Enhancing Workplace Ethics: 10 Examples of Ethical Behaviour

Updated 15 April 2024

Workplace ethics are important for creating a standard of conduct for employees and unifying everyone behind specific principles. Ethics can differ in each workplace, depending on the company's core values, but many organisations share similar ethical requirements. Understanding these ethics can help you build a stronger, more unified workforce and exemplify positive behaviours for your colleagues to imitate. In this article, we discuss ethical behaviours and list 10 ethical behaviour examples in the workplace.

What are ethical behaviours?

Ethical behaviours refer to how employees conduct themselves in the workplace, as defined by standardised ethics. Ethics are principles that the workplace, society or colleagues agree upon that dictate behaviours and actions. For example, an organisation might value honesty, and so expects honest behaviour from its employees.Related: Business Code of Ethics (With Definition and Examples)

10 ethical behaviour examples for the workplace

Here are ethical behaviour examples you can use as a reference to improve the workplace:

1. Punctuality

Ethical behaviour in the workplace is punctuality or being on time. Being on time not only shows respect for other people who might otherwise wait for you to arrive but also demonstrates that you value your own time and the event you're attending. If you're on time for work, meetings and any other work-related events, your employer might view you as more reliable and depend on you for higher-level tasks.Related: Understanding Business Ethics in the Workplace

2. Following rules of conduct

Every organisation has its own internal rules or guidelines for employee conduct. These rules not only help shape the public image of the organisation based on the behaviours of employees, supervisors and executive leaders but also help ensure a comfortable, productive workplace for everyone, regardless of their background or other factors. Employers often consider following and respecting these guidelines as standard ethical behaviour in the workplace. Following conduct rules at work may also help differentiate you as a responsible, caring, respectful person who understands the value of making everyone feel comfortable and welcome.

3. Respecting other people

If you want to work well with others, respect is a useful tool. Most organisations consider respect for supervisors, the business as a whole and customers and colleagues to be standard ethical behaviour. Because working with other people requires proximity, frequent communication and inevitable disagreements, respect becomes an important factor. Respect helps people understand their differences, learn to trust one another and ensure that everyone works under the same conditions, feeling safe, comfortable and able to do their job effectively.Related: What Is Corporate Culture?

4. Helping teammates accomplish organisation goals

You can also display ethical behaviour at work by helping others accomplish their goals or the organisation's objectives. For example, if you finish a project early, you might offer help to someone who's struggling to meet their deadlines. This shows both that you care about the organisation and its productivity, and that other people are important to you. Acting in this way may help you form more meaningful relationships with colleagues, which can help improve communication and trust and ultimately the quality of a team's work.

5. Maintaining a professional demeanour

A professional demeanour is a requirement in most workplaces, as the actions of the organisation's employees reflect on the organisation itself. If an employee conducts themselves professionally when representing the organisation, it shows that they value their place in the organisation and understand the importance of a solid public image. For example, defusing a situation with an angry customer instead of getting angry and responding with swear words can show professionalism and likely help you keep your job.

6. Exercising accountability

Many organisations value honesty, integrity and accountability. Accountability means taking responsibility for your actions at work, regardless of whether your actions yielded positive outcomes. Sometimes, unfavourable outcomes can make taking responsibility intimidating, especially if the outcome cost the organisation money. Showing accountability can help mitigate a more severe outcome, as you're admitting to the mistake and taking responsibility for fixing it. This level of honesty and initiative might impress your employer.Related: What Is Integrity? (Definition and Examples)

7. Delivering high-quality work

Many workplaces value high-quality work and consider giving your best as an important work ethic. In some workplaces, your work can directly or indirectly impact the customer, which may influence their perspective on the company. Making the effort to do your best work can show that you take pride in your position and your work and help the organisation impress its customers. When an organisation pays you to do a certain task, they're creating the expectation that you deliver work commensurate to that level of compensation.

8. Serving the customer

Many businesses focus on serving the customer and view it as a vital company value. Ethical behaviour towards customers ensures the customer returns to the business to make a purchase and helps position the company as a provider of high-quality services. Ethical behaviours towards customers can include maintaining a positive attitude when interacting with them, doing your best to accommodate their specific needs and showing empathy towards any queries or frustrations they may show.

9. Meeting deadlines

Meeting deadlines is important because it can affect the speed of which a customer or client receives a product or service or it can impact the time another employee begins the next stage of a process. For example, if your employer requires you to write a 2,000-word article within the week, the editing team and customer also expect that article at a certain time. Meeting deadlines is ethical because it shows respect for others and tells the employer that you care about your work and the productivity of the organisation.

10. Respecting the authority of supervisors

Another important and common work ethic is for team members to respect their supervisors. This includes any direct supervisors and the executive leaders of the organisation. Ethical behaviour can include listening to their requests, not arguing with them and doing your best to deliver high-quality work. Since they typically answer for the performance of the people they manage, supervisors can appreciate when someone does their best work and cooperates. It makes their job a little easier and can help build their confidence as a leader within the company.Related: What Are Leadership Models? (With 11 Different Examples)

Importance of ethical behaviours at work

Ethical behaviours are important for a successful, cohesive workplace because they help establish and reinforce conduct expectations. When everyone understands what the organisation expects of them, it can be much easier to judge employee quality and commitment to the goals of the business. Here are some other benefits that highlight the importance of ethical workplace behaviours:

Creates an inclusive environment: A workplace built around the values of honesty, inclusivity and respect can feel more welcoming to new employees and people of different cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations and belief systems. This can help reduce conflict and improve general productivity and team cohesion.
Establishes firmer guidelines: With ethical expectations, employers can create more firm guidelines for behaviours, which they use to determine the quality of both current employees and potential candidates. For example, a workplace may prefer to work with candidates who embody the organisation's core values or have a history of being punctual.
Improves public image: An organisation with strong ethics may have a stronger public image, as the public typically judges organisations by the behaviours of their leadership and employees. Strong ethical behaviours at all organisation levels show the public that the organisation intends to serve people honestly and encourages the same from employees.
Creates an environment of accountability: Strong ethical guidelines can create an environment where employees, supervisors and executives hold each other accountable for their actions. This can help create stronger ties between employees and leaders and even help the organisation grow as new staff integrate into the system.