Ethical Communication In The Federal Crop Insurance Industry

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Defining Ethical Communication

Ethical Communication can be defined as the action that results from making daily decisions as they coincide with not only the policies and procedures set forth by the industry, but also the decisions made in the workplace that conflict with personal morals and values. Some of these decisions are quite easy to make, however some decisions prove to be difficult when they test the boundaries of integrity. Although the federal crop insurance industry deals with their fair share of ethical communication, ethical communication extends to a much broader scope where most corporations stress the importance of high ethical standards (Crane, 2019).

Identifying Ethical Dilemmas

The federal crop insurance industry poses continuous ethical dilemmas that cover a wide scope of issues. The top three key areas of concern relate to the sharing of personally identifiable information, questionable customer requests, and dishonesty that leads to fraud, waste or abuse. Essentially, an ethical dilemma is making the determination if something is right or wrong. The weight of this falls on the employee, who is hired to meet the expectations of their industry, and to follow all required policies to ensure ethical practices are followed (Markel & Selber, 2018).

The crop insurance industry is primarily a self-certification program where the farmer provides the necessary information to establish an insurance policy or contract. An example of a frequent dilemma is potential fraud. An employee of a crop insurance agency may suspect that a farmer is participating in some type of illegal activity such as falsifying documents, or inflating production numbers (Ackerman, 2014). The ethical quandary that comes forth is whether to ask the farmer if he or she is being honest and if there is supporting documentation to back up the reported information. On one side, this is a self-certification program and the farmer is not required to turn in any documentation unless it is requested by the managing general agent. On the other side, the employee suspects wrongdoing and could ask for the documentation if they desire. What is the right thing to do? One option is to accept the reported information and not ask any additional questions, and the other option is to question the reported information and ask for verification before it can be submitted.

Engaging in Ethical Communication

There may not be any clear direction as to how to respond to an ethical dilemma. Sometimes it might seem that no one way is better than the other. It is important to understand all the risks associated with the situation in order to have complete understanding of the impacts (Cring, 2018). A practical way to engage in ethical communication is to explain both sides of the issue. Another way to engage in ethical communication is to look for help from a more experienced employee, such as a manager. A safe option to start the process of ethical decision making is to work through the issues and choose the path that seems logical and feels right. This will provide a sense of direction to move forward with the resulting actions.

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