This era of rapid advancement brings with it some very arduous issues. The simple nature of technological advancements and change, employers are faced with various personnel problems. The people employed must be skilled and productive. To keep up with the changes, employees must be equipped and ready to change as the industry changes. Although these upgrades are opportunities for the employers, the employees may feel uncertainty and instability. Creating a work situation that promotes job satisfaction becomes a real factor for the organization, research reported that workers experienced fear of being replaced, compensation reduction, inadequate training, and bullying which directly correlated with decreased job performance.
Outsourcing, layoffs, and more automation usage give reason for workers to enquire about the stability of their job and the longevity of the company. Communication is one important tool to creating a more satisfying workplace. promotes diversified team meetings, informational correspondence and regular training sessions. Fostering a healthy environment that has relevant ethical practices, bullying and discrimination-free environment are theorized to help the organization remain competitive, effective and successful in the market. Workplace synergy is the organization’s goal to get best results in the marketplace.
Individuals in decision-making capacities in an organization have a great responsibility. They set the norms and atmosphere of the organization; introspectively and externally. reported that transformational team- leadership is the most effective approach to leading an innovative company. found there was a measurable difference in the actions and decision in a group versus individuals making policies. The team approach allows for more creativity, innovative perspectives, and tackling challenges with forward thinking. Leading and participating in this group can be rewarding as well as very difficult.
Diversity in the organization research reports that teams with different races and ethnic backgrounds outperform uniform groups by 35%. The participants in study that diversity in the workplace supports a more respectful, acceptancing and satisfying environment. teams Diversity in the work environment promotes acceptance, respect, and teamwork despite differences in race, age, gender, native language, political beliefs, religion, sexual orientation, or communication styles among employees. Although, there is research to support the benefits of inclusion of different races, ethnic backgrounds, sex, age, language and religion there are still individuals that express their biases and prejudices.
Organizations are reluctant to including people of different demographic because of fear. They are afraid that the process of inclusion is not quick nor simple. There is a real concern that there may be disagreements, language misunderstandings, concessions for religious and cultural practices, and facility changes, like ramps, bathrooms, prayer rooms, etc. During that time of adjustment may lend itself to decreased production, which is the opposite of what is desired. Research reports that it is that time of transition and inclusion that the group develop systems that create synergy.
A diverse group can be a very usual mechanism that offers untapped ideas, resources and creativity. Developing a group that has different cultures can not be done haphazardly to reap the benefits. The recruiter should be versed in the elements of the people that are included in the decision-making team and the workplace. The dialect and language, the worship practices, sex, gender, and orientation are just a few of many areas of diversity.
Living in a society that was founded as an immigrant refuge, lends the workforce to have similar dynamics. Although there is a national language, religion, and traditions of what is acceptable, the origin culture is often celebrated. Traditionally in the workforce there is a focus on the goals and differences are ignored and put side.There has been a shift recently in acknowledging and appreciating these differences. The outreaching of cultures through the internet and social media increase the chances of working with someone with different cultures. There is some frustration when the culture of the workplace does not blend with the individual’s cultures. Things like autonomy, respect of authority, personal morales and communication.
Language. A different language in spoken in the homes of about 1 out of 4 American workers. These language differences can cause some serious issues on the job. The construction industry and other migrant workers have a population of ⅔ being English Second Language speakers. There are real hazards that are associated with the language barriers. In a group setting the member should be aware of the barriers and use standard language reducing the use of slang or will need to be of that ,n some cases, language can be a genuine impediment to doing a job and an employee must be assisted to improve his or her language skills. From a different angle, when someone speaks English well, it can be easy to forget it’s not native for them. Teams have to be careful with vernacular or slang. A translator, translation system and documents in different language should be available for team members with other first languages.
Religion. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission makes it a legal violation to discriminate, harass or treat unequally based on religious affiliation. Beyond being a legal issue, job satisfaction and productivity declines when workers’ personal religious beliefs are a barrier. Personal ethics and practices are to be respected and allowed in the workplace, which may be difficult for an employer. Time needed for prayer, religious holidays, clothing requirements, and some hair requirements may not correlate with the organization’s requirement.
Gender. Legal statute are enforceable through Title IV of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act if there is a judgement of discrimination or harassment of a woman in the workplace. Discrimination and Harassment towards a person based on their Sexual Orientation is protected under the Employment Non Discrimination Act of 2009. There are npn current federal laws that allow litigation for transgender person’s. Although there are legal ramification, harassment is still prevalent. Seventy-seven percent of women surveyed said they have been sexually harassed by bosses, many saying that bosses used their immigration status as leverage. This can be a very expensive expenditure. In 2017, over $17 million of taxpayers money was spent on harassment settlements.
Cultures. There are other cultural factors that may be useful on a team to diversify it. Things like crossing generation lines can bring experience and new ideas together. The wealthy and modest can bring very different opinions on decisions that are made for the organization. College educated and those with no post secondary training can definanty weigh in on topics that will benefit the company on implementing advanced technology. And many other subgroups that represent the organizations make-up or targeted markets. Including these persons does not come without some struggles. The team must be open and empty of assumptions or prejudices. In research from when the opinions of 68% reported that the additions to the group were tokens. They were not equip for the task, but added just to show diversity. This brings resentment and feelings of superiority which negates the purpose of diversifying.
