Ethics in Manpower Outsourcing
Posted on February, 2020
In the battlefields of recruitment business, the rules of engagement were at times not well defined. Short term gains were thrilling, end justified the means to many in business, rules were meant to be broken and being ‘flexible’ was seen as a customer focused decision. However today this is now becoming a priority when selecting the right employer, customer, employees. This is no longer an option but a necessity, not just in recruitment but in all businesses.
Business ethics is defined as a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. Peter Drucker observed, “There is neither a separate ethics of business nor is one needed”, implying that standards of personal ethics cover all business situations enacted laws of business ethics. Several countries introduced laws to rein in unethical practices. For instance The UK bribery act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that covers the criminal law, relating to bribery.
In practical terms, business ethics is all about doing what is right. From having the right licenses, right code of conduct, avoiding any under the table payouts, shortchanging what has been contractually agreed with the customers, following the laws of the country in letter and spirit. Once these fundamentals are secured, it becomes easier to transact business.
UAE has made several strides on regulating the manpower industry. The new licenses since 2010 for On-Demand Labor Supply that covers manpower outsourcing or the agency license that covers Executive Search or Overseas Recruitment services, is provided only to UAE nationals, that are professionally qualified and capable, so that outsourced employees and potential candidates rights are well protected. The ministry of Labor in the UAE has done its best to ensure that there is transparency and ethics in this business sector, by engaging with their counterparts in the supply countries as well, especially to protect the blue collared workers. The onus of responsibility now falls on the business leaders to ensure that the framework is implemented in the UAE across all levels. One of the key value proposition that an organization can make is trust and transparency, built on a sound partnership approach. Trust can be built when the business is built on ethical grounds and it takes a long time and often takes multiple transactions to build trust and on the contrary it take only one unethical action to destroy it.
Simon Mainwaring says, “more and more companies are reaching out to their suppliers and contractors to work jointly on issues of sustainability, environmental responsibility, ethics, and compliance”.