Effective Culture of the New Employees - Term Paper Example

SAFETY AND ORGANIZATION CULTURE Department: Lecturer: 0. Meaning and functions of organization culture Organization culture is defined as a pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and therefore to be taught to new members as the correct mainly to perceive, think and feel in revolution to these problems. Organization culture is therefore the essential collection of shared values which provide both explicit and implicit sign post to preferred behaviour in the organizations. Organization culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. The world of work has rapidly been changing; changes appear to be happening more drastically. As part of an industrial organization, the human resource management (HRM) has to deal with a numerous effects in the changing world of work. This means that an organization does suffer implications like globalization, work force diversity, technological changes, changing skills requirement, employment involvement, continuous improvement initiatives and labour shortages (Bradley, 1998). New employee orientation covers the activities involved in introducing a new employee to the organizations up to one’s work unit. It expands on the information received during the recruitment and selection stages and helps to reduce the initial anxiety one feels when beginning a new job. The orientation program should familiarize the new member with the organizations objectives, history, philosophy, procedures and rules. It should communicate relevant policies such as work hours, pay procedures, overtime requirements and company benefits. Functions of a culture includes: Creating distinction between one organization and others, conveying a sense of identity for organizations members and facilitating the generation of commitment to something longer than other individual’s interest. It also enhances the stability of social system. More so employees do look up to the top management’s behaviour as a bench mark for defining appropriate behaviour. As such, culture communicates ethical expectations in an organization. The code of ethics are effectively designed and disseminated to avoid ambiguities in an organization. The code of ethics therefore, should state the organization’s primary values and ethical rules that employees are expected to follow. Dissemination is through; providing ethical training, setting up seminars, workshops and ethical training programs .The training sessions are used to reinforce the organization’s primary values and standards of conduct. Also, Performance appraisals of managers should include a point by point evaluation of how his or her decisions measure up against the organization’s code of ethics. In seeing this through, People who act ethically should be visibly rewarded for their behaviour and unethical ones equally punished. In the same line of reasoning, Bradley 1998 asserts that an organization needs to provide formal protective mechanism where employees can discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical behaviour without fear of reprimand. An employee’s work performance depends to a considerable degree on knowing what an employee should do and not do. Understanding the right way to do a job indicates proper exposure to an organization’s culture. Appraisal of performance includes how well the employees fit unto the organization. Can the employee get along with other co-workers? Do they possess some acceptable habits? Do they demonstrate the right attitude and appropriate behaviours? Does such quality within the employees differ among jobs and organizations? To answer such questions proper organization culture becomes a significant factor in influencing both actual job performance and how it is being perceived. Employers are therefore required to ensure that employees working alone have an effective way of communicating to the administration should there be an emergency (Crowling, 1993). This, the employers can achieve by proper employee training and having an effective communications system so that employees who are working alone can easily contact someone in case of an emergency. In addition, it may be possible to eliminate any hazards of working alone by rearranging work schedules. For example, two loggers who are working in isolated areas could be assigned to the same cutting area so that neither is required to work alone. However, requiring two employees may not be practical or effective in some situations. Employers have to weigh all factors to decide the most effective approach to achieve employee safety (Crowling, 1993). 2.0. New employee and culture New employee orientation covers the activities involved in introducing a new employee to the organization and to the individuals in his or her work unit; it may be formal or not formal at all. It is viewed that new employee orientation requires much more in a dynamic environment as they need to understand the organization’s culture. Every organization over time evolves stories, rituals, material symbols and language. These values determine in a larger degree what employees see and how they respond to their world. An employee who has been properly socialized into the organization’s culture, therefore, has learned how work is done, what matters and which work related behaviours and perspectives are or are not acceptable and desirable. When the business world talks about socializing, orienting and developing employees, it then refers to a process of helping new employees adapt to their new organizations and responsibilities. The process is well designed to assist employees to fully understand what working is about in the organization and to help them become fully productive as soon as possible (Bradley, 1998). 