say that it is good
Psychological Egoism
• Human beings are naturally self-centered,
so all our actions are always already
motivated by self-interest.
• A theory underlying all human actions.
• It does not direct one to at in any particular
way.
• It points that there is already an underlying
basis for how one acts.
• Ego or self has desires and interests that
needs to be satisfied towards it
• Other directed behavior is a self-serving
desire.
• Theories
 o Simplicity - It has a unique appeal to
a theory that conveniently identifies
a single basis that will somehow
account for all actions is a good
example.
o Plausibility - It is possible that self-
interest is behind a person’s actions.
▪ It is clearly the motivation
behind many of the
actions one performs
which are obviously self-
serving;
▪ It could very well also be
the motivation behind an
individual’s seemingly
other-directed actions
• Focus on Freudian approach - It ends up
nullifying the possibility of any normative
ethics in its view of the already- determined
human being
Ethical Egoism
• Differs to psychological egoism - Does not
suppose all our actions are already
inevitable self-serving.
• Prescribes that we should make our own
ends, our own interests, as the single
overriding concern.
• We act in a way that is beneficial to others,
but we should do that only if it ultimately
benefits us
• Glaucon concludes, that if we are to be
honest with ourselves, we would admit that
what we really care for is our own self-
interest rather than some notion of justice or
moral goodness.
LESSON 9: STRATEGIC AGENDA OF HUMAN
RESOURCES
Human Resources
• presents an internal issue as an
organization-wide initiative.
• It puts its internal clients and critical external
audiences into the center.
• Also, it acts as a bridge between the
external communities and the interior
landscape of the organization
People Management
• ◦ It acts as a valuable business partner that
owns initiatives and programs.
• It makes the lives of its customers more
comfortable.
Being Strategic: Adding Value to the Business
• It talks about its customers; it does not talk
about its internal priorities. It acts to deliver
value-added through improvements made
for clients. It is how strategic Human
Resources operates.
• It has to build strong and trustful
relationships with them. These relationships
make the role of HR Business Partner
mission-critical.
• Additionally, the Human Resources Leader
has to maintain a reliable connection with
the CEO of the business.
HR: Customers and the Network
• The HR department always has two plans –
one for its customers and the second one is
purely internal
• Nobody believes that any improvements
within the HR functions as strategic ones. It
is just a slight adjustment of functioning
based on functional needs.
• Additionally, the HR leader has to be widely
recognized and respected in the
organization. She can usually provide a
different perspective when looking at the
business issue. She can act as the
Employee Advocate in such a moment. Not
just protecting the interests of the
organization, she can always speak in the
name of employees.
• There is one thing not to forget. Human
Resources must promote functional goals
and objectives. All employees must be
aware of strategic imperatives driving the
organization’s HR agenda (see more on HR
Marketing).
Creating and Developing a Sustainable,
Competitive Advantage
• Human Resources is the only competitive
advantage in modern Western society if the
HR team runs it properly. Also, it is difficult
to copy. Each organization has a different
background and a set of values, which
makes copying almost a mission
impossible.
• Human Resources cares about Corporate
Culture. It sets general expectations and
guides what behavior is preferred. It also
 clearly states what practices are not
accepted at all
Forming the winning Human Resources Team
• Nowadays, a leadership team expects that
the HR Function is proactive, and it drives
its plan. That is the reason why the upgrade
of the HR team is required. It is about
forming the Human Resources team that
understands the business and delivers
extraordinary results.
• There is a critical success factor – the role
of HR Business Partner. She acts as a
bridge between business units and HR
Centers of Excellence. However, she
manages expectations on both sides and
judges all the proposal’s options before
making a final decision.
• A great HR Manager always delivers a
proposal that fits with the business strategy,
demonstrates respect to employees, and
keeps the productivity upgrade in mind.
Such suggestions make the business more
profitable and highly competitive on the
market.
• Each HR Leader is responsible for
developing her HR team every day. Her
fellow leadership team members highly
value a constant upgrade in HR skills and
competencies. Being a part of serious
discussions about the business requires you
to understand how the company operates.
• That is why the business acumen in Human
Resources is essential.
• Additionally, the HR leader must ensure that
all team members are operating out of their
comfort zones. By giving opportunities to all
team members and mixing project teams,
she delivers excellent learning opportunities
to everyone.
• Operating out of the box is appreciated by
the business. People in the organization like
to see HR folks stretched and providing a
high-quality service to other teams. Also,
managers like to discuss issues and
challenges with colleagues who
demonstrate a willingness to help, a drive to
solve problems, and understanding to root
causes.
How to Recognize a Difference between Strategic
HR Plan and HR Strategy
• a strategic plan centers around customers
of Human Resources. It does not include
any development of people related
processes and procedures. Also, it is aimed
shortterm. Everything should be achievable
within 12 or 18 months.
• On the other hand, the HR strategy is a long
term and mixes both internal and external
landscape. It covers both customers and the
future of Human Resources.
• The simplified view is that a plan is a tactical
tool for improving business performance
day by day. Of course, the strategic
program uses and fully utilizes all outcomes
coming from the strategy implementation
Strategic HR Agenda: Topics
• ◦ First, we need to understand and describe
a competitive Human Resources function. It
has a specific agenda, and it has critical
business goals in its scope. It outlines its
priorities around crucial business
processes, and it understands how the
business generates revenues and profits.
• The next section describes the most
common challenges in Human Resources
Function. As always, they are both internal
and external ones. However, all critical
stakeholders expect Human Resources to
contain them in all proposals and solutions.
Specifically speaking, it includes the
following challenges: business
sustainability, globalization, technology, an
aging workforce, change management,
employee productivity, and employee
engagement. As HR Professionals, we have
to recognize them all and be ready to adapt
our proposals as we do improve the
performance of our organizations.
• Nowadays, it is all about Competitiveness
and Competitive Advantage. There is
always just one winner in a free-market. The
organization that knows how to compete
with all its competitors. Everyone knows the
winner and everyone wants to buy its
products and services. Human Resources
influences an excellent source of
competitive advantage. It understands how
to lead, manage, and develop the
workforce. Human Resources can find
creative ways to make the organization
competitive by changing values, processes,
and procedures. Additionally, such a
change can be a long-lasting and
sustainable competitive advantage
• A true leader pushes productivity up to the
limit. The HR leader has to play the role of a
brake from time to time. Her role is to
 protect the rights of employees. Employees
require an advocate who protects them
against the leadership team. They expect
that Human Resources will play this highly
demanding role, because else in the
organization should act as an Employee
Advocate. It is a challenging role because
HR Managers are often in severe conflicts
with line managers. How can the HR
department succeed in this challenging and
conflicting role?
• Employee Engagement is an overused word
in recent years. The workplace was not
about keeping and increasing productivity;
everything was about happiness and
employee engagement. However, when it is
done right, it has tremendous results. It
boosts productivity, decreases turnover, and
strengthens Employer Brand. On the other
hand, it has to be well-balanced with
different requirements. The next section
covers how to keep employees engaged
and highly productive
• The business is about constant change. On
the other hand, most employees prefer
stability over the unstable world. We are
resistant to changes because we
understand that they represent a threat to
us. Human Resources ensures that
employees understand changes and accept
them. Supporting and teaching Change
Management is the highly strategic role of
HR Managers.
