The Workplace - Todays Challenges - Term Paper Example

The companies these days are violating the employees right of privacy by interfering in their personal lives with the argument that its necessary to monitor employee’s behavior, study their habits, etc. and this is more in American as compared to countries like Europe and Canada, according to a survey. Privacy is consider a fundamental right these days yet its been threaten by corporations is some or other way. One of the most common ways is through the release of personal information about the employees. The data bank that contains information which can seriously violate the privacy rights of an employee and more over these rights are violated further when the employer pass the information to prospective employers. Apart from this the severe threat to privacy are the ones which occur on job such as bosses going through the private files, tapping employee phones, going through their emails, etc. Moreover there are lots of examples of corporations interfering in employee’s private matter and firing them due to it such as dating an employee of the organization or competitor’s organization. However, it difficult to define privacy and extend to it yet it’s a clear right of an individual especially when making a personal decisions. And whenever an organization interferes in personal matter they should have valid reason for it. On the other hand looking at the company’s argument; the work contract, company’s responsibilities towards consumers, society, etc. and the firm’s purpose all support the fact that its important for companies to identify the areas which can influence the employee’s work performance. An example of this could be the dressing style of an employee which should be according to the company’s values. Moreover, companies are also interested in the employee’s off-job duties as it can affect the work performance or the image of the company. But it’s difficult to identify which off job duty can actually harm the company’s image and which does not. Even with this positive argument companies tend to cross boundaries and interfere with what should purely be employee’s decision. Such interference can take many form but the three important ones are: 1) Businesses tend to pressurize employees to take part in activities off job to promote company’s image, therefore, invading their privacy especially for personal decisions. 2) Companies tend to force employees towards healthier lifestyle through “wellness” programs and they are charging more from employees who are overweight, don’t exercise, etc. 3) Employees are forced to work in groups for job promotion thus violating their privacy of making personal decisions. The firms frequently gather, store and communicate information about the employees around in some or other forms. Among these the two most common practices that firms engage in are: subjecting employees to various tests and monitoring employees on job. But before in depth discussion of these its important to know that both these practices should be done with the informed consent of the employee that is the employee must understand to what he/she is agreeing to and should opt for it voluntarily without any pressure. Some of the tests conducted by employers are polygraph test, personality test and drug testing. Polygraph test is a lie detector which detects psychological change when a person is disturbed by a question. Businesses use this because its fast and economical way to verify information, it allows to identify dishonest employees at the time of hiring and it helps businesses eliminate audits and oppressive controls. Moreover, defenders of polygraph test take into account three assumptions: it can determine that person was more disturbed in one question than another; secondly, they assume it’s extraordinarily accurate and lastly, it cannot be beaten. However the use of polygraph test has three moral concerns embedded in it: firstly, the information being inquired about should be purely job-related, secondly, it should be use as a last resort as it intrudes on psychic freedom and lastly, how is the information obtained being used and by whom. Another common test conducted by companies is personality test. This is conducted when companies wish to find out whether prospective employees are emotionally mature, have good work ethic, get along well with others and whether they will fit in the firm or not. Such test highly reveals personal information and intrudes in areas of our personal lives. But personality test of used properly can serve two purposes: they can help in screening employees and simplify the complexities by reducing decision making regarding the fact that whether an employee has certain characteristics required or not. Drug testing has become a common issue these days for sports personalities specifically. But the questions for this are similar to those for other tests, that is, is there an informed consent, reliability of test, how much is it related to job, etc. The four important issues rose for this are: 1) For an organization it’s important to know the statistics for the drug abuse problem underlying. 2) Companies need to assure the type of drugs they are testing for and why. 3) Drug abuse is serious problem in a individual and should be solved medically or psychologically rather than through punitive actions and 4) Drug testing programs should be carefully and with dignity be tested in an individual. One of the methods used by organizations to seek information about employee’s behavior is through monitoring them on workplace. Employers perform the monitoring task not only to check the customer service but other areas also such as whether employee exceeded the allotted lunch time or not, etc. A lot of times to catch the guilty monitoring devices are installed which seriously pose a threat to privacy especially when they are placed in areas such washroom, changing rooms, etc. The working condition under which employees work is another area where companies need to be careful as it can cause major injuries or deaths. The three aspect of this are discussed below. Health and safety on job: A number of accidents take place on workplace with the employees working because of lack of information and training, improper tools and equipments, hazardous environment and tight schedules. On the other hand employees have a legal right to refuse to perform a particular activity which they think is harmful to conduct. Moreover, a number of states require workers to have proper know-how before initiating the work but this is usually not followed. Even after so many laws being in place for safe workplace yet lot of workers are killed on workplace and billions are used on job related injuries. Additionally OSHA (Occupational Safety Health Act) is responsible for safe working conditions yet they are not so successful too due to lack of resources available. Some of the new challenges which businesses are expected to face is musculosketel disorders. In workplace millions of workers are suffering from backaches, crippled fingers, sore wrists, etc. These are generally caused by performing same task thousands of time which is the requirement since each task is been broken into smaller tasks to increase productivity by companies. This is not only making employee suffer but also reducing its productivity and dampening the moral also. This can be controlled by redesigning the job, providing adjustable chairs, training, etc. Another worrisome aspect of work life is the stress caused from job which also reduces the productivity and can be reduced by providing training related to handling work stress. Another area of working conditions is the way managers carry or conduct activities which can enhance or diminish work environment. Managers can’t bully around with everyone, it’s their job to identify how each employee should be treated so as to increase the productivity. Bullying everyone around can lead to a reduction in productivity, moreover, employees rank communication, respectful treatment in the company and personal recognition over a good pay therefore bullying such employees can lead to moral problems. One of the most overlooked areas in working conditions is maternity/ paternity leave and child care services for workers. The need for this is increasing as more and more women are becoming a part of labor force thus making it necessary for organizations to provide these facilities. Some writers argue that provision of these fringe benefits can be advantageous for the company as it will reduce absenteeism, boost morale, increase loyalty towards the firm and enhance the productivity. Moreover, it will reduce moral issues such as equal rights for women to work on same grounds as men, for the purpose of human right women should not be forced to choose among childbearing and career and lastly, to eliminate the traditional men and women division of labor. More and more employees are dissatisfied from their jobs becoming a challenge for businesses to counter it. A study highlighted three main sources of worker dissatisfaction. Firstly, they are related to the industry’s concerns over quantity and not quality, its rigid rules and monotonous and repetitive tasks. Secondly, lack of opportunity to work on own and lastly, dissatisfaction due to “bigness” that is more and more people working in large organizations. Employees according to a study are more productive and satisfied when they receive attention and recognition therefore, if industries need to improve productivity they need to take such issues into account. To improve productivity organizations should focus towards improving the quality of work life (QWL) of their employees. For improvement in QWL there are no set patterns which companies can follow and achieve a quality work life. It can differ from company to company for some improved QWL could be giving autonomy to employees for other it could be about providing employees with opportunities to improve their skill. But whatever measures are being taken should be in fullest corporation of workers and their representative so as to make it work efficiently. Some of the examples of huge organizations highlight that productivity can be increased by providing workers with improved job atmosphere, employee participation and worker job security. Moreover, worker friendly companies generally outperform those traditional firms yet improving QWL does not guarantee an increase in productivity but lot of examples shows an increment in productivity due to better QWL. Read More