Organisational Behaviour and the Sociology of Work - Assignment Example

Organisational Behaviour and the Sociology of Work Why is it important for managers to consider stress amongst employees and how can health programs impact upon employee’s stress levels? Health and wellness of the employees should be among the most important aspects in an organization. Managers have a great role to play when it comes to health of each and every employee working under their supervision because it directly has an impact on the productivity of an organization. Hence it can be said that health is an essential life ingredient important for the success of an organization. It is also important to understand that health can be influenced daily by personal circumstances, beliefs and actions, attitudes and by the cultural, social, economic, and physical environments in which an employee work. Hence it is important to maintain a healthy working environment. A healthy workplace is that which provides benefits for both the employers as well as the employees. This is possible because good health practices by both will lead to personal and organizational productivity and achievement of goals more easily. In other words, main intention of any health promotion program is to enable employees to improve their physical, emotional and social health and lead a much productive life. In a healthy organization, all employees especially the managers need to be aware of the goals and objectives and know where the organization is going. In order to accomplish all the goals and objectives it is important to have a healthy team. The managers should understand the vision for the organization and can articulate it to others. In addition, they should also know the specific short term results that they have to achieve. This will enable them to put less pressure on the team in the last moment to achieve targets. This will also help in measuring the achievement and also give knowledge of how much more need to be achieved to accomplish the final objective. It is also necessary to have a clear connection between the organization’s strategic goals and objectives and work being performed at all levels and it is the responsibility of the managers to coordinate these activities (Miller n.pag). Today in many of the organizations it is common to hear terms such as stress management, organizational health, workplace violence etc. it is good to understand that increasing work load has put pressure on employees and most of them complain of stress. Experts have defined stress as any physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental unrest. These stress factors may further be a reason for disease causation. If we take into account the physical and chemical factors that can cause stress it can range from trauma or any kind of disturbances, toxins, illnesses, infections, and injuries of any sort. On the other hand emotional causes of stress are many and wide-ranging. Though common man associates the term stress with psychological stress, scientists and physicians make use of this term to represent any force that disturbs the stability and balance of human body or its functions. Therefore, if stress disturbs body balance and function, then it can have an impact on the long term productivity of the organization. On the contrary, a mild degree of stress can sometimes be beneficial to the productivity of an organization. For instance, if there is a mild stress due to competition, it can lead to better performance, better focus, and energise individuals in a team. It is the responsibility of a manager to analyse the situation and determine the amount of stress in a team. Similarly, exercising can produce a temporary stress on some body functions, but its health benefits are indisputable. It is only when stress exceeds the level of tolerance of individuals or when it is poorly managed it can result in negative consequences (Stöppler and Shiel n.pag). It is a well known saying that people are the raw materials for the success of an organization. They can make or break an organization and as a manager of the organization, it is important to know something about human behaviour. This knowledge will be useful especially for managers while selecting and training employees, increasing motivation, improving decision-making, reducing stress, and enhancing teamwork. Some of the major causes of work-related stress are work overload, role conflict and ambiguity, additional responsibility due to co-worker’s absence, career goal discrepancy, several meetings in short durations, lack of cohesiveness, intra-group conflict, group dissatisfaction and other individual problems. Stress may also result from the organizations such as climate, technology, management styles, organizational design, control systems, inter-unit conflict and other physical environment such as light, high noise, temperature, polluted atmosphere etc. One of a manager’s most important functions are in helping employees deal with stress through different activities. Most managers may find it difficult to identify the stress symptoms among the employees. This is the field in which most of the managers need to get trained. If the manager can identify stress symptoms correctly and tale corrective steps, then the organization in general will gain productivity and the employee will have less stress related problems. Managers can encourage productive stress. They can help employees build challenge into their work and autonomy over time. There are several ways to reduce stress levels at work. For instance, it is possible to recreate the organizational environment in the workplace to have a better influence upon the employees. Such modifications can be focused to make greater autonomy and participation in their jobs. Managers can help to create an organizational environment that encourages communication, transparency and trust. This will make the organization more employees friendly. Today, most of the organizations provide free employee health and counselling services as well as stress reduction seminars and workshops to help individuals deal with stress. In general the stress reduction activities can be used to change the person, by improving resistance to stress through activities such as yoga, exercise, diet or psychological support. These health programs have an immense impact on the individuals and can increase productivity (Anonymous n.pag). 