Workplace related issues - Research Paper Example

? Work related issues Work related issues Every organization has its own specific mode of running its business and achieving its set target. There are diverse standards of conduct and management practices to make sure that the business makes profit. The management, thus, needs to provide a conducive working environment so that employees can put in their full skills to work and as a result achieve their full potential. Many factors affect workers at the work place. With the growing business world, more opportunities are presented for employees to venture into; hence, the management is left with no choice but to find means of making sure that the employees are satisfied with the working conditions. These issues at a glance appear minor, but in the actual projection, they determine a great deal the motivation and efficiency of the worker (Hancock & Szalma, 2008). These issues range from the office design, office layout, the furniture in the office and the lighting systems. The services provided to the employees, such as refreshments, recreation facilities, health care plans and the rules and regulations as well as the policies of the organization (Hancock & Szalma, 2008). The level of interaction with the management and the influence of technology on the employees are also major issues. The employers are thus in the run to provide quality environment and services to the employees in order to be able to keep them for tomorrow. The ego of the employees determines a lot their motivation, and since the worker spends most of his or her lifetime at work, it is true that the quality of the place of work will affect the employee’s ego. A well-designed office, well built, partitioned and painted is a key motivator to a person’s attitude towards the work (Hancock & Szalma, 2008). For instance, if the work designated requires privacy for the employee, and the office does not provide such, the worker may feel an easy while executing their duty hence underperforming. A good design of building attracts and motivates the employee to stay around and provides essential factor for enhancing the creativity and innovative skills of an employee. The human mind is such that it makes preferences over color, and this generally affects the attitude of an individual towards a place. If the office is painted in such colors that the worker does not like, this will cause them to be de-motivated to stay in the office. Thus, it is important for the office to be painted in standard colors. The lighting system also matters a lot. A dimly lit room will cause low mood and negative attitude to the worker, toward the work. A moderately brightly lit office provides a serene working atmosphere hence motivating the employee to work. The arrangement of the office equipment and furniture is another key determinant factor to the attitude of the employee towards the office (Burke & Witt, 2002). A shabbily organized office will represent a job that is not taken seriously. The workers will tend to dislike the office hence this will affect his or her concentration in work, resulting to poor results. The furnishing of the office also affects the attitude of the worker towards their job. An office with old and shaggy looking office furniture will discourage the worker. For instance if the furniture is old and rugged, the employee who is expected to sit on them for most of the hours of his day will definitely not look forward to a new day at work. They as a result will just come to work for the pay but not to give quality work as is expected of them (Hancock & Szalma, 2008). The worker will do a job that is as good as the environment allows him or her to do. However, if the furniture is of quality, every worker will enjoy being at their workstation. In addition, they will be motivated to put in their best efforts and skills to work, since the setting is comfortable. A healthy health is essential for an individual to deliver quality service in all areas of life. An ailing person is not in a good state of mind to work, hence the case of absenteeism results. Absenteeism accounts for a great deal of poor performance of an organization or business. The most causes of absenteeism is ill health. When an individual is sick, they are not able to work effectively, hence this affects the performance. Stress related issues are very rampant these days. Most of which are arising from work issues, a noisy office, will lead to head aches and stress. Too much work without recreation and proper relaxation can also result to stress. The management and organizations should find ways of ensuring the safety on the health of its staff to ensure that these cases are taken care of. Most organizations have adopted health insurance plans that cover their employees and the family; hence sickness cases do not affect the working of the worker (Burke & Witt, 2002). The rules that govern an institution and the regulations that are set also affect the level of the working of the employees. In an institution where the rules are such that they are oppressive to the workers, the workers will develop a negative attitude towards the work and the organization. They will lose the motivation to put in their best efforts since they will have the human nature mentality of retaliating to any kind of provocation. This kind of rebellion will result in low working spirits since the atmosphere in the environment is tense. The regulations such as the timetable of work, the mode of contact and dressing that infringes on the individual rights and freedoms of the people will cause the employees to want to look for better working conditions hence leaving the organization for which they are working. This is a big blow to the organization especially if it loses a very skilled and competed worker. Thus, the business entities should set rules and regulations considering the feelings and views of its workers. Every person requires a break in whatever activity he or she is involved in, be it learning or working (Burke & Witt, 2002). The body needs time to rest and reorganize itself. The workers need time out to just relax and catch up with their families, hence the need to have plans for resting for the people. Such can be a leave from work, or holiday off. This will encourage the employees to be fresh as they resume working and energizing them to put in more effort. In addition, facilities such as refreshments at work would also motivate the employees to be productive. A tea break in which the workers get some refreshments will re-energize the workers to work. This will make it easy even those who do not get time to have breakfast in their homes to look forward to the day’s work since there