Discrimination
Codes of conduct are rules, values, principles and standards that are set to guide how individuals co-exist. It also describes the religious norms, traditional rules and social guidelines that are put in place to direct peoples’ procedures, decisions making and structures in an organization to help protect the rights and welfare of everyone who plays part in its success. Mutual codes of conduct are developed purposely for employees of a company, institution or organization to drive them towards achieving its goals and laying down structures that guide their process of attaining those expectations. A simple document is written through the participation of all stakeholders in consideration of the laws set by the governing bodies. The document is made accessible to everyone to help them read and understand its content. The company leadership must create ethical culture by practicing the ethics in the daily operations, behavior and attitudes. Effectiveness of code of conduct application is a process of consistent enforcement, learning, trainings and continuous assessment of progress. The success of well-structured code of conduct is evident when employees are comfortable to share their challenges to the relevant authorities. They are also confident that’s their grievances will be addressed appropriately (ACC,2016).
The success of a company depends on many factors in the workplace, employees’ managements being one of them. Additionally, where more than one person exists there must be disagreements and issues that need to be properly avoided, prevented or solved. These obstacles when not properly addressed may negatively impact on the company’s achievement to its goals. The following are some of the challenges, how they affect the employees’ when they are performing their work, representing the company on official trips or functions and attending work related events with codes of conduct written to handle them (Andrew,2010).
Discrimination is a major challenge in a workplace. It is defined as the unfair or prejudicial treatment or creating distinction concerning someone based on their race, class, category, sex, group, religion, age, race, nationality, color and disability. First, a person may face racial discrimination based on the skin color, race, origin country and ancestry. The racial discrimination may come inform of racial jokes, disgust, racial insults and slurs directed towards someone. Secondly, Gender discrimination occurs when someone victimized because of their sex. Example of gender discrimination is negative gender stereotypes which occurs when someone is harassed for doing jobs considered for the opposite sex. Thirdly, religious discrimination occurs when someone is treated differently because of their religious beliefs. A person with varied religious beliefs to those of the company customs may face discrimination such as being denied religious holidays, traditions and customs. Some employers force their employees to change religion or make demeaning stereotypical comments (Richard,2009).
Corruption
People with disability and those related to them, sometimes get belittled in the workplace because of their physical status. Disabled people faces challenges ranging from isolation, harmful teasing, workplace accommodation challenges and demeaning comments. Sexual orientation discrimination is gaining base in most workplaces. People are judged and neglected because of their sexual orientation like being homosexual, asexual, heterosexual and bisexual. For example, heterosexual man may be harassed when working in a salon and homosexual man may also face harassment when working with other men. Lastly, age discrimination may also affect how people relate in work place. Older people face the challenge of being less productive and hence forced into early retirement while young people are considered to be less experienced and maybe left out of workplace important activities (MacMillan, 2016).
Discrimination within the workplace reduce employees’ performance if the proper action is not taken. The need for structured code of conduct is therefore needed eliminate discrimination. Workers are instructed to respect their each other. The rule indicate that the company does not tolerate discriminatory behavior or harassment of any kind. Employees should also be directed to conform with equal opportunity rule in their daily duties, employment process, interpersonal relations and performance evaluation (Barman & White, 2016).
Corruption is another thorn in the bank of Australia that needs to be eliminated. Corruption means illegal and dishonest way of people in authority participating in fraudulent undertakings to take advantage over others. It can also mean taking or giving bribe to aid in unlawful activities. The effects or corruption directly impact on service delivery, reduced employees’ performance and reduced the bank profits. Corruptions occurs in different levels. First, manager to manager corruption. This type of corruption involves the top leaders in the company. They conspire to steal huge amount of money by faking stamps and signatures. Secondly, corruption between managers and suppliers. This type of corruption occurs when managers and supplier collude to forge supply documents and the goods supply. This corruption benefits the managers and suppliers at the expense of the company (Queensland, 2013).
