Having researched this I now understand what is meant by ethical networking at work. Generally, being ethical involves conducting yourself in accordance with accepted principles of right and wrong. Ethics is a matter of using integrity based decision making procedures to guide your decisions and actions. In the workplace, being ethical may involve acting morally right, being honest and not cheating your employer or colleagues. Other ethical situations may involve inappropriate use of the internet for outside of work activities or harassment etc.
I then thought about the actual networking part. My initial thought is that this means not networking about subjects not to do with work whilst at work. It is obviously unprofessional to talk about colleagues behind their backs but unfortunately I think this happens to a certain extent in all work places. Being a teacher, I think it would be wrong to talk to parents about rival schools or engage in any conversation that resulted in bad mouthing another company, no matter how much you dislike them or disagree with their actions. This applies when speaking to students too. I have had a situation recently where a child has moved from a different teachers class in to my class as she thought the other teacher was 'boring'....obviously the other teacher doesn't know this is why she moved, she thought it was because she needed to switch days due to other commitments. The student engaged in conversation about this and I immediately changed the subject. However much I agree, I would never talk about another teacher to a student. Nor would I talk to a parent about a different teacher or child's needs in the class other than her own child. I recently saw this great article shared on Facebook by a teacher friend of mine. Please take the time to read it. It basically says everything that a teacher wishes they could say to a complaining parent but ethically it would be wrong.
Here is the link:
http://www.upworthy.com/this-letter-from-a-teacher-dear-parent-about-that-kid-made-me-cry-like-a-baby
I think work can be a brilliant place to network as you are surrounded by people who are in the same career as you. It's a great way to get contacts and help from other working professionals. However, the line must be drawn when it gets to a certain point. I think if you are looking for a new job you are treading on very thin ice by engaging in conversation about it with colleagues. You would have to really trust them. The networking down at work needs to be totally above board. A conversation that you would happily have with your boss. I have never (and would never want to) leave a job on bad terms. If the networking at work is going to aid you in your current job and help broaden your knowledge and contacts then great! Like I said, I always think....ask yourself the question "How would my boss feel about this?" and you'll know straight away whether what you're doing is ethically correct for the workplace.
I then thought about the actual networking part. My initial thought is that this means not networking about subjects not to do with work whilst at work. It is obviously unprofessional to talk about colleagues behind their backs but unfortunately I think this happens to a certain extent in all work places. Being a teacher, I think it would be wrong to talk to parents about rival schools or engage in any conversation that resulted in bad mouthing another company, no matter how much you dislike them or disagree with their actions. This applies when speaking to students too. I have had a situation recently where a child has moved from a different teachers class in to my class as she thought the other teacher was 'boring'....obviously the other teacher doesn't know this is why she moved, she thought it was because she needed to switch days due to other commitments. The student engaged in conversation about this and I immediately changed the subject. However much I agree, I would never talk about another teacher to a student. Nor would I talk to a parent about a different teacher or child's needs in the class other than her own child. I recently saw this great article shared on Facebook by a teacher friend of mine. Please take the time to read it. It basically says everything that a teacher wishes they could say to a complaining parent but ethically it would be wrong.
Here is the link:
http://www.upworthy.com/this-letter-from-a-teacher-dear-parent-about-that-kid-made-me-cry-like-a-baby
I think work can be a brilliant place to network as you are surrounded by people who are in the same career as you. It's a great way to get contacts and help from other working professionals. However, the line must be drawn when it gets to a certain point. I think if you are looking for a new job you are treading on very thin ice by engaging in conversation about it with colleagues. You would have to really trust them. The networking down at work needs to be totally above board. A conversation that you would happily have with your boss. I have never (and would never want to) leave a job on bad terms. If the networking at work is going to aid you in your current job and help broaden your knowledge and contacts then great! Like I said, I always think....ask yourself the question "How would my boss feel about this?" and you'll know straight away whether what you're doing is ethically correct for the workplace.
No comments:
Post a Comment