Hi6005 The Need For Digital Answers

• Internal Code :
• Subject Code : HI6005
• University : Holmes Institute
• Subject Name : Management

Management and Organisations in Global Environment

1. Diversity at the workplace implies the act of employing and the presence of workers who represent various cultural variables, such as, religions, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Organisations today are laying a lot of emphasis on increasing diversity and promoting a more inclusive environment in the workplace. Some of how they achieve this objective is- by formulating inclusive workplace policies, recognising the need to celebrate different festivals, sensitivity training, promoting employees from diverse backgrounds and analysing their progress. There is no diversity without inclusivity. Most organisations are coming up with inclusive policies to promote a diverse culture at their workplace. One of the best ways to promote diversity is to not only focus on mainstream festivals but to also make time to celebrate festivals from different cultures (Jain & Jain, 2019). These foster feelings of belongingness and understanding. Another way of enhancing diversity is to provide cultural sensitivity training to all the employees (Kamales & Knorr, 2019). A step like this would help provide insight on what kind of behaviours are acceptable and what could count as racist comments or hate speech. It is not only enough to hire individuals from diverse backgrounds, it is equally important to recognise their efforts and promote them to managerial and admin positions. This way, having someone from a diverse background in a position of leadership would provide a platform to them to change their image, showcase their leadership skills and be ideal role models, thus helping in changing perceptions. Organizations trying to promote ideas of inclusion and diversity must keep a track of how inclusive the work culture and environment is in their organisation – this can be done by keeping a track of how many diverse recruits have been hired, how many have been promoted and consistently updating their policies.

2. Stress is one of the major obstacles in the workplace. Excessive workplace stress can result in the poor quality of life, poor bodily functioning, disturbed sleep patterns and in extreme cases it may also lead to burnout. Job burnout will in turn cause issues like depersonalization and negative outcomes (Rasekh & Safaei, 2016). Some of the steps which supervisors can take to prevent stressing out their employees are by setting clear goals, offering flexible working hours, giving credit where its due, setting realistic expectations and by providing an opportunity to maintain a good work-life balance. By setting clearer and practical goals, the employees will not view the task ahead as daunting. Instead, they will perceive it as something doable. This change in the mindset will help bring down stress levels. Setting realistic expectations from the workers and not expecting them to perform jobs which are out of their expertise and comfort zone is another effective way to combat stress. Stress usually makes an appearance when the work seems to have no end. Having clear boundaries and defined working hours, not only keep stress under check, but it also increases, productivity and level of job satisfaction as the employee is well rested and has a fresh approach to the task ahead. Supervisors and managers should also be mindful of allowing employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance. The employees should not feel that they are compromising on their work due to their personal life or neglecting their personal life due to work commitments. A negative impact on work-life balance can affect the emotional wellbeing (Kelly et al., 2020) of the employees, resulting in mental health issues and other concerns. Hence, safeguarding it keeping the employees’ interests in mind should be made a priority by supervisors.

3. Working the nightshift is not an easy task as it affects one health negatively in more ways than one. It is crucial to understand that by staying awake at night for work-related purposes, we are going against the natural cycle of the body. This brings with it varying health issues. The odd working hours contribute to low levels of productivity among employees. This is due to night shift work being associated with poor quality of life, poor sleep quality, resulting in poor attention levels (Lim et al., 2020). Some of how this can be tackled is – maintaining a strict schedule, provide healthy and nutritious food, providing adequate incentives to the employees and keeping up their morale at work. By adhering to a strict work schedule - the specific time allotted to breaks and specific time for working only, it can help in increasing work productivity. Since night shift workers experience poor sleep quality and overall quality of life, it is essential to provide them with nutritious snacking and food options. Also, as mentioned, there should be fixed breaks allocated for eating as well. Binge eating and unhealthy eating contribute to lower levels of functioning and work productivity (Pawaskar et al., 2017). Food choices accessible to night shift workers should be high in nutritional value so that it can contribute to their energy levels, attention levels and help boost worker productivity. Another way to motivate night shift workers to work more than the bare minimum acceptable amount is by providing them with adequate incentives. Providing monetary or other incentives that would be of value to them if they complete a certain percentage of work, for instance, would motivate them to do more than just the bare minimum. Career incentives are also known to increase productivity among workers (Kim et al., 2019).

4. As important effective leadership is in an organisation, there are certain factors which pose a threat to it. Some of the emerging issues in leadership are diversity, women in leadership, lack of accountability, poor execution of plans and poor emphatic abilities. Maintaining a multicultural environment in the workplace is one of the most challenging factors affecting leadership. Racism and exclusion are rampant in most social set ups and it is a lot of work for a single person to promote ways in which a diverse work culture can be promoted. Another problem faced by leaders is a lack of accountability. This usually occurs due to ineffective or faulty leadership practices, is a threat to the organisational culture and results in problems like lack of clarity and low morale. Another alarming observation is the lack of women assuming leadership roles. Though there has been an increase in the number of women in the workforce, something known as the infamous glass ceiling applies to their career progress. The glass ceiling is an invisible barrier that limits a woman’s growth in the work sphere (Chisholm-Burns et al., 2017). Faulty planning and poor execution of the plans is another threat to the leadership. Some of the alternatives to leadership can be group leadership – where it is not one but a group of people who collectively make decisions and introducing a democratic workplace where decisions are made based on votes and going with what the majority wants. Studies have shown that democratic workplaces have been significant in reducing discrimination, foster feelings of belongingness, promoted the concept of equal rights, contributed to overall job satisfaction, happiness and increased productivity (Han & Garg, 2018).

