CAREER MANAGEMENT
How central is work in your life?
Freud was of the opinion that work, along with love, is one of the two central forces directing our lives. Career theorists agree on the importance of work: they state that work has the potential to reflect our sense of self, shape who we are, organize our days, provide us with friends and colleagues, help us to feel productive and creative, and establish our place in the world. In our society, work is a major source of status, identity and gratification. We experience work through our careers, and our careers are totally intertwined with the rest of our life experiences.
WHAT IS A CAREER?
We know that for the total organisation to prosper and grow all its participants should be developed in one way or the other. All people active in the world of work have careers, and as long as a person is working she/he has a career. Every individual, however, will experience her/his career in a unique way because interpretations of work-related events such as work aspirations, expectations, values, needs, and feeling about particular work experiences are subjective.
A career can therefore be defined as the pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a person’s life.
Some of us have simple career patterns; others have more complex career patterns. Nevertheless, if you are a manager or supervisor you should be aware that the careers of all of those reporting to you need to be nourished and developed in such a way that the needs of both the organization and the individual will be met. Career progression is often interpreted to mean, “up is the only way”. It says that if there is no upward mobility, there is no career development or advancement. This is of course not complete and therefore not true.
Movement in an organisation is possible along three basic dimensions and not necessarily upward only. One can move across functions, for example between marketing, production, finance, HR, etc. This allows growth in a wide range of abilities and skills. Such multi-skilling is currently highly valued in organizations. One can move across the different levels in the hierarchy of the organisation that is “up the ladder.” Success in this case is a function of attaining or surpassing the level to which a person aspires.
Another kind of movement that is not visible but still very real is inward movement. People who have penetrated the inner circle of an organisation have influence and power. Such penetration often goes hand in hand with hierarchical movement, but who is consulted by more senior people by virtue of his experience, seniority, or personality, still exercise influence. Highly skilled technical people often enjoy this kind of influence. Secretaries, because of informal contacts that have been made over the years, sometimes wield influence and power far beyond their formal positions.
A career path therefore, can be viewed as complex interactions of the three kinds of movement: sideways, up and inward. A career path represents the so-called external career. As a manager you should be aware that people – and therefore your subordinates – are highly sensitive to the kind of movement that job-shift represents because of their differing aspirations and self-images. You, therefore, will especially have to deal with the diverse subjective career success orientations, those unique personal career definitions, hopes and plans that are part of the internal careers of your subordinates.
Stop for a moment to think about the careers of your subordinates. Do you know what their career dreams, ambitions and orientations are?
It is usually accepted that career-centered person has is to get a head or to be promoted in the organisation. It implies that the manager’s responsibility, with regard to career development, is to point his subordinates in the diction up the ladder and to call their attention to the tempting rewards on each rung such as money and status.
There are a number of theories that indicate that people in organizations have different career orientations. Research results have indicated that apart from the ‘getting – a head’ careerists, at least another four types of career orientations can be identified:
‘Getting-secure’ people because they are motivated by a sense of job security and life-long organizational identity.
‘Getting – free’ careerists. They want personal autonomy at all costs, “space”, and loose supervision. They are willing to accept a supervisor’s definition of deadlines, budgets, and standards; but they want to figure out how to attain their objectives by themselves.
‘Getting-high’ types. The excitement, challenge, creativity and technical content of the work itself motivate them.
‘Getting-balanced’ group. They give equal priority, attention, and time to their careers, to important relationships, and to self-development activities.
The ultimate issue of career development is to match the different orientations, which are formed by needs, values, and talents of individuals, with the requirements of the organization.
WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT?
Career development within an organisation can never be the sole responsibility of the individual. The matching of person and job is a shared responsibility. It needs to be a shared responsibility among at least the individual career occupant, the manager, and the employing organisation. Their roles, however, differ:
The individual:
• accepts responsibility for his or her career
• assesses his own abilities, skills, values and motives
• seeks out career information and resources
• utilizes development opportunities
• talk with his/her manager about his/her career
• Follows through on realistic career plans.
The manager:
The manager’s role as career developer of his employees is complex and can take on many forms – it varies from being a coach, appraiser, adviser, referral agent, mentor, etc. The manager has to:
• provide timely performance feedback
• provide development assignment discussions
• participate in career development discussions
• support employee development plans
• serve as role model for subordinates.
Do you, or did you have a mentor at some stage in your career? How valuable was this experience? What orientation and skills does one need to be a mentor?
Are you somebody’s mentor?
The organisation:
• communicates the mission, policies, and procedures
• provides training and development opportunities
• provides career information and career programs
• offers a variety of career paths, incentive systems, and reward systems.
CAREER PHASES
Many theorists believer that a person moves through a series of career phases from the time that consideration is given to the career to be chosen, to the time one retires, and beyond. It is further suggested that each phase has its own unique issues and challenges that have to be dealt with to some degree of success to ensure career fulfillment.
The main advantages of interpreting career dynamics in terms of phases is that an understanding of the career phase approach helps one to identify issues and challenges specific to a particular phase, and to deal with these accordingly. It also assists in explaining how people relate to work at different phases of their careers and lives. In other words, a phase approach seems to structure our knowledge about careers in a meaningful manner.
Criticism of the phase approach revolves around trying to “fit” people into a particular phase, interpretation difficulty when a person “skips” a certain phase or two, difficulty in applying it to entrepreneurial careers, and the fact that modern careers are no longer predictable and do not necessarily fit the pattern of what is to expected of a “normal career.”
The career phases and their inherit issues are depicted in Table 10. please note that all the age ranges provided are approximations.
Make a careful inspection of Table 10. In what career phase would you place yourself?
Did you experience some or all of the issues and challenges?
What did you get from the organisation?
What actions could you take?
FUTURE CHALLENGES FACING CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Trends and issues that will impact on the work place:
• A closer link between business strategy and people development. The skills, talent and commitment of the workforce, more so than technology, will provide the organisation of the future with its competitive edge.
• The constant threat of changes like organizational downsizing, reorganizing, and restructuring will continue to be part of organizational life.