The corruption may also involve middle level manager and junior staff. This type of corruption is where the manager lure junior staff with the promise of giving promotion or money with the aim to aid in doing something illegal or help carry stolen items off the company. Corruption between junior staff and another junior staff is also harmful to the company. This occurs where junior employees collude to steal and sell small quantities of the products offered by the company. Lastly, corruption between junior staff and subordinate staff. This type of corruption involves the subordinate staff like the drivers, watchmen and cleaners. This corruption thrives well when the watchmen participate in that moving the stolen products into and out of the company. In order to end corruption, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has written corruption code of conduct which discourage workers from taking or giving gifts to clients or associates. The code or forbid briberies of any kind made to benefit internal or external party (Kevine, 2015).
Exploitation
Exploitation is another challenge that affects most companies. The managers are the main perpetuators while the junior staffs are the main victims. Exploitation can be evident when sudden changes in schedule are imposed. This happens when the managers command the workers to alter their working time without proper justification. Some workers experience situations where they are denied vacations. Some employers delay to pay workers without proper reason. Exploitation also occur when managers fail to pay workers for overtime. Some employees are commanded to do work that does not correspond to their roles. Additionally, some managers fail to consider opinions that come from junior staffs. In order to solve this, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has to structured code of conduct that requires all employees to fulfil their duties with integrity and respect towards their coworkers. This code of conduct will act to prevent exploitation of the junior staff vulnerabilities by demanding integrity and respect from their leaders (Jane, 2014).
Whistleblower is a person within the company who assist in uncovering the hidden illegal activities that happen to the public. They also enable employees to identify irregularities that take place in the workplace to be able to solve them early enough (Alex, 2014). It can also be considered as system or structure that companies put in place to observe business operations and services to enable coming up with policies that can aid in attaining the companies’ objectives. There are three types of whistleblowers. First, those who openly disclose company deceptive behavior to the general public. Secondly, those who reveal information to traditional company monitors as opposed to the managers. Lastly, those who reveal information about managers’ misbehavior to the business supervising or consulting units. Whistleblowers may encounter several challenges while disclosing illegal activities that happen in the company in that they are also employees and are obliged to being obedient, confidential and loyal. These principles require that workers should not disclose business confidentialities. Therefore, the risk of whistleblowing ranges from retaliations by the offended workmates to career damage such as contract termination, demotion, harassment, alienation and discrimination (Diana, 2016). They also bear bad picture the future employers with the fear of their pervious disloyal records. These risks require whistleblowers protection. Commonwealth Bank of Australia has to formulate the following codes of conduct that guarantee whistleblower safety: ethical conduct and honesty, accurate, full, fair and understandable disclosure of documents, compliance with government regulations, rules, laws and lastly accountability (Jacqueline, 2013).
Whistleblowing
Dishonest and fraudulent behavior in Commonwealth Bank of Australia is characterized by untrustworthy, insincere or deceitful actions. Dishonesty occurs when workers submit inappropriate time sheets, steal and lie to managers or colleagues. In addition, fraudulent behavior may also be subdivided as follows: First, assets misappropriation which is theft of company property through cheque forgery, kiting and tampering. It also involves theft of inventory, cash and services, fraud such as expense reimbursement, expense accounts, procurement, payment, workers’ compensation, health insurance and commission and personal use of company vehicle. Secondly, vendor fraud which involves billing Schemes, bribery and Kickbacks, overbilling, price fixing. Thirdly, accounting fraud that involves embezzlement, fake supplier, accounts payable fraud, personal purchases, double-check fraud, accounts receivable fraud. Lastly, data theft that involves theft of trade secret, contact list, personality Identifiable information. In order to eliminate dishonesty and fraudulent behaviors, the company need to adopt protection of property and avoid conflict of interest code of conduct to enable the employees to concentrate on their work and guard the business property (George, 2018).
