...PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY: TEAM PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND THREATS TO PRODUCTIVITY OVERVIEW This chapter is best discussed following a team exercise or case so that students have an opportunity to reflect on the success of the team. One suggestion is to ask each student to write down a method by which to assess team productivity. The students’ different responses can lead to a discussion of performance measures. Then, the instructor can ask what conditions need to be in place for teams to excel on the performance measures identified by the class. Finally, the instructor can move toward a discussion of how to design teamwork so that threats to performance are minimized. To the extent that students and the instructor can link these concepts to real experiences—a class exercise, a case discussion, or individual student analysis— the concepts will become clearer. lecture outline with Accompanying slides integrated model of successful team performance (EXHIBIT 2-1) 1 Model serves two purposes 1 Description—what to expect in terms of team performance 2 Prescription—ways to improve the functioning of teams 2 Model asserts that team context affects team’s ability to do three essential things 1 Perform effectively 2 Build and sustain motivation 3 Coordinate people [pic] [pic] team context 1 It includes the larger organizational setting within which a team does its work, the design of a team in terms of internal functioning...
Words: 2906 - Pages: 12
...Estimates of Presenteeism are approximately accounted for three-quarters of the nation’s loss in productivity and equates to $3,156 per employee per year compared to $2,500 per employee per year. The effects show that companies are more focused on absenteeism and ignoring presenteeism (Younossi, Stepanova, Henry, Younossi, Weinstein, Nader & Hunt, 2016). Another concern for working adults is sleep deprivation, chronic sleep deprivation affect the cognitive function which is related to working memory, alertness, attention to detail and decision making. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is the area responsible for complex cognitive processes, is mainly vulnerable to the effects of sleep deprivation, especially when planning and coordinating (Scott, Arslanian-Engoren & Engoren,...
Words: 1533 - Pages: 7
...The question that is often presented, what is the best approach for setting up employees for consistent successful performance? By enabling workers to make strong and steady contributions, it guarantees companies a chance to become more profitable. Much research shows a high correlation between one variable and the prosperity companies’ covet significantly more than other factors. That catalytic variable is optimal living. Optimal living is established by successfully embracing a healthy balance in all aspects of one’s life and implementing lifestyle adaptations to ensure this elevated level of wellness moving forward. Healthy living habits include: adequate rest, censoring stress, preserving quality social relationships, regular exercise, and quality nutrition. These behaviors synergistically working together will improve employees’ quality of life, as well as the quality of their work. The following are proven strategies from peer-reviewed resources that will enable employees to improve their quality of life, which in turn will lead companies into a more productive future. Optimal Living is generally an afterthought of employees, one that follows a promotion or other work advancement when time becomes available to be devoted to developing a healthy way of life plan. Recent findings are reordering these actions and provide...
Words: 2501 - Pages: 11
...administration Employees who have an exercise program on site perform better than employees without an on site exercise program. Employees who have an exercise program on site have the ability to last longer on the job as opposed to employees without an on site exercise program. This is mainly attributed to the overall fitness of the employees. For an employee to produce quality results, it is important to maintain fitness in all areas. The employee should be fit physiologically, physically, mentally, and professionally. The brain plays an important role in the overall performance of an employee. For an employee to conduct the different tasks well, the brain should be maintained at high levels of fitness. An exercise program ensures that employees exhibit better performance and stay on longer due to the fact that it provides fitness in more than one vital area. During the normal tasks in the workplace, the body undergoes wearing processes. The vital organs that are involved in the processes and are prone to the wearing include the brain and muscles. The amount of strain in a task is directly related to the wearing it causes to the different organs on the body. It is very significant to have an onsite exercise program to ensure that wearing and burnouts are kept on check. One of the areas where exercise is important is with regards to stamina. Exercise programs are important as they help in improving the overall stamina. Employees who exercise have the ability to tackle their...
