My organization portrays its values through constant
communication of what our values represent and sharing real examples of how we
are achieving these values. The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began an initiative to create a value based
culture a few years ago called “I CARE”.
These values reflect a promise of how each employee should represent
themselves in their vital role of serving our nation’s Veterans. Their website (n.d.) states:
“VA’s
five core values underscore the obligations inherent in VA’s mission:
Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence. The core values
define “who we are,” our culture, and how we care for Veterans and eligible
beneficiaries. Our values are more than just words – they affect outcomes in
our daily interactions with Veterans and eligible beneficiaries and with each
other. Taking the first letter of each word—Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy,
Respect, Excellence—creates a powerful acronym, “I CARE,” that reminds each VA
employee of the importance of their role in this Department. These core values
come together as five promises we make as individuals and as an organization to
those we serve.
Integrity: Act with high moral principle. Adhere to the highest
professional standards. Maintain the trust and confidence of all with whom I
engage.
Commitment: Work diligently to serve Veterans and other beneficiaries.
Be driven by an earnest belief in VA’s mission. Fulfill my individual
responsibilities and organizational responsibilities.
Advocacy: Be truly Veteran-centric by identifying, fully
considering, and appropriately advancing the interests of Veterans and other
beneficiaries.
Respect: Treat all those I serve and with whom I work with dignity
and respect. Show respect to earn it.
Excellence: Strive for the highest quality and continuous improvement.
Be thoughtful and decisive in leadership, accountable for my actions, willing
to admit mistakes, and rigorous in correcting them.”
These are some values I have applied throughout my
life before my employment with the VA.
My family instilled such values upon me growing up and my military
career reinforced them further. The core
values in the Air Force were similar to the VA’s core values in applying “Integrity
first, service before self, and excellence in all we do”. I found it odd when employees would leave work
promptly when their shift ended after I first started working at the VA. I came from a work culture where we put our
service before ourselves and the mission of our organization always took precedence. Some organizations, including mine, do not
push such a selfless demand on their employees.
However, I still find myself putting the needs of my organization first
because that value is engrained within. I
personally witness the VA’s values being exercised every single day by my coworkers. These are some of the hardest working,
selfless, ethical, and caring people I have ever worked alongside. Despite the VA having such an exceptional
workforce, the organization continually receives negative attention for the unethical
actions of a small percentage of employees.
This is unfair and unfortunate because the entire organization should
not be considered unethical or incompetent based on a few bad apples. For example, an individual in a leadership
position made our organization look bad when she engaged in an unprofessional
relationship and abused her position to benefit her own self-interests. She blatantly steered government funds to her
boyfriend (with whom she was having an affair) because she controlled the approval of contracts to be awarded to a company
in which her lover owned. LaFollette (2007)
states psychological egoism is “the theory that everyone’s actions are always
and completely self-interested” (p. 272). The aforementioned example is a
good illustration of an individual succumbing to their motivations of being
completely self-interested and supporting the psychological egoism theory. The most frustrating aspect of unethical
behavior in our organization is that when it is publicized, it falsely substantiates
the media’s and public opinion that the entire organization is unethical and has
problems beyond repair. This is simply
not the case.
Gallagher (2013) advises that every choice has a
consequence and we must make ethical decisions because we may find ourselves
sliding down the slippery slope of the unethical continuum. He used excellent examples of using the
printer at work for personal use or upselling a customer to benefit the
organization. Some unethical practices that
occur every day in the workplace are sometimes seen as normal and accepted
behavior. However, rationalizing what we
view as small and harmless unethical choices pave the way to illegal and
harmful decisions. After all, if we can
rationalize what we identify as unethical yet minor actions, where do we draw
the line? This is why we have to avoid
justifying all unethical behavior which serves our self-interests, no matter
how insignificant we may initially perceive it to be. Engaging in ethical behavior is vital
because, as Weinstein (2012) suggests, acting ethically is not only the right
thing to do; it also benefits us by making us feel better and everyone wins.
References:
Core Values. (n.d.).
About VA. Retrieved from http://www.va.gov/about_va/mission.asp
LaFollette, H.
(2007). The practice of ethics.
Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Gallagher, C. (2013). Business Ethics Keynote
Speaker - Chuck Gallagher – shares Straight Talk about Ethics! Retrieved
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE
Weinstein, B. (2012).
Keynote Speech Excerpts from The Ethics Guy. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxbHBpilJQ
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