Assignment 1: Working as a Human Services Professional

Assignment 1: Working as a Human Services Professional
Running Head: ETHICAL CONCERNS 0 Ethical Concerns in Human Services Student’s Name Course Professor University Affiliation Date Ethical Concerns in Human Services Part One The field of Human Service serves the primary objective of meeting human needs through an established interdisciplinary knowledge base. In my field as a Social Worker and Case Manager in Government social service agency, I focus on preventing and remedying social problems in the society. My commitment towards improving the overall quality of life, service delivery and coordinating other professional’s in different agencies drives my passion in this field. As a social worker, sometimes referred as Case manager, I connect people with various resources to overcome adverse situations. Some of these issues addressed range from health problems, addiction, and age-related issues. Duties in this field include explaining healthcare options and making referrals to various health services. Working as a manager in this field, my great objective is to coordinate social services across different agencies and service providers in both government and private organizations. Being the overall case manager, I supervise other junior professionals including, the Social Service Assistant that help social workers and Case managers to deliver best services to their clients. Likewise, Social service assistants provide case management support and social service programs such as adoption services. Other professionals working in this department and within the supervision of Case Managers include Mental Health aides and community outreach workers. Part two The most fundamental values and ethical standards of human service profession as a Case Manager include respecting and observing dignity of all people and promoting their self-determination. Case managers play an ethical role of honoring cultural diversity, acting with integrity, honesty, competency and objectivity in the process of advocating for better social justice and service delivery (Salsgiver, 2015).  Part three Employees should focus on accomplishing key company goals and objectives. To achieve this, case workers must develop good relations with other employees by teaching them how to uphold good ethical standards in their workplace. Maintaining good ethical standards ensures that organization supports a good reputation for favorable professional principles. Firstly, training employees and holding regular sessions on ethics helps them to develop ethical conducts among them. Additionally, there is need to train them in providing greater emphasis on the importance of being ethical in delivering services. Secondly, management should reward ethical behaviors as a method of promoting and making it a prominent behavior among the staff. This is achieved by providing rewards for solid ethical behaviors. It is evident that the more employees are rewarded for expressing right ethical behaviors, the likely other employees will follow suit. Upholding work life balance- Scholars argues that employees who enjoy a sense of work-life balance portray better ethical decisions at work (Stevens, 2012). Part 4 Privacy is one the most ethical concern with organizational management today. Violation of employee privacy is a matter that needs immediate response and concern. Privacy is an ethical issue for management that upholds ethics. The HR managers have an ethical obligation to keep employees issues of privacy confidential. Transparency- Companies and organizations must operate with openness and transparency. To uphold transparency, the managerial team should promote free and open communication as well as ensure disclosure in the area that requires transparency. Compensation and skills- Ethical dilemmas occur in organization when HR managers compensate employees differently for the same skills. This becomes an ethical concern when other employees learn of the existing discrepancy in their working condition. The solutions for this problem are upholding equality, promoting equal opportunity and avoid bias when compensating employees (Adams, Tashchian & Shore, 2011). References Adams, J. S., Tashchian, A., & Shore, T. H. (2011). Codes of ethics as signals for ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(3), 199-211. Salsgiver, R. (2015). Disability: A diversity model approach in human service practice. Oxford University Press. Stevens, B. (2012). Communicating ethical values: A study of employee perceptions. Journal of Business Ethics, 20(2), 113-120. Vitell, S. J., Dickerson, E. B., &Festervand, T. A. (2000). Ethical problems, conflicts and beliefs of small business professionals. Journal of Business Ethics, 28(1), 15-24.