...perception of organizational power and politics among our organizations. Work stressors will be addressed as well as a list of strategies for managing stress within an organization. Lastly, we will evaluate the business and ethical considerations of operating organizations on a global scale. We define stress as a state of tension experienced by individuals facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities (). We encounter stress in our everyday life. While some stress is a normal part of life, extreme stress can interfere with productivity and reduce physical and emotional health in a person. “Layoffs” and “Budget cuts”, have become dreaded words in organizations and people fear the uncertainty of job security. Because of these worries employees will push themselves to the extreme to avoid losing their jobs. Some organizations know that their employees will do whatever it takes to keep their jobs and use that to their advantage. Common causes of work place stress * Fear of layoffs * Staff cut backs * Increased demand of overtime * rising expectations but with no increase in pay * unreasonable demands * workplace bullying * Not caring or realizing that when their employees feel overwhelmed they lose confidence and become less productive in their job performance. Some signs of work place stress are * Anxiety * Indecisiveness * Irritability * Loss of...
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...challenge of work/life balance is rising to the top of many employers’ and employees’ consciousness. In today’s fast-paced society, human resource professionals seek options to positively impact the bottom line of their companies, improve employee morale, retain employees with valuable company knowledge, and keep pace with workplace trends. This article provides human resource professionals with an historical perspective, data and possible solutions—for organizations and employees alike—to work/life balance. Three factors—global competition, personal lives/family values, and an aging workforce— present challenges that exacerbate work/life balance. This article offers the perspective that human resource professionals can assist their companies to capitalize on these factors by using work/life initiatives to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions I n a society filled with conflicting responsibilities and commitments, work/life balance has become a predominant issue in the workplace. Three major factors contribute to the interest in, and the importance of, serious consideration of work/life balance: 1) global competition; 2) renewed interest in personal lives/ family values; and 3) an aging workforce. Research suggests that forward-thinking human resource professionals seeking innovative ways to augment their organization’s competitive advantage in the marketplace may find that work/life balance challenges offer a win-win solution...
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...Resolving workplace conflict “Working through a conflict can also help all those involved to get to the next stage of development in self-awareness, team building, and productivity” ( Cottringer ,2006). When working together on a team people need to know that they are being understood and they are taking the other person feelings into consideration. Managers must learn to distinguish certain situation that causes difficult behavior among their employees. Once these situations are distinguished, they can put a stop to them, and to the unlikable behavior that is causing the conflict. 2. Strategies for identified issues- confrontation and problem solving, a method of identifying the true source of conflict and resolving systematically” (DuBrin, 2004, p.) Reducing stress “Reducing stress and conflict in the workplace allows for greater productivity. Employees' morale, job satisfaction, and performance become limited, and more often than not result in employee turnover. Continued levels of stress and conflict at work eventually result in absenteeism clue to stress-related medical problems” (Deems, 2005). Motivating employees When it comes to motivating employees it takes dedication and consistency to help convey positive outcomes. “Action plans help to clarify expectations and accountability, align and coordinate individuals and teams, ensure adequate resource allocation and help leaders take action on problems before they derail an initiative” (Finkelstein, 2010). “Leaders...
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...Managing diversity in the workplace is a complex issue and one that is fast becoming one of the most important factors driving the sustainability of today’s organizations. According to Root (2015) diversity in the workplace refers to the bringing together of people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, as well as, age groups into a cohesive and productive unit. Diversity also encompasses all manner of differences including mental, physical, cultural difference, including sexual orientation. Patrick & Kumar (2012) states that in promoting diversity in the workplace there should be understanding, acceptance, appreciation and respect of each individual’s differences and uniqueness. The effective management of diversity allows all employees no matter their difference to reach their true potential and to maximize their contributions to the goals of the company. Greenberg (2004) stresses that the level of success an organisation achieves will depend on its ability to effectively embrace diversity. The effective management of workplace diversity carries with it benefits to both the organisation and the employee. A benefit to the organisation includes increasing the company’s flexibility and its ability to meet customer needs. According to Nataatmadia & Dyson (2005) research has shown that diverse groups tend to be more creative and flexible than homogeneous groups. Creative employees are encouraged to explore, and are known for their open-mindedness. Employees from...
