Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 5th Edition by Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, Patrick Wright

Exercise 16

SELECTING ETHICAL EMPLOYEES
Many companies publish a code of ethics to inform their employees and others about the standards of behavior the company expects from its people. But there is always a risk that employees will ignore ethical standards and try to hide unethical activities. So companies also need to select employees who value and follow ethical principles.
One way to select ethical employees is to look for evidence that a candidate has behaved ethically in the past. Résumés should identify situations in which employees took responsibility and were accountable for their actions. Volunteer activities can be signs of a person who cares about others.
Reference checks should seek information about how well the candidate has lived up to ethical standards. Evidence of criminal activity would, of course, raise a red flag that the employer should ask about. Public information online could also offer evidence of how the person behaves in a variety of situations.
Interviews provide an opportunity for the employer to explore all of these sources of information. The interviewer can ask, for example, about how the candidate responds to difficult customers, whether information found online is true, and why a former supervisor hesitated when asked to provide a reference. Generally, candidates will avoid saying they would make an unethical choices. Therefore, it is usually most effective to ask candidates to describe when they have faced ethical issues, how they thought about the issues, and how they responded. Another approach is to ask broad questions, such as "Have you ever worked for a company that had a code of ethics, and if so, what was your experience there like?" This type of question avoids suggesting an answer that is obviously correct.
Of course, it is also important to model ethical behavior. Human resource professionals and hiring managers should communicate honestly with every candidate, from the job advertisement through the job offer.
Suppose your company hires this candidate in spite of your concerns. What might be the consequences to the company? How can you communicate the hiring decision in a way that promotes future ethical conduct?