WORKPLCEMENT PROFESSIONAL LAW

Workplcement Professional Law



Table of contents

Introduction2

Public Health or social care5

Analysis framework9

(1) Legislation9

Examples of code of practice of General Social Care Council11

October 2001 legislation12

(2) Work place14

(3) Role in the organization18

(4) Understanding of outcomes24

Conclusion26

Bibliography29

Workplcement Professional Law

Introduction

This article outlines certain signs indicating problems in the workplace within contemporary organizations. Moreover, using evidence from recent Australian Court cases, the article mentions some of the costs organizations may be faced with if they fail to address the problem. Having identified the problem, the article then suggests some solutions including legislative change and development of more co-operative workplaces. Such workplaces would deal with the problem in a problem solving, rather than punitive, framework. Development of people's emotional intelligence skills is suggested as one way to help address the problem within such a framework. Capitalism is in crisis and organizations within capitalist societies are faced with ever changing pressures, such as global competition, consumer demand, technological change, changing labour expectations, environmental awareness, and economic recession. These pressures increasingly demand organizational change. Evidence of corporate reaction to the uncertainty produced by these pressures may be seen in the growth of contemporary managerial buzzwords such as flexibility, market orientation, flattening structures, managerial excellence, productivity, quality, retraining, participation and creativity. Together these terms signify the emergence of a “discourse of restructuring” (McCarthy et al., 1995) which is affecting organisations and the people that work within them. One outcome within the discourse appears to be workplace bullying.

There are two aims for this paper. The first is to address some of the signs indicating workplace bullying. The second is to suggest a possible solution to the problem. By doing so, this paper will contribute to the growing dialogue recognising the debilitating outcomes of workplace bullying, as well as providing ideas and making positive suggestions for overcoming the problem.

The process used to achieve these aims is as follows. A brief analysis of the signs of bullying evident during downsizing and delayering in organisational restructuring is undertaken in the first section. The impact of these processes on managers, management styles and behaviours is also addressed. In the second section of the paper, a series of studies identifying the outcomes of such behaviours, including the effect on the individual and the cost to the organisation, are discussed. The third section of the paper identifies a range of strategies and remedies for dealing with the problem of workplace bullying.

Drawing on the signs and evidence identifying the problem of workplace bullying discussed to this stage, the penultimate section of the paper will suggest a solution to the problem. The solution is centered on the development of skills necessary for more appropriate behaviours in organisations undergoing change. Skills include emotional intelligence and communication skills.

In reaction to the global crises of capitalism and the resulting uncertainty, many organisations have undergone restructuring processes. Such processes include downsizing, or the planned elimination of positions or jobs (Cascio, 1993); and/or delayering, which is the vertical compression of managerial levels of hierarchy (Littler et ...