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...A White Paper from the Society for Human Resource Management BULLIES IN THE WORKPLACE: A FOCUS ON THE “ABUSIVE DISRESPECT” OF EMPLOYEES By Teresa A. Daniel “Bullying is the sexual harassment of 20 years ago; everybody knows about it, but nobody wants to admit it”. —Lewis Maltby (Russell, 2001) The purpose of this paper is to review the current research and literature about workplace bullying, to provide information about how organizations can learn to more quickly identify bullies and to suggest ways of dealing with these toxic people so that the corporate culture is not negatively impacted by their behavior. Overview To be successful, organizations must create an atmosphere that inspires both innovation and risk-taking. In an increasingly competitive global economy, such innovation is more important than ever before (Hamel, 2000). However, not only does workplace bullying stifle productivity and innovative practices, but bullies often target the organization’s most talented employees—those individuals who are generally the most threatening to bullies (McCord & Richardson, 2001). As a result, the creativity and productivity of the organization’s most talented human capital is often negatively affected by this type of behavior at work or, worse yet, good employees are driven out of the company altogether. Bullies are often hard to identify because they operate “under cover”—that is, on the surface they appear to be civil and cooperative, while they do ...
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...Final Research Paper Global organizations are recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and are repositioning themselves for aggressive growth. As the economy recovers, organizations worldwide realize the need for highly connected, ambitious and valuable contributors forcing companies to develop innovative ideas and find human capital to develop capabilities and share expertise. Globalization has changed the face of 21st century workforce. In today's fast paced and growing economy, there is an exponential increase of cultural diversity within big businesses and corporations. There is an opportunity to "achieve higher levels of productivity and extraordinary performance" (Nykiel) for large corporations with a multicultural workforce. At the same time, it may also "be more challenging in a multicultural work and managerial environment" (Nykiel). Workforce Diversity Statistics The term "multicultural workforce" which represents the personal characteristics of employees in an organization is today superseded and replaced by a much broader term, "cultural diversity". Diversity refers to the way organizations respond to a multicultural workforce. The strategy in large organizations is to leverage differences in employees to increase creativity and have a competitive advantage in a fierce market. In the 2014 survey conducted by Diversity Inc; which is the leading publication for the education and benefits of large organizations, 1215 companies participated in an empirically...
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...Workplace bullying and union involvement Introduction Bullying is all around us. We’ve seen it on the school playgrounds as children all the way through to the companies which we are employed. I’m sure at some point in our lives we ourselves have fallen victim to bullying or have even the person doing the bullying. Unfortunately, bullying is an increasing problem within the organization. To date, there are approximately 54 million people out there who have been victims to workplace bullying; of which, 45 percent suffer from various health problems due to stress and 40 percent were either fired because their work productivity diminished or they eventually quit because they couldn’t handle it anymore (Bennett-Alexander, 2012). Since bullying is such a common offense, it is often difficult to detect. This briefing will provide information about the problem, guidance on how to tackle it before it gets out of control, and what to include in an effective prevention policy and how to put it into action. What is bullying? The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classified workplace bullying not only as a form of harassment; they also gave bullying its own category under their definition of workplace violence (“Workplace violence”, n.d.). If not dealt with immediately, the bullying has the potential to lead into something more severe or fatal. Bullying is not just an employment problem; it’s an issue of power and feeling dominant. It can also raise...
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...TERM PAPER MPOB L LOVELY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT topic:- stress management SUBMITTED TO:- Ms. MANBIR KAUR GILL SUBMITTED BY:- NAME:- PRASHANT KUMAR ROLL NO:- RT1901 “A19” SUB:- MPOB REG NO:- 10900829 PROG :- MBA (1ST) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT | I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards all those people who have helped me in the successful completion of this term paper, directly or indirectly. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards Ms. Manbir kaur gill (my term paper guide) for her guidance and help which she willingly provided at every step of my term paper. PRASHANT KUMAR M.B.A 1st SEMESTER TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION 1 ORGANIZATION SIGNIFYING 4 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 RESEARCH METHODOLGY * SECONDARY DATA 8 DATA ANALYSIS ...
