Workplace Policies - Be Cool to the Pizza Dude by Sarah Adams - Article Example

Workplace Policies Workplace policies are composed of roles and terms that encompass all the different categories and scenarios within the work environment. For that matter, it is important for ever organization or company to be able to clearly establish and define these policies to be able to protect both the organization and the employees. Employees experience different positive and negative issues inside the workplace which can be related to compensation, conflicts with co-workers, relationship of work with personal issues, use of resources, discrimination and the different dynamics related to employer-employee relationship. Although the workplace is supposed to be a professional environment, psychosocial elements that come into play due to the fact that the employees and the employers are human can be considered as the most affective issues within this environment (Gottfried & Reese 323). For that matter, for the sake of the discussion, it is important to focus on the different effects related to different issues experienced in the workplace and the positive ways of resolving these issues. It is important to take note that the workplace is another social environment which is composed of both positive and negative stimuli. In this research paper, I will focus on the positive aspect of the workplace situation. The workplace policies are supposed to be logical and fair in terms of basis and workplace success is defined by the manner by which a worker can face the different activities and tasks with positive attitude. The article entitled “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude” by Sarah Adams captures the philosophy I am trying to apply in my everyday life. It can also be applied to the attitude we should have in the workplace. The pizza dude philosophy is base on doing good things and respecting other people as you go which can be related to the Golden Rule. As a human being inside and outside the workplace it is important to respect rules and respect other people. The philosophy is composed of 4 principles. The first principle is about humility and forgiveness. Treating the pizza delivery guy with respect is recognizing his situation and understanding that he is working in service of other people. Based on the concept presented by Covey in this work The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, habit is an intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. Skill is honed through training while knowledge and desire can be related to the attitude being shown and expressed by an individual. To be able to show humility and forgiveness toward other people requires understanding and knowledge of the behavior of other people. It is also important to have desire to achieve our own goals. We should also understand that other people have their own goals, such as the pizza dude who wanted to be of service to his clients on time (Covey 47). Humility and forgiveness is important in the workplace. It is a fact that the work environment is a highly competitive place where people are given tasks and responsibilities to accomplish to be able to contribute to the overall goals and visions of the whole organization. In the said process, some employees can achieve the goals but it is inevitable that some would have difficulty and even fail in the tasks. Humility is important for the people who succeed who should avoid gloating about their achievements. Also it contributes to the positive atmosphere of the workplace people are driven to achieve goals yet humble enough to express that helping each other and being a team player is the key to success. Humility can also be expressed by those workers who failed to complete the task correctly by accepting their errors and owning up to the need to improve even through the help of other people. There are issues that can be studied deeper in such issues. The failure to achieve goals may be related to personal problems. In this case, the implementation of personnel support can be considered important. Looking into family problems, financial situations and even vices can be considered. In such cases, forgiveness towards oneself is also important. The second principle is about the practice of empathy. Empathy is the understanding of the situation of another person. The pizza delivery job is known to be a service-based job that is low paying. Empathy is extending patience and understanding toward that person we know, for example in the workplace by remembering that low point in our life when we are working so hard but everything is really hard. The time when the only thought that is keeping us going is the reward of the future, that somewhere in the future we would be in a better place. This way of thinking can help us transcend conflicts with people around us due to the fact that we have better understanding of the dynamics in an organization being affected by human behavior and emotions (Carnegie 107). With all the issues related to temperament and behavior aside, successfully completing a task is inevitable. Principle three is with regards to honor. This is related to the honest work which is under work ethics. It is expected for us to give honest work for the time that we dedicate in the workplace. Although there are disparities in terms of the compensation and the amount of work being given by the pizza delivery guy and the CEO of a company, honor in terms of dedication and pride of one’s job is important. We are not focused on questioning the luxury being experienced by the head of companies but honor in terms of work can be considered as a personal gauge of our dedication. There are measure and ways to determine the quality and quantity of the work that the employees perform but honor is a personal price attached to our output may it be the service we provide or the report we submit or the task we completed at the end of the day. The attitude and behavior of an employee is also a clear mirror of the honesty in his work. I have seen and heard people who talk about their work with great pride and joy. In relation to this principle, a simple smile from a satisfied customer is already recognition for a pizza delivery guy. This is the same lesson being taught by The Secret Life of John Chapman where an educator went out of his way to try and experience how people who earn based on their strength live, a kind of job that clearly spells the honest work equated to compensation (Rich). The fourth principle is about the practice in equality. There are many issues that can be related to this principle but it is an important notion to put into mind that equality is a positive concept that is becoming an issue due to the unequal treatment and interaction in the society specifically in the workplace. Upon searching for the topic workplace policies, most of the references are pointing out to the issues related to the different forms of segregation and inequality dictated by elements such as gender, race, religion, social class and even educational attainment. In the present era, it can be considered that the default setting of human beings is focused on gauging people based on these labels. Factions who are very well present in the social setting can be observed in a smaller unit of social environment such as within the workplace. With regards to these labels that segregate people, there is always a higher and a lower class. The negative effect is that it is a common notion that workers are judged based on these parameters. A female worker with equal or even a more advanced skill set might have less chance of being promoted compared to a male just because of gender issues. In a certain religion organization people of different religious beliefs are not accepted for work. This is the prerogative of the owners but still in relation to equality, better workplace policies are needed to be implemented (Gottfried & Reese). In the general view of the article, it can be considered that the pizza dude philosophy teaches lesson on positivity. This is an important lesson in adapting, surviving and succeeding in the workplace. Positive attitude can be considered as a key to thriving not only in finishing the task assigned to us but having friends that can help and cooperate with you in the workplace. As an employee it is a challenge to change policies being set and dictated by the employer but it is important to thoroughly study them. It is important to familiarize ourselves with both our responsibilities and our privileges as employees. Knowing the technical and professional aspects of the job is the primary role of an employee but it is also important to mind our attitude all the time. Aside from being positive, developing interpersonal skills and behavior can also help in succeeding. It had been expressed that to be able to achieve the cooperation of employees and co-workers it is important to know where they are coming from. This means that for one to be able to gain cooperation one needs to give the person what he or she needs. In terms of an employer, the benefits attached to the compensation can motivate the employees. For a co-worker, cooperation is important by helping out a co-worker in need. For example, in cases of personal emergency, you can be the person one can ask for helping another in their task (Carnegie 18). The perspective presented by the pizza dude philosophy is just one of ways to analyze the workplace dynamics. There is a multitude of ways to map out and analyze the different interactions within the work environment and the manner by which policies are established and implemented. In this case, positive attitude towards work is the main focus. Works Cited Adams, Sarah. “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude.” This I Believe. 2006 Carnegie, Dale. How to Win Friends and Influence People. Simon and Schuster, 2010. Print. Covey, Stephen. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Simon and Schuster, 2004. Print. Gottfried, Heidi and Laura Ann Reese. Equity in the Workplace: Gendering Workplace Policy Analysis. Lexington Books, 2004. Print. Rich, David Lowell. The Secret Life of John Chapman. The Jozak Company and Paramount Television1976. 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