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Every small business owner dreams of cultivating a healthy and profitable business that enriches themselves, their workers, and their local community.
It’s a tough journey and a wide range of unforeseen challenges are bound to appear along the way. It’s all worthwhile, though, and it’s important that those small businesses owners are aware of the ethical issues they must detect and deter along the way. This can help business owners to make sure that their business is a force for good that can grow in a healthy and sustainable way.
This list of ethical issues in business will help you to get a better understanding of your responsibilities as an employer. We will provide actionable suggestions so that you can keep your employees and your business safe.
Let’s begin with one of the most obvious ethical issues in business: finances. Many businesses stumble here and place themselves in sticky situations.
It’s absolutely essential that small businesses owners understand just how important accounting is from their very first day of operation. Numbers never lie and every action performed by a company can – and often will – be discovered and traced back.
If a small business decides to “cook the books”, it opens up a world of potential issues. Forging and falsifying financial documents cannot be taken lightly and the law certainly takes issue with the practice. In falsifying documents, small businesses commit ethical and judicial crimes that will be rectified with fines and/or imprisonment. The business will rarely survive.
The key to avoiding ethical issues in this area is to exercise diligent control over finances. Every small business owner should be sure to play an active role in finances and work alongside a trusted accountant who will perform honest and transparent work.
These steps should always be taken, otherwise small business owners run the risk of undoing all of their hard work.
Statistics show that many small businesses lose a staggering 5% of their annual revenue to employee theft. It’s a painful truth to accept that the people you trust may decide to steal from you, but it’s important to remain pragmatic and aware of the dangers posed by employee theft.
Employee theft comes in a range of forms, and you should take the time to acclimatize yourself with all of them. This can help you realize when something isn’t right and give you the power to act fast before your losses build up.
The first way that employees may steal is, of course, in terms of money. This is most common in retail, where employees will come into direct contact with money. Inventory is another issue, where employees may help themselves to the products or supplies that are owned by a business.
Time is of course another danger. Some employees may stop working all together while still drawing a salary, which is a form of theft in itself.
It’s also very important that you take steps to protect the valuable information that your company holds. Some employees may use this information to assist themselves or a competitor within your industry, giving themselves an unfair advantage.
There are a range of steps that you can take to reduce the danger of employee theft. Firstly, you should make sure that you have the appropriate staff in place to monitor stock and employee behavior. This includes HR and accounting departments.
Your first line of defence against employee theft is, of course, the hiring process. Invest in the right people and make sure that you find those professionals who will be courteous and respectful of your property.
The world economy is composed of countless businesses working together to create value and employment for people. A range of laws and treaties have been drawn up to make sure that those businesses operate in a fair and safe way that helps them provide value for all.
Compliance is an important part of being a responsible business owner. You should take the time to properly research and understand the various responsibilities that you have from an environmental, federal, and state level. Compliance with those rules and regulations will help you to protect yourself, your employees, and the wider environment.
Some businesses fail to comply with those rules either intentionally or unintentionally. It’s a big issue, and those businesses can find themselves in a lot of trouble if their non-compliance is discovered.
You should make sure that you work alongside talented professionals who are able to give you the right guidance, and that your entire team is made aware of the responsibilities that they hold.
Despite their best efforts, many businesses will find that their efforts at compliance are undermined by some employees who bend the rules for their own gain. This is very problematic and to avoid it, businesses must ensure that their governance structure is reliable and effective.
You should make sure that you are able to effectively govern your company and employees. This means creating structures and processes that are in place to protect everyone.
As part of those processes, you will want to offer a strong focus on education and thoughtfulness. By sharing your vision and your values with your team, you will be able to curtail any tendency toward greed and self-interest. Make your employees aware of all the regulations they must abide by and also outline the disciplinary procedures that are in place.
Your small business should work to protect your employees regardless of their backgrounds and circumstances. Everybody deserves to be treated fairly, enjoying uninhibited access to all of the same benefits and opportunities as any other person.
No employee should ever be made to feel that their treatment is based upon some demographic quality that they possess. One of the key ethical issues in business is the gender pay gap, where women are often paid less than men for the same work.