Words: 2106 - Pages: 9
...more annually on health issues1. Obesity also acts as an initiator to other ailments related to heart, diabetes etc. This has an adverse effect on the insurance sector as the number of claims increase substantially leading to higher premiums and consequently large numbers of people are falling off from the radar of healthcare insurance. Rocky Mountain Mutual, our company, is one of the faster growing companies in the insurance sector and it is imperative that the management takes the problem of health and related issues head on. The best way to do this is to start from within the organization. Health has to be made a part of the work culture and seen as an important offering to the employees. Keeping all these facets in mind the fitness centre was built at the new headquarters in Utah. Many studies have tried to relate the effects of regular exercise and fitness to the productivity of people in workplaces. It has been found that exercises hold immediate benefits for affect and cognition in younger and older adults2. Regular exercises as a routine leads to the development of following cognitive abilities:- a. Improved Concentration b. Sharper Memory c. Faster Learning d. Prolonged Mental Stamina e. Enhanced Creativity f. Lowered Stress There is also evidence that exercises during regular work hours boosts productivity and increases performance3.I gathered data from employees which greatly substantiate the above studies. It was found that:- 1. 25%...
Words: 901 - Pages: 4
...There is always room for increasing employee morale throughout our organization. I have come up with a proposal that promotes healthy eating in the workplace to help boost morale and productivity. One of the most common issues amongst employees is not having the time to eat healthy. Some may not have time to prepare a healthy lunch to bring with them while others may not be able to afford to eat a quick healthy lunch from a nearby restaurant. When employees eat unhealthy foods, they may feel sluggish and their productivity may slow down after lunch. Therefore, I am proposing that we offer healthy snacks and lunches in our break room vending machines instead of high sugar snacks and sodas that have been available. Recommendations To put this morale booster into action we need to provide healthy food and beverage choices in vending machines and/or cafeterias. The “Healthy Food Choices” (2015) website suggests some items that we can start with: Beverages • Low-fat or fat-free milk • Water • Coffee—regular and Decaffeinated • Low-fat or fat-free milk as coffee creamer • Tea—hot or cold • Sugar-free beverages • Flavored or seltzer water • 100% fruit or vegetable juice Snacks • Vegetable sticks served with yogurt dip or hummus • Pita chips • Fresh fruit and cottage cheese • Unsalted or lightly salted nuts • Pretzels • Cheese and whole-grain crackers • Popcorn (low-fat variety) • Baked tortilla chips served with chunky salsa Lunch • Sandwiches served with...
Words: 508 - Pages: 3
...article discusses leadership style theories and offers an integration of the theories by describing the typical characteristics, philpsophy, skills, and consequences associated with each major style. Then an experimental exercise is offered that portrays the major styles and the productivity and satisfaction each i s likely to produce. Finally, a debriefing is presented that helps interpret the exercise and integrate the style theories with contingency theory. Importance of Leadership Style Few leaders understand the full significance of how influential their leadership style is on the performance and satisfaction of their employees. Leaders control both interpersonal and material rewards and punishments that often shape employee behavior and influence an employee’s performance, motivation, and attitude. They can affect an employee’s self-image and resulting potential in either a positive or negative way by being supportive, fair, and encouraging, or unsupportive, inconsistent, and critical. In addition, they can even affect an employee’s health and energy level by creating a stimulating work climate or one filled with tension and fear. The influence of a leader’s style reaches greater proportions as the effects on individuals begin to have a cumulative effect on group performance. There are no doubt variables other than a leader’s style that affect employee performance and satisfaction. Certainly, job challenge and interest, organizational working conditions and work climate...
Words: 7208 - Pages: 29
...ECCONOMICS ASSIGNMENT ONE Exercise one a. This quote depicts that a private property cannot be entered with forcefully without being given permission to do so. Regardless of one’s position in the society one cannot force his/her way into a private property. b. In the United States of America, a private property can only be entered into by the uninvited when there is a court order giving the authorities permission to enter the premises. This can as a result cause security threat or health threat posed by people or property inside the private property. Exercise two A firm has the features that it concentrates on. The features included improved economic power, improved profits, have employees, set prices in the market and puts inputs in their business to get profits. An 18th century pirate ship is a firm that comes together to get more profits and inputs. These include the ship and time spent in the sea, whether it has employees as...
