The Centre for Applied Psychology & Master of Psychology (Industrial & Organisational Psychology) under the Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS) organised two different sessions of webinar titled “Ethical Practice of Psychology in Organisations” and “Creating and Sustaining Ethical Workplaces” on 22 January 2022 via Zoom. The webinar attracted a total of 181 participants in attendance. It was moderated by FAS Department of Psychology and Counselling academic Sanggari Krishnan.

Present to deliver the talk was Prof Rodney L. Lowman. Prof Rodney Lowman is a consulting psychologist and author, President of Lowman & Richardson/Consulting Psychologists and Distinguished Professor Emeritus from the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University in San Diego, California. Besides, he has also held academic appointments at the University of Michigan, University of North Texas, Duke University Medical School, and the University of South Africa. Prof Lowman is the author or editor of 13 books and monographs; he has edited/co-edited three journals, published over 130 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and delivered hundreds of professional presentations all over the world.

The webinar aimed to guide the participants to identify the ethical dilemmas that occur when practising psychology in organisational settings; identify common ethical duties and obligations; understand the values of psychologists and apply ethical standards to ethical cases in workplace environments. Besides enhancing skills and talents, the participants were also able to learn the best ethical practices in work organisations.

The session of one webinar was titled “The Ethical Practice of Psychology in Organisations”. It saw Prof Rodney Lowman sharing one of the ethical exemplars; the importance of ethics; ethical principles; the available code of ethics to practice and the applicability of the codes in organisations. Prof Rodney Lowman continued the session by explaining the standards, principles and the current changes in the American Psychological Association’s Ethical (APA) ethics code to the participants. He also shared some thoughts about ethical decision-making and assigned the participants to different breakout rooms where they were asked to discuss issues pertaining to ethics and standards. He also encouraged them to share their thoughts on the situation based on the case given.

In session two “Creating and Sustaining Ethical Workplaces”, participants were given some open-ended questions and assessments on how to identify the characteristics of ethical workplaces. During the session, Prof Rodney Lowman also emphasised the importance of maintaining privacy and confidentiality when discussing confidential matters with others. He also shared the different company policies and practices, tips to consult a psychologist and how it could affect workplace practice.

The two sessions then ended with an interactive Q&A and group photograph sessions.