Lastly, Commonwealth Bank of Australia should focus on ensuring employees obedience to policies, regulations, rules, social norms and laws. It is joint responsibilities of different stakeholders such as managers, human resource and department heads to enforce policies at workplace. Companies that choose selectively which polies to apply or not to apply are prone to fail and expose themselves to have employees protest about prejudicial treatment. This may result into employee turnover based on frustration and loss of morale. The following need to be undertaken to ensure proper policies enforcement. First, the need to have all the workplace policies published inside employees’ handbook. These policies need to be regularly revised and copies distributed to employees by ensuring they consent acknowledgement and understanding. Secondly, ensure policies that communicate about safety at workplace and just employment practices are posted throughout shared workplace areas such as kitchen room, exits and entrance. Policies reminder should also be automatically rescheduled on employee email to inform them of policies changes and adjustments. Thirdly, workplace policies training should be regularly conducted to managers and supervisors to avoid employees’ complaints of unjust treatments. Fourth, ensure managers and department heads are well equipped with list of all policies and punishments for violations (Sight, 2011). The managers need to be properly trained on how to administer disciplinary measures to the employees and when to consider giving warnings. The managers should work hand in hand with the company human resource who is believed to be well equipped with the meaning of all these policies and disciplinary actions. The managers should also be trained on the fair applications on these policies without discrimination such as gender, religion, color and age (Ruth, 2012). The managers should also be trained on how to be objective as opposed to being subjective on policies application to the employees at workplace. Lastly, new employees need to have adequate trainings and clarifications on the workplace policies through their orientation. Inform the employees on the actions to take in case they witness subjective enforcements of these policies at workplace. Train the employees on how to judge the unfair implementations of the policies and discourage them from working on assumptions (Scott, 2010).
In conclusion, code of conducts are rules, policies and standards set in workplace to protect the employees and company from internal and external exploitations. These rules also help avoid the following from occurring in the company: corruption, discrimination, risk whistleblower life, dishonest and fraudulent behavior. The enforcements of these policies require proper training to all employees and managers to avoid misunderstanding during implementation. Additionally, companies should look for ways to keep updating employees about the changing codes of conduct on regular basis. Company management should also consider posting of these codes of conducts to commonly used areas by employees to ensure that they are frequently exposed and enable them to understand
References
ACC.( 2016) .Top Ten Tips for Developing an Effective Code of Conduct. Association of Corporate Counsel Journal, 16(1), pp26- 31.
Alex, N. (2014). Whistle-Blower Woes. Retrieved from https://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3010455?f=related
Andrew K., (2010). Stakeholder Theory in Corporate Law: Has it Got What It Takes? pp249
Barman, T. and White, S. (2016). Implementing an effective corporate ethics policy”. Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) Journal, 33(2), pp6- 8.
Diana, W. (26th August 2016). Employee Rights & Protections for Whistleblowers. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-rights-protections-whistleblowers-2669.html
George, N. (2018). “What Are the Causes of Dishonesty in the Workplace?”. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/causes-dishonesty-workplace-13568.html
Jacqueline, P. (2013). “The World of Whistleblowers: Are They Sinners or Saints?” https://www.womenofflorida.com/THE_WORLD_OF_WHISTLEBLOWERS_ARE_THEY_SINNERS_OR_SAINTS-Article.aspx
Jane, D. (2014). Corporate Governance – Principles & Public Policy. Retrieved from https://www.seccom.govt.nz/speeches/2003/jds031103.shtml?print=true
Kevin, M. (2015). One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Pp.86
McMillan, M. (2016). “Codes of Ethics: If You Adopt One, Will They Behave?”. Enterprising Investor: Practical analysis for investment professionals, pp55-56.
Queensland Government, (2013). Staff code of conduct. Retrieved from https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/employing/taking-on-staff/staff-code-conduct
Richard R. (2009). Citizen Employees, pp237.
Ruth, M. (2012). How to Enforce Policies Consistently at Work? Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/enforce-policies-consistently-work-10970.html
Scott, A. (2010) The Enforcement Approach to Coercion,
Sight, (2011). 11 Types of Workplace Harassment and How to Stop Them. Retrieved from https://i-sight.com/resources/11-types-of-workplace-harassment-and-how-to-stop-them/
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