Introduction:
Ethics can be defined as a set of “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conduct of an activity”.
Ethical traits are the moral principles you follow and display to others and that guide your behavior in various situations.
- Integrity: Encourage them to be honest in all their dealings and committed to a lifelong search for truth and justice.
- Accountability and Transparency : Builds Public trust and deters unethical conduct.
- Empathy and Compassion: Compassionate towards weaker sections translates to social justice in the society.
- Dedication to Public Service: Civil servants become agents of change, become transformational leaders and provide creative solutions to problems.
- Objectivity: The decisions made will be merit based free from personal bias. This trait also promises impartiality and non partisanship and brings fairness in action and tolerance towards opposing views.
Conclusion:
It may be fairly said that a civil service organisation which implements the above five ethical traits and enforces (through effective leadership, disciplinary and management action) its Code of Ethics in practice, can expect to be effective in controlling corruption, and inefficiency in providing services to the public.
Extra reading: https://www.oecd.org/mena/governance/35521740.pdf