By Chloe Gamber, Head Academic Writer
Photos from pressbooks.senecacollege.ca, clipartstation.com, and shutterstock.com
I had the chance to discuss the topics of communication and ethics with Professor Damon Chaffin. Professor Chaffin has “35 years of management experience with Fortune 500 companies and ventures,” along with private consulting with other business owners. Professor Chaffin discussed how communication today is essential in the work environment. Communication skills are needed in order to develop other soft skills for a career. Many may have higher knowledge and technical skills but without communication, they may be underestimated. Proper language etiquette allows us to show a hiring manager that we are ready for a career that involves self-growth. No matter the career path you choose, it is impossible to grow without being able to communicate with others; Professor Chaffin explains that this can make or break an interview. Communication is becoming a harder skill to maintain due to being distracted by technology. Technology gives us all the information we want except what we experience that is not the screen.
Growth of Technology
Professor Chaffin has grown with technology through working at various technical companies. He explained that he thought it was a weird process of having so many options put onto the iPhone when he enjoyed his BlackBerry. After a month of having an iPhone, he quickly switched gears and claimed he could not go anywhere without it. Being reliant on technology can play into ethical choices as well. Being in Professor Chaffins Business Ethics class, I have found out how important ethics truly is. A huge discussion topic in this course involved how to handle difficult coworkers. Guidance through ethical principles learned in this course makes it easy to really evaluate your choices.
RESOLVEDD
The RESOLVEDD strategy creates an ethical outline for decision-making in almost any situation. The first three steps state that you should Review the details, state the Ethical problems and list the Solutions. Finding what Outcomes could occur is the next step along with describing the Likely impact on others lives. Explaining the Values upheld and what was Violated within these solutions are the next key concept. The last three involve Evaluating the impacts, Deciding the best solution and then Defending the solution, along with pinpointing its weaknesses. As students, we are constantly faced with new challenges which need to be looked at through ethical strategies such as this one. Everyone should be acquainted with ethical strategies that help life decisions. Business ethics branch out into various parts of thought processes, as shown through the RESOLVEDD method. Regardless of what direction your career takes you, you will need to deal with values and processes that involve ethical choices. Evaluating everyday life also involves ethical choices. Everyone has a set of values they carry with them and without these, we could not develop as individuals. These values stem from each ethical matter we face. We cannot face life without considering how ethically we feel about the world and ourselves.