Ageism is one of the current ethical issues in business, given changing trends with regards to the age of the workforce.
There are a range of reasons that an employee may find that they are discriminated against. This official list will vary from one country or state to the next, so you should again make sure that you are as informed and empowered with knowledge as possible.
Here’s a closer look at the various types of discrimination that exist:
– Age
Your employees should not be treated any differently because of their age. This applies to both older and younger employees – they should receive equal treatment.
– Disability
Of course, your small business must provide an accommodating space and equal treatment to any people who suffer from mental and physical disabilities.
– Pregnancy
It is important that your pregnant employees are catered for and that they are treated fairly in the same way as everybody else.
– Equal Pay
The compensation that your employees receive cannot be altered based upon ground of religion, race, sex, etc.
– Sex
Your employees must be treated the same regardless of their sex or gender identity.
– Religion
Religious discrimination has no place in the workplace, and every employee should be treated the same regardless of their religion.
– Race
It’s important that every team member is treated fairly regardless of their race.
To ensure that your team is protected against discrimination, you should make sure that you are aware of the dynamics within your team. Your HR team should help you here, and you should attempt to foster a working environment that is inclusive where everyone is educated and informed.
Any form of discrimination should be dealt with effectively and thoroughly, or you may find that your business could be placed in jeopardy if you fail to act. Some courts will find that the businesses are responsible for fostering an unfair work environment.
Every person deserves to go to work and feel safe. Unfortunately, particular dynamics can emerge whereby a particular employee is harassed in the workplace and made to feel unsafe.
Naturally, this is a terrible situation that every small business owner dreads hearing about. Not only could this harassment be deeply upsetting for your employee, it could also border on criminal and foster a toxic work environment.
Examples of harassment include things like teasing, verbal or physical abuse, or inappropriate sexual behavior. All of these are awful, and you should work very hard to protect your employees from them.
To make sure that your business is a safe and pleasant place to work, you should carefully monitor the dynamics that emerge between your team. It’s also very important that you pay close attention to the people that you hire and how they behave.
Your HR department should once again be able to help you here, making sure that your team runs harmoniously and that everybody is safe.
Whatever your industry or line of business, it’s absolutely critical that you fulfil the responsibilities that you bear toward your employees. You must foster an environment that is safe for both your employees and customers from a health and safety perspective.
To address this ethical problem in business, you should perform a lot of research to find out more about the federal and state rules that you must comply with.
You should then spend a lot of time identifying and risks and hazards that exist within your workplace. This can be done alongside a health and safety professional who will be able to provide you with guidance and advice. Working in close cooperation with that professional, it will become easier to reduce the frequency and severity of risks.
It’s also important that your business has the appropriate responses ready. If somebody falls ill or injures themselves within your workplace, you have an important ethical responsibility to keep them safe and secure treatment for them. You should again work alongside the appropriate professionals to develop these plans.
These plans will help you in other instances, too, like the spread of fire or a natural disaster.
If businesses fail to protect their team in this way, they may find that they face dire legal consequences. Some businesses are thrown into financial ruin because they are unable to evidence an appropriate response to a workplace injury or event.
By developing the appropriate response to this ethical problem in business, you can be a responsible business owner who works to protect both your employees and your business. You should not leave the future and the health of your business up to chance, but work to develop the appropriate response that works for everyone.
We hope that this list of ethical issues in business has helped you and opened your eyes to the critical issues you face, as well as how you can treat them. Safe and happy workplaces are also productive workplaces, so it makes sense from a business perspective.
As you can see, there is a lot to think about. Life as a small business owner is tough and as well as thinking about your business and industry, you’ve got to work very hard to foster a safe and productive work environment.
We recommend that you become a strong and trusted leader by doing as much research as possible. You should investigate all of the laws, regulations, and rules that affect your business and empower your team members to give you the help that you need. Call upon your HR and accounting departments to give you the help you need.
You should also make a list of commitments that you will never waver from. As a small business owner, you are an important part of the community and many people will turn to you for support and moral guidance – be there for them.
We are confident that you will do an amazing job creating a healthy work environment for your employees, too. Every person in your business should be vigilant and help with this important task. We wish you every success!
