Aligning Values
The three basic
components of ethical community are trust, loyalty and solidarity. Surprisingly,
the company can define these in any way but the people in the organization have
their own definitions for these components. I have seen people with varying
character and how they define these components in different circumstances. The
same people would preach something else and practice whatever they think is
ethical. Organizations spend lot of money and resources in developing their
people who they can trust and think would fulfill the vision and mission. The
above components are defined by text as, trust is the general expectation among
members that their fellows will behave ethically towards them. Loyalty is
acceptance of obligation to refrain from breaching one another’s trust and to
fulfill the duties entailed by accepting that trust. Solidarity is caring for
other’s interest and be ready to take action on other’s behalf, even if it
conflicts personal interests. These values are nor enforced but are cultivated
in the employees with time.
I would not say these
values are missing from my organization but the interpretation varies with
certain individuals. Most of the people are well aligned with the company
values but there are a lot of them who misuse these values and get away with
it. Even managers can be seen using company resources where they should not be.
The company policy of keeping the employee first does not mean compromising
values. Trust is assumed in every situation at Boeing, no compromise. Any information
you need to provide has to be complete trustworthy or just say that you could
not get it for any reason. Do not make up information or it will come bite you.
Loyalty is again an individual thing but in general everybody is assumed to be
extremely loyal to the company. There have been cases from unionized employees,
when they did compromise on loyalty. There was a gap in the 787 production line
and the body parts did not fit together. Some employee took a picture and sent
it to press. Boeing stock dropped the next day.
Cases like these
bother me and make me think why is the company harboring traitors like these
and spending money on their welfare. With what Boeing does for employees, no
other company in aerospace can do. The benefits for the employees are out of
the world and hence loyalty and trust is expected. Employees feel proud of what
they do and the quality of airplanes they make but some cases of compromising
on values bring a bitter taste to our mouth. Solidarity is something good
employees manifest and I have seen it all around. Supervisors and leads stand
up for their employees and are ready to take action on their behalf. But then I
have seen managers who would not stand up for anybody but only themselves. These
are few and far between but they are there. I have seen more solidarity at the
shop floor where workers build the airplane than in the offices. It can be a
union thing but it is still prevalent. Solidarity is something which most
managers practice and is visible. Most of the values above are fully practiced
at Boeing.
The above values are
individual because either you are trustworthy and loyal or you are not. Solidarity
is something only leaders possess. These values can be learned from environment
by continuous training and aligned with the organization.
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