Ethics in the Workplace

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable):

  Blueprint for Professional Success

  Course Title:

  Blueprint for Professional Success

  Course Number:

  8500375

  Career Cluster:

  Business Management and Administration

  CIP Number:

  09200119PA

  Course Type:

  Non Career Preparatory

  CTE Standard(s) or benchmarks:

  04.03 Using real world scenarios, critique work ethics displayed by employees.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, Employers Supporting Employees. See CPALMS resource ID# 207890.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will discuss ethics in the workplace and evaluate how employees can work together to solve problems. By examining a real-world scenario, they will be able to identify positive behaviors for the workplace.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Present a critique of the work ethics demonstrated by the case study employees.
  • Read and evaluate the outcome of Aaron’s situation.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • Employer provided benefits.
  • Collaborating with a group.
  • The concept, ethics and work culture.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How can employers support employees’ well-being?
  • How do ethics apply to the workplace?
  • Why are ethics important in the workplace?

• Procedure

  
  

  1. To introduce the lesson, ask a member of each group to create a word web on a sheet of paper (See Teacher Notes for grouping).

  • Ask students to brainstorm all the words and ideas they associate with the word, ethics.
  • Create a class word web using available technology (see teacher slides attachment) and call on each group to contribute responses.

  2. Engage students in a discussion about how ethics applies to the workplace. Connect the idea of ethics to a student code of conduct or class rules.

  • Sample discussion questions:
    • How do ethics apply to the workplace?
    • Why are ethics important in the workplace?
    • How can behaviors reflect a person's ethics?
    • Compare ethics for leaders and employees.
  • Review the concept of work culture (See teacher notes) if not addressed in the class discussion.

  3. Distribute the outcome of the case study and set the purpose of the lesson.

  • Have students recap the scenario in the case study, Employers Supporting Employees CPALMS Resource ID# 207890.
  • Set the purpose of the lesson by telling students they will be evaluating the outcome and the employee work ethics in the case study.

  4. Students will read the outcome of the case study in their groups.

  • Distribute Evaluating Workplace Ethics (see attachments) to groups to complete during and after their reading of the outcome.
    • Each group member will select one of the employees in the case study (Aaron, Omar, Lisa, and Denise) to critique.
    • They will complete the box in question 1 for the corresponding employee.

  5. Ask students to locate the name of the employee (see Teacher Notes and attachments) they selected. Students will go to the location with their handouts.

  • Students will share their responses with the other students who selected the same employee.
  • Each group will come to an agreement if the behavior was positive or negative and select the 2 best examples to present as support for their critique.
  • Call on each group to share their critique.

  6. Have students return to their original group.

  • As a group, students will respond to the questions about the outcome and its effectiveness. They will need a copy of their original outcome to answer question 3.

  7. To bring the lesson to a close, students will discuss the questions below (see teacher slides in the attachments) in their groups. If time allows, ask volunteers to share with the class.

  • What role did work ethics play in the outcome of Aaron’s situation?
  • What inferences can you make about the workplace culture at the business?
  • Would you want to work in this business? Why or why not?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • For the lesson, students should be organized in teams of 4. Students should work with the same group as in the previous lesson when they wrote an original outcome. See CPALMS Resource #207891, Researching Employee Benefits.
  • Work culture refers to the environment created by the shared values and expectations of a workplace. It relates to how employees interact with each other and conduct their work.
    • Other names: workplace culture, organizational culture, company culture
    • An example of positive workplace culture is teams communicating honestly and sharing the workload.
    • An example of negative workplace culture is gossiping and in-fighting among team members.
  • For step 5, the teacher can post the names of the 4 employees in different areas of the room before the lesson.
  • The teacher can have students write responses to the closing activity questions in their journals as an alternative.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment Ideas:

  • The teacher can observe how students communicate and collaborate with their groups during discussions. Since the lesson is focused on ethical behavior, the teacher can observe students treating each other with respect, allowing each other to share opinions, listening to others’ opinions and make note of these observations during class discussions.
  • The teacher can collect Handout 2: Evaluating Workplace Ethics to see students’ observations and evaluations of the case study.
  • The teacher can observe how students present the critique for each of the employees and the appropriateness of the evidence presented.