You’re the HR Manager of a regional bank with a number of branches in country Victoria. Friendships amongst employees in the organisation is inevitable given its size and most of them being locals in their communities. 
It’s one week out from Christmas closure and under strict confidentiality, head office has advised you of upcoming redundancies in the first quarter of next year.
One of the branch tellers in your community – and a good friend – has come to you saying she’s heard rumours there will be a number of people in the organisation losing their jobs soon and is this true? You are aware her and her partner are going through the pre-approval process to buy their first home and can understand her wanting to know the truth.
What would you do?
- Where do your loyalties lie and what values are being tested?
- What are your duties and obligations in this instance?
We encourage you to post your answers in the comments so we can create a healthy discussion, with the aim of learning from our peers, becoming aware of differing perspectives and challenging our own biases.
Please share your ethical dilemmas with us - we can post them anonymously. You can email your dilemmas to dilemma@bfso.org
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Republished from 16 December 2020