• There will be a shift in the shape of the workforce. More and more workforces are moving to a model in which a small group of core or essential workers is surrounded by a contingent group of temporary and part-time employees and independent contractors; all non-core functions are outsourced.
• Because few organizations will be able to guarantee job security for years to come, employees will become less committed.
• Having experienced investment in work often rewarded with stress, burnout, or layoffs, many employees will invest more heavily in other areas of life, such as family, community, or religious activities. Some organizations will take steps to accommodate these shifting priorities through flexible schedules and leave policies.
• The workforce will become much more diverse. Organizations will be faced with a variety of employee needs, including time for child rearing and elder care, literacy, and accessible working conditions and schedules.
• Focus on quality will be a dominant concern. Total Quality Management, with its themes of customer service, excellence, and continuous improvement, is seen as essential to gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage.
• Employees will be empowered to make decisions and take responsibility for the quest in the delivery of error-free products and services. This will be done through participation in self-managed work teams. Managers will be expected to spend much more time coaching, providing resources, and promoting change efforts than administering, directing, and monitoring task completion.
• Because of the demand for effectiveness new competencies and skills will be required of both managers and employees. The viewpoint will be that central to success in management is an ability to lead and to motivate others to become change agents. Magers need a big picture focus that takes into account the business strategy of the organization as well as how different divisions, units, or work groups fit into that strategy. Employees, too, need to think big and to work comfortably and effectively in team settings. Communication skills – listening, speaking and writing – are essential for team participation. The ability to think a head, to plan for contingencies, to be proactive, and to maintain a customer focus are also crucial. Flexibility and adaptability to change are necessary for both managers and employees.
• The creation of “learning organizations” will be emphasized. With the increased awareness of the importance of the new competencies for competitiveness, organizations will increasingly focus on creating atmospheres of learning and continual development.
• Rapid changes in technology have transformed every aspect of the workplace. New skills and learning are required to adjust to new ways of doing business. Moreover, the pace of technological change will continue to speed up.
• Modern technology has created communication channels that have brought the world closer together. Competition occurs in a global rather than a national context, and success in business requires an understanding of the rest of the world. This global, multi-cultural focus becomes increasingly important, but it shouldn’t be difficult for us to grasp since in many ways South Africa is a microcosm of the rest f the world.
These issues ask for certain strategies. The following recommendations to enhance organizational career development are put forward by Gutteridge, Leibowitz and Shore (1993):
• Integrate development planning and strategic planning.
Make the link explicitly at all levels of the organisation. Involve managers and employees in a process of examining the direction of the business and then assessing the implications for development needs and strategies.
• Strengthen linkages between career development and other HR systems.
With the increased sophistication of career development systems comes recognition of the ways in which they interact with other areas of human resources. For example, job posting, performance appraisal, compensation, and succession planning all affect and are affected by career development. Enlightened HR planning involves collaboration among representatives of all these systems to address their interaction. This kind of systems thinking maximizes the benefits from all HR areas.
• Move career development systems toward greater openness.
Organisations can no longer afford to be closed with respect to control and information. While managers must support career development efforts, they cannot control them; employees have primary responsibility for their own careers. In the same vein, a free flow of information is crucial to ensure that everyone involved in a career development system has access to vital resources, feedback, and information on new opportunities. The question of how employees are seen by supervisors – which naturally relates to feedback as an “open-system”- also affects other HR planning processes, such as performance appraisals.
• Enhance the role of managers in career development through both skill building and accountability.
It is essential to hold managers accountable for the development of their employees
• Development and expand peer-learning methodologies and other team-based development approaches.
With increased employee empowerment and participation and with managers playing a less traditions role, the impetus and responsibility for development will lie more and more in the hands of self-managed teams. Peer-learning models should be actively explored and developed; as teams are more involved in linking development needs to business realities, team development needs will become more apparent. Methodologies for addressing those needs should be expanded.
• Emphasise on-the-job development.
Research has underscored the value of learning on the job as well as the importance of practice, reinforcement, and follow-up. If learning is to remain important, it must be an ongoing process instead of a one-shot event. In many cases, the ongoing approach is also the most cost effective. This is not to say that employees and managers should not go to training sessions. However, such sessions should be carefully leveraged for maximum benefits and effectiveness.
• Emphasise enrichment and lateral movement.
The definition of success needs to be uncoupled from the traditional notions of upward mobility and job change. There will be fewer and fewer opportunities for promotions, and career development should emphasise the strong value of growing and learning in one’s current job as well as maintaining challenge by exploring other areas within an organisation.
• Identify and develop transferable competencies.
Restructuring inevitably brings increased job change, either within an organisation or outside it. Career development should include a common language – that of competencies – for talking about the skills, attributes, and knowledge needed for success in today’s workplace. This language can then be used in everything from recruiting through job descriptions, development, and performance management. One competency that should be highlighted is adaptability to change.
• In career development activities, include values and lifestyle assignments.
Decisions that employees make about leaving or staying at organizations, as well as how committed they are to their values and those of the organisation. It is important to bring these values and those of the organisation. It is important to bring these values to the surface so that they can be addressed and good employees can be retained. With the increased prominence and relevance of issues surrounding work life balance, career development activities can and should be a forum for addressing these issues as well.
• Implement a variety of career development approaches to accommodate different learning styles and needs of a diverse workforce.
What works for one employee may be problematic for another. A workshop may be the ideal setting for one person to learn; another person may be uncomfortable in a workshop and prefer a workbook. A work group in a distant location may learn best through computer instructional programs. Part of the business of a learning organisation is accommodating different approaches and needs. Part of the mission of effective career development is to help people understand their own learning styles so they can pick the best approach.
Career development is the life-long process of fostering and cultivating the shape of the individual’s working life so as to make best use of the inherent interests, motives, values, skills and knowledge for that person’s and the employer’s benefit. Career development in organizations has therefore been transformed from an isolated tool for individual growth to a strategic asset for far-sighted organizations. It has become a process for assisting individuals plan their careers in conjunction with an organization’s business requirements –it is an planned effort to link the individual’s career needs with the organization’s workforce requirements.
The career development process and its basic underlying concepts are graphically portrayed in the following Figure.
