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Student’s name
Institution
Date
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Introduction
Ethics is deliberated as one of important aspect that an individual have. When we were
children, our church, parents, and school imparted very significant lessons in morality. Miriam
Webster’s Dictionary (2018) defined ethics as the discipline that deals with what is good and
bad and with obligation and obligation moral duty. We all run into issues day-to-day that dares
our ethics and morals.
In my place of work, I am regularly presented with situations that requires my decisions
regarding the information received from various sources. Integrity is a distinctive character that
I maintain while doing the assigned job. Making informed assessments is a process in its self.
Firstly, a problem is presented unto you, then you are required to do some investigation and the
make a decision based on certain aspects. Occasionally, the decisions that I make affect only my
office staff of five people, but in some instances it can has impact to almost 2500 people.
Ethical Scenario
During a recent changeover in my duty unit, some employees were relocated to other
offices and staffing became an issue. We were initially manned at five staff members, servicing
about 2500 or more persons, providing them with educational support. In a span of three weeks, a
few additional personnel changes ensued and the office was scaled down to one staff member.
This particular staff member had been doing the job for more than ten years and was very set in
his behaviors. After a few days of working, I noticed that his productivity was going down. He
spent the same amount of time in the office, only took less than one hour lunch break but
continuously stayed past the time but the work ended past 5:00 pm. I knew that manning was a
concern and took an initiative to talk to my superiors concerning the issue of long hours that we
were putting in. My bosses sympathized but I was told that the assignment remains the same
even when you lose persons. This particular staff member approached me and requested if he can
be allowed to work overtime since the day hours could not accommodate the workload of
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providing the educational services to our learners and keep the records as it required by the rules.
I considered his requested and presented it to my superiors. The request was approved and the
employee was slated to get 10 overtime hours per week at a rate of 1.5 a day. Everything went
along well for another month or so and it seemed like the employee was managing his time and
working with students as needed. A week later, I received a comment card that described a
situation that occurred where the employee declined to assist a walk-in client because he had too
much work to do. The student felt that the staff member was rude and dismissive and “Did not
seem to care about his issues.” I immediately contacted the student and offered my assistance to
resolve the issue, the student came back into the office and I completed the original request as he
had previously asked.
I called the staff member into my office to discuss the comment card that was received
and to discuss possible solutions to the issue about managing time and still providing excellent
service to our clients. During the meeting the staff member was contrite and offered to contact
the student and apologize for his curt behavior. He also suggested that he would dedicate two
mornings to walk in appointments and three mornings to scheduled appointments until we
received more bodies to help with the workload. I was pleased with the outcome of the meeting
and made plans to advertise the changes to the community that we supported.
The very next day after we had the meeting, a contractor was hired and assigned to our
unit. The young lady was pleasant and eager to help in any way that she could. Even though she
did not have any experience in the education field, she was a quick learner and took some
pressure off by answering emails and phones. In her second week at our office, she asked to
speak with me privately. When we met she stated that during the course of the last duty day she
needed some information and tried to speak with the staff member regarding the issue. In her
words, “When I approached him, he said he was too busy, went to his office and shut the door.”
She was unsure of what to do because I was at a meeting during the time period. She
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stated that she took the name and number of the client and told the person that she would call
back with the information that was requested. She then explained further that two more
individuals had visited the offices requesting services and both times they were told that an
appointment must be made in order to be seen. She also stated that the staff member did not open
his door until after 5:00 pm when she was on her way home. She stated that her intent was not to
be a “rat” but she felt that something should be said to the staff member. I thanked her for
notifying me with the information and assured her that I would talk to the staff member and
resolve the issue.
There were some things that bothered me regarding the contractor’s meeting, first I had
just had this discussion with the staff member and he displayed remorse for his curt manner
regarding the client and second, he was being paid an extra ten hours per week for his increased
workload. If he still wasn’t managing the workload, did that mean that he was undermining me
by continuing to do things, as he wanted? What was he doing during his overtime, if he wasn’t
working on tasks for the office? Additionally, I didn’t document anything that he and I had
discussed so he could possibly renege and change the narrative of our conversation. I expect
everyone to have integrity as I do and it bothers me that I may have misjudged his character. I
was upset because I knew that I should have documented our meeting and follow up with the
staff member regarding our discussion.
Conflict Avoidance
I have been actually stewing on this occurrence for the last two weeks. I know that I
need to discuss the situation with the staff member because it appears like he is not pulling his
weight in the office but I really am not looking forward to the discussion. I feel like I will be
coming off like I am accusing the staff member of doing something that he may not actually be
doing. Additionally, if he is not working overtime for our office, he can be fined or prosecute
for making false statements about his pay. I have no real proof other than the contractor’s word
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and I am not sure that’s enough to go in guns blazing on a coworker who has never given me
any reason to doubt his word. At this point I am willing to wait until more people are assigned
to duty section.
Resolution
As a supervisor, I understand that there will be times when I am provided with
information that I have to act upon. This position was the first real concern that I have ever
stumbled upon within my duty section. I am a person with patient character and I comprehend
how stressful it can become when there are manning issues and the workload is not lessened. I
inherited the situation and apparently my predecessor allowed certain things to continue without
questioning the staff member’s actions. This is the only reason that I don’t want to rock the boat
and create animosity between the contractor and the staff member. I decided to share the situation
with one of my close colleague and she openly disagreed with my “lack of action” and suggested
that I rethink my choice. I am using this essay to scrutinize the situation and resolve if I should
do things differently. I am not convinced that I did anything wrong at this point but I will be
monitoring the staff member more closely to determine if there is any merit to the contractor’s
claims. I have to trust the people that I work with and I see the good in everyone that I am
associated with.
This situation is going to be difficult to deal with in the next couple of weeks. I am
worried that the contractor will feel it’s her place to monitor the staff member and cast judgment.
She may also lose respect for me because she may think that I did not address her concerns. If I
confront the staff member, he may feel ambushed and decrease his work product. Our clients
may continue to suffer if I don’t advocate for them to ensure that they are receiving the services
required for them to complete their education.
Suggestions for the Future
Leadership is an area that I have quite a bit to learn about. I have doubted myself and my faith in
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doing the right thing. I know that I should be trusting in Him, for wisdom and insight but I am
unsure of my experience in running this office. I am constantly reminded that I have the least
experience in our area, even though I have been employed in the Education career field for the last
16 years.
In the future, I have resolved to have an open discussions with all my staff members and
contractors. I found out the hard way that it is authoritative to have everyone in the duty section
on the same page. I want to make sure that everybody assigned to my duty section knows what
is expected of him or her. The only way for me to do that is to have frank and earnest
conversations about the level of expertise that I expect. As a Christian educator, I have
committed an egregious error; I didn’t rely on my faith and trust in myself. I should have sought
counsel from someone else in my organization about the situation before I made my decision. I
also need to reflect on my practices to determine the cause of my hesitation.
I admit that I handled the situation a little too laissez-faire and because of that error in
judgment, I am paying the price. I also did not trust in myself to use the wisdom that God has
given me to make a fair and just decision. I am living and learning how to manage a workplace
and do what’s best for my clients and my staff members.
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References
Ethics. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. (11th ed.). Retrieved from
https://merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethic
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