Navigating Ethical Challenges in HR Practice
Navigating Ethical Challenges in HR Practice
(Three 90-minute virtual sessions)
This program starts in:
HR professionals operate at the intersection of organizational strategy, legal compliance, and human dignity. They are routinely asked to balance competing interests—organizational performance, managerial authority, employee rights, and societal expectations—often under time pressure and with incomplete information. Ethical missteps in HR can damage trust, expose organizations to legal risk, erode culture, and undermine HR’s credibility as a strategic partner.
This three-session workshop equips participants with practical frameworks, tools, and decision-making processes to identify ethical issues, analyze complex HR dilemmas, and take principled, defensible action. Rather than focusing solely on compliance, the program emphasizes ethical judgment, values-based decision making, and professional courage in real HR situations such as hiring, performance management, employee relations, investigations, data privacy, and AI-enabled HR systems.
Early-bird rate: $199/person through March 1st!
Regular price: $299
Zoom Link will be provided approximately one week prior to program start and is intended for the registered participant only.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to recognize and distinguish ethical issues in everyday HR practice from legal, policy, and managerial concerns
- Discover how to apply structured ethical decision-making frameworks to real HR dilemmas and respond confidently to ethical pressure from leaders, managers, and peers
- Gain the skills necessary to strengthen HR’s role as a trusted advisor and ethical steward while maintaining professional integrity
Session 1 – Ethics in HR: Foundations, Roles, and Recurring Dilemmas – March 17th
This session establishes a shared foundation for understanding ethics in HR practice. Participants explore why HR ethics is uniquely complex, how ethical issues differ from legal or policy issues, and where ethical dilemmas most commonly arise across HR functions. The session also clarifies HR’s professional role as both organizational partner and employee advocate.
Participants will be able to:
- Define ethics in the context of HR practice.
- Recognize common ethical dilemmas across core HR functions.
- Distinguish legal compliance from ethical responsibility.
- Understand HR’s ethical obligations to multiple stakeholders.
Session 2 – Ethical Decision-Making in Action: Applying Frameworks to HR Cases – March 24th
This session moves from awareness to action. Participants learn and practice structured ethical decision-making frameworks that help them analyze ambiguous situations, evaluate options, anticipate consequences, and justify decisions. Emphasis is placed on consistency, defensibility, and professional judgment under pressure.
Participants will be able to:
- Apply ethical decision-making frameworks to HR dilemmas.
- Identify stakeholders and competing interests.
- Evaluate options and unintended consequences.
- Make and justify ethical decisions in ambiguous situations.
Session 3 – Leading Ethically in HR: Power, Pressure, Technology, and Culture – March 31st
The final session focuses on HR’s leadership role in shaping ethical culture and addressing emerging ethical challenges. Participants explore ethics related to power, influence, data, technology, AI, and organizational culture—and how HR can proactively build ethical capability rather than merely reacting to crises.
Participants will be able to:
- Anticipate emerging ethical risks in HR practice.
- Navigate ethical challenges related to data, technology, and AI.
- Influence leaders and culture toward ethical behavior.
- Strengthen HR systems and practices to support ethical decision-making.
Why attend?
Ethical challenges in HR are becoming more complex, more visible, and more consequential than ever. This workshop gives HR professionals the clarity, tools, and confidence they need to navigate today’s most difficult situations with integrity and sound judgment.
By attending, you will:
- Learn frameworks that help you evaluate ethical dilemmas objectively
- Understand legal, cultural, reputational pitfalls that can arise when ethical issues are not addressed promptly or effectively
- Discover strategies for communicating transparently, handling sensitive situations, and reinforcing an ethical culture
- Learn how to apply ethical decision-making models to situations involving confidentiality, equity, performance, management, investigations, and more
- Become a steady, credible resource for your team, leadership, and employees
Who should attend?
This session is ideal for:
- HR professionals at all career stages
- HR leaders, managers, and business partners
- Compliance, employee relations, and people operations professionals
- Anyone responsible for advising leaders, managing sensitive people issues, or shaping workplace culture
IMC is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
Early-bird rate: $199/person through March 1st!
Regular price: $299
Zoom Link will be provided approximately one week prior to program start and is intended for the registered participant only.
Presenter:
William J. Rothwell, PhD. is President of Rothwell & Associates, Inc., Rothwell & Associates, LLC, and Rothwell & Associates Korea. He has worked full-time in human resources, training, and organizational development in both government and in a multinational company. He has been a consultant for over 50 multinational companies. He has served many manufacturing clients in both the U.S. and abroad. Some of his clients include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Siemens, Sony, Phillips, Erickson, and HP. Dr. Rothwell is a prolific author and has published more than 130 books and authored numerous training packages, guides, technical reports, and scholarly articles. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Workforce Education and Development program in the College of Education at The Pennsylvania State University. He holds top-level certifications and credentials with National SHRM and ATD.
This program may be WEDnetPA eligible!