The most important principle to have emerged from this section are:
The shape of the career, as we know it, is likely to change drastically in the future
Strategies have to be put in place to deal with expected changes
Career management is a is a responsibility shared by individuals, managers and the organisation
Important issues have to be dealt with regarding employees differing needs in different career phases.
Vertical success is not the only criterion for career success
Performance feedback, mentorships, individual career development plans and career goal setting are central themes in good career management
Employees have a life beyond their jobs-the work-family balance will balance will become increasingly important.
FIGURE1: SHOWING CAREER DEVELOPMENT: MATCHING ORGANISATIONAL AND
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
ORGANISATIONAL NEEDS INDIVIDUAL CAREER NEEDS
*What are the organisation’s How do I find career
major strategic issues over the Opportunities with the
next two to three years? Organisation that:
*What are the most critical
needs and challenges that the *Use my strengths
organisation will face over the *Address my developmental
next two to three years? needs
*What critical skills, knowledge, *Provide challenge
and experience will be needed to *Match my interests
meet these challenges? *Match my values
*What staffing levels will be *Match my personal style
required?
*Does the organisation have the
bench strength necessary to meet
the critical challenges?
ISSUE
Are employees developing
themselves in a way that
links personal effectiveness
and satisfaction with the
achievement of the
organisation’s strategic
objectives?
Source: Gutteridge, T.G., Leibowitz, Z.B., & Shore, J.E (1993). Organisational
Career development. Benchmarks for building a world-class workforce. San
Francisco: Jossey Bass.
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE
THE QUALITY OF WORK LIFE PARADIGM
Human Resource Management practices are currently influenced by a development known as the quality of work life paradigm. In this context paradigm means a way of viewing the world of work and the practices associated with this view. The concept “quality of work life” is not new. For decades management theorists and industrial psychologists among others argued for better treatment, ore interesting work and greater democracy in the work place. Until recently, these arguments had very little effect on the behaviour of managers. However, a point has now been reached where the industry is applying that which has been advocated for years.
The underlying assumptions of QWL can be as follows:
• In the work situation, people should be treated with dignity and respect.
• People want to experience a feeling of meaningfulness in their work. Giving them opportunities for personal growth and participation does this. People tend to support that which they have helped to build.
• People want their function within the organisation to be understood and how their individual attempts contribute to the whole.
• People tend to behave mote responsibly when treated as adults and if they are able to participate in decision-making.
• People want to be understood and how their individual attempts contribute to the whole.
• People want to be treated fairly in the work situation and want to compete on equal
basis for opportunities in the work situation.
The focus of QWL is to take into account both the welfare of employees as well as the productivity of organizations. Most other approaches to organizational improvement do not consider both. QWL emphasizes worker participation in important organizational decisions. In contrast, some organizational development programs only accentuate worker participation in various lesser matters and do not focus on involvement in important organizational decisions. QWL focuses on the total worker corps while other programs tend to concentrate on top management only.
A framework for the QWL paradigm can be illustrated in Table 1.
TABLE 1: A FRAMEWORK OF THE QWL PARADIGM
Underlying assumptions
* Dignity
* Meaning
* Personal Growth
* Fairness
* Personal contribution
* Equal opportunity
* Employee participation
Organisational mission and goal
* Open systems approach
* Complex organisation goals
* Changed organizational variables and goals within a changed
environment
Organisational Culture
* Promoting the welfare of both the individual and the organisation
* Promoting employee participation
* Democratic management principles
* Self control
QWL HRM PRACTICES
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
These programs are varied in nature, but all relate to the QWL paradigm or way of thinking. The most important of these will now be discussed.
Job design practices
Job design refers to any activity regarding the change of specific jobs with the objective to increase both the employee’s work experience as well as his productivity. During the last few years, job design was increasingly used as part of a bigger parcel aimed at improving flexibility and the quality of work life of employees.
Job design is moving away from the traditional principles of specialization, fragmentation and external control. The traditional approaches to work and the worker are based on the concepts of effectiveness and control. Flexibility job design practices endorsing high QWL/high flexibility are increasingly prevalent.
Examples of shifts in job design practices include job enrichment (making the jobs of employees more meaningful) and autonomous work groups (employees work in teams and have almost total autonomy over work-related decisions); flexi-time (employees can decide about the scheduling of their work day); shortened work week (employees work a four day week instead of a five day week in order to facilitate more private time for family related responsibilities or personal development); usual part-time employment (employees work part-time but enjoy benefits like pension); job sharing (two employees share one position); voluntary decreased work time programs (v-time) (employees have the option to voluntarily reduce their work time with associated lowering of remuneration and benefits); leave time (employees enjoy the benefits of maternity and ssabbatical leave); work sharing (two employees enjoy a specific work as an alternative to retrenchment); flexi-place (employees are employed on a contract basis which give many employees the opportunity to participate in the work force).
How flexible is your organisation i.t.o job design practices?
Will flexi-time work in your organisation? Motivate your answers?
Stress management
In today’s world people often feel overwhelmed by what is happening in the environment and whether they can deal with the effects adequately. High crime rates, recessions in the economy, increasing costs to maintain a standard of living, the high cost of education, concerns about the future of the country, new technology that has to be mastered, meeting others’ expectations, drug abuse amongst children, fear of AIDS, ETC., are but a few of the many issues people have to cope with. It is also evident that organizations in their quest for survival and financial success, have to compete aggressively with others-in the process they often try to be “lean and mean”, have an obsession with the “bottom line” and expect more than just a pound of flesh from their employees. The point is that the scenario presented above can lead to undue pressure with stress as a serious consequence.
Stress is the result of the interaction between a person and his environment when this interaction is perceived to be so trying that it exceeds his coping skills, the person experiences stress. Stress can be aroused when an opportunity, a constraint or a threat confronts a person. For stress to be aroused, the outcome of the situation must be uncertain, yet important to the individual (Greenhaus & Callanan, 1984). People have to care about situations for them to be stressful.
Dealing with stress in the workplace requires three basic steps, namely understanding the causes of stress, recognizing stress symptoms, and providing coping mechanisms.
