Employment Story: Why You Should Quit That Bad Job - Research Proposal Example

Research Essay on Workers and Employers To effectively run an organization effectively, what it requires is proportionate and constructive contribution from all the stakeholders. This includes, the shareholders, the government agencies, the management and of course the workers. The relationship of workers and employers happen to be the key factor in deciding the day to day functioning and future course for the organization. In today’s era of globalization when there’s all round competition, product differentiation and value additions become the key to take on the competition. To this end the role of workers turns out to be all the more crucial. Effectively managing the Human Resources and developing this resource into a competitive advantage forms the core component of strategic planning in today’s context. It is worthwhile there to mention that the competitive era has proved to be a boon for good workers, as they’ve got plenty of opportunities to choose from. In fact, some of the companies believe in head hunting for key posts, which often results not only in the exodus of the key person, but a team of his confidents as well. Such instances take place either the existing company fails to fulfill the needs of the workers, or the there’s some dispute amongst workers and employers or there could be a better opportunity. Such exodus of the workforce often results in cascading effects, which ultimately translates into losses for the company. On the other hand if the company is able to somehow assess the needs of the individual and is able to identify such needs which could help him or her sticking to the job, then the management could be said to have a feel of the working environment. Under such circumstances the worker too feels like staying with the current job, instead of frequent job hops. A recent article published in The New Zealand Herald on 9th April has come out with an interesting employment story. In this article Danish management consultant Alexander Kjerulf has come out with a list of the 10 reasons for people to stay even in ‘bad’ jobs. The reasons put forward are; i. Things Might get better: The worker in this situation often recollects the past and assesses the circumstances. Moreover the sense of insecurity also plays its role in deciding about the future. So, the individual stays with the job thinking that things might just get better. ii. My Boss is such a jerk but if I quit now, he wins: This is actually a peculiar condition in which the bad relations amongst manager and worker come to such a pass that both the parties are literally on the lookout for opportunities to humble each other. So the worker doesn’t feel like quitting because that might translate into a victory of the ‘jerk’ boss. These are in fact not very healthy circumstances for an organization. iii. I am not a quitter: Some workers do not exactly relish the idea of being labeled as quitter, as that amounts to being submissive to the excesses of the employer. Instead the worker is on the lookout for a suitable opportunity when s/he can make the employer realize his/ her worth. iv. I’ll never get another job: This is the kind of situation where the employer tries to exploit the sense of insecurity amongst the workers. Worker does not feel like quitting because s/he doesn’t find enough confidence in her/his abilities, which can get them a decent job. v. If I quit Ill lose my salary, status, company car, the recognition of my peers, etc.: This is in fact a classic case of an employer recognizing the needs of the individual and offering him/ her an environment which helps the individual in coming out with optimum performance. Such an arrangement often happens to provide a practical working environment, if not an ideal one. vi. Everywhere else is just as bad: This scenario comes up, when either the worker has already seen couple of job shuffles or the worker gathers from people around him/her working in some other company/ industry that the worker’s are not exactly relishing the working environment and they too are being put to difficult circumstances by the management. This prevents the worker from quitting the work. vii. I’ve invested so much in this job already: This situation often arises out of the bonding that one finds himself in the company. Workers do realize that the company is in a difficult situation and the management is not taking fullest care of the workers, but even then they feel like sticking to the job because the investment that has been done by the individual in terms of quality time, efforts, money etc. holds him/ her from leaving the job, in the hope that the situation might turn good enough in near future. Kjerulf advises that under such situations quitting is the only intelligent decision as staying amounts to ‘throwing good time after bad’. viii. I’ll lose my health insurance: Irrespective of the nature and specialization of a company, it can be said for sure that, ‘people’ form the core of its activities and therefore, the behavior and character of these very ‘people’ will affect the overall character of the organization. The performance level of this workforce depends upon the types of motivations provided by the organization. Mayo, the famous proponent of motivational theory, believed that workers are not just concerned with monetary benefits but they could be better motivated by taking care of their social needs while at work. Facilities like health insurance, maternity leave, paternity leave, annual holiday plans etc. form part of such motivators. Therefore, if the worker finds that he might lose the perks like a health insurance, then he’ll surely think ten times before quitting the job. ix. My job pays me very well: Money is one of the biggest motivators for an individual to continue working for a company. It is argued that the traditional “carrot and stick policy” of motivation still works quite effectively. Money being the carrot and stick is in the form of physical, financial or social punishments. It is assumed that people will work harder and produce more if substantial financial rewards are placed before them or if they are threatened with dismissal or peer embarrassment or physical punishment. Therefore the worker won’t quit the job because it is a good ‘paying’ job. Well, that’s something every worker would like to feel. x. Quitting will look bad on my CV: Quitting a job involves many aspects like, shifting the base, making new colleagues, getting tuned to a new work culture, starting a fresh inning of working experience etc. Therefore some workers feel that quitting the existing job would mean a bad reflection on their CVs as everywhere they go, they might be asked reasons for quitting the job, which might provide a lead to the history of concerns and conflicts that the individual has undergone in the previous company. Reference: Kjerulf, Alexander (2008). Employment Story: Why you should quit that bad job. Available online at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/11/story.cfm?c_id=11&objectid=10502980 (April 17, 2008) Read More