• The non-performing business has a zero
chance of survival. Competitors will grab a
market share, and the organization will run
out of money. Satisfactory employee
performance is a fundamental prerequisite
for a successful company. Another essential
strategic item, Managing Performance, is a
critical success factor of Human Resources.
It has to manage low performers out and
promote top performers as success stories.
Also, it has to encourage line managers to
improve their performance management
skills
• Strategic Workforce Planning combines the
strategic goals of the organization and the
workforce. It helps to uncover gaps in skills
and competencies and provides useful
inputs to recruitment and staffing
procedures, learning, and succession
planning. Sure, it is time-consuming, but
based on its results Human Resources can
develop employees, find new talents on the
market, and make the business competitive.
• Being internally visible is a part of success.
Being widely recognized is essential. HR
Marketing is a discipline in which most HR
functions fail. The next section covers the
vital HR Marketing, including the presence
in social media. Human Resources has to
learn how to attract and influence critical
internal and external audiences. Nobody will
recognize HR results if they do not know
what Human Resources does.
• The war for Talents is full of small victories
and losses. Human Resources has to build
a vibrant brand name, set of values, and
influencing approaches that are attractive to
the most important target groups. These
groups are usually just two – employees
and potential employees. The most
successful organizations also include ex-
employees and retirees. They know how to
spread the word, and as a result, the critical
job vacancies target the right audiences,
and the best candidates are revealed.
• HR is going digital, being quicker, more
responsive, and cheaper. These are the key
imperatives of Digital HR. Human
Resources has to act as the change
champion. It has to find affordable digital
solutions that make the employee’s life
cycle smooth, digital, auditable, and
enjoyable. It is not about massive and
monolithic HR systems; it starts with small
things and processes that have a
considerable impact.
• And as a last item on the list, it is about
Strategic Human Resources Management
(SHRM). It is about identifying critical
processes and procedures that increase the
performance and productivity of the
organization. Just a few selected HR
processes are part of SHRM. Also, it is not
about re-setting HR strategy; it is about
applying the right processes and
procedures at the right time. As a bonus, it
also covers strategic thinking and strategic
planning
What is the HR Strategic Plan?
• The HR Strategic Plan builds on the HR
Strategy, the strategic agenda of Human
Resources, and then creates objectives for
individual functional HR departments
according to it. Importantly, however, it also
includes standard departmental activities so
that when planning, it does not happen that
all capacity is then exhausted by a standard
HR procedure and there are no available
 resources left for the planned
implementation.
• A good plan also includes dependencies on
other departments in the company and
suppliers who may be involved in the
implementation.
• The team needs to understand how the HR
data model works and which key data will
not be immediately available, but will take
time to prepare.
• A good plan must also account for this and
inform well in advance that input will be
required into projects
Operating Rhythm
• In the end, it is often a good Operating
Rhythm that determines the success of an
HR strategy implementation. If the team
does not establish good communication and
coordination processes before the
implementation begins, it usually goes
badly. Gradually, interest in working on the
implementation will wane, conflicting
priorities will remain unresolved, and
gradually people will stop talking about the
new strategy. This is why operational
rhythm is so important.
• Human Resources must establish an
implementation team in which all managers
are represented and must have a dedicated
program manager. This team must be led
by the Chief Human Resources Officer and
this role cannot be delegated. Doing so
would indicate that implementation is not
important enough for him or her
• ◦ This team must have regular meetings
where:
o reviews the status of each activity,
o reviewing the deliverables,
o plan activities for the next period,
o revise the plan as work progresses,
o approve communications according
to the communication plan,
o works with identified risks and
approves alternative solutions,
o prepares presentations for the HR
team and company-wide
communications.
o Only when the implementation team
functions properly will the strategy
be implemented without major
delays and to the extent agreed
What benefits does the HR Strategic Plan bring?
• The main benefit is that the HR strategy and
all the basic HR processes work. There are
no unexpected surprises and no one is
fighting for additional resources because
capacity is planned with the day-today
operations in HR in mind.
• Employee Engagement in Human
Resources is another significant benefit.
With a plan in place, they can find
opportunities for themselves and can
volunteer for tasks in a project activity. In
this way, the plan also contributes to
professional development as employees
can learn new competencies.
• Clear communication within the department
and towards the company is a significant
benefit. Human Resources often forgets to
communicate its main activities, but
communicating the achievement of
important milestones in the strategy is
important. And it’s also a good platform for
getting feedback from internal clients. Which
helps to cement the relationship with them
HR Role in Strategic Planning
• The strategic plan is not the operating plan.
The operating plan is a forecast for the
following few months (from 6 to 18 months).
The strategic plan is a vision for the
organization for following several years
(from 2 to 5 years). The strategic plan sets
the priorities for the top management and
HR role is a proper strategic planning in the
area of HR Management
• Strategic human resource planning is the
process of forecasting future human
resource needs and ensuring that the
organization has the right people in the right
places at the right time. It involves analyzing
labor market trends, assessing
organizational capabilities, and planning for
future growth.
• Strategic planning is closely linked with HR
Strategy because Human Resources are
one of the most important factors in
achieving an organization’s strategic
objectives. A well-run HR department can
help an organization attract and retain the
best employees, manage employee
performance, and create a workplace
culture that supports the organization’s
goals.
• The role of HRM in planning procedures is
to ensure that the company has the
 resources to achieve its goals. This includes
ensuring that the company has the right
employees with the correct skills, as well as
the necessary financial and other resources.
HRM must also plan for any potential issues
that could impact the company’s ability to
achieve its goals, such as a shortage of
qualified workers
• The HR Professionals have to be part of the
strategic planning as employees will
execute the strategic mission of the
organization. The HR Role is to take the full
responsibility for the alignment of
employees’ skills and competencies with the
strategic plan
• First, HR has to demonstrate that it is the
respectful business partner for the strategic
planning. HR has to take the full
responsibility for connecting people, ideas
and tools together. It has to demonstrate
that it can lead the development of the HR
part of the strategic plan
• Second, HR has to demonstrate that it
understands the business of the
organization. Becoming the partner in
strategic planning requires understanding to
basic financial indicators. It requires detailed
knowledge about the products and the
competitors present on the market. The HR
Role is in bringing ideas for innovations and
new products development. It does not
require deep technical skills; it requires an
open mind and being creative.
• Third, HR has to prove its understanding to
modern HR Management trends. The
competitive organization needs state-of-art
Human Resources in the house. HR cannot
be a passive function in the organization. It
has to monitor market for the new trends; it
has to develop new approaches, and it has
to innovate the traditional approaches.
HR cannot follow HR Best Practices; it has to be
set the Best Practices for the industry
• The traditional HR has no value added;
such HR function is not invited to the
process of the strategic planning. The role
of HR is in designing innovative
approaches, which help to reach the current
imperatives from the strategic plan.
• Fourth, HR has to determine the art of
connecting the strategic plan with the real
business. The strategic plan does not
describe details. The strategic plan does
describe strategic directions of the
organization. HR has to understand to these
directions and has to translate them into
right initiatives and steps.
