Activity 2: Ethical questions of worklife guidance

In worklife guidance, the procedures of organisation and the procedures of guidance meet each other. The basis is rather different, thus carrying out guidance at the workplace meets some challenges. Organisations can be described as controlling, emphasis on objectivity and rational thinking, hierarchical and competitive. Guidance has emphasis on helping, subjective experiences, feelings and reflection, autonomy, empowerment and sense of community. Dialogue is needed: how does the organisation wish to carry out guidance and how can it be done in the first place.

Here are some possible viewpoints and challenges of worklife guidance (source: literature and research of worklife guidance) which you can use in questioning your own ethical practices or in workshops or meeting with coleagues:

1. Could there be a possibility to use guidance unethically as a means to chase financial benefits?

2. Could organisation see guidance as a way to avoid it's responsibility? For example, if legal employers responsibilities slide, in a course of time, to be taken care by guidance practitioners (job orientation is carried out by peers of mentors).

3. If a line manager works in a role of a counsellor: how is it possible to respect the needs and wishes of an employee, when guidance is organised and financed by the organisation? The needs of an employee and the needs of the organisation may conflict. Still, it must be highlighted that the basis for counsellor's work is always the well-being and interest of the client.

4. What can you talk about and to whom?

5. Are employees willing to deal with - and to what extent - personal dreams, wishes and plans at the workplace, possibly in guidance with a line manager? When the counsellor comes from the same organisation, emploee may feel doubts about the situation. How does the organisation relate to one's issues? Where else and with whom are issues dealt with?

6. If the counsellor comes from outside the organisation, what kind of questions and career issues is he/she able to answer in the first place?

7. Many organisation consider developmental discussions as the most relevant, if not the only method of worklife guidance. Are developmental discussions loaded with too much expectations? Research findings show, that employees feel they don't get enough career information and guidance in these discussions with line manager. Even supervisors and managers themselves don't consider developmental discussions to be the best place for career discussions.

8. Who supervises guidance at the workplace? How are the competences of the counsellor confirmed?

9. Power issues: A very central question in guidance is the question of power in guidance sessions, different interests and goals that differ from each other. In worklife guidance, it is possible that participants have different amount of information and power. In guidance, positions of  dominance should be faded out. The power of the counsellor is about being the confidant. It is important for counsellor to act in a way of not hurting client or using information wrongly.