Quick question about article usage

Tom   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 13:58 GMT
Dear Natives,

Which sentences sounds better to your ears?

"This procedure defines a code of conduct for employees of the Sales Department."

or

"This procedure defines a code of conduct for THE employees of the Sales Department."

Thanks!
dongordo   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 14:25 GMT
They both sound ok but "the employees" is more precise in a technical sense when referring to a set of rules. "Employees" alone could imply 'just some of the employees'.
Lana   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 15:10 GMT
The first one sounds better to me.
Kiwi   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 15:47 GMT
In this case it doesn't matter at all, they both sound fine and mean the same thing, as far as a non-grammarian would care anyway!
Julian   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 17:09 GMT
Since the two mean the same thing, I would go with the less wordy first sentence.
Clark   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 22:24 GMT
They are both all right.
Ryan   Thursday, July 31, 2003, 22:42 GMT
Or you could say "all employees." It sounds pretty authoritative that way.

Ryan