Words: 1233 - Pages: 5
...AP Biology Exam Review: Lab Essays At least one essay (FRQ) on the exam will be based on an AP laboratory. To prepare for this question, review the objectives for all twelve laboratory exercises. The College Board does not necessarily expect that you have completed that lab, but rather that you have investigated the objectives of the lab. You may be asked to “design an experiment to determine….” You don’t necessarily need to create a new lab; if you have done an activity that would answer the question, simply describe it. For a good response, you should include the following. 1. State a hypothesis [as an “if…..(conditions), then….(results)” statement] Be sure your hypothesis is testable. 2. Identify the variable factor. 3. Identify the control. Be certain to explain the control for the experiment. 4. Hold all other variables constant. 5. Manipulate the variable. 6. State how you would measure the results. 7. Discuss the expected results. Relate the results to your hypothesis. 8. Include steps to replicate or verify. You may be asked to graph data. Be sure to use a graph that is appropriate for you data. Bar graphs are used when data points are discrete (not related to one another), while line graphs are used with the data are continuous. If there is a data point at zero, be certain to extend your line to 0, but do not extend the line to 0 if there is no data point at zero. Other points to keep in mind: ...
Words: 2702 - Pages: 11
...With the rising cost of health benefits and compensations many, companies are turning to a more feasible way to take care of health and wellness issues. It is becoming more practical and cost efficient to incorporate a health and wellness program into the company practice. The extent of how much a program is applied depends greatly on how much a company can and is willing to spend, and how committed they are to help the individual employee have a healthy lifestyle. With a program properly put into practice, both the employee and the employer will see immense benefits. Implementing a Health and Wellness program can be simple for employers who are wishing to reduce health care costs and decrease absenteeism. This can be done by encouraging everyone one involved to show support and commitment to the new services being offered. The best way for companies to introduce such programs is to offer options such as workshops for employees to experience specific ways to live healthier quick meetings during office or lunch hours to learn new tactics and be reminded of previous ones special staff to assist in everyday office lifestyle The different ways to efficiently introduce the advantages of healthy living will have to be determined by each company depending on the cost of implementing it. Putting a health and wellness program will benefit any company by Lowering insurance costs with a simple plan introduction Providing feedback to employees about all aspects...
Words: 3448 - Pages: 14
...Stress Effects and Management Proposal Debra Barnett University of Phoenix Paradigms of Health SCI/100 Heather Mayer, MPH, CHES September 16, 2013 Stress Effects and Management Proposal My company will be initiating an employee wellness program. I am submitting a proposal for a stress management program that can be implemented at the workplace with no costs for the employee. The technique I would like incorporated in the wellness program is Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). Stress—physical, mental and emotional wear and tear—is emerging as a leading health risk of the 21st century and as a serious hazard in the workplace. Disabling stress has doubled over the past six years in the United States, with 1 million people absent from work every day due to stress-related problems. Companies annually spend an average of $7,500 per employee due to stress, and 75 percent to 80 percent of workplace accidents are stress-related ("Managing Employee Stress," 2002, para. 1-2). PMR is cost effective. It can be performed by employees with no cost to the organization, time wise or financially. This technique does not require special equipment, and can be performed using a chair or the floor. PMR can be achieved during the workday during a scheduled break or lunch period. It does not require employees to travel from the work site. Our office has several conference rooms and training areas that are comfortable and free of distractions that will facilitate the focus and concentration...