3.0. Managers role and safety culture Top as the manager’s key role in an organization is to welcome new employees by helping allay fears of new surroundings and talk to them about what a good job choice they have made. The manager is in a position to inspire new employees by talking about what it is like to work for the organization and discuss on what really matters in the business organization. Employees who meet with clients away from their base office may face an unfamiliar environment and unpredictable client behaviour. Risks in such situations include assault, robbery and verbal abuse. Prevention strategies include using a safety checklist and having a safe visit plan to guide employees to carry out their job safely. Employees in this category include home care workers and nurses, real estate agents, social services workers, bylaw officers, and government department enforcement officers. If businesses are concerned with efficiency and profits, why would they spend money to create conditions that exceed those required by law, the answer is the profit motive itself. Accidents costs can, and for many organizations do substantially add to the cost of doing business. The direct cost of an accident to an employer shows itself in the organizations workers compensation premiums (Burns, 2000). In a working alone situation the employer must, conduct a hazard assessment, employers must closely examine and identify existing or potential safety hazards in the workplace. The assessment must be in writing and communicated to all affected staff. Employers must also involve affected employees in conducting the hazard assessment and in the elimination, reduction or control of the identified hazards. Employers must take practical steps to eliminate the hazards identified. If it is not practicable to do so, employers must implement procedures to reduce or control the hazards by providing an effective communication system. Employers should therefore, provide an effective communication system for employees to contact other people who can respond to the employees’ needs. The system must be appropriate to the hazards involved and include regular contact by the employer (or their designate) at intervals appropriate to the nature of the hazard associated with the worker’s work, ensure employees are trained and educated, employers must ensure their employees are trained and educated so they can perform their job safely. Employees must be made aware of the hazards of working alone and the preventative steps that can be taken to reduce or eliminate potential risks (Burns, 2000). The following practices can be used to reduce the risk of violence to employees who travel to their client’s premises; Safe Work Procedures. The employer should consider a standard safety awareness checklist so that employees can evaluate their risk. The evaluation should take into consideration client behaviour, location, previous experiences and the presence of other dangerous items e.g. weapons, vicious dogs. A safe visit plan should be made if employees are entering a potentially unsafe situation. The plan should outline control measures chosen to help the employer to track the safety of employees working at the client’s premises. Control measures include using an active communication system, switching the meeting place to a safer and friendlier location, or using “two employees” to eliminate working alone (Bradley, 1998). 3.1. Safety management and training. Every organization needs well adjusted, trained and experienced people to perform its activities. As jobs in today’s dynamic organizations have become more complex, employee education has increased. Employee training is a learning experience that seeks relatively permanent change in employees that they improve their performance. Thus, training involves changing skills, knowledge, attitudes or behaviour. This may mean changing what employees know, how they work, or their attitudes towards their jobs, co-workers, managers and the organization. Although safety is everyone’s responsibility, it should be part of the organization’s culture. Top management must show its commitment to safety by providing resources to purchase safety devices and maintaining equipments. Furthermore, safety should become part of every employee’s performance goals (Bradshaw, 2002). After reviewing records of past incidents, employers need to carefully examine the workplace, day-to-day management practices and other situations that may put employees at risk. This will help employers to develop and put in place specific preventative measures to address these problems. An employer’s review should look at: all factors that may make the risk of violence more likely, such as physical features of the building and environment, lighting deficiencies, lack of telephones and other communication devices, areas of unsecured access, and areas with known security problems e.g. parking lots. Factors that make the risk of occupational injury more likely or severe, such as high hazard work e.g. tree cutting, isolation from first aid services, and inability to call for help. The effectiveness of existing safety measures is pegged on whether such measures are being used and whether employees have been adequately trained in their use. When identifying workplace hazards, employers should talk to their employees and review the experience of the business over the previous two or three years. This involves collecting and examining the history of past events that may reveal the risk of workplace violence and injury. Considering what happened before and during the incident and noting the relevant details of the situation and its outcome. More so employers should check with similar businesses if they do not have personal experience of past incidents .In addition employers should also see if there are apparent trends in injuries or incidents relating to a particular work site, job title, activity, or time of day or week. They, employers, should also identify specific tasks that may be associated with increased risk. Some good sources to check include injury and illness records resulting from “working alone” incidents, employee’s compensation claims, and police robbery reports that identify specific incidents related to working alone (Bradshaw, 2002). A work site hazard assessment is a common sense look at the workplace to find existing hazards for employees working alone. Employers need to: review records and past experiences, and identify measures or actions needed to correct any hazards. Completing these two initial steps is important in the success of any health and safety prevention program. The OHS Code requires employers to involve their staff in this process. If employers have limited experience in this area, or are unsure of what measures they can take, they may wish to contact outside experts such as a health and safety consultant. HR plays an important role in implementing quality improvement programs and whenever it does, it does so by embarking on any improvement efforts such as introducing any type of change accordingly. HR must have a type of mechanism in place or policy implemented that gives the workers appropriate answers and outlines for whatever they have planned and are focused to achieve, as well as dealing with any conflicts that could arise in the work set-up. The HR will need to offer the skills necessary in the changed