Greenhaus and Callanan [1984:p.225] identify some causes of stress (depicted in Table 2).
Identifying the symptoms:
It is important for an organisation, through its line managers, to be able to recognize stress-related symptoms timely. It is important to note that the organisation should provide a support system for line managers to assist them in recognizing symptoms of stress among their subordinates, so that coping mechanisms can be provided and/or the persons suffering from stress could be referred for specialized help or counseling.
Some of the most obvious symptoms are presented in Table 13.
TABLE 2: CAUSES OF STRESS
Organisational issues: Centralisation, low participation in decision-making
Poor communication
Compensation inequities
Major organizational change
Low levels of trust in the organisation
Job demands: Time pressures and deadlines
Responsibility for people
Repetitive work
Role characteristics: Role conflict: caught between conflicting expectations
Role ambiguity: lack of clarity about expectations or
performance
Role overload/nderload: too much or too little work
Interpersonal relations: Conflict within and between groups
Competition
Inconsiderate or inequitable supervision
Working conditions: Crowding
Noise
Excessive heat or cold
Career concerns: Change of job, employer, or location
Obsolescence
Career plateau
Bias/discrimination in the workplace
Job loss
Retirement
Non-work pressures: Family conflicts
Life changes, e.g. divorce, illness or death of a loved one
birth of a child.
Ethical behaviour
Which of the above may affect you personally?
TABLE 3: SYMTOMS OF EMPLOYEE STRESS
Physical: Change in physical appearance; decline in grooming or wardrobe
Headaches, backaches, or gastrointestinal problems
Increased absenteeism for health reasons
Signs of depression, e.g. weight fluctuations, eating habits,
Chronic fatigue
Emotional: Depressed appearance; sad expression, slumped posture, or rounded shoulders; expressions of frustration and hopelessness
Appearing bored or speaking of boredom; restlessness
Attitudes of cynicism, resentfulness, apathy or anxiety
Behavioural: Decreased productivity, inability to focus on task or complete a task
Tardiness (arriving late for work frequently)
Increased absenteeism
Withdrawal
Expressions of irritability or hostility
Overworking
Abuse of alcohol, drugs, caffeine; increased smoking
Excessive exercise, often to the point of injury.
(Source: Adapted from Carrell, et al., 1997)
Do you recognize any of these symptoms in yourself?
Do you recognize any of these symptoms in your colleagues?
Coping mechanisms:
What the organisation can do
• Reduce stressors, e.g. redesign jobs, clarifying employee expectations through a goal-setting program, provide constructive performance feedback, train supervisors in interpersonal skills, develop flexible work schedules, monitor physical working conditions.
• Change the meaning of stressful situations: Offer counseling services to employees, time management programs, teach employees stress management/coping skills.
• Manage strain symptoms: Relaxation programs, gym facilities, medical treatment.
What the individual can do
Greenhaus and Callanan [1994] suggest the following approaches:
• attempt to eliminate burdensome parts of the job
• attempt to add or better utilize staff to relieve pressures
• build more challenge/responsibility into job
• seek clarification of career prospects
• seek feedback on job performance
• seek other’s advice
• upgrade skills
• attempt to resolve conflicts with co-workers and line managers.
Edgar Schein (in Greenhaus and Callanan [1994]) suggested a four-step approach.
1. diagnose the situation: identify the real sources of the problem
2. do self-assessment: reflect on feelings and motives, get to understand yourself
3. Select a coping response: e.g. change an aspect of the stressful environment, shift priorities, manage the symptoms themselves
4. Understand the effect of the coping response and make adjustments where required.
Is your organisation concerned about employee stress, or do they see it as the type of problem that goes away by itself when ignored? Or are there stress management programs available?
Not all stress is necessarily “bad” stress, or distress. Stress can also be eustress i.e. “good” stress – a moderate level of stress that can be motivating, triggers positive action, high involvement and enhances performance and health.
However, extreme levels of stress result when optimal stress levels are exceeded, coping mechanisms are exceeded and workloads become unbearable. Also, some people have a naturally high capacity for stress.
What line managers have to do is to
• Be aware of their own stress levels
• Recognize symptoms of stress in their employees, a pattern of symptoms is important here, the mere presence of one or two typical symptoms does not necessarily mean that distress is present, and
• Provide coping mechanisms and analyse job situations carefully.
How do your stress levels, as well as that of your partner/spouse, affects your relationship or family life?
Dealing with work-family conflict
It is a myth to believe that the worlds of work and family are separate and unconnected. It is now commonly accepted that work and family lives touch each other in many respects. Think of the ways in which your family responsibilities affect your career plans and aspirations – how much time and energy you are willing to devote to work, how many weekends you are willing to spend in the office, and how many relocations you are willing to accept. Consider also how a good (or bad) day at the office affects your mood at home, the times you missed a child’s ball game because of a work commitment, or the times you missed an important business meeting because of a sick child at home.
(Greenhaus & Callanan, 1994, p, 245)
Why has the need to balance work and family lives become more intense in recent years? Probably because more individuals than ever are simultaneously pursuing a career and are committed to a family relationship. The attempt to combine heavy work commitments with an active participation in family life has put pressure on individuals and families to cope effectively with the stresses of this demanding life-style.
As became clear in the previous section on stress, combing work and family life can be a very stressful exercise. In particular, there are four types of work-family conflict that can obvious lead to stress, have an influence on productivity and affect relationships adversely:
Time-based conflict: It is simply impossible to be in two places at once – the timing of work and family commitments are often difficult to manage and eventually both may be affected. Time-based conflict is prevalent for employees who work long hours, travel extensively , frequently work overtime, and have inflexible work schedules.
Strain-based conflict: This exists when the strain produced within one role affects performance in another role. Work stressors can produce such strain symptoms as tension, irritability, fatigue, depression and apathy. These stressors and the resultant behaviour may then be carried over to the relationship. Many sources of strain may arise from the family role as well-these in turn can be transferred to the work role and affect performance negatively.
Behaviour-based conflict: People often can not shift gears when they enter different roles: behavioural styles that employees need to exhibit at work, e.g. logic, power, and authority which result in assertiveness, competitiveness, self-reliance, objectivity, etc, may be incompatible with the behaviours desired at home, namely warmth and humaneness. Spouses and children do not appreciate being treated like subordinates or clients!
