The place of morals and ethics in the workplace has changed over the last few decades. Previously, a strong moral code was not valuable to employers as compared to hard work and dedication. Nevertheless, most work environments have since started valuing the importance of moral ethics. For instance, in modern times, it is common for employers to include a ‘moral clause’ in their employees’ job contracts. I have come to value my moral ethics because of the benefits they have brought to me in the workplace. This story is a reflection of how my honesty saved my career and accorded me an enviable status in the workplace.
I once worked with a company that had just started to venture into new markets. Consequently, every month one employee would be sent to a new town to accomplish random duties. The first person to be sent out of town on assignment was Mike. When Mike came back to the office, he was excited about the trip because he had discovered an internet scam that assisted employees to falsify their travel and accommodation details. Consequently, Mike shared the details of the fraud with several colleagues, but my conscience prevented me from sharing in on the excitement. When my turn to visit New York came, I was unable to make the extra two thousand dollars that most people in the company had made.
Most of my colleagues were disappointed with my ‘holier than thou’ attitude. My honesty disappointed my colleagues a lot, and they even resolved to get rid of me when an opportunity arose. I have always been honest, and backlash is something that always accompanies this quality. However, before my colleagues’ plan to get rid of me could materialize, their scam was discovered. The honesty that saw me shunned by my colleagues also saved my career and accorded me a promotion. The thing about honesty is that it always gets you desirable results.