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...Managing People and Groups in the Global Workplace, AMBA 620, taught by Professor Lucia Miree A. Case Synopsis During his tenure at the Information Technology department, Shanu paints the picture of a positive work environment where the employees are satisfied and happy with their jobs. After three years of working with the company, Shanu witnessed two junior members get laid off without a formal warning or explanation. The abrupt dismissal of these employees caused a shift in the culture of the work environment and generated issues that would impact the employees of the IT Department. After the abrupt dismissal the remaining employees began to exhibit unprofessional behaviors such as socializing, taking longer breaks, tardiness, and missing departmental meetings. They began to physically and psychologically withdraw from the company becoming disengaged with the department revealing their true issue, stress and job satisfaction. B. Framework for case analysis: Workplace stress is common in today’s uncertain jobs market; however, an abundance of stress can interfere with employee’s productivity and impact their physical and emotional health (Segal, Smith, & Robinson, 2013). Studies show that employees who have high stress levels tend to underperform and cannot work to their full potential, which in turn cause companies to lose profits. Employees who underperform during their job tend to have low job satisfaction. Studies have shown that workplace stress can be directly linked...
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...Working Paper Series No. 59 Sexual harassment in the workplace: a literature review Carrie Hunt, Marilyn Davidson, Sandra Fielden and Helge Hoel Manchester Business School, University of Manchester Sexual harassment in the workplace: A literature review Carrie Hunt, Marilyn Davidson, Sandra Fielden and Helge Hoel The Centre for Equality and Diversity at Work Manchester Business School, University of Manchester 2 © Equal Opportunities Commission 2007 First published Summer 2007 ISBN 978 1 84206 033 9 EOC WORKING PAPER SERIES The EOC Working Paper Series provides a channel for the dissemination of research carried out by externally commissioned researchers. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission or other participating organisations. The Commission is publishing the report as a contribution to discussion and debate. Please contact the Research and Resources team for further information about other EOC research reports, or visit our website: Research and Resources Equal Opportunities Commission Arndale House Arndale Centre Manchester M4 3EQ Email: research@eoc.org.uk Telephone: 0161 838 8340 Website: www.eoc.org.uk/research You can download a copy of this report as a PDF from our website, or call our Helpline to order a copy: Website: Email: Helpline: www.eoc.org.uk/research info@eoc.org.uk 0845 601 5901 (calls charged at local rates) ...
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...Training and Preparing Expatriates MGT 555 Melvinne Kitillya Executive Summary Globalization has created opportunities for employers to find the skilled professionals they desire, whether they are in their own national market or elsewhere. These professionals that are being recruited from other nations are called expatriates, and they are chosen to live in another country either temporarily or permanently. There has been an increase of expatriates starting at the end of the 20th century due to the variety employers are now capable of finding. In fact, globalization has actually doubled the number of expatriates within only a matter of a few years (worldatwork.org). Now, expatriates are recruited based on desired skill and income level. Companies tend to require training for this role in order to ease the transition of both the employee and the family members involved. This training tends to be quite extensive as this is a great undertaking for everyone involved in the move. Though some employees are chosen directly by management to go and others simply volunteer, much is at stake emotionally and mentally. I will discuss the various problems that are encountered by uprooting the lives of the employees and moving to another country, and more importantly another culture. The largest transitional issue encountered is culture shock. Other concerns include missing family and friends back home, losing out on other employment opportunities, not completing projects due to...