Role-based conflict: Partners in a two-career relationship can experience ambivalence and stress if they believe that their earlier gender-role perceptions. Women may have been taught that “good wives stay at home and look after the children”, and men may equate masculinity with career success. Two-career couples often experience conflict between what they instinctively feel they have to do, and what is actually required from the situation.
Organisations need to be sensitive to these issues and realize that it is in their best interest to help their employees balance their work and family lives. But does it make good business sense to spend time and effort on these issues? If designing family-responsive policies and practices reduce absenteeism by, say 15% and prevent some cases of staff turnover, the costs incurred by such practices will already have been covered by the cost savings that go hand-in-hand with reduces absenteeism and turnover.
Typical practices that may be considered to reduce work-family conflict, are:
• child-care centers
• referral services
• community involvement
• flexible sick leave (including maternity and paternity leave)
• flexible work schedules, e.g. Flexi time, part-time employment, job sharing, working from home facilities, etc.
• comprehensive work-family programs.
• Flexible career paths and assignments.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s)
According to Carrell et al. [1997], in a typical company about 10% of the employees at any given time are troubled. It is estimated that a troubled employee costs the company approximately 5% of that employee’s annual salary. Typical employee problems are alcohol, drug and other substance abuse, marriage problems, financial difficulties, severe psychological problems, etc.
Symptoms of a troubled employee are:
• excessive absenteeism
• unexcused and frequent absences
• tardiness and early departures
• causing other employees injury through negligence
• involvement with the law
• deteriorating personal appearance
• poor judgments and bad decisions, etc.
To ensure the well being of its employees, some companies implement a so-called employee Assistance Program (EAP). This is a permanent facility, funded by the company, or shared by a number of companies, where employees suffering from the problems mentioned above are treated. The treatment may consist of short-term interventions to, for example longer-term therapy. The EAP usually employs a professional therapist, and the like to deal with these problems. The ethical standards of these professionals are very high and troubled employee’s problems are with in a very professional and confidential manner.
The steps to be carried out in a successful EAP are illustrated in Figure2.
FIGURE 2: THE EAP PROCCESS
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Problem solved
employee continues
to work problem solved:
counselling employee continues
Employee assistance to work or, if on
programme leave, returns to
work
Identity troubled
employee
Self-identification Employee refuses to Treatment
Supervisor seek help is terminated
Identification if problem has a Treatment
significant negative unsuccessful;
negative impact on employee is
work terminated
TABLE 4: THE DYNAMICS AND ISSUES RELATING TO CAREER PHASES
CAREER PHASE AGE RANGE TYPICAL ISSUES/ALLENGES ORGANISATIONAL ACTIONS INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
1. Career choice 18-25 Matching personality, interests, values, etc. with occupations.
Making decisions i.t.o. expectations Making information available Career exploration
Self exploitation
Setting goals
Seeking social support
2. Career entry 18-25
(Last +-2 – 18 months)
Experiencing reality shock
Learning to work
Dealing with too much structure
Vs. too little
Dealing with supervisions
Role clarity Realistic recruitment
Assessment and selection Develop self-awareness
Identity prospective
employers
Effective interview behaviour
Assessing & choosing
organizations
3. Early career -establishment 22 -33 Socialisation
Learning!!
Understanding org. culture
Understanding reward systems
Psychological contract Effective orientation
Providing early job
Challenges
Feedback
Dealing with first supervisor
Goal setting
Dealing with responsibility
Attain sponsorship
4. Early career achievement 33 - 40 Strive for success
Gaining career mobility
Developing career anchors
Acquiring additional responsibility
Remain flexible in a changing job market Provide challenge,
Responsibility
Continuous feedback
Stimulate career exploration
Career management plans Rethink quality of work life issues
Evaluate strategies
Set realistic goals
Manage work-family conflict
5. Middle career 40 - 55 Dealing with the midlife crisis
Dealing with a career plateau
Dealing with obsolescence
Dealing with possible job loss
Dealing with feelings of guilt
Possible career change Provide flexible career paths
Encourage mentorship
Training & continuing education
Broaden reward system Acceptance
Planning
6. Late career 55+ Remaining productive
Preparation for retirement
Dealing with stereotypes about older people Understanding older
Employees
Performance feedback
Job restructuring
Retirement planning programs
Freud was of the opinion that work, along with love, is one of the two central forces directing our lives. Career theorists agree on the importance of work: they state that work has the potential to reflect our sense of self, shape who we are, organize our days, provide us with friends and colleagues, help us to feel productive and creative, and establish our place in the world. In our society, work is a major source of status, identity and gratification. We experience work through our careers, and our careers are totally intertwined with the rest of our life experiences.
WHAT IS A CAREER?
We know that for the total organisation to prosper and grow all its participants should be developed in one way or the other. All people active in the world of work have careers, and as long as a person is working she/he has a career. Every individual, however, will experience her/his career in a unique way because interpretations of work-related events such as work aspirations, expectations, values, needs, and feeling about particular work experiences are subjective.
A career can therefore be defined as the pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a person’s life.
Some of us have simple career patterns; others have more complex career patterns. Nevertheless, if you are a manager or supervisor you should be aware that the careers of all of those reporting to you need to be nourished and developed in such a way that the needs of both the organization and the individual will be met. Career progression is often interpreted to mean, “up is the only way”. It says that if there is no upward mobility, there is no career development or advancement. This is of course not complete and therefore not true.
Movement in an organisation is possible along three basic dimensions and not necessarily upward only. One can move across functions, for example between marketing, production, finance, HR, etc. This allows growth in a wide range of abilities and skills. Such multi-skilling is currently highly valued in organizations. One can move across the different levels in the hierarchy of the organisation that is “up the ladder.” Success in this case is a function of attaining or surpassing the level to which a person aspires.
