Ethics in the Workplace: Balancing Technology and Employee Needs

Liking your work. Feeling comfortable while at work. Having team support. Access to opportunity and growth. These are all qualities that we look for in a workplace. That’s why a company’s ability to uphold an ethical culture and code is so crucial. In fact, “Benchmark of Ethical Culture,” a study by LRN, found that “companies with the strongest ethical cultures outperform others by 40% across a number of business metrics including levels of customer satisfaction, employee loyalty, innovation, adaptability and growth,” according to Adrienne Selko at Industry Week. That doesn’t just extend to those reporting to an office. The same goes for an industrial workplace. In this piece, we examine how technology, in particular, is impacting the goal of establishing an ethical workplace.

Ethics in Manufacturing Workplaces

That same LRN study concluded that one in three employees observed misconduct in the manufacturing sector. The top two areas of misconduct included “conflict of interest” and “employee health and safety.” Another study by Gallup reported that “employee engagement rates in manufacturing are the lowest of any industry in the U.S., with only 25% of the workforce considered to be ‘engaged’,” as summarized by Arieana Thompson for Supply Chain Brain.

These two findings emphasize why ethics and compliance, also known as E&C, efforts are a must in improving operations moving forward. But a key component of addressing E&C is technology, particularly AI and robotics.

Technology and Ethics in Manufacturing Workplaces

AI and robotics are a cornerstone of the manufacturing and industrial sector of the future, and we are already seeing that unfold. From 2015 to 2021 alone, robot installations more than doubled around the world. The implementation of such technologies is proving to have both a positive and negative impact on employees.

On one hand it has contributed to the health and safety concern. According to a Brookings report by Rania Gihleb, Osea Giuntella, Luca Stella, and Tianyi Wang, “a recent analysis from the OSHA showed that Amazon’s serious injury rates are much higher than those observed by other companies and that injury rates were especially high at facilities with robots.” Additionally, the authors of the report point out that it may be affecting workers’ mental well-being considering tech’s connection to job displacement and new skill demand. On the other hand, robotics have the ability to make the workplace safer. They are increasingly being used in what are called the 3Ds, the dirty, dangerous, and difficult situations that could otherwise endanger workers.

Bringing Tech and Ethics Together

As leaders and operators look to balance all of this, there are some steps they can take. In an article for Harvard Business Review, Reid Blackman and Beena Ammanath recommend assembling a working group focused specifically on best implementing tech ethics in the workplace, especially in the realm of AI. Blackman and Ammanath suggest that the group consist of technologists, legal/compliance experts, ethicists, and business leaders that can come together to both define the risks and benefits that are likely to arise in the adoption of advancements.

In the piece for Supply Chain Brain, Arieana Thompson also highlights that technology can be utilized as a tool for E&C as much as it is a topic for it. Technology can boost the data and analytics used to gather insight on compliance issues. Additionally, it can be leveraged to enhance E&C education throughout organizations.

Sources:

●      “Can a Strong Ethical Culture Affect Workplace Performance?” - Adrienne Selko, Industry Week
https://www.industryweek.com/talent/article/21182443/can-a-strong-ethical-culture-affect-workplace-performance

●      “Four Ethics and Compliance Trends to Track in 2023” - Arieana Thompson, Supply Chain Brain
https://www.supplychainbrain.com/blogs/1-think-tank/post/36288-four-ethics-and-compliance-trends-to-track-in-2023

●      “Keeping workers safe in the automation revolution” - Rania Gihleb, Osea Giuntella, Luca Stella, and Tianyi Wang, Brookings
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/keeping-workers-safe-in-the-automation-revolution/

“Ethics and AI: 3 Conversations Companies Need to Have” - Reid Blackman and Beena Ammanath, Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2022/03/ethics-and-ai-3-conversations-companies-need-to-be-having