Answer 1:
(a) Once the Code of Conduct has been developed for JKL Industries, it needs to be communicated effectively to the rest of the organizational members for its successful implementation and better outcome. A communication strategy must be established that includes the following:
- Every employee must be given a copy of the Code of Conduct
- Every individual employee must be clear about his/her responsibility for abiding by the provisions of the Code
- Organizational commitment towards the Code needs to be clarified to the employees
- Discussion sessions with the employees must be initiated on a regular basis
(b) The Code of Conduct has been developed exclusively for the organizational members to follow and abide by so as to direct the organization in the positive way to steady growth and progress. Thus, once the Code of Conduct is established for the firm, it must be consulted with the organizational heads, departmental managers, organizational members, staff, and all other human resource associated with the organizational operations and activities (Gustafson, 2000). Since this Code would be extensively used by the organizational members to inculcate a desired positive behavior towards organizational environment, this Code needs to consult with the entire human resource of the JKL Industries.
(c) For monitoring the employee adherence to the Code of Conduct, a training course named ‘Living the Code’ can be developed that conducts a session et every regular interval to acknowledge and educate the organizational members on the established standards and provisions of the Code. All members are required to complete the training session every year, especially the newly employed ones. Moreover, the employee behavior and conducts are closely looked after and monitored in the form of performance management that provides a great deal of information regarding the adherence of employee to the established Code of Conduct (Kolstad, 2012). Besides, compliance with the Code as well as Ethics is closely monitored by the Internal Audit, that assure processes are effectively and thoroughly investigated. Annual tests are held of the controls which support those provisions.
(d) The Code of Conduct that has been developed needs to be incorporated thorough within the HR policies and practices. It is actually quite easy to integrate as well as incorporate. The Code is more likely to impact the original beliefs as well as operation of the organization JKL Industries. The Code would achieve complete implementation as well as integration in the organization when increased number of stakeholders gets involved within its development or creation process. Just the way process recommended for creation, alignment, and interaction of organizational values or strategic plan, similarly participation leads to the successful integration of the Code.
Answer 2:
(a) As per the given situation, the senior manager’s complaint is regarding the fact that the human resource officer could have discussed the sexual harassment investigation with a friend of hers who work at the same department instead of doing so with her other team members. As a human resource manager, I would suggest that both the senior manager and the human resource officer needs to be communicated and certain differential issues must be resolved to avoid any further mishaps. The senior manager needs to be understood that it is important to certain extent to discuss such vulnerable situations with the team members to educate them and make them aware of such issues. On the other hand, the human resource officer must be acknowledged that it is not always appropriate to discuss everything and anything with the team members before discussing it with the departmental managers. With effective communication, the problem or grievance can be resolved (Madsen, 1995).
(b) With the given case, if prompt and appropriate actions are not planned and implemented, it may lead to serious organizational conflicts. Conflicts at organization usually result from any sort of disagreements or dissatisfaction. This gives rise to grievances among organizational employees, which if not properly addressed can lead to big causes of employee grievances and in turn industrial disputes. On identification of any cause of employee grievances, it is foremost duty of the organizational management to address those as early as possible before organizational conflicts arise.
(c) For ensuring all human resource staff are clear about ethical expectations and behaviors, a training course named ‘Living the Code’ can be developed that conducts a session et every regular interval to acknowledge and educate the organizational members on the established standards and provisions of the Code. All members are required to complete the training session every year, especially the newly employed ones (Skubik and Stening, 2008). Moreover, the employee behavior and conducts are closely looked after and monitored in the form of performance management that provides a great deal of information regarding the adherence of employee to the established Code of Conduct. Besides, compliance with the Code as well as Ethics is closely monitored by the Internal Audit, that assure processes are effectively and thoroughly investigated. Annual tests are held of the controls which support those provisions.
Answer 3:
(a) The case as referred to falls under the ‘Age discrimination Law.’ The practices of discrimination under this Law includes harassment on race, religion, color, origin, sex, disability, age, genetic information, retaliation against members for charge filling of discrimination, opposing such practices, employment decisions based on assumptions on traits, performance, religion, disabilities, etc. Employers need to post notices to all employees educating and advising them on their rights in law. Such notices should be accessible when needed (Corporate ethics: the business code of conduct for ethical employees, 2003).
(b) Since the mentioned case in against the law and Code of Conduct, the practice should not be encouraged and therefore discussions need to be held with the recruitment officer or department, highlighting upon the key issues and provisions in this regard.
(c) The respective information about the discrimination laws and provisions must be contained in the organizational documents including that of the Code of Conduct. The manager needs to be given a copy of the Code so that he may go through it and make himself aware of the provisions and standards.
(d) For ensuring all human resource staff are clear about ethical expectations and behaviors, a training course named ‘Living the Code’ can be developed that conducts a session et every regular interval to acknowledge and educate the organizational members on the established standards and provisions of the Code. All members are required to complete the training session every year, especially the newly employed ones. Moreover, the employee behavior and conducts are closely looked after and monitored in the form of performance management that provides a great deal of information regarding the adherence of employee to the established Code of Conduct. Besides, compliance with the Code as well as Ethics is closely monitored by the Internal Audit, that assure processes are effectively and thoroughly investigated. Annual tests are held of the controls which support those provisions.
References
Corporate ethics: the business code of conduct for ethical employees. (2003). Choice Reviews Online, 41(04), pp.41-2265-41-2265.
Gustafson, A. (2000). Making Sense of Postmodern Business Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(3), p.645.
Kolstad, I. (2012). Human rights and positive corporate duties: the importance of corporate-state interaction. Business Ethics: A European Review, 21(3), pp.276-285.
Madsen, P. (1995). A Theoretical Ground for the Practice of Business Ethics: A Commentary. Business Ethics Quarterly, 5(3), p.451.
Skubik, D. and Stening, B. (2008). What’s in a Credo? A Critique of the Academy of Management’s Code of Ethical Conduct and Code of Ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(4), pp.515-525.