Another kind of movement that is not visible but still very real is inward movement. People who have penetrated the inner circle of an organisation have influence and power. Such penetration often goes hand in hand with hierarchical movement, but who is consulted by more senior people by virtue of his experience, seniority, or personality, still exercise influence. Highly skilled technical people often enjoy this kind of influence. Secretaries, because of informal contacts that have been made over the years, sometimes wield influence and power far beyond their formal positions.
A career path therefore, can be viewed as complex interactions of the three kinds of movement: sideways, up and inward. A career path represents the so-called external career. As a manager you should be aware that people – and therefore your subordinates – are highly sensitive to the kind of movement that job-shift represents because of their differing aspirations and self-images. You, therefore, will especially have to deal with the diverse subjective career success orientations, those unique personal career definitions, hopes and plans that are part of the internal careers of your subordinates.
Stop for a moment to think about the careers of your subordinates. Do you know what their career dreams, ambitions and orientations are?
It is usually accepted that career-centered person has is to get a head or to be promoted in the organisation. It implies that the manager’s responsibility, with regard to career development, is to point his subordinates in the diction up the ladder and to call their attention to the tempting rewards on each rung such as money and status.
There are a number of theories that indicate that people in organizations have different career orientations. Research results have indicated that apart from the ‘getting – a head’ careerists, at least another four types of career orientations can be identified:
‘Getting-secure’ people because they are motivated by a sense of job security and life-long organizational identity.
‘Getting – free’ careerists. They want personal autonomy at all costs, “space”, and loose supervision. They are willing to accept a supervisor’s definition of deadlines, budgets, and standards; but they want to figure out how to attain their objectives by themselves.
‘Getting-high’ types. The excitement, challenge, creativity and technical content of the work itself motivate them.
‘Getting-balanced’ group. They give equal priority, attention, and time to their careers, to important relationships, and to self-development activities.
The ultimate issue of career development is to match the different orientations, which are formed by needs, values, and talents of individuals, with the requirements of the organization.
WHO SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN CAREER DEVELOPMENT?
Career development within an organisation can never be the sole responsibility of the individual. The matching of person and job is a shared responsibility. It needs to be a shared responsibility among at least the individual career occupant, the manager, and the employing organisation. Their roles, however, differ:
The individual:
• accepts responsibility for his or her career
• assesses his own abilities, skills, values and motives
• seeks out career information and resources
• utilizes development opportunities
• talk with his/her manager about his/her career
• Follows through on realistic career plans.
The manager:
The manager’s role as career developer of his employees is complex and can take on many forms – it varies from being a coach, appraiser, adviser, referral agent, mentor, etc. The manager has to:
• provide timely performance feedback
• provide development assignment discussions
• participate in career development discussions
• support employee development plans
• serve as role model for subordinates.
Do you, or did you have a mentor at some stage in your career? How valuable was this experience? What orientation and skills does one need to be a mentor?
Are you somebody’s mentor?
The organisation:
• communicates the mission, policies, and procedures
• provides training and development opportunities
• provides career information and career programs
• offers a variety of career paths, incentive systems, and reward systems.
CAREER PHASES
Many theorists believer that a person moves through a series of career phases from the time that consideration is given to the career to be chosen, to the time one retires, and beyond. It is further suggested that each phase has its own unique issues and challenges that have to be dealt with to some degree of success to ensure career fulfillment.
The main advantages of interpreting career dynamics in terms of phases is that an understanding of the career phase approach helps one to identify issues and challenges specific to a particular phase, and to deal with these accordingly. It also assists in explaining how people relate to work at different phases of their careers and lives. In other words, a phase approach seems to structure our knowledge about careers in a meaningful manner.
Criticism of the phase approach revolves around trying to “fit” people into a particular phase, interpretation difficulty when a person “skips” a certain phase or two, difficulty in applying it to entrepreneurial careers, and the fact that modern careers are no longer predictable and do not necessarily fit the pattern of what is to expected of a “normal career.”
The career phases and their inherit issues are depicted in Table 10. please note that all the age ranges provided are approximations.
Make a careful inspection of Table 10. In what career phase would you place yourself?
Did you experience some or all of the issues and challenges?
What did you get from the organisation?
What actions could you take?
FUTURE CHALLENGES FACING CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Trends and issues that will impact on the work place:
• A closer link between business strategy and people development. The skills, talent and commitment of the workforce, more so than technology, will provide the organisation of the future with its competitive edge.
• The constant threat of changes like organizational downsizing, reorganizing, and restructuring will continue to be part of organizational life.
• There will be a shift in the shape of the workforce. More and more workforces are moving to a model in which a small group of core or essential workers is surrounded by a contingent group of temporary and part-time employees and independent contractors; all non-core functions are outsourced.
• Because few organizations will be able to guarantee job security for years to come, employees will become less committed.
• Having experienced investment in work often rewarded with stress, burnout, or layoffs, many employees will invest more heavily in other areas of life, such as family, community, or religious activities. Some organizations will take steps to accommodate these shifting priorities through flexible schedules and leave policies.
• The workforce will become much more diverse. Organizations will be faced with a variety of employee needs, including time for child rearing and elder care, literacy, and accessible working conditions and schedules.
• Focus on quality will be a dominant concern. Total Quality Management, with its themes of customer service, excellence, and continuous improvement, is seen as essential to gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage.
• Employees will be empowered to make decisions and take responsibility for the quest in the delivery of error-free products and services. This will be done through participation in self-managed work teams. Managers will be expected to spend much more time coaching, providing resources, and promoting change efforts than administering, directing, and monitoring task completion.
• Because of the demand for effectiveness new competencies and skills will be required of both managers and employees. The viewpoint will be that central to success in management is an ability to lead and to motivate others to become change agents. Magers need a big picture focus that takes into account the business strategy of the organization as well as how different divisions, units, or work groups fit into that strategy. Employees, too, need to think big and to work comfortably and effectively in team settings. Communication skills – listening, speaking and writing – are essential for team participation. The ability to think a head, to plan for contingencies, to be proactive, and to maintain a customer focus are also crucial. Flexibility and adaptability to change are necessary for both managers and employees.
• The creation of “learning organizations” will be emphasized. With the increased awareness of the importance of the new competencies for competitiveness, organizations will increasingly focus on creating atmospheres of learning and continual development.