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...Seven Categories of Work-Life Effectiveness Successfully Evolving Your Organization’s Work-Life Portfolio • Caring for Dependents • Health and Wellness • Workplace Flexibility • inancial Support F for Economic Security • Paid and Unpaid Time Off • Community Involvement • liciting Management E Buy-In and Transforming Organizational Culture C1 Defining Work-Life Effectiveness Work-life refers to specific organizational practices, policies and programs that are guided by a philosophy of active support for the efforts of employees to achieve success within and outside the workplace. These employersponsored initiatives comprise a strategic framework referred to as the worklife portfolio, a key element of the organization’s total rewards strategy to attract, motivate and retain employees. Career Build Your Portfolio Step One: Assess your present work-life situation It is easy to construct the outline of your organization’s existing work-life portfolio by performing a simple inventory of the policies, practices and programs currently offered within each category of the work-life portfolio. A useful resource for this activity is the Work-Life Audit, available on the Alliance for Work-Life Progress website. www.awlp.org/pub/selfaudit.pdf he term “work-life” refers to the T intersection of self (the worker), career (work), family and community. Self Life Family Community Creating and Sustaining a Successful Portfolio Building...
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...D R BA 2700 Organizational Behavior Instructor: Crystal Kenefic, MBA February 8, 2011 Concepts of Organizational Behavior Business is business, but how you operate your business is the key to success. There are many concepts to Organizational Behavior, but three key concepts must exist and continually be improved. Motivation, workplace stress and leadership exist and must continually be evaluated in every work environment. I chose these concepts because of their interaction with each other. Businesses must know how to motivate their employees. Employees must know who to cope and overcome workplace stress. Leaders must be able to effectively lead their employees. Motivation, workplace stress and leadership are issues that when properly managed can lead to a wonderful work environment for all employees and lead to the success of any company. I am going to examine these key concepts and their interaction with one another in the work place. Motivation Motivation has taken on many forms over time and place. In china, motivation is driven by honor and pride. Historically, the Chinese were born into a class that they could not escape and honor meant more than money. In other countries, motivational techniques took on more of a brutal look. Even in the US, our history shows us that motivation could be boiled down to slavery and the will to survive. Although slavery is now history, motivation both positive and negative still exists. Late President John...
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...environment is very important to achieve strong industrial relationship and productive. To achieve such a working environment, it is important to ensure that the workplace is free from all forms of discrimination, including harassment. Everyone in the workplace can be very vulnerable to various forms of harassment, including sexual harassment and intimidation. Any and all forms of harassment in the workplace will be detrimental to all parties. For workers, it can lead to deterioration of performance, which in turn suppresses the level of productivity and affect the welfare of all workers and their families. Employee turnover rate increases and low productivity have the potential to affect the economic competitiveness of the factories concerned. Harassment in garment factories has been highlighted as raising concerns by international activists and appears on the main headlines in the international media. Violations as well as rumours about various issues of workplace harassment can have a serious impact on the relationship between plant and International buyers are aware of the reputation. That is what concerns us together to create a positive working environment through the prevention of workplace harassment. Nevertheless, reports of harassment in the workplace remains scattered wide. In particular, many cases of workplace harassment that seems to happen in the garment industry. This is probably caused by a variety of reasons, such as the presence of the number of young working...
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...Occupational stress and workplace health have become issues of great concern over the last decade, both internationally and nationally. Given the value of work in this society, the amount of time spent at work and the current changes that are affecting the nature of work, it is not surprising that work stress appears to be increasing. Stress is the body’s physiological response to the stressor, thus, a stressor is an event or set of conditions that causes a stress response. Work stress is defined as being the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. For instance, as a result of the rapidly changing global economy, organizations now operate in cultures of increased speed, efficiency and competition. Consequently, economic imperatives and the need to retain competitive advantage have resulted in restructuring and uncertainty. For instance, workforces are constantly being downsized, small organizations are merging or being subsumed by larger more competitive organizations and change is the only constant. These changes to the nature of work, together with definitional changes in the legislation, have paved the way for an alarming rise in claims that are associated with chronic stress in the workplace, (Trochim’s Knowledge Base 2008). One of the causes of occupational stress is organizational change. Change is difficult for an organization and for its employees. There...
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