Ethical Dilemma
Recruiting or hiring of staff is a crucial phase in human resource management. It is the first point of interaction with human resource in any organization. Recruitment determines the success of any organization because human resource is the most important resource for organizations. In recruitment, care must be taken to ensure that the best applicants are selected fairly. This is where ethics come into play in ensuring a fair and just recruitment. In any given organization, rules and regulations require that recruiters should be ethical in hiring. The problem is that application of ethics in this process is not as easy as it sounds, in practice. Nevertheless, studies have shown that ethics application in recruitment ensures employment of the best employees. This is why it is very important that ethics are observed in recruiting staff. Applicants are supposed to be selected on merit and not any other way. The aspects that are supposed to be checked in hiring are those that were detailed on the advertisement and not any other.
In the organization that I work for as a recruiter, the team leader whom I work with sometimes requires the recruiting assistant to alter the details of a job after it has been posted and some candidates sent in their applications on the basis of the original application. The leader does this so that the job description will suit a candidate he has identified after the original posting. The idea of changing the requirements for the job to suit his needs are unethical. Making another person that is the recruiting assistant to alter the posting is also unethical.
He also uses the wrong ways in receiving applications, which he receives from those that he knows. The applicants he wishes to assist through unethical means do not send applications through the means that are required. The applications are usually delivered to him directly. He also gives them information that they are required to present in their application and tells them what to say during the interview. Following is the analysis of this situation using ethical theory.
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states that the right act is always the one that produces the greatest pleasure. This theory is a doctrine that states that the useful is good. It is the ideology that the moral value of an act is determined only by its contribution to the overall utility. In short, it is a system of ethics founded on the premise that the value of things is gauged by its usefulness the theory that every act should be directed to the greatest happiness and to the majority. In this situation, the recruiter acts to gain happiness from recruiting and working with the people that he knows. The theory talks about deriving the greatest happiness, not for an individual but for the majority. If the recruiter acts ethically and hires the right people for the job, he would achieve the greatest happiness to very many people. The hired people because they will have gotten the job they deserve, the other workers because they will be working with qualified staff, and lastly the organization as a whole because it will benefit from hiring of qualified staff who will work hard to achieve the objectives of the organization. This is the reason why the recruiter should always analyze his decisions and settle for the one that is beneficial to more people, and especially the organization. The situation is unethical because the pleasure gotten by the team leader is only for himself and the few people that he helps.
Kants Categorical Imperative
In this theory the idea of duty and obligation as well as the ideas of right and wrong are primary. According to this theory, a good person is the one who normally does what is right, and that a right act is the one that results from a sense of duty. The theory holds that the basic laws of morals are similar for every rational being. The rightness or wrongness of an act is dependent fully on the nature of the motive and not the consequences. The recruitment leader is usually very much aware that his acts are wrong and this is the reason why instead of altering the posts by himself he opts to use the services of the recruitment assistant. He forgets that he has a duty and obligation to the company to do what is right for its benefit. He acts unethically by failing to do what is right. His actions are wrong because his motive is not to benefit the organization but the people he helps. The consequences of his acts could be right, that is, the people he acquires could actually be good and qualified, but the rightness or wrongness of an act is not determined by the consequences but the motives. In order to act ethically on the basis of this theory, the recruitment leader is supposed to do his duty ethically and fulfill his obligation to the organization and the workers. It is his duty to produce the best in the human resource department. According to this theory, the recruitment leader does not fulfill his obligation to the organization and the staff, hence his acts are unethical.
Rawls Justice as Fairness
This theory has two principles every person should possess equal right to the most general fundamental freedom that is well-matched with similar freedoms of others and social and economic disparities are to suit two conditions they are to be linked to posts and offices accessible to everyone under condition of just impartiality of opportunity and they are to be of greater advantage to the disadvantaged members of the community. This theory calls for individuals to imagine themselves in a veil of ignorance where all individuals are rational, free and have equal morals. The recruitment leader in this case fails to be just by favoring some people at the expense of others. He fails to apply the veil of ignorance in the process. The recruiter in this situation should allow the applicants equal rights to compete for the positions. Even though it is not possible for the recruiter to completely eradicate personal biases and prejudices, it is beneficial to take steps to make them as minimal as possible. It is important for the recruiter to pretend to know nothing of their race, gender, nationality or personal tastes. This way he will be able to make just decisions that are not influenced by any of this. The recruitment leader is clearly unjust and therefore unethical according to this theory.
