Seeking the sweet spot

This paper records the initial observations from a series of action research site visits, in an ongoing, long-term programme of workplace ethics research. At time of writing six communication departments and public relations consultancies had been involved to varying degrees as action research sites, of a planned 12. The participants had provided verbal and written feedback documenting their thoughts on ethics, their reactions to the ethics tool that was demonstrated to them, and their suggestions for its improvement and for the improvement of ethics in the communication field generally. The ethics pyramid proved a useful ‘way in’ to the topic of ethics; that is, it was functioning as an approach to facilitating dialogue as well as a tool in its own right.

In addition to valuable adaptations to the ethics tool to make it more practical and more aligned with workplace norms, from this initial feedback several patterns have emerged. Repeated dialectical themes are evident, suggesting that stances towards ethics may fall into an habitual series of opposing categories. Understanding these categories gives clues about barriers to ethical rigour in the workplace, and about the drivers that can help stimulate greater attention to ethics in the field of professional communication practice generally.

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