Words: 1186 - Pages: 5
...In the article “Green Exercise” by Alan Fogel, he explains why exercising outdoors has more benefits than exercising indoors. Green activity is when a person participates in outdoor activities such as bike riding, running, playing sports, etc. According to Fogel, there are more positive benefits when it comes to outdoor exercising. A few examples includes increased feelings of happiness, tranquility, relaxation, and energy. This article was a reliable source in the sense that the author was well educated and did his research. He included outside studies and linked them into his article. His article was slightly biased in the sense of his previous experiences of enjoying the outdoors as a child. There is also little information about the positive effects of participating in indoor activities to counter argue to not sound so biased. This article Green Exercise is important because it does demonstrate the power of nature as it relates to humans and success. This article provides evidence that Green exercise is a positive aspect in an individual’s life. In the article by Katherine Reed called “A repeated measures experiment of Green exercise to self-esteem in the UK school children.” In the experiment children were asked to run 1.5 miles in indoor and outdoor settings in order to determine if there was any affect in their self-esteem. As a result when it came to the children there was not a significant difference when it came to exertion or enjoyment between the indoor...
Words: 1450 - Pages: 6
...Cause and Effect: Obesity Obesity: Paying a Heavy Price Obesity occurs when a person’s weight is far above his ideal body weight. It has become a major problem in many countries, and it is even expected that in the USA, average expectancy will soon begin to drop sharply for the first time in 200 years because of an epidemic of obesity. In this essay, I will examine some of the causes and effects of obesity in the UAE. Obesity is a complex phenomenon, but the main causes can be grouped into three headings: poor food choice, lack of exercise, and lack of awareness. Poor food choice is one of the main causes. People today eat more and more junk food and fast food. This food is high in fats and cholesterol, and contains too much carbohydrates. The body is overloaded with fats and sugar, which is converted into body fat. The second main cause is lack of exercise. Most people in the UAE have changed their lifestyle completely, from one in which there was more walking, physical and outdoor activity, into a sedentary lifestyle with little or no exercise. Most expatriates and emirates take cars to work and do office jobs. Maids and foreign laborers stake care of housework and manual labor. A third contributing factor is lack of awareness about good eating habits. Mothers give their children too much choice and too little guidance in what to eat, advertising confuses many people with claims for particular types of commercial processed foods, and conflicting information about diets...
Words: 497 - Pages: 2
...The Reaction of Staff to the Effects caused by the Restructuring Exercise Restructuring may be regarded as a significant modification made to the debt, operations or structure of a company. This type of corporate action is usually made when there are significant problems in a company, which are causing some form of financial harm and putting the overall business in jeopardy. The hope is that through restructuring, a company can eliminate financial harm and improve the business. (Investopedia). Many may term restructuring to be an organizational change. According to George & Jones Organizational Change may be defined as the movement of an organization away from its present state and toward some desired future state to increase its effectiveness. Change is inevitable; because of this McNamara postulates that there as there are different types of organizational change these include: * planned versus unplanned, * organization-wide versus change primarily to one part of the organization * incremental versus transformational The Public Sector Transformational Unit was formed by the government to lead and facilitate the implementation of the restructuring of the ministries in the Public Sector; therefore one could make the assumption that this was a planned change. With this premise, JMAN Business Consultants have been acquired by the Public Sector Transformation Unit (PSTU) to highlight the effects of this restructuring exercise on the employees in the Education...
Words: 1391 - Pages: 6
...implementation of corporate wellness programs. Due to rising health benefit costs and a rising number of health benefit claims, you requested that I investigate the implementation of corporate wellness programs as a way to reduce company costs. In order to determine whether it would be possible to improve employee health and lifestyle habits, while also cutting company costs, I analyzed the results that several companies had after launching their own wellness programs. I also considered and researched the potential disadvantages of implementing a wellness program. After a thorough investigation of all of these factors, I recommend that Technicraft, Inc. implement a corporate wellness program in order to improve employee health and productivity and reduce or stabilize company health benefit costs. I have enjoyed researching this topic and would like to meet with you to discuss my recommendation. I will call you early next week in order to schedule a meeting time or you may contact me at extension 5555. WELLNESS PROGRAM RECCOMMENDATIONS FOR TECHNICRAFT, INC. Prepared for James Martin, Director of Human Resources Technicraft, Inc. 4501 West 92nd Street Indianapolis, IN 46260 Prepared by Name, Assistant Director of Human Resources Technicraft, Inc. 4501 West 92nd Street Indianapolis, IN 46260 December 5, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Item ...
Words: 7052 - Pages: 29