Communitarianism
Communitarianism theory is a collection of doctrines that opposes individualism in support of a more community-oriented approach. Communitarianism requires individuals to balance their personal needs and interests with those of the community. It also argues that individual people are shaped by the values and cultures of the community. According to this theory the recruitment leader fails by not honoring the interests of the community which in this case is the organization. In recruiting, he is supposed to forget about himself and those employees that he wants to employ for personal gains, and do what is best for the community he is working for. In this case the ethical action would be identifying himself with the organization as the community and recruit those people that are likely to benefit this community. While in the work situation, the recruitment leader should forget all other communities and societies that he belongs to. He should be able to strike a balance between his own interests and those of the organization. He should also seek to make decisions based on the needs and values of the organization. Viewed from the dimension of his community, his acts are ethical because he assists the people from that community. Nevertheless, when the organization is taken as the community, his actions are unethical.
Altruism
Altruism is the character of selfless concern for the welfare of other people. It is an ethical principle that requires people to have the moral obligation to assist, serve or benefit other people. It calls for the sacrifice of personal interests for the benefit of others. In altruism, self interests are put aside for the sake of the interests of others. It is so selfish of the recruitment leader to use a recruitment assistant to do wrong. This shows that he is not concerned with the welfare of others. He is out to protect himself at the expense of others. In every decision that the recruitment leader makes he should be responsible and take responsibility of the consequences. In this situation also, the recruitment leader does not take account of the people who deserve this post but cannot get due to his corrupt dealings. For him to be ethical according to this theory, he should forget his benefits from the people he wishes to hire and think about the interest of the people that deserves to have those opportunities. According to the theory, the recruitment leader is selfish and therefore unethical.
Virtue ethics
This theory has the argument that morals are internal. The theory seeks to produce good individuals whose actions are good out of spontaneous goodness. The theory put emphasis on living well and achievement of excellence. The goodness of the recruiter is evident by trying to help those that he knows, but in the business situation this is unethical. He does wrong by using other people and also by giving opportunities to the undeserving. His failure of goodness is also evident in wanting to jeopardize the position of the assistant recruiter. He would achieve a lot by doing good deeds, because the success of the company would reflect his good deeds. He would also be safeguarding his job and those of the others in the recruitment department. Therefore from the view of this theory, the recruitment leader is unethical.
Ethical egoism
This theory argues that for any act to maximize personal interest, it is essential and enough that it is morally right. This theory differs from the psychological egoism which dictates that actions are determined by personal interest. This theory also calls for the consideration of other peoples interests and doing what is right as measured against personal interests. This theory does not leave out the role of personal interests in decisions, but it emphasizes the idea of morality. The acts of the recruiter are selfish and morally wrong. He fights to protect his own interests at the expense of the others. Even in tying to honor his personal interests, the recruitment leader should strive to do whatever is right. In this situation therefore he acts unethically.
Psychological egoism
Psychological egoism theory view human beings as always motivated by self-interests, even in their acts that are supposed to be altruism. It argues that it is not possible for people to behave contrary to what they consider their best interest. In this doctrine, people always pursue nothing short of their interests. This is evident in the acts of the recruiter. He alters job descriptions to satisfy his own interests. It is his personal interest that the people he identifies are the ones he wants to hire. He does not consider the interests of others who deserve the position and can be said to be selfish. All those facts not withstanding, from this theory, unlike all the others, the recruitment leader acts ethically because everything he does is for his own interest.
Conclusion
As evaluated against most of the theories, it is evident that the acts of the recruiter are all unethical. Just as the theories dictate, the position of the recruiter is such that he has an obligation not to his own people, but to the organization, the staff and the people being hired. Even if he knows someone, it is his duty to allow them to compete on the same level as all the other applicants. If he cannot act morally for the benefit of the organization, then he has no duty being in that organization. In most organizations recruiters tend to act as described in my situation. They should all know that it is unethical, wrong and immoral. I would suggest more research and education in the area of business ethics to transparency and justice in recruiting process and also in the working environment.
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