organization. This sentiment is echoed by Crowling, 1993.Crowling confirms that even the best process will fail if employees lack the requisite skills to perform as the process task dictates .The success of the organization therefore lies in the hands of a competent, skilled and committed workforce. Another means of promoting safety is to empower action; some organizations do this through employee groups called safety committees. Although chiefly prevalent in unionized settings, these committees serve a vital role in helping the company and its employees implement and maintain a good safety program. Organizations must also train their supervisory personnel to identify troubled employees before problems result in violence. Employee assistance programs can be designed specifically to help these individuals. Rarely does an individual go from being happy to committing some act of violence overnight. The HR is also given opportunity of using the employment- at will- doctrine; under the doctrine an employer can dismiss an employee when it has a good reason of doing so. Although employment at will doctrine thrives in contemporary organizations, it has some exemptions which include wrongful discharge suit, contractual relationship, implied contacts, and breach of good faith. Organizations facing economic crisis can use the doctrine so as to reduce its employees or use it as the basis of contingency workers. But, the disadvantage of such method is that it is not sustainable in maintaining human capital. The issue of implied contracts have been changing and how HR operates in several of its functions for example interviews are increasingly cautious, avoiding anything that could conjure up a contract (Bradley, 1998). For retail businesses, employers may wish to contact the Crime Prevention Unit of their local police service. Escape and Access Routes — Lack of escape and access routes often discourage a robbery. The side or back door should be locked from the outside at all times with only the main entrance accessible to customers. This practice also prevents robbers from entering the store undetected. However, fire code regulations must be taken into consideration. Existence of exits near well-lighted areas or visible to the public reduces the appeal of the store as a potential robbery site. Security Systems — Robbers do not want to be identified and security systems are a good deterrent. Typical security systems available include video surveillance cameras, alarms (personal and remote), mirrors, observation windows and height markers. Businesses should advertise their security measures to increase their effectiveness, Protective Shielding, although not commonly used in business, can be a control measure in reducing the risk of violence. The physical barrier provides some protection to employees and makes it more difficult for robbers to intimidate victims. This might be an appropriate tool in high-risk situations (Bradshaw, 2002). Holding employees accountable for safety issues by evaluating their performance sends the message that the company is serious about safety. Another means of promoting safety is to empower the employees to action. Some of the organizations and business do this through employee groups called safety committees. Best practices for any health and safety program and for situations where employers work alone involve: Management’s commitment to the health and safety of their employees. Any incidents that occur at the workplace should be investigated and corrective action should be taken by the employer. Wherever possible, employers are encouraged to work with their staff to develop sound and practical safety procedures that are clearly understood and followed. Assessing the hazards of your workplace, to start building an effective safety program, the employer needs to take into account the business or area’s incident history. Employers should also assess aspects of the physical layout of the workplace that prevent staff from doing their jobs properly. In addition, they should take corrective actions or measures to prevent or minimize hazards or incidents from occurring. Training and educating staff is also an effective means which can see the employees perform their job effectively. It is necessary too to investigate an incident that has been reported by employees and follow it through with measures that will prevent the incident from occurring again. Nevertheless, evaluating safety measures on a regular basis to ensure that these measures work, taking into account any new changes in business operation (Crowling, 1993). 4.0. Conclusion Employers can eliminate the risk of employees working alone, as well as the need to comply with the working alone provisions, if they choose to organize work schedules and procedures to remove the occurrence of working alone. An employee is considered to be working alone if the employee works alone at a work site in circumstances where assistance is not readily available when needed. Based on employee’s legal rights and human nature, the use of contingent workforce may be appropriate as it helps the organization to enable balance its labour supply. Temporaries and the flexibility may foster present special challenges for human resource managers. The current organizations are striving to have countercyclical hiring which does emphasize on human resource planning and thus avoids shortages, regulate the number of employees working and also does value training and development (Bradshaw, 2002). One way that the management can be assured that rules and regulations are enforced is to develop some type of feedback system such as oral or written reports or periodic walks through work areas to make observations. Ideally, safety personnel rely on reports from supervisors on the floor and employees in the work areas and these are supported by the inspector’s personal observations. Although safety is everyone’s responsibility, it should be part of the organization’s culture. Top management must show its commitment to safety by providing resources to purchase safety devices and maintaining equipments. References Bradley, N (1998) Human resource and management: theory and practice. London: Routledge & Keegan. Bradshaw, C. (2002). Human resource: planning and management. Journal of experimental Education. Vol. 70, pp. 179. Burns, A (2000). Work force research and planning, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Crowling, A (1993) a guide in evaluating and appraising workers, Journal of the experimental research society. Vol. 2. No. 41 pages 3-45. Read More