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Workplace ethics

Hello, I have a question about workplace ethics and whether I should open my mouth or stay silent. I will try to keep it brief.

I spent 6 months working on a project for my current boss in hopes of a promotion or transfer to another department. Most of this work was done on my own time at home and I willing accepted the challenge as I was being promised that I could “create my own position” for something the company desparately needed (a website for the company’s potential customers). Finally, when the company did take notice and offerred me a raise and position, it was very, very low and I did not feel it even covered the work I had already done, let alone what my new position was worth, so I respectfully declined and stayed in my current position (which I am happy with for now). Granted I was upset that I had spent so much time on this project full of empty promises from my manager, but it was my decision and I decided to live with it.

Shortly thereafter, another employee was quick to accept the offer I had turned down and took over where I had left off. Here is my dilema; since then I have noticed for months this employee has very little knowledge of the position he accepted. He has been stealing code from other websites, removing copyright information from within the code and being so bold as to place his own, made up copyright notice warning others of stealing what he claims to be his own code. Unfortunately, our superiors have no knowledge of website ethics at all and are oblivious of his doings. I have even been notified by coworkers who have overheard conversations between him and other employees working on the project about their plans to use some of my own code that I use on other websites I manage (non work related). I have since taken steps to make sure my code is secure.

Meanwhile, the coworker who’s ethics are in question has convinced our superiors to spend thousands of dollars buying software and scripts that he should have been able to do on his own if he had the knowledge for the position he accepted (of course this is the company’s choice if they agree to do so). It is fair to say that I may have some negative feelings about the little raise I was offerred and I am content in believing that they are getting “what they paid for”. However, I too work for this company and want to see it succeed.

I am not happy keeping quiet about all of this, but I do not want to appear as the “jealous” employee trying to take out his frustration by snitching on another employee. In reality, I just do not approve of his ethics in this matter. I have even confided my concerns in other coworkers and some of them were upset enough about it to mention to my manager what was going on and that I did not want to be the one to bring it up. Apparently my manager is okay with this behavior because he knows about it and is allowing it to continue. He too is guilty of concealing true numbers on departmental reports and falsifying information to his superiors.

I have thought about going to my HR dept to discuss my concerns, but again I do not want to be ostricized for trying to keep work honest (even if it makes the company or employees look bad). Any suggestions?

-Scott

Hi Scott. Thanks for writing.

My sense is that this will not go away for you until you say something. Your frustration is growing by the day and your anger is starting to seep in. Just letting it go is not going to alleviate those growing feelings, and I think you know that. In fact, I believe that telling your coworkers about your observations was an attempt to get heard and validated. Unfortunately, your supervisor didn’t see a problem with your assertions. Of course that was after hearing it from a coworker instead of from you. I should mention here that expecting a coworker to explain the problem to your supervisor without hearing from you, with your expertise, experience, and first-hand knowledge, is a problem in and of itself. Truthfully, only you have the credibility to spell out the concern, not someone representing you.

My suggestion would be to offer your assistance and/or advice to the unethical employee, and let him decide if he wants to tap into your knowledge base on this project. If you can ease yourself into this process, you can have an influencing role in the outcome and be seen as a “team” player. A win-win for all sides. If you simply blow the whistle (which could be a last resort), you will be facing an uphill battle which will also, as you mentioned, call your motives into question.

Scott, when you turned down the opportunity to stay with the project, you also turned down being responsible for the outcome of the project. If you are unsuccessful in partnering with the unethical employee, your choices are to let it go or blow the whistle. My gut feeling is that you should have taken the position when it was offered to you. I base this on the fact that you are having difficulty letting this go. That is why I don’t think that is a reality.

In summary, attempt to partner on this project by offering your help and advice. If that works, do your best to teach and role model what needs to be done instead of criticize and judge. If you help is not taken advantage of, then tell the unethical employee about your concerns and your intent to take the matter to a higher source. This is the respectful thing to do versus doing this behind his back. He needs a chance to correct the situation before you blow the whistle. Hopefully you won’t have to go there.

-Dr. Mac

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 8:53 am and is filed under Problem with a peer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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