Importance of Employee Counseling - Coursework Example

Name Professor Subject Semester Date Table of contents 1.0 Executive summary……………………………………………………………………..3 2.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….3 2.1 Arguments against employee counselling……………………………………………..4 2.2 Arguments in favour of employee counselling………………………………………..6 3.0 Recommendation……………………………………………………………………….8 4.0 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………8 References ……………………………………………………………………………….9 A discussion on: “Employee counseling is just another example of management playing big brother. If employees cannot take the heat, let them get out of the kitchen” 1.0 Executive summary In the face of changing business environments, organizations are faced by the problem of having worked up and stressed up employees who are having a toll on the company’s productivity. Considering the fact that competition is very stiff, high quality and talented and motivated work force is a vital component in a competitive economy. But then how effective is employee counseling or is it just a waste of time? Are there some people who can withstand pressure at work that employers should higher? Some arguments support this notion while others depart from it with significant conviction as may be evident in this paper 2.0 Introduction With each passing day, changes are occurring very rapidly in the world economies today. Markets have become very competitive as firms utilize technology and new production method as leverage to compete with rivals. In light of this and many other factors, companies are slowly realizing the importance of attracting and retaining highly skilled and quality workforce as a vital component of their competitive advantage in a dynamic business world. Previous sources of competitive advantage have become less important overtime due to sustained supply of technical knowhow and technology products. Previously a firm’s success was attributed to strong emphasis on product and process technology, access to finance economies of scale and several other factors relating to the business. Notably however, it has become clear that the selection and management of quality workforce is a critical factor to organizational success. Human Resource practitioners in many companies are tasked with developing new and innovative ways to attract and retain quality workforce (Coles, 2003). One such tool that is becoming very popular with employers and any human resource management school must be teaching, is employee counseling. This is simply an attempt to encourage change in an individual, can be initiated by an employee or the employer. The employee problem might be so complex that it might be difficult to see any system of help that can provide a solution for the problem (Coles, 2003). So a question begs, is employee counseling just a waste of time? Can employees really change their behaviors and attitudes or the only solution there is to get employees that don’t exhibit undesired characteristics. I am of the opinion that the statement forming the basis of this discussion is true; employee counseling is simply not a business of the organization and an organization should focus on its core business. If somebody is not capable, then the company can find a capable individual. This paper will seek to incisively answer the two questions and briefly acknowledge the views of other people who hold a different opinion. 2.1 Arguments against employee counseling Competent employees can balance their work and personal lives It is common knowledge that no individual is perfect and we are all constantly fighting our own inadequacies in our own ways without letting others suffer because of us. To work I an organization, one is required to be prepared to face challenges in life that he/she should overcome successfully (Copeland, 2005). It is important to know that these challenges should not in any substantial way prevent one from being responsible in relation to family life. The human resource function has the daunting task of making the most of their human resource. They simply can not be offering each an every solution to their employees; there is a limit to how much the human resource can do to help. An employee can give his/her best to the company if he/she is in a positive frame of mind. A mentally preoccupied or troubled individual will be in a position to give a very minimal contribution to the company in terms of organizational effectiveness. It is therefore logical to make a rational decision of hiring a competent person for the sake of the organizational goals and objectives. Emotionally unstable employees Counseling basically aims at helping individuals take charge of their lives. Individuals therefore need to have the ability to make decisions wisely and also they need to alter behaviors to yield desirable results. A counselor’s job then becomes one of arranging appropriate learning experiences so that people can develop these skills. The counselor is simply a facilitator. The problem comes in when an employee is perpetually unstable for reasons the counselor can not be able to rectify. This kind of an individual will remain to be a burden for the company due to low productivity and lack of motivation. This kind of behavior might as well affect other productive employees who may lose motivation due to being over-relied upon. And since the business of the business