Personal and Professional Ethics

Ethics may be defined as the sense of what is right and wrong, or what is good and evil. Ethics provide some significant direction in one’s life. It is the norms and principles that govern people’s behaviour and investigates right and wrong in human behaviour. Personal ethics are one’s ideals and values that determine who they are as a person. On the other hand, how one acts and follows the norms in a professional space, is Professional ethics. Nonetheless, the two sorts of ethics are not defined in the same way.

In this article, we will discuss in detail about personal and professional ethics and the difference between the two. The topic becomes significant for UPSC Mains, as it falls under GS Paper-4 of the UPSC Syllabus.

Aspirants would find this article very helpful while preparing for the IAS Exam.

Personal Ethics

• • Personal ethics is a person’s morals and code of conduct. These principles are ingrained in a person by their parents, relatives, and friends from the beginning of their awareness. Human existence is inadequate and superficial if there is no personal ethics. It is the ethical standard that a person applies when making decisions and acting in both personal and professional situations. These ethics have an impact on many facets of a person’s life and aid in the development of a person’s work ethic, personal and professional objectives and values. Individuals use ethics to distinguish between what is good and wrong and to influence how others act in difficult situations.
• Examples of Personal Ethics- 
• • Honesty
  • Loyalty
  • Integrity
  • Respect
  • Selflessness

Professional Ethics

• • Professional ethics are the beliefs and concepts instilled in a person by a professional organisation. Each employee is expected to rigorously adhere to these values. They don’t have much of a choice. This concept is also essential in professional settings since it instills a feeling of discipline in employees and aids in the maintenance of workplace etiquette. These ethical values make the employees responsible.
• Examples of Professional Ethics-
• • Confidentiality
  • Impartiality
  • Transparency
  • Punctuality
  • Time Management

Difference between Professional and Personal Ethics

Dichotomy between Personal and Professional Ethics

• Personal and professional ethics may lead to conflict, resulting in a moral dilemma. For example, a police officer may personally feel that a law he is obligated to enforce is incorrect. However, according to the Police Code of Conduct, he is expected to execute all legitimate and reasonable commands to enforce that legislation unless there are good and sufficient reasons to do otherwise. Another example can be: A doctor may not personally feel that a patient’s course of medical therapy is the best one. However, according to the Medical Association’s Code of Ethics, he must respect the patient’s rights, autonomy, and freedom of choice.
• It is self-evident that each individual is unique, and as such, they have their own set of beliefs, thoughts, behaviours, rules, and so on. Regardless of how far apart their opinions and values are, they must act and fulfil their obligations in accordance with the prescribed professional ethics. This may result in disputes inside organisations.
• Employees are sometimes required to execute things at work that are not unlawful, but they might contradict what they believe is the correct thing to do in their personal lives. The professionals deal with this by separating their professional and personal life.

How to Resolve the Dichotomy?

It is proven that those who are strong and consistent in their personal ethics are more inclined to follow Professional Ethics, regardless of conflict. Although one’s personal and professional lives are very different, his morals or ethics carry over from one to the other and if he has high ethical standards in one area, he will have them in the other. Professional ethics necessitates workplace diversity, yet some people’s personal ethics may make them uncomfortable in some situations. Personal ethics must be adapted or changed in this scenario. In the professional sphere, an individual’s attention is on the obligations and responsibilities that must be followed rather than on personal ideas.

Man has no future until he practices ethics. That is to say, mankind cannot exist without them. Ethics guides decisions and behaviours, as well as suggests tough priorities. Personal ethics can be distinguished from professional ethics by seeing personal ethics as a person’s conscience, whereas professional ethics are considered as a fixed code of behaviour that must be followed in the workplace.

Note: As UPSC 2023 approaches, use BYJU’S free Daily Video Analysis of The Hindu Newspaper to augment your preparation.