2) The health and fitness program builds a positive culture in the organization which is hard to measure, but easy to feel. What are the implications of the program in terms of the productivity, creativity and return on investment? In recent years, organizational health management has become a major issue. The reason for this is the rapid escalation of the share of health care costs that most of the organizations have to bare. Hence most of the companies including General Motors, Johnson and Johnson and IBM have implemented health education programs in the organizations and have demonstrated significant reductions in health care costs. Besides, this awareness of the benefits of health and fitness programs has led many companies to implement it. The health and fitness programs can be successful only if the organizational culture is stronger and positive. Organizational culture is the collection of values and norms that are shared by individual and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization. From the time of the earliest writers on organizational culture (such as Deal and Kennedy 1982; Ouchi 1981), “it has been suggested that organizational culture affects such outcomes as productivity, performance, commitment, self confidence, and ethical behaviour”. Similarly, more recent writers have repeated the assumption that “organizational culture impacts significantly on an organization, its employees’ behaviour and motivations and, ultimately, that organization’s financial performance” (Holmes and Marsden 26-53). Organizational culture has been argued to be relevant in a variety of contexts including the adoption of innovative technologies and workplace practices (Detert, Schroeder and Mauriel 850-863; McDermott and Stock 521-533), information systems integration (Weber and Pliskin 81-90), strategy implementation (Cabrera and Bonache, 51-60), and planning initiation (Harris 117-126). Since the importance of a people orientation as a basic component of organizational excellence (Peters and Waterman 1982), there are sound reasons for changing the organizational culture regardless of a companys interest in health promotion. For the success of an organization it is important for making necessary changes to develop positive and people oriented organizational culture. As part of this change, a health education program may be implemented. A well-designed health and fitness program could be an excellent mode for conveying to the employees the concern the company has for their well-being. The use of social marketing techniques to promote the program will give high visibility and involve staff in ways that will encourage their participation and support and there by increase the overall performance (Greenberg 6-9; Lewitt 94-102). A well-designed and implemented health and fitness program can benefit a company in more ways than reducing health care costs. There is an intense and widespread belief throughout the culture of organizations that it is the employees’ well-being that is important to the success of the organization. Such an environment is formed when the physical environment provided for employees is good, the equipment and training they are supplied is adequate and the management style practiced in an organization. Respect for each employee, not just in terms of rights but also in terms of individual needs should be given priority by the management. As part of the health and fitness program, it is also important for the organizations to conduct regular health check ups, help the employees to have balanced diet and involve them in some kind of physical activities. In fact the ultimate managements goal through the wellness program must be to increase employee productivity, improve employee morale with respect to their relationship to the organization, decrease utilization of employer subsidized health benefits, and decrease employee absenteeism due to health related causes. Apparently, a progress in these aspects will clearly have a positive impact in the financial status of the organization as well as improve the general well being. Additionally, the benefit for the employees is improved health and energy levels, decreased body fat, and a more youthful, fit body (Spindel n.pag). This can also bring down the major lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and obesity which are the major killers. It can be said that organizational culture is probably the most critical factor determining an organizations capacity, effectiveness, and longevity. Health and fitness programme can also contribute significantly to the organizations commitment towards its employees well being. But if these activities are absent and culture is out of alignment with mission, core values, and operational strategy, it can become a significant liability for the organization (Woodbury n.pag). Employee participation, mutual support, and respect for each and every individuals contribution to the organization and recognition are all parts of a genuine people oriented organizational environment. Being treated well by a company leads most employees to treat the company well as there exist a mutual understanding, which leads to a long lasting relationship. Such initiatives aid employees to take their responsibilities seriously, to respect company policies and properties and above all to be productive. Employees who feel that their individuality is respected also tend to develop feelings of loyalty to the organization and respect for management. Besides this also allows the employees to be more creative in thinking and become more productive. Additionally if the organizations culture is such that it respects each and every individual, and treats every one equally, it makes employees feel well and has a direct impact on their health. In fact, a survey conducted by Palmore (247-250) shows that one of the most important factors influencing longevity was job satisfaction. If the meaning derived from work is positive and fulfilling, then the individuals health and well-being are enhanced. As a result employees feel good about themselves, are more energetic and enthusiastic, find better solutions for any problem, adapt to higher demands more quickly, can manage the normal stresses of life more easily, and can provide more support to their fellow workers when necessary and also reduce absenteeism. An organizational culture that invests in people enhances their well-being. It also helps to develop a positive mental attitude in a team. The healthy employees respond by being more productive and by taking pride in their achievements. Productivity rises as employees commitment and enthusiasm grow, and unnecessary health care costs are reduced. Therefore overall return on investment is also high for the organization (Klarreich 30-56). In conclusion it can be said that the most productive way to achieve both organizations, as well as the employees goals is through a well planned health and fitness program that will provide the individual employee with an awareness of their current physical condition, the benefits of attaining a more productive life by changing their lifestyle. This program will prove to be a good investment for the organization in a long run and help to improve the relationship of the employees towards the organization. Work cited Anonymous Stress Management 15 August 2007 Cabrera, E.F. and Bonache, J. 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