is its business, counseling then becomes an unnecessary cost and activity the company might not want to indulge in (Tuvulla & Eglay, 2012). A bigger problem Employee counseling is usually provided in form of advising, consoling and sharing happenings in all spheres of life that may have an impact to an employee at the workplace. It is a form of informal or friendly counseling that does not require a specialized counselor to accomplish this. The underlying problem might be bigger to require a psychological counselor who establishes a formal relationship with the counselee (Kaila, 2006). The relationship is focused on achieving specific goals or solving particular problems as disclosed by the clients. It takes skills and patience to have the client open up depending on the client’s personality. To many companies this prolonged activity may not be desired and the easy decision to make is to hire another person who can cope with the demands at the workplace. Attitude problems In some organizations, employees behave in certain ways that are not at all related to psychological problems; they are problems to do with the kind of attitude they have towards the company. The attitudes are determined by a multiplicity of factors such as remuneration, job responsibilities and other human resource factors (Yuile, Chang & Sawang, 2012). If an employee feels that his/her needs are not adequately addressed he/she is likely to exhibit non-compliance behaviors such as lack of motivation which can easily be mistaken to be psychological problems. According to Yuile et al (2012), a company should therefore its attention and efforts towards developing an overall policy for all employees. It should be done bearing in mind that not all the desires of employees can be met. This brings us back to our contention that if anybody cannot stand the heat, then they might as well get out of the kitchen. 2.2 Arguments in favour of employee counseling No successful organization will ever be free from stress among its employees. This is the view held by a section of human resource practitioners. Employee productivity-According to a report by Hughes & Kinder (2007), 18% of employees are affected by personal problems on the job. If the personal problems are not dealt with adequately they may decrease the productivity of the company. Reducing sickness absence-Counseling support can have a significant positive impact on sickness absence among employees. According to McLeod (2001), 28% counseling interventions have been found in the majority of studies to have reduced sickness absence rates by 25-30 %. Improving attitude -Counseling is capable of contributing to significant improvements on most attitude-to-work factors such as interpersonal contact, and job satisfaction (Kaila, 2006). 3.0 Recommendation From this discussion it is evident that the reasons put forward by arguments against employee counseling are simply not sufficient enough to discredit the importance of employee counseling. It is illogical to state that employees should be able to deal with stress in life and balance between work and personal life is not a reason. The way the corporate sector has opened up to the world economy with all its goods things and pressure, it is high time for organizations to open up for employee-oriented HR practices like counseling of employees. In the face of changing corporate world and changing personal lives, it is imperative that companies adopt different improved styles to managing people in the organization. It is not just to the benefit of the employees as may be the notion in some quarters, but it is also to the best interest of the organization to show that the company cares about the employees as an important segment of its stakeholders. 4.0 Conclusion Employee counseling is becoming a common phenomenon in many corporates today as pressure at the work place increases at the same rate with pressure in life for employees. This new practice has led to some people questioning its contribution to the organization as to whether it is relevant at all. And as it may be seen, although careful selection of new employees should be geared towards getting the best candidate, it is not a perfect system to get the perfect person who can stand the pressure at work and therefore a need to have counseling for employees. All the same the Hr function of a company can only do too much to help. Some problems might be very difficult for employee counseling. References Hughes.r., Kinder.A., (2007). Guidelines for counseling in the workplace: British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), [PDF] available online at http://www.bacpworkplace.org.uk/acw_guidelines_web.pdf, accessed on 10/April/2013 McLeod.J., (2001). Counseling in the workplace: the facts. A Systematic study of the research evidence, BACP Copeland.S, (2005). Counselling supervision in organizations, London: Routledge Coles.A., (2003).counseling in the workplace, McGraw-hill International Tuvulla.E., Eglay.T., (2012). Effect of workplace counseling on employee performance: Enhancing employee performance in a dynamic business environment.Lambert Academic Publishing Kaila.H. ,(2006). Industrial and organizational psychology,Vol2, Gyan publishing house. Yuile.c., Chang.A., Sawang.S., (2012) The role of life friendly policies on employees’ work-life balance: journal of management and organization, 18, 1, 53-63 Read More