• Rapid changes in technology have transformed every aspect of the workplace. New skills and learning are required to adjust to new ways of doing business. Moreover, the pace of technological change will continue to speed up.
• Modern technology has created communication channels that have brought the world closer together. Competition occurs in a global rather than a national context, and success in business requires an understanding of the rest of the world. This global, multi-cultural focus becomes increasingly important, but it shouldn’t be difficult for us to grasp since in many ways South Africa is a microcosm of the rest f the world.
These issues ask for certain strategies. The following recommendations to enhance organizational career development are put forward by Gutteridge, Leibowitz and Shore (1993):
• Integrate development planning and strategic planning.
Make the link explicitly at all levels of the organisation. Involve managers and employees in a process of examining the direction of the business and then assessing the implications for development needs and strategies.
• Strengthen linkages between career development and other HR systems.
With the increased sophistication of career development systems comes recognition of the ways in which they interact with other areas of human resources. For example, job posting, performance appraisal, compensation, and succession planning all affect and are affected by career development. Enlightened HR planning involves collaboration among representatives of all these systems to address their interaction. This kind of systems thinking maximizes the benefits from all HR areas.
• Move career development systems toward greater openness.
Organisations can no longer afford to be closed with respect to control and information. While managers must support career development efforts, they cannot control them; employees have primary responsibility for their own careers. In the same vein, a free flow of information is crucial to ensure that everyone involved in a career development system has access to vital resources, feedback, and information on new opportunities. The question of how employees are seen by supervisors – which naturally relates to feedback as an “open-system”- also affects other HR planning processes, such as performance appraisals.
• Enhance the role of managers in career development through both skill building and accountability.
It is essential to hold managers accountable for the development of their employees
• Development and expand peer-learning methodologies and other team-based development approaches.
With increased employee empowerment and participation and with managers playing a less traditions role, the impetus and responsibility for development will lie more and more in the hands of self-managed teams. Peer-learning models should be actively explored and developed; as teams are more involved in linking development needs to business realities, team development needs will become more apparent. Methodologies for addressing those needs should be expanded.
• Emphasise on-the-job development.
Research has underscored the value of learning on the job as well as the importance of practice, reinforcement, and follow-up. If learning is to remain important, it must be an ongoing process instead of a one-shot event. In many cases, the ongoing approach is also the most cost effective. This is not to say that employees and managers should not go to training sessions. However, such sessions should be carefully leveraged for maximum benefits and effectiveness.
• Emphasise enrichment and lateral movement.
The definition of success needs to be uncoupled from the traditional notions of upward mobility and job change. There will be fewer and fewer opportunities for promotions, and career development should emphasise the strong value of growing and learning in one’s current job as well as maintaining challenge by exploring other areas within an organisation.
• Identify and develop transferable competencies.
Restructuring inevitably brings increased job change, either within an organisation or outside it. Career development should include a common language – that of competencies – for talking about the skills, attributes, and knowledge needed for success in today’s workplace. This language can then be used in everything from recruiting through job descriptions, development, and performance management. One competency that should be highlighted is adaptability to change.
• In career development activities, include values and lifestyle assignments.
Decisions that employees make about leaving or staying at organizations, as well as how committed they are to their values and those of the organisation. It is important to bring these values and those of the organisation. It is important to bring these values to the surface so that they can be addressed and good employees can be retained. With the increased prominence and relevance of issues surrounding work life balance, career development activities can and should be a forum for addressing these issues as well.
• Implement a variety of career development approaches to accommodate different learning styles and needs of a diverse workforce.
What works for one employee may be problematic for another. A workshop may be the ideal setting for one person to learn; another person may be uncomfortable in a workshop and prefer a workbook. A work group in a distant location may learn best through computer instructional programs. Part of the business of a learning organisation is accommodating different approaches and needs. Part of the mission of effective career development is to help people understand their own learning styles so they can pick the best approach.
Career development is the life-long process of fostering and cultivating the shape of the individual’s working life so as to make best use of the inherent interests, motives, values, skills and knowledge for that person’s and the employer’s benefit. Career development in organizations has therefore been transformed from an isolated tool for individual growth to a strategic asset for far-sighted organizations. It has become a process for assisting individuals plan their careers in conjunction with an organization’s business requirements –it is an planned effort to link the individual’s career needs with the organization’s workforce requirements.
The career development process and its basic underlying concepts are graphically portrayed in the following Figure.
The most important principle to have emerged from this section are:
The shape of the career, as we know it, is likely to change drastically in the future
Strategies have to be put in place to deal with expected changes
Career management is a is a responsibility shared by individuals, managers and the organisation
Important issues have to be dealt with regarding employees differing needs in different career phases.
Vertical success is not the only criterion for career success
Performance feedback, mentorships, individual career development plans and career goal setting are central themes in good career management
Employees have a life beyond their jobs-the work-family balance will balance will become increasingly important.
FIGURE1: SHOWING CAREER DEVELOPMENT: MATCHING ORGANISATIONAL AND
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
ORGANISATIONAL NEEDS INDIVIDUAL CAREER NEEDS
*What are the organisation’s How do I find career
major strategic issues over the Opportunities with the
next two to three years? Organisation that:
*What are the most critical
needs and challenges that the *Use my strengths
organisation will face over the *Address my developmental
next two to three years? needs
*What critical skills, knowledge, *Provide challenge
and experience will be needed to *Match my interests
meet these challenges? *Match my values
*What staffing levels will be *Match my personal style
required?
*Does the organisation have the
bench strength necessary to meet
the critical challenges?
ISSUE
Are employees developing
themselves in a way that
links personal effectiveness
and satisfaction with the
achievement of the
organisation’s strategic
objectives?
Source: Gutteridge, T.G., Leibowitz, Z.B., & Shore, J.E (1993). Organisational
Career development. Benchmarks for building a world-class workforce. San
Francisco: Jossey Bass.