5. Organisational politics are strategies employed by the people working in the organisation to promote their interests before others. The motive behind employing such strategies is usually driven by selfish and self-serving purposes. Organizational politics occurs when the goals are ambiguous, resources are scarce, when the organization is undergoing changes and when there is less scope of getting recognised or being promoted. When the goals in the organization lack clarity, it is easy to lose focus and indulge in politics. Scarcity of resources brings about a sense of competitiveness resulting in the use of underhand means to procure them. Changes within the organization bring about a sense of uncertainty and stress. This causes the workers to feel insecure about themselves and their position in the company, resulting in them resorting to politics to secure their positions. When the chances of getting promoted are negligible, the workers indulge in politics to create opportunities of favour for themselves. Organizational politics have been known to harm job satisfaction (Iqbal, 2016).

Organizational politics can take many forms – it can be at the functional level, structural level, interactive and networking level. It can be legitimate – where enforcing it is necessary as well as illegitimate which violates the rights of others.

Organizational politics is detrimental to the overall culture of the organization. It affects employee retention, as employees who have been subjected to the negative effects of politics end up leaving the organization and looking for other jobs. Most employees do not want to get involved in politics. It is extremely stressful for such individuals to continue working in the organization as they are worried about their future there (Kaya et al., 2016).

6. The role of technology in the organizational set up has increased monumentally in the last decade. Advances in technology have paved the way for a more productive and capable workforce (Attaran et al., 2019). Technology helps organizations run efficiently and carry out operations smoothly, without any hiccups. The dependency on technology by organisations has therefore increased significantly. The increase in technological use has decreased human interaction as more interaction takes place via machines. An increase in productivity has also been observed as more work can be done in less time and it is easier for individuals to perform various organisational functions because of technology. Increased use of technology is also helping companies save finances and other resources. One of the major advantages of technology is accessibility. Work can be done from anywhere in the world and more and more people prefer doing work remotely. The trend of remote working is catching up and provides individuals with many opportunities which would have otherwise not been possible due to geographical constraints. With so many advantages, a digital workplace seems inevitable as the traditional work set up will become obsolete in future.

However, like every good thing has a flip side, so does technology. It is ironic how communication is supposed to be made hassle-free due to the use of technology but there are barriers to communication while working remotely, which would have not occurred in a traditional work setting. Lack of accountability and poor retention of employees are other barriers to remote working. Since it is not possible to physically monitor employees who are remotely located, it becomes challenging to track their productivity as well as keep up their morale. Apart from limited access, there also exist issues regarding cultural barriers where workers fear penalties on failing to meet deadlines (since expectations are high) and there exist insecurities regarding their managers preferring physical presence to remote, thereby adding to their disadvantage (Lott & Abendroth, 2019).

References for The Need for Digital Workplace

Attaran, M., Attaran, S., & Kirkland, D. (2019). The Need for Digital Workplace. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems, 15(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijeis.2019010101

Chisholm-Burns, M. A., Spivey, C. A., Hagemann, T., & Josephson, M. A. (2017). Women in leadership and the bewildering glass ceiling. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 74(5), 312–324. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp160930

Han, K.-S., & Garg, P. (2018). Workplace democracy and psychological capital: a paradigm shift in workplace. Management Research Review, 41(9), 1088–1116. https://doi.org/10.1108/mrr-11-2016-0267

Iqbal, Q. (2016). Organizational politics, transformational leadership and neglect in banking sector. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, 3(10), 609–622. https://www.academia.edu/32138630/Organizational_Politics_Transformational_Leadership_and_Neglect_in_Banking_Sector

Jain, N., & Jain, T. K. (2019). The Role of Organizations in Promoting Diversity. SSRN Electronic Journal, 3, 63–72. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3314460

Kamales, N., & Knorr, H. (2019). Leaders with Managing Cultural Diversity and Communication. Asia Pacific Journal of Religions and Cultures, 3(1), 63-72. Retrieved from https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ajrc/article/view/242052

Kaya, N., Aydin, S., & Ayhan, O. (2016). The Effects of Organizational Politics on Perceived Organizational Justice and Intention to Leave. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 06(03), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2016.63022

Kelly, M., Soles, R., Garcia, E., & Kundu, I. (2020). Job Stress, Burnout, Work-Life Balance, Well-Being, and Job Satisfaction Among Pathology Residents and Fellows. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 153(4), 449–469. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcp/aqaa013

Kim, H. B., Kim, S., & Kim, T. T. (2019). The Role of Career and Wage Incentives in Labor Productivity: Evidence from a Two-Stage Field Experiment in Malawi. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00854

Lim, Y. C., Hoe, V. C. W., Darus, A., & Bhoo-Pathy, N. (2020). Association between night-shift work, sleep quality and health-related quality of life: a cross-sectional study among manufacturing workers in a middle-income setting. BMJ Open, 10(9), e034455. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034455

Lott, Yvonne & Abendroth, Anja, 2019. "Reasons for not working from home in an ideal worker culture: Why women perceive more cultural barriers," WSI Working Papers 211, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans-Böckler-Foundation.

Pawaskar, M., Witt, E. A., Supina, D., Herman, B. K., & Wadden, T. A. (2017). Impact of binge eating disorder on functional impairment and work productivity in an adult community sample in the United States. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 71(7), e12970. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcp.12970

Rasekh, A., & Safaei, T. (2016). Evaluating the Relationship between Job Burnout and Empowerment of Female Teachers in Secondary Schools of the Education System in Shiraz City (District 2). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 7, 95. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4s1p95

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