are refreshments at work to keep them going until lunch break. Another key area that affects the efficiency of the workers in an organization is the ease of interacting with each other (Hancock & Szalma, 2008). This is mainly in a situation where the nature of the job requires working in collaboration with the other workers. In such cases, the quality of product is determined by the ability of the workers to accommodate each other even with the different ideas and views. Thus, there is need for the organization to take its employees to working trips to do team building. This will provide a platform for the workers to interact hence knowing each other better. As a result, the employees will be in a position to give each other a viable working environment. Team building also enables the management and the workers themselves to realize each other’s strengths, hence determining who is fit best to handle what task in the organization. The team building can easily be done with recreation trips at the same time. This is an ideal time to for the employees to evaluate their work and achievements to know what goals they had set, have not achieved, and re-schedule their plans if there are any chances to be made. This will help improve the working environment of the employees. The management also affects the working environment of the employees. For instance if the supervisor or the manager has a bad relationship with the workers, the workers will feel oppressed (Burke & Witt, 2002). A controlling and domineering boss will discourage the employees a great deal. Workers perform better when there is no one looking over their shoulder for correction or even supervision (Lewis, 2007). The constant thought of someone is watching over one’s shoulder while working can be a hindrance to full potential. The employees due to fear of the manager will not feel free to voice out his or her ides which may be useful to the organization. Thus, the organization will lose an important opportunity to achieve. In some cases, the workers may feel intimidated until they decide to resign from the work due to the tension in the working place. This is bad for the organization, since it may lose its best skilled workers just because of poor management skills. The technological advancement has also made a great impact in the business sectors. The working environment has been revolutionized by the internet and the other technological inventions (Burke & Witt, 2002). The introduction of e-conferencing and the phones and mails has made it easier for the management and its workers to interact more easily. However, the introduction of automated systems has not been very welcome in most institutions due to the impact associated with them. In as much as automation and technology makes work easier and increases productivity, employees still lack the irrational interactions that make us all human, whether at home or in the work place. Due to the automation of some of the processes in the organization, some employees are retrenched and loss their jobs (Barker, 2011). This is not a very good idea to the workers, since they know that any given time, those that remain could follow suite soon. Thus, the technological advancement has created a hostile working environment for most employees. The impacts of the issues in the working environment have their toll on both the workers and the society. This is so evident especially when we consider the unemployed in the society. The unemployed from the poor families are living in devoid conditions as compared to the unemployed in the well to do families. They depend on relief from the government and social organizations. In my case study, I found out that these donations are very small compared to the ratio of the unemployed (Barker, 2011). Thus, the loss of job and the persistent unemployment in our society is a major issue that is caused by work related issues. The numbers of the people who require this help overwhelm the social organizations helping them, since the resources they have are not enough. It is the duty of the people being helped to contribute in the programs helping them instead of depending on the social workers and volunteers. They should dedicate some of their time to these charity organizations to help and hence be productive. These findings are very useful to any company or organization that wants to know how to interact with its workers effectively (Lewis, 2007). To provide a conducive working atmosphere for the workers, the employers need to put into consideration the fact to get exceptional output from the workers; they need to be fully motivated. A healthy environment of working can make the worker to do little extra work in order to achieve their full potential. The management should work towards coordinating its workers and the tasks that they supposed to do to achieve maximum efficiency. The workers on their part also have to conduct themselves in a manner that will encourage each other to maintain the working environment. FAQ Title: How is your working environment? Name 1. My furniture is flexible to adjust, rearrange or reorganize my workspace. Not at all To some extent Almost Fairly enough 2. My furniture is comfortable enough so that I can work without getting tired till 5Pm. I strongly disagree I disagree I agree 3. The physical conditions at work influence my productivity. Not at all Often Mostly 4. Adequate and comfortable furniture will affect my productivity positively. I strongly disagree I disagree I agree I strongly agree 5. Noise free environment will increase my productivity. 10% 20% 40% 50% or more 6. My workspace is provided with efficient lighting so that I can work easily without strain on my eyes. I strongly disagree I disagree I agree I strongly agree 7. My office/branch is open enough to see my colleagues working. I strongly disagree I disagree I agree I strongly agree 8. Favorable environmental conditions(less noise, suitable temperature etc) in the office building will increase my productivity. 9. How is your relationship with your supervisor? Worse Not very good Good Very good 10. How is your relationship with your co-workers? Very bad Bad Good Very good References Barker, A. (2011). How to manage meetings. London: Kogan Page. Burke, L. Witt, L. (2002). Moderators of openness to experience-performance relationship, Journal of managerial Psychology. 17(8) 712-722 Cherunilam, F. (1985). Business environment. Delhi: Himalaya Publishing House. Hancock, P. A., & Szalma, J. L. (2008). Performance under stress. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Pub Lewis, P. S. (2007). Management: Challenges for tomorrow's leaders. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western. Read More