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE
THE QUALITY OF WORK LIFE PARADIGM
Human Resource Management practices are currently influenced by a development known as the quality of work life paradigm. In this context paradigm means a way of viewing the world of work and the practices associated with this view. The concept “quality of work life” is not new. For decades management theorists and industrial psychologists among others argued for better treatment, ore interesting work and greater democracy in the work place. Until recently, these arguments had very little effect on the behaviour of managers. However, a point has now been reached where the industry is applying that which has been advocated for years.
The underlying assumptions of QWL can be as follows:
• In the work situation, people should be treated with dignity and respect.
• People want to experience a feeling of meaningfulness in their work. Giving them opportunities for personal growth and participation does this. People tend to support that which they have helped to build.
• People want their function within the organisation to be understood and how their individual attempts contribute to the whole.
• People tend to behave mote responsibly when treated as adults and if they are able to participate in decision-making.
• People want to be understood and how their individual attempts contribute to the whole.
• People want to be treated fairly in the work situation and want to compete on equal
basis for opportunities in the work situation.
The focus of QWL is to take into account both the welfare of employees as well as the productivity of organizations. Most other approaches to organizational improvement do not consider both. QWL emphasizes worker participation in important organizational decisions. In contrast, some organizational development programs only accentuate worker participation in various lesser matters and do not focus on involvement in important organizational decisions. QWL focuses on the total worker corps while other programs tend to concentrate on top management only.
A framework for the QWL paradigm can be illustrated in Table 1.
TABLE 1: A FRAMEWORK OF THE QWL PARADIGM
Underlying assumptions
* Dignity
* Meaning
* Personal Growth
* Fairness
* Personal contribution
* Equal opportunity
* Employee participation
Organisational mission and goal
* Open systems approach
* Complex organisation goals
* Changed organizational variables and goals within a changed
environment
Organisational Culture
* Promoting the welfare of both the individual and the organisation
* Promoting employee participation
* Democratic management principles
* Self control
QWL HRM PRACTICES
QUALITY OF WORK LIFE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
These programs are varied in nature, but all relate to the QWL paradigm or way of thinking. The most important of these will now be discussed.
Job design practices
Job design refers to any activity regarding the change of specific jobs with the objective to increase both the employee’s work experience as well as his productivity. During the last few years, job design was increasingly used as part of a bigger parcel aimed at improving flexibility and the quality of work life of employees.
Job design is moving away from the traditional principles of specialization, fragmentation and external control. The traditional approaches to work and the worker are based on the concepts of effectiveness and control. Flexibility job design practices endorsing high QWL/high flexibility are increasingly prevalent.
Examples of shifts in job design practices include job enrichment (making the jobs of employees more meaningful) and autonomous work groups (employees work in teams and have almost total autonomy over work-related decisions); flexi-time (employees can decide about the scheduling of their work day); shortened work week (employees work a four day week instead of a five day week in order to facilitate more private time for family related responsibilities or personal development); usual part-time employment (employees work part-time but enjoy benefits like pension); job sharing (two employees share one position); voluntary decreased work time programs (v-time) (employees have the option to voluntarily reduce their work time with associated lowering of remuneration and benefits); leave time (employees enjoy the benefits of maternity and ssabbatical leave); work sharing (two employees enjoy a specific work as an alternative to retrenchment); flexi-place (employees are employed on a contract basis which give many employees the opportunity to participate in the work force).
How flexible is your organisation i.t.o job design practices?
Will flexi-time work in your organisation? Motivate your answers?
Stress management
In today’s world people often feel overwhelmed by what is happening in the environment and whether they can deal with the effects adequately. High crime rates, recessions in the economy, increasing costs to maintain a standard of living, the high cost of education, concerns about the future of the country, new technology that has to be mastered, meeting others’ expectations, drug abuse amongst children, fear of AIDS, ETC., are but a few of the many issues people have to cope with. It is also evident that organizations in their quest for survival and financial success, have to compete aggressively with others-in the process they often try to be “lean and mean”, have an obsession with the “bottom line” and expect more than just a pound of flesh from their employees. The point is that the scenario presented above can lead to undue pressure with stress as a serious consequence.
Stress is the result of the interaction between a person and his environment when this interaction is perceived to be so trying that it exceeds his coping skills, the person experiences stress. Stress can be aroused when an opportunity, a constraint or a threat confronts a person. For stress to be aroused, the outcome of the situation must be uncertain, yet important to the individual (Greenhaus & Callanan, 1984). People have to care about situations for them to be stressful.
Dealing with stress in the workplace requires three basic steps, namely understanding the causes of stress, recognizing stress symptoms, and providing coping mechanisms.
Greenhaus and Callanan [1984:p.225] identify some causes of stress (depicted in Table 2).
Identifying the symptoms:
It is important for an organisation, through its line managers, to be able to recognize stress-related symptoms timely. It is important to note that the organisation should provide a support system for line managers to assist them in recognizing symptoms of stress among their subordinates, so that coping mechanisms can be provided and/or the persons suffering from stress could be referred for specialized help or counseling.
Some of the most obvious symptoms are presented in Table 13.
TABLE 2: CAUSES OF STRESS
Organisational issues: Centralisation, low participation in decision-making
Poor communication
Compensation inequities
Major organizational change
Low levels of trust in the organisation
Job demands: Time pressures and deadlines
Responsibility for people
Repetitive work
Role characteristics: Role conflict: caught between conflicting expectations
Role ambiguity: lack of clarity about expectations or
performance
Role overload/nderload: too much or too little work
Interpersonal relations: Conflict within and between groups
Competition
Inconsiderate or inequitable supervision
Working conditions: Crowding
Noise
Excessive heat or cold
Career concerns: Change of job, employer, or location
Obsolescence
Career plateau
Bias/discrimination in the workplace
Job loss
Retirement
Non-work pressures: Family conflicts
Life changes, e.g. divorce, illness or death of a loved one
birth of a child.
Ethical behaviour
Which of the above may affect you personally?
TABLE 3: SYMTOMS OF EMPLOYEE STRESS
Physical: Change in physical appearance; decline in grooming or wardrobe
Headaches, backaches, or gastrointestinal problems
Increased absenteeism for health reasons
Signs of depression, e.g. weight fluctuations, eating habits,
Chronic fatigue
Emotional: Depressed appearance; sad expression, slumped posture