Ethical perspectives is defined by as the manner in which ethical dilemmas approach are resolved. There are generic framework which includes:
- Identifying the problem
- Research the problem and get the facts
- Associate with organization’s code of ethics
- Asses different actions
- Decide what to do and analysis the effectiveness
- Put into practice and review often
Perspectives on Employee Fear. An autocratic leadership style that promotes fear as the prominent motivator has been studied and determined to be very ineffective. A bullying environment may harness some short-term goals and some adherence to rules when threatened, but research documents that employee that are in this intimidating environments are more prone to physical ailments, burnout and stress. This turns into loss of work hours, focus on meeting production rather than quality work, and motivation declines.
More than half (61%) reported that they lose work time and even their jobs due to direct or indirect effects from this abusive behaviors. Leaders of organizations are identified as being bullied 8 times more than coworkers. African American workers were polled in a study by 219 of the 356 reported they were they were overlooked for promotions, employment and other opportunities they were qualified for Seventy-seven percent of women surveyed said they have been sexually harassed by bosses, many saying that bosses used their immigration status as leverage.
Application of Perspective and Approaches. Pam is mid level supervisor at a motor-manufacturing plant in rural city, GA. She is celebrating her 26th year at the plant, but reports to her mental health counselor that she is less than in the mood to celebrate. She explains that it has been a very tumultuous time working and advancing in the company. In the 90’s it was acceptable for the “good ole boys” to say crude and make sexist comments. In an industry that is dominated by white males, her hispanic culture was always the butt of the joke in breakroom. It was 4 years ago that she had enough of the bullying and made a formal complaint. Instead of getting better things got worse.
The company human resource agent interviewed Pam’s managers and co-workers. Rather than the direct insults and jokes, she began to receive emails, flyers about deportation around the country and exclusion from overtime. A managerial position was advertised and Pam immediately applied for the position. She was well-qualified and excited about the perspective of interviewing and getting out of her current department. She waited and became anxious when she heard of others getting an interview. This was the beginning of her intense headaches and terrible intestinal problems; she was missing work. It was found that there was a violation of Pam’s rights based on Title IV of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the job code of conduct on sexual harassment. The organization compensated Pam with a bonus and added to the team that developed and presented sensitivity training. She had more responsibilities and more hostilities.
Pam was not sleeping well, more anxieties and fears, crying spells and lack of interest in social activities warranted a referral to mental health from her primary care physician. After further analysis of the resolution to her complaint, leaders of the organization thought her skills and experience would be best as an executive in Atlanta; 60 miles away. She is now in her 5th month of counseling and feels stuck at her employer’s disposal because of her lack of skills to move to a different without taking a major pay cut.. Her conversation at her most recent counseling session was she was terrified that her job as a data analysis may be outsourced. Although her company followed their ethical framework, her fears and anxiety of the job has cost her and the company.
Offshoring and Outsourcing Effects on employees outsourcing is the practice of hiring an outside firm or individual to perform contracted work as an alternative to paying employees to do it. Many companies use outsourcing based on expertise and cost-of-labor advantages. As with other ethical areas, discussing outsourcing ethics covers a lot of gray areas. Globalization contributes to the debate.Some people believe companies have a moral obligation to protect jobs for Americans above all else.ne of the main reasons some people immediately frown upon outsourcing is the first thing they associate with this practice is sweat shops — a slang expression used to describe manufacturing facilities in foreign nations where employees receive unfair wages and work in poor conditions, relative to American laws and ethical standards
Increased Growth in Business Being a win-win situation, outsourcing helps the outsourcing companies to avail quality services at affordable rates, while the hosting companies get an inflow of money. Therefore, as more and more companies are looking to outsource their business processes to a third-party service provider, a tremendous growth in the business can be expected. This increased demand for service providers also indicates that the need for service providers is also increasing in the outsourcing market
Reduced Risks Most of the companies from US and UK prefer outsourcing their services to countries like India, which has a talented pool of resources and also follow stringent data security policies. When companies outsource to India, the risk of substandard services and data breach are hugely reduced. Once the processes are outsourced, the service providers ensure that the projects get completed efficiently, without any mishandling of confidential data
Increased Business Efficiency When companies outsource their business processes, it gives them extra time to concentrate on their core competencies. This helps them in increasing their overall business efficiency, as they can get superior services, reduce overhead costs, and also focus on expanding their business
Efficient Resource Utilization Outsourcing of services gives access to a huge pool of talented resources spread across the globe. This is because as soon as businesses outsource to a service provider, they get access to skilled resources, advanced technologies, and state-of-the-art infrastructure at minimal costs, which is challenging and expensive to maintain in-house
Increased Competition With numerous service providers, outsourcing leads to disintegration and fragmentation of the supply chain, making way for new competitors in this industry. Furthermore, offshoring also nurtures a sense of corporate complacency and disrupts the company’s relation with its customers, labors, and the local communities
Undermines Company Loyalty When an employee learns that his job may be outsourced to a third-party service provider at any point of time, he may lose confidence in the employer and also get discouraged. Today outsourcing is no more limited to unskilled jobs. With intellectual and administrative positions being outsourced, even the managerial level employees face job insecurity
Domestic Workforce Lose Their Jobs This is one of the key negative impacts of outsourcing. There has always been a debate about the domestic workforce in the outsourcing companies losing their jobs when the companies outsource their services to offshore locations. Unfortunately, offshoring negatively impacts the country’s economy, as the service providers will have cash inflow from the outsourcing companies.