• No one will translate directions for HR, but
HR will be evaluated against directions not
the initiatives. HR has to get buy-in of the
top management for initiatives as they are
not clearly described in the strategic plan.
The role of HR is the right translation and
sticking to the implementation of the plan.
Strategic Roles of Human Resources in Modern
Organization
• The modern organization is focused on the
aggressive growth, bringing innovative
products, finding niches in the market and
being the top company in the industry. The
modern organization designs products and
services, which can be sold with the high
margin as the organization can keep its
competitive advantage
• The HR Role in the modern organization is
different from the classical (old-time)
company. HR is not focused on the
administration; HR people are focused on
the key business imperatives.
• Building competitive advantage as HR Role
• Each HR proposal in the modern
organization is focused on developing or
retaining the competitive advantage. The
top management gives HR full
responsibility, and it implements
improvements in the area of HR
Management. It does not ask for the
approval of each initiative. It implements
improvements to make the organization
work better with employees.
• HR actively searches gaps in the
organization. It maps gaps and prepares
Cost and Benefit analyses of implementing
projects to realize the improvement. HR has
no administration role. HR is not the
advisory department. HR is fully responsible
for the development of employees in the
organization. HR is fully responsible for the
right staffing procedures.
• The HR Professionals become responsible
for delivering goals at their internal clients.
They do not advise managers how to
achieve targets. They share the
responsibility of achieving targets. It is an
enormous difference. The competitive
advantage in Human Resources cannot be
achieved differently
Developing and retaining talents as HR Role
• The modern organization depends on the
quality of its employees. The modern
organization invests into the development of
employees. Employees build the
competitive advantage. HR is responsible
for the development of employees. The HR
Role is in identification of the best
development opportunities of employees.
• HR identifies the needs of managers and
the organization. HR works with the
business strategy and identifies gaps in the
organizational design. The employees have
to be prepared for the coming challenges,
and they have to be trained
• HR is responsible for finding rich sources of
talents, and it is responsible for setting
talent management programs. The success
of HR is measured by the turnover and
fluctuation of top talents. The retention of
the top talents is not just a task for the line
management. HR Role is in preparing right
HR tools to retain top talents in the
organization
Leadership Development as HR Role
• The leader represents the organization. The
leader has a different role than the manager
has. HR Role is in developing the future
leaders. HR is responsible for the
development of the current leader of the
organization.
• HR is fully responsible for the succession
planning in the organization. Managers and
leaders have to identify the potential
successors, and they have to cooperate
with HR in the leadership development
program.
• The HR role is in designing processes and
programs for the development of the future
leaders. HR runs the selection procedures
and evaluates programs on the regular
basis. The leadership development is the
key HR responsibility
Building Diverse Teams as HR Role
• The diversity increases the competitiveness
of the organization. The products born from
the healthy conflicts are better. The diverse
team does not share the common point of
view from the beginning. The solution is
born from heavy discussions.
• HR has to oversee the recruitment process
to build the diverse team in the organization.
The diversity is not about the number of
women in management. The diversity is
about the mixture of different personalities.
• The role of HR is in finding diverse talents
as managers can enrich their teams.
LESSON 10: PREVALENT MORAL ISSUES AND
DUBIOUS PRACTICES IN THE WORKPLACE
Moral Issues - frequently confront a person as
he/she performs his/her work and as he/she tries
living as ethically as possible in the workplace
- are confusing, largely because they
lie in the gray area, so to speak, of right and wrong.
Unethical Practices - undermine the integrity of the
workplace
- Some practices are, in
themselves, root causes of frustrations not only
among workers, but also among clients and
customers. They contribute to a work environment
that is not conducive to personal growth and
development.
Unethical Practices on the Part of Employers
Sexual Harassment
• The authority, position and influence of
employers open opportunities for them
to ask sexual favors or make sexual
advances from their employees.
• Stories abound of some sexually-
starved employers proposing promotion
for their chosen employee in exchange
for a one-night stand. Turning down
these requests or resisting sexual
advances suddenly makes the
workplace an intimidating or hostile
environment for the employee.
• There are also stories of employers
demanding sex as a prerequisite for
employment. The stigma attached to
sexual harassment, the cost of court
trials and the loss of jobs and
opportunity to work make the protection
afforded by law inadequate.
• Though the government is trying to
make the workplace safe for workers,
sexual harassment is still a major and
sensitive problem that undermines the
workplace. The problem should be
addressed because it seriously violates
the dignity and rights of worker-victims.
Bribing Government Officials
• employers bribing government officials in
exchange for cornering some highly
profitable business deal or project
• Stories of rigged public biddings are no
longer Unusual especially in government
offices. Sometimes, a contract is already
awarded long before public bidding takes
place.
• Lagay, “kickbacks”, porsiyento or komisyon
and other effective “devices” are used by
employers to bag public contracts without
going through the usual bidding process.
These employers gain back the millions
they spend on lagay by scrimping on
materials either in quality or quantity
resulting in Substandard buildings, the
same or similar results extend to poor
quality roads and bridges which, in the long
run, can result in injuries, loss of lives and
loss of property.
• This practice is largely to blame for the
problem of corruption been plaguing the
government service for decades
Paying Employees Below Minimum Wage
• Greed drives some employers to deny their
workers their fair share business. The lack
of alternative employment is exploited by
some employers to keep wages low.
• Aware of the helplessness of workers to find
employment, employers sometimes scoff at
the wage rates prescribed by labor literally
forcing workers to accept wages way below
the minimum wage. They their employees to
sign payrolls that reflect minimum wages in
order to unethical and illegal practice.
• Unscrupulous employers who practice this
not profit from paying their employees below
the minimum wage, they also profit in the
bigger deductions they receive from their
income taxes due the government since
wages are deductible items.
Tax Evasion
• Some wealthy employers pay private
accountants to find which they can best
evade paying the right taxes. These
employers, unscrupulous revenue officials,
go to the extent of forging public revenue
offices, it is called ‘fixing’) to hide real
properties and incomes.
• Ways to evade paying the proper taxes
include registering businesses in the
Securities and Exchange Commissions as
religious corporations, not declaring and
under declaring real assets, not issuing
official receipts, and not registering cash
registers
• What is lacking is strong and persistent
enforcement and compliance with these
laws. To combat tax evasions, we need
dedicated and determined government
officials, revenue officers and equally strong
legal prosecutors.
Resisting and Interfering with Trade Unions
• Trade u! were born out of the need to
protect workers from this exploitation. This
why, in the view of decadent employers,
trade unionism goes against the principles
of profit maximization.
• Some employers express outright
resistance to trade unionism by denying
their workers their right to association and
keeping from forming or joining trade
unions. Some firms have standing policies
that make membership in trade unions
grounds for work expulsion. In cases where
employers forced to allow employees to
form trade unions, these employers usually
use their money to influence the selection of
union leaders.
• Yellow labor unions, with union leaders
whose loyalty in real it go to management,
is another case of decadent employers
making a mockery of the labor code. There
are also cases where employees are
advised by the company to join workers’
associations which the company, not the
workers themselves, has put up!
