Human Resource Development, Ethics, and the Social Good

Businesses can achieve competitive advantage and better productivity and performance by attracting and developing exceptional employees, by caring for and listening to stakeholders, and by avoiding financial and reputational damage due to unethical and illegal behaviors. As a profession, human resource development (HRD) engages in practices that assist organizations in the promotion of ethical activities, the implementation of ethical policies and practices, and the contextualization of those policies and practices to promote good corporate citizenship. HRD professionals should advocate for offering more interactive and frequent ethics training sessions utilizing proven training techniques. Additionally, training must be tailored to meet the specific needs of the organization or it risks a lack of resonance with employees and a failure of organizational integration.