My response My response is as a business ethicist who is interested in workplace conduct under codes of conduct and ethics on a general basis. As I read through the blog I have made comments in relation to the issues mentioned in my previous statement. Defining Bullying How do we define bullying? Bullying can be described in many ways both verbally and physically, in this blog the term bullying is described as “one person or group of people in a workplace who single out another person for unreasonable, embarrassing, or intimidating treatment.” (Steven Mintz, 2014) Bullying in relation to codes of conduct and ethics. In terms of codes of conduct this is best described as a “set of actions” that all must follow when faced with any issues in the workplace. Code of ethics is a general guideline that most organisations tend to pass down to their employees to help build and maintain professional relationships with all stakeholders of the business; this is generally a preventative measure that is unrecognised by most employees but produces the best results. Many enthusiasts of following the rules tend to keep to these guidelines and rules to safeguard the company from difficult situations amongst employees. Forms of bullying: Can be verbal in the way we speak to other persons, employees or customers, such as inappropriate jokes, sexual comments and vulgar language. Bullying can also be observed through a manager who loudly disapproves of their employees actions whilst among others, making the work place unenjoyable. Steven notes that there are other types of bullying which can be overlooked such as taking credit where its not due and passing on the blame. This can be seen in many organisations that have young adults with low levels of maturity, where slack has to be picked up by others and as a result that particular employee will promote themselves. This is not how employees should behave towards colleagues as this invites negative responses from others. Steven also noted that 20% of bullying leads to workplace harassment, I believe a lot of these issues can be managed through proper workplace training for employees so that they are made aware of what is expected by them in terms of behaviour and what the company’s values and beliefs are in terms of good ethics and codes of conduct. Why is bullying bad and what may come of it. In the blog Steven explains how bullying can lead to several different negative impacts on a person and on the company; but he doesn’t mention that some of negative effects such as depression can lead to self harm and possible death of a person which are the bigger factors with bullying. He mentions that for the business there also down falls as the company may witness high staff turnover, loss in productivity and staff lacking motivation. The other side of this can see the foreclosure of the business as word spreads about the business. This confirms the business’s lacks of ethics and indicates that the business doesn’t have any internal controls to monitor and maintain employee performance. The Issues of workplace bullying can be seen all different types of organisations both large and small businesses. A study by Career Builder in Chicago it mentions that 35% of all workers say they feel bullied and 17% of theses workers have left their jobs. In bigger organisations bullying can be seen in the form of the female gender receiving less pay than males for higher roles as consensus says that men are more highly regarded in higher positions. What do you feel if you are bullied. “According to the American Psychological Association, severe bullying can lead to depression, anxiety and a variety of other health issues. Not only does it force out a perfectly good employee who is your victim, but it can harm the company’s bottom line because other people see it and it destroys their motivation to work in a place where they treat each other like that.” As I understand severe bullying can lead to deep down emotional distress that may cause its victims to reject life which may lead to self harm and other disturbing behaviours. Within an organization other employees may feel let down by the organisation in terms of moral support. For this reason I strongly believe that a code of conduct will help to resolve these issues and a code of ethics will help both the employee and employer feel they have a well balanced work environment. In conclusion, having both a code of conduct and ethics will see companies facing workplace bullying, reduce the incidences of bullying or harassment and see that all employee and employers benefit. Bullying however small or large the offence, should not be tolerated and needs to be dealt with, in a positive manner so that future of the employees is protected. Note: the response to the blog was written as part of an assessment for a business ethics paper.