Cutthroat Competition
• Competition is good as long as it is fair
• if done through disparagements,
infringements and deceptions, competition
can hardly be ethical and beneficial.
Business Espionage
• company spies and steals valuable or
essential information from other competing
companies
• Espionage is done as a means of unfairly
staying ahead of competitors, sometimes at
the expense of the competitor’s hard-earned
resources. Stolen information (for example,
stolen formula and trade Secrets) may be
 used by the company as a basis in
producing better products
• In some cases, the information may be used
to destroy the reputation of the other
company
Infringement
• one tries to imitate, reproduce or counterfeit
another company’s registered products
• the case of pirated film and music compact
discs (CDs)
• the production and distribution of fake
signature products
Negative Advertising
• any form of advertising designed to destroy
the image of a competitor
• Advertising is a legitimate means of
promoting products and services to the
public. It is an effective way of boosting
sales, hence, increasing profit. In short,
advertising is an important tool in achieving
the goals of the company. However,
advertising may also be used to discredit or
to destroy the reputation of the products and
services of the competitors.
• Negative advertising, for instance, can send
a message, directly or implied, to the public
which is calculated to undermine the
products and services of competitors.
Information, purported to be statistical data,
can also be used to mislead people.
• Statements like Eight out of ten people have
changed their brand of beer are you one of
them? (Was there any study?) or Most
dentists use this toothpaste (How many are
most, and who are the dentists being
referred to? The lone dentist in the
commercial?) or My feminine wash is not
gamot. Yung iba may gamot Kung wala
akong sakit, bakit ako gagamit ng gqmot?
(Any clinical study to prove this?)
Pirating Employees
• Hiring suggests that a job vacancy exists
and an independent person freely applies to
fill it up.
• Pirating employees, on the other hand, does
not necessarily imply any vacancy to fill up.
Rather, it suggests inducing employees
from other companies (most of the time
from competitors) to leave their companies
and join another company.
• It is done as one way of stealing trade
secrets, or benefiting from the skills and
competencies of employees who were
trained by competitors.
• Some writers of business ethics argue that
there is nothing wrong with this act since it
contributes to the growth and development
of the company. The individual is still free to
accept the invitation or not.
• This argument is missing the point. The
issue is inducement. The focus is the
employer, not the employee, who seeks out
and induces employees to abandon their
companies and join him. The solution is not
to leave the employee to decide for himself
after the inducement was done. The fair
solution is for employers to refrain from
inducing, which is tantamount to bribing
employees to leave their companies. They
should leave employees alone and let them
truly decide for themselves.
Employing Children
• Employers pay’ less wages to children, but
they use these children to perform work that
adult workers usually do.
• As abolition of child labor is the common
goal of the day, decadent employers exploit
children for their own selfish ends. Because
of these selfish employers, many working
children find work an ordeal, characterized
by excessively long hours, low pay,
occupational hazards, and physical and
psychological abuses.
• Poverty forces the children to work and
unfortunately, decadent employers are
always around to exploit their plight.
However, it is not only the employers who
should be blamed for the exploitation of
children. The government has some share
in the blame.
Double Standard
• Double standard is used here to refer to the
unethical practice of discrimination at the
workplace. Discrimination refers to the
unfair treatment of a person or group on the
basis of prejudice
• Discriminating their workers. Some
employers discriminate workers (e.g., in
terms of promotions, assignments,
obligations, and pay rates) and applicants
for employment by their gender, age,
disability, sexual preference, race and
religion.
Gender Discrimination
• Some employers set gender as a basis for
determining who will get promoted, how
much wage a worker should get, what
assignment to give, and what training a
worker can possibly undergo
• In today’s workplace, male workers are
generally (and unfairly) preferred over
female workers. Reasons for this include
unsubstantiated claims such as women are
emotionally unstable (men are also
emotionally unstable, in fact, more suicidal
than women!); women are weak (physically
yes, and it is an appropriate basis if work
requires physical strength — but, in most
cases, women and men can perform the
same work needed in the workplace and
women sometimes perform the work much
better!)
• Sometimes, gender discrimination is not
only about promotions, and pay rates but
also about personal treatment at work. The
classic example is that of a boss who
repeatedly makes comments which are
Some variations of, Women are stupid.
Repeated study about this suggests that the
most oppressive form of harassment is the
daily jibe, that such conduct wears a person
down and this is insidiously demoralizing.
Age Discrimination
• For some, age discrimination is one of the
horrors of becoming old. There are reports
about employers who cut their workforce in
half, singling out older workers. Downsizing
or right-sizing is not unethical in itself
• Sometimes, companies, in order to stay in
business. Are forced to downsize. But, if the
basis of selecting who will be laid off is age,
then it becomes unethical. There are also
instances when old workers are laid off and
replaced by younger workers, ignoring the
fact that these old workers can still perform
their jobs efficiently
• In the Philippines, we have a so-called
retirement age. If a worker is below the
retirement age and if there are no justifiable
reasons for him to retire, it is unethical and
illegal for his employer to force him to retire
simply because he is presumed to be too
old to work. In short, there has to be a valid
reason, not related to age, for employment
decisions, especially layoffs.
• Examples of valid reasons would be poor
job performance by the employee, or an
employer’s economic troubles, In the United
States, there is an Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA). The Act provides
that workers over the age of 40 cannot be
arbitrarily discriminated against, because of
age in any employment decision. The single
most important rule under the ADEA is that
no worker can be forced to retire.
Disability Discrimination
• Not all disabled persons are unfit to work.
Sometimes, some of them even outperform
able persons in some work in the
workplace. And, it is an unethical practice
for some employers to discriminate against
persons because of disability
• Of course, it does not mean that employers
should open all types of work to people with
disability. For instance, a blind person
cannot become an air traffic controller or be
a company driver. But there are certain
types of work that a disabled person can do.
Blindness, for instance, does not limit the
ability of a person to become an effective
teacher or to be a good lawyer. Blind people
cannot see, but they can move, hear, learn
and speak.
• The fact that this kind of discrimination
happens in the workplace even today is a
clear manifestation that there are unethical
employers with discriminatory policies that
do not focus on essential tasks but only on
marginal job duties. Unless employing a
disabled person would cost much to the
company could unduly change the work
environment, it is unethical for employers to
den disabled persons the right to work.
Discrimination Against Gay and Lesbian Workers
• This form of discrimination is also called
discrimination based on sexual orientation
• On the job, this form of discrimination
painfully continues. Every day, gay and
lesbian workers are subjected to
homophobic comments (e.g., gays are
good-for-nothing faggots) and jokes. Their
promotions are denied and their jobs are
lost, because of their employers’ doctrine of
upholding The Company Image
• Unfair treatment of gay and lesbian
employees in the workplace is aggravated
by the lack of legal protection against
discrimination of gays and lesbian workers
• Sexual orientation is in no way related,
neither could it affect a person’s
 competency to work. Hence, the right of gay
and lesbian workers to work decently, and
their right to be treated fairly must be
protected and observed.
Religious Discrimination
• This form of discrimination applies to the
unethical and illegal practice of some
employers to discriminate against
employees for their religious beliefs and
affiliations.
• Muslims are often singled out in
applications, in the promotions and in times
of downsizing, are the first to go. A Muslim
in the workplace often suffers ridicule.
• There are also cases when insensitive and
unethical employers insist their religious
beliefs on employees who hold different
convictions, to the point that employees feel
offended and intimidated. Of course,
employers have the legal right to discuss
their own religious beliefs with an employee,
if they, are so inclined. But they cannot
persist to the point that the employee feels
beholden to their employers’ beliefs or
intimidated or offended.
Favoritism
• Favored employees are the first people to
be promoted even if they are unfit for
promotions. They are often given the best
assignments and afforded the best in
training opportunities.
• Favoritism is demoralizing to the rest of the
workforce. But unethical employersjust love
playing favorites. Some sociologists relate
favoritism in the Filipino workplace in some
way to the Filipino concept of tokenism.
• Favoring an employee (and the benefits that
proceed from such favor) is a token or
reward for an employee’s personal loyalty to
the employer or for doing a personal service
or for doing things that please the employer.
Entertaining Gossiping/ Malicious Talk/
Backstabbing
• Gossiping, malicious talk or backstabbing
are common in the workplace today largely
because decadent employers approve and
encourage these practices.
• Some unethical employers find interest in
snooping at the personal lives of their
employees rather than thinking about their
general welfare. As a result, employees
always feel threatened. Their attention to
work is disrupted because they are
preoccupied with what their employers must
be thinking about them
• These unethical employers fail to provide
their employees the needed motivation to
work. They will surely fail to secure the
support and cooperation of their employees,
except for the few bootlickers who are the
only people who enjoy their company. The
gossiper and the person who promote
gossiping are both immoral.
Insulting Employees in Public
• Scolding an erring employee is fine, as long
as it is done properly. But to scold
employees in public and to censure them
using profane language is unspeakably
unprofessional and unethical. Employees
are human beings who, like their employers,
value self-esteem and self-respect.
• However, there are employers whose
favorite pastime is to insult or to bawl their
employees in public. They are ill-mannered,
ego bloated individuals who have illusions
that they are paragons of perfection and
excellence. They are quick to judge and
quick to censure that sometimes it is too
late before they realize that it is not the
employee's fault but someone else's; and in
some instances, their faults. These
employers make themselves hated and
despised by their workers.
Unethical Practices on the part of Employees
Lagay, Lusot and Lakad
• Lagay is a Filipino term, which could either
mean “to bribe”, referring to the act of giving
and/or receiving a bribe, or it could refer to
anything given to someone (e.g..
government employee) to induce him to act
dishonestly-or spur him to work well and
fast (for instance, money, property, or
special favors)
• Generally, lagay stems from the difficulties
and disgusts which the public commonly
experience when they transact with
government bureaucracies.
• Filipinos describe this situation using the
analogy of an unlubricated gear, without
grease, the gear will not turn. Thus, lagay
comes from, the phrase lagyan ng langis
 para dumulas, meaning, to “grease” (give
bribe) to speed up the transaction.
• lusot, which literally means evading
something, perhaps blame for an
unaccomplished task, by escaping through
a hole or an opening
• In the workplace, it is commonly understood
as the act of getting out of a “tight fix” or a
difficult situation and connotes the cunning
maneuver of letting your or someone else’s
interest, escape any obstacle often through
unjudicious means
• Making a lusot requires lakad, or the act of
an employee to personally attend to the
problem. This is done by sidestepping other
employees’ responsibilities, ignoring the
rules, and violating applicable laws just to
right a wrong or get things done. Hence, the
end of lakad is lusot
• To complete and to make the system of
lagay-lakad-lusot more profitable, the
decadent employee works in connivance
with other people who are not formally
connected with the office, and are well-
trained and well-versed in searching for,
and in induci ng clients with problems. The
public has come to know these people
asfixers. These decadent employees,
together with their fixers, make it possible
for people with unstable minds to legally
possess firearms, for people who hardly
know how to drive to have driving licenses,
for people with pending criminal cases to
have police clearances, and for drug users
fo nevertheless pass drug tests. These
employees are liabilities in the civil service;
society is better off without them.
• We enshrined lagay and other unethical
practices by tolerating them, even in our
homes. The practice has permeated our
homes, the sanctuary that is supposed to be
the very first education ground of our
children, our future citizens, our future
workers and our future leaders.
Justifications for lagay
• ome justify lagay by saying that there is
nothing wrong when one present “gifts”
to employees for a job well done. It is
part of our culture, they say, to give
tokens as gestures of our goodwill; that
it is just our way of saying thank you
• Others justify lagay by pointing to the
fact that employees, especially in
government offices, because this
tokenism can, at least, provide these
employees who are not well -
compensated, with another source of
income or with a way to augment their
meager salaries
• Lagay, or whatever other names it is
called, is not ethically and economically
defensible. It is sinful and unchristian. It
feeds on greed and lust for money. The
giver and the taker of the bribe are both
morally responsible for its incursion into
our way of life. It is important, especially
for employees, to develop a higher
sense of morality: to resist corruption
Palakasan
• the unethical practice of giving preferential
treatment to a particular client to the unfair
disadvantage of others. Social scientists
claim that the problem of palakasan arises
from our “informal and familistic” society.
This is manifested in our inclinations to
prioritize the interests of persons whom we
have some emotional attachments to, or
those whom we personally know.
• To reap the undue benefits of requires a
“connection” within the inner stratum of the
organization.
• a person who is malakas or a “special
client” is not necessarily related personally
to the employee. He/ could be anyone
capable of paying the price to be treated
special. In this case, is, in some way,
related to the issue of palakasan, as the
former could result in preferential treatment
Discourtesy
• It is not uncommon to see arrogant
employees in the workplace. They can be
unfriendly, unapproachable, impolite and
can make the company’s clients feel
uncomfortable.
• Some employees are always too busy
(usually with things not related to the
performance of work) to recognize the
presence of their clients. You seldom see
them talking to their clients or customers.
They spend their time talking among
themselves as if the salvation of the world
rests in their hands. And when they do talk,
it is usually when they personally know the
client or the customer, if they are in the
mood to argue with their clients or
customers, or when they humiliate or
ridicule them.
 • There are also employees who lack
patience, or the right attitude in dealing with
clients who have problems. They leave the
complaints of these clients unattended, too
tired to answer their questions, or always
too busy to mind their plight. This practice is
morally wrong, and it is a blunder some
employees constantly commit It will help if
employees keep in mind two things:
o The reason why they are employed,
or why their institution or firm exist,
is because of these “faceless” clients
or customers.
o Customers or clients, being human,
greatly value kindness, respect and
recognition.
Improper use of Office Materials
• Some employees believe that using office
materials for personal purposes is part of
the privilege of their office. They think it is all
right to call home for a few minutes, or that
there is nothing wrong when they use office
computers to type and print a few pages of
their children’s term papers or assignments.
• While it is true that employees enjoy the
privilege of using office equipment, these
are provided to them to make the
performance of their official duties more
efficient, and not’ for any personal
purposes. The loss brought by improper use
of office materials is numerous; failure of
other clients to make important official calls
because of a personal call by one
employee, delay in the completion of work,
loss of valuable materials, and loss of
money are some of them.
• Regardless of personal reasons, using
office materials for purposes other than
what they are intended for is unfair and
unethical.
• Another problem with office materials is the
tendency of some employees to use them
carefully. One example is the poor handling
of fragile office materials, such as
photocopying machines and computers.
These pieces of equipment do not last long,
because employees intentionally, or out of
sheer carelessness or lack of concern,
misuse them.
• A related problem is the wastefulness of
employees as they do their work. Because
they seldom work with focus and diligence,
some employees have to redo their work
many times over, thereby wasting precious
materials (and time) before accomplishing
the work right.
Pilferage
• stealing small items owned by someone
else
• Some unscrupulous employees, most
especially in the government service,
shamelessly perpetuate this practice. These
people bring home office supplies like bond
papers, folders, staplers, scissors, pastes,
even paper clips, staple wires and fasteners
• These people justify their acts by saying
that there is nothing seriously wrong in
bringing home “small stuffs”. What they
refuse to realize is that the act is a form Of
stealing. Taking something not yours, no
matter how small, is still stealing. It is theft;
it is not only unethical but punishable by
law. Corruption usually starts with desiring
small things, bringing home “big stuff’
usually starts with bringing home small
ones,
Gossiping and Bootlicking
• Some offices are beehives of the juiciest
storytellers, people whose days are not
complete without discussing someone
else’s life. Problems and miseries. They
never run dry of stories, most of the time
they make up malicious stories, which can
land them in jail for slander or malicious
mischief.
• While most employees indulge in idle talk
out of the pleasure, they derive in minding
the affairs of others, some do it to gain favor
from their employers who entertain, if not,
encourage gossiping. These employees are
bootlickers or “apple polishers”, persons
who desire to be promoted at the expense
of tarnishing the image and dignity of their
co-workers.
• The practice must be avoided, because it
demoralizes employees. Employees should
contribute in making the workplace a place
where mutual trust, confidence and respect
could flourish, a place where all could
prosper and live a satisfying and fulfilling life
Other Ethical Issues on Focus
Strikes
• Strikes comprise not only concerted work
stoppages, but also slowdowns (deliberate
reduction of worker’s individual production),
mass leaves, sit-downs (when employees
stop working, but refuse to leave the
premises of the firm, refuse to leave the
plant and the machines, and do not allow
others to operate these machines), and
other such similar activities.
• Strike is a legitimate social act: the law
provides for it; The Constitution and the
Labor Code protect the right of workers to
collective actions such as strikes.
• Perhaps we could make a better judgment if
we will consider the primary reasons why
workers go on strike. Here are some of the
several causes of strikes:
o 1. To compel recognition of a labor
union
o 2. To exert pressure on the company
during bargaining or work
negotiations
o 3. To exert pressure on union
demands for wage increases and
other benefits
o 4. To protest unfavorable actions
taken by the employer
• strike is used as a means to assert the need
of workers to be treated well by their
employers, to work with dignity and to
secure for themselves a wage that could at
least enable them to support and secure the
health of their families
• a strike, as long as it is legal, legitimate, and
done properly, could clearly serve not only
the interest of those who participate in the
activity, but also the interest of the public in
general.
Bluffing
• The contradictory interests of employers
and employees is why, from time to time,
they are forced to enter into a competitive
process of negotiating.
• Bluffing means conscious misstatements,
exaggerations and or concealment of
pertinent facts. Through bluffing, either party
can convey to the other an overstated
portrayal of its ability to inflict or to endure
cost.
• To impose great cost. Generally, the
practice of bluffing is intended to force the
other party into concession and/ or to prod
the other party and find out its extreme
points or “sticking points”
• bluffing is a matter of necessity and an
important tool for successful bargaining. In
bluffing is publicly known and accepted that
people tend to perceive it as a natural"
element of public and private life
• But do the advantages of bluffing
necessarily make it ethical? The answer will
come to us immediately the moment we
realize that bluffing is a form of deception, a
form of lying or an act of bad faith. Bluffing
involves the presentation of false
information about issues subject to
bargaining. The fact that it is accepted and
publicly known does not mean that the
practice is ethical
Whistle-blowing
• the act by an employee or a worker of
exposing some public the action of his
company that he perceives to be wrong or
contrary to the general interest of society.
Whistle-blowing is also defined as the act of
an employee of exposing immoral or illegal
practices of a co-employee.
• Whistle-blowing is a great concession to the
dictate of conscience generally arise from
clashes between and among the duties we
must render to our various social affiliations.
• It is not easy, for example, for any worker to
come out in the open with accusations
against his or her employer. Even though
the accusation is true, if it would mean
losing his job (which could result in his
inability to send his children to school, etc.)
one should think it over. It could also mean
ending a promising career and being
resented by some co-workers.
• Sometimes, the more important talking point
is not whether going public is ethical or not
but when and how the truth is to be told to
the public. Sometimes, it is not a question of
whether society benefits from whistle
blowing, but whether whistle blowing is
done rightly or not
• there are certain things we first need to
consider first, or procedures we should not
disregard before telling the truth, or before
“blowing the whistles”. If a problem arises in
the workplace, it is just fair that employers
should be informed and that the -solution or
settlement of the problem should be tried
first within the organization. If all fails, then,
 whistle blowing becomes reasonable, as a
worker or as an employee, we need to
observe the proper procedure as a matter of
responsibility
• The worker, in’ exposing his version of the
truth, must take great care to tell only the
things he could prove. This is because
unsubstantiated accusations made public
could unfairly ruin the image of the company
• For some moralists, it is also important to
consider the underlying intention of the act
of whistle-blowing. It should be done (if one
decides to blow the whistle) good faith, in
view of serving the public interest, or as a
performance of a greater moral duty, and
not as a means to advance some selfish
interest.
• Thus, whistle-blowing, in order to be ethical,
demands the right intentions. It must be
perceived only as a last resort, when all
other options fail in stopping an unethical
act from occurring. The following are some
basic steps. We must perform before taking
our case outside the company:
o 1. Be sure that the act is unethical or
illegal. Ascertain what harm it would
cause the interest and well-being of
the public. Gather information on
current applicable laws (identify what
laws are violated), possible fines or
penalties and other relevant
information.
o 2. Confront your direct superior first
(if you are asked to inform on
wrongful acts e.g., dumping of a
toxic material and writing a fallacious
report) and inform your superior
about the case. If this fails, then
confront management and con.
Vince them that the act is wrong.
Now, this requires tact and
diplomacy; Perhaps, the company
does not know anything about the
problem, but it is willing to do things
to solve the problem or issue soon
as it is properly informed.
o 3. If all other options fail, then face
the unpleasant choice whether to
bring your case outside the
company, and do what you think is
right, or be silent about it and keep
your job. After trying all available
alternatives, the first option is
considered to be the most ethical.
o 4. If you opt to bring your case
outside the company, it must be
done with a genuine conviction that
it is for the interest of the public and
not in pursuit of any selfish concern.
Issues of Health and Safety in the Workplace
Rapid industrialization, modernization of
agriculture, introduction of new technologies
(including deadly machines) and new work
procedures have given rise to new hazards and
risks of accidents and diseases. These
developments, plus persistent problems of poor
working conditions, have resulted in great
increases in the number of people killed and injured
at work.
Dangers in workplaces threaten not only the
workers but also the public. Increasing awareness
of the widespread nature of occupational health
hazards, and the high economic costs of accidents
and illnesses have resulted in the emergence Of
safety and health in the workplace as important
concerns for workers, employers and governments,
especially in developing countries. It is hoped that
such awareness can be a good basis for joint
efforts to reduce risks at work.
Facts and Figures
• Deaths. The ILO estimates that about
200,000 workers worldwide die annually,
and it is presumed that over half of these
figures are from the Asian and Pacific
regions. In China, for example, 1 3,000
workers died in 1994 in two industries
alone. (considering how many other
industries there are in China, the figure
could be thousands more!) In Thailand, the
number of fatal cases has increased sharply
from 352 in 1988 to 665 in 1991. Perusing
over the list of injuries and deaths, the ILO
report shows that tens of thousands of
Asian workers die because of work
accidents in hazardous industries.
• Injuries. As many as 120 million workers
worldwide are injured or become ill
annually. In the case of work-related
fatalities, half of the estimate comes from
developing countries. In Malaysia, the
number of people reported to have been
affected by work accidents increased from
88, 127 in 1988 to 124,898 in 1991. In
Thailand, based on information from the
Workmen’s Compensation Fund, the
number of people reported to have been
affected by work accidents increased from
49,874 in 1988 to 103,296 in 1991.
 • Diseases. According to the ILO, there is a
high prevalence of workers suffering from
work-related diseases in developing
countries. For example, in Singapore,
500,000 workers have been reported (from
1991 to 1994) to be suffering from work-
related diseases like dermatitis. asthma,
silicosis, asbestosis, poisoning and gassing.
In Australia, 12,000 workers were reportedly
suffering from work-related diseases. In
Korea, there were several thousands.
Considering the underreporting Of cases
(note the difference between the reported
cases in Singapore and Australia), ILO
estimates that hundreds of thousands of
people in the Asia-Pacific region are likely to
be suffering each year from occupational-
related diseases.
Unsafe Work Situations for Specific Groups
• Working Children. In many sectors,
working children are often involved in
unsafe work. Urgent attention must be paid
to children in hazardous employment. Their
protection requires legislative action,
education and training, and assurance that
at least very young children are not allowed
to work. Innovative health care systems
must be implemented to protect them.
• Migrant Workers. Migrant workers usually
work in new settings, under conditions
which are unfamiliar to them, and are less
protected for various economic and social
reasons. Their precarious employment
conditions often mean that they have to
endure unsafe working conditions. Many of
them have difficulty in following instructions
and safety warnings in a language foreign to
them. The places where they work, in
particular, in small and medium-sized
enterprises, construction, agriculture and
plantations, are often not effectively covered
by legislation on occupational safety and
health.
• Disabled, Older and Indigenous Workers.
This special group tends to accept unsafe
and unhealthy working conditions. Many of
them work outside the organized sector and
are not union members. Because of the
circumstances of their employment, they are
not given support to improve their
conditions. Special protective measures
should be developed for them.
• Working Women and Mothers. This
special group forms an increasing
proportion of the workforce. The basic issue
is to provide equal employment
opportunities for both women and men. This
requires that due regard be paid to family
needs while working to enable all individuals
to amply develop their potential: child-care
services, flexible working time
arrangements, non-penalizing career breaks
and leave schemes. Access to training also-
needs special attention. In fact, all these
measures contribute to securing the safety
and health of working women and mothers.
According to the ILO, the problems of these special
groups are connected to the overall problem. Of
protecting all workers. Legislation that has
weaknesses in addressing safety and health at
work generally cannot deal adequately with the
particular problems of these specific groups. The
same can be said of enforcement of laws and
regulations, risk evaluation and control, technical -
advice, training and information services.
Therefore, comprehensive policies and programs
should be developed to address occupational
safety and health issues, and establish priorities to
meet local needs.
The Role of Employers and Employees
Employers should ensure that:
• workplaces, machinery, equipment and
processes under their control are safe and
without risk to health;
• chemical, physical and biological
substances and agents under their control
are without risk to health when appropriate
protective measures are taken
• adequate protective clothing and protective
equipment are available, where necessary;
and
• measures to deal with emergencies and
accidents, including adequate first-aid
arrangements are available, where
necessary
Workers are responsible for:
• taking care of their own safety and that of
others who may be affected by their acts or
omissions at work;
• complying with instructions given for their
own and others’ safety and health, and with
other safety and health procedures
• using safety devices and protective
equipment correctly and not rendering them
inoperative;
 • reporting to their immediate supervisor any
situation which they’ believe could present a
hazard, and which they themselves cannot
correct: and
• reporting any accident or injury to health at
work.
LESSON 11: WHO AM I, MY PERSONALITY,
AND IMPACT AT WORK
What is personality?
Personality
- originated from the Latin persona, which
referred to a theatrical mask worn by
Roman actors in Greek dramas
- “personality”, they are referring to
something more than a role people play.
- a pattern of relatively permanent traits and
unique characteristics that give both
consistency and individuality to a person's
behavior
Positive and Negative Tendencies of certain
Personalities at Work
Openness
 displaying receptiveness to new tasks,
employees with this trait also tend to be
more intellectually curious and creatively
minded.
 adapt well to unexpected changes:
imagination, feelings, actions, ideas, values,
adventurousness, artistic interests
 can become bored with routine jobs
Conscientiousness
 high levels of effort and motivation
 low levels of absenteeism and turnover
 only personality trait that is consistently
linked to career success over time
 order, self-discipline, competence,
achievement-striving
 can become consumed with details and
miss the big picture
Extraversion
 more outgoing, sociable activities,
 they are very well suited to team projects.
 the ones who will provide energy and drive
communication during collaboration;
 warmth, friendliness, assertiveness, activity
level, positive emotions,
 they can also tend towards attention-
seeking behavior, which can overwhelm
those around them.
Agreeableness
 more likely to work cooperatively with their
team members, foster more trust and
present a helpful attitude.
 create fair environments when in
management positions • work well in team
settings
 trust, compliance, modesty, altruism,
sympathy, cooperation,
 become too submissive to those around
them, creating an imbalance in the team
that managers need to watch for.
Neuroticism
 excitable, often very dynamic
 tendency to analyze self and world more
realistically and critically
 Sensitive employees tend to experience the
more extreme spectrums of human emotion
and are likely to be more reactive and in
tune with those of a similar disposition.
 hostility, depression, impulsiveness, anger,
vulnerability, self-consciousness,
Negative Influence of certain Personality Types at
Work
The Loner
 purposely anti-social person who even
sometimes acts sorta snobby about it
 their refusal to interact or be a team player
creates unnecessary team divides and silos
– which make it harder for their team to get
things done effectively
 Easy Identifier: wears noise canceling
headphones even when not connected to
any type of musical device
The Slacker
 Never seems to get things done on time
 Has a laid-back attitude and has been
caught sleeping at work on several
occasions
 Cannot be relied on
 Easy Identifier: often wears shorts and
flipflops (or no shoes at all) to work and can
be found with their feet on their desk at any
given time
The Naysayer
 Always has something to complain about
and never has suggestions for solutions
 To find them in the office, listen for the
sound of deep, emotional sighs and an
Eeyore-toned voice
 Their negativity about work brings the whole
office down and depletes motivation
 Easy Identifier: keep their shoulders
hunched and an upset expression on their
face. Always trying to find somebody to
listen to them complain and gossip about
their boss, job, and coworkers
Excessive Emailer
 Live for email.
 They love to CC anybody and everybody
and unnecessarily click reply all to almost
every email thread.
 They are the main reason your inbox is
packed, making you waste hours trying to
sift through what’s important and what’s not.
Butt Kisser
 They always say yes in an attempt to
impress their boss and coworkers so when
they don’t get things done, they are never
repercussions because the boss still
operates under the illusion that they had a
crazy work load.
 Do not deliver tasks on time
Black Hole
 As if approval processes aren’t tedious
enough already.
 They don’t seem to notice an always has
feedback to give making approvals into a
process of 70 iterations before you can call
work “final”.
 This results in lots of extra rework and
overtime
 Always change their mind
Over sharer
 Always overshares intimate details about
their life and constantly posts awkwardly
private things on Facebook and Twitter.
The Tool
 Working out is their second job and they
love to talk to you about it.
 Not to mention their perfectly coiffed hair
and how they condescendingly flex their
muscles while they speak to you.
 These people are too busy loving
themselves to contribute to the team or
finish their work on time.
The contrarian
 The person always finds a way to contradict
what you say. No matter what you do,
you’re wrong and they know best.
 They’ll even make things up just to sound
like they know what they’re talking about.
 Unwilling to compromise or collaborate
because they think everything should be
their way.
 Impossible to agree on things and get work
done.
Impact of People at Work
Impact and Meaning
• Meaning helps clarify the why one does the
work
• Impact helps see the what or the results of
one’s work
• Why am I doing something? I’m doing
something to have an impact.
- The employee has the opportunity and the
responsibility to make the choice to engage
in that environment created by the manager.
- Employees must understand and be
committed to the organizational and team
goals.
- If employees can’t see the impact of their
work or the end -state of it, then they should
ask their manager/organization for more
clarity around how their work impacts the
overall goals and strategy
Impact of Work to People
Stress
• body’s response to change (causes
breathing and heart rate speed up and
blood pressure to rise)
• Strain – the physical and psychological
consequences of stress
• Tension and pressure that result when an
individual views situations which present a
demand that threatens to exceed his or her
capabilities or resources

Types of Stress
• Eustress
o Helpful type of stress
o Prepare the muscles, heart and
mind for the strength needed for
whatever is about to occur
• Distress
o negative type of stress; what the
mind and body undergo when
normal routine is constantly adjusted
and altered
o Acute stress - Comes immediately
with a change of routine (intense but
passes quickly)
o Chronic stress - Will occur if there is
a constant change of routine for
week after week
When do I Experience Stress?
• I experience stress if I believe that I don’t
have time, resources or knowledge to
handle a situation.
Stressors
• Adapting to constant, rapid change
• Worrying about your finances and the
economy
• Handling a major life event, such as
changing jobs or moving to a new home
• Handling more than one major life event at
the same time, for instance, dealing with a
family illness while changing jobs
• Juggling many roles and responsibilities,
such as spouse or life partner, parent,
friend, employee, and caregiver for aging
parents
• Going from one challenging situation to the
next without taking time to relax
• Being overwhelmed by technology such as,
keeping up with cell phone messages, e-
mails, and text messages
Stress Responses
• Freeze – little changes in mood or emotions
• Fight-or-Flight Response
o Fight – fighting back
o Flight – escaping
• Tend-and-Befriend Response
o Tend – nurture, protect and support
o Befriend – strengthen interpersonal
relations
Stress Management
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- For: Addiction, anxiety disorder, bipolar
disorder, low self - esteem, phobia,
schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts
- Not used for ADHD/ Autism
- Cognitions: Beliefs leading to anxiety,
anger/ depression – thoughts
- Behaviors: Realize consequences of beliefs
- Problem focused
- Focused on emotions
- Focused on thoughts
- Focused on behaviors
- Client-centered
- Collaborative
- Present - centered
 Best and Worst food to eat when Stressed
Foods or drinks to avoid:
Food to take when stressed
How to deal with Stress?
1. Keep a positive attitude.
2. Accept that there are events that you cannot
control.
3. Be assertive instead of aggressive. Assert your
feelings, opinions, or beliefs instead of becoming
angry, defensive, or passive.
4. Learn and practice relaxation techniques; try
meditation, yoga, or tai-chi for stress management.
5. Exercise regularly. Your body can fight stress
better when it is fit.
6. Eat healthy, well-balanced meals. TRY r e s e a r
ch
7. Learn to manage your time more effectively.
8. Set limits appropriately and learn to say no to
requests that would create excessive stress in your
life.
9. Make time for hobbies, interests, and relaxation.
10. Get enough rest and sleep. Your body needs
time to recover from stressful events.
11. Don't rely on alcohol, drugs, or compulsive
behaviors to reduce stress.
12. Seek out social support. Spend enough time
with those you enjoy.
13. Seek treatment with a psychologist or other
mental health professional trained in stress
management or biofeedback techniques to learn
healthy ways of dealing with the stress in your life.
• Processed foods
• White flour products -- can be extremely
inflammatory. And inflammatory foods tend
to put a strain on our digestive system,
acting as an additional
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Sugar
• Avocado and Banana - loaded with
potassium, a vital mineral for keeping blood
pressure low.
• Tea - Calm frazzled nerves with a soothing
cup of your favorite tea blend
• Fatty Fish - The heart-healthy omega-3 fats
in fish such as salmon, sardines and tuna
manage adrenaline levels to help keep you
calm, cool and collected
• Whole-wheat pretzels - Not only will you feel
fuller from the fiber, but also the
carbohydrates offer an energy boost and
trigger the brain to release a feel-good
chemical called serotonin.
• Carrots - Munching on crunchy foods helps
beat stress. Nutrient-rich carrots, celery and
other crunchy, fresh veggies offer satisfying
crispness that won't bog you down with too
many calories.
• Milk - Have a glass to get more B vitamins,
protein, vitamin D and bone-building
calcium to relieve tense muscles. Stick to
the low-fat (1 percent) or skim varieties. Try
drinking some milk around bedtime to bring
on more restful sleep.
• Yogurt
• Nuts - Stress runs you down, which leaves
you open to sickness. Almonds, pistachios
and walnuts can boost your immune system
with vitamins and zinc
• Chocolate - Research indicates that dark
chocolate may lower levels of stress
hormones. Chocolate also contains sugar (a
carbohydrate), so it releases mood-
improving serotonin. It's all right to indulge;
just keep the portions in check.
• Other methods: Laughter therapy- HOHO
HAHAHA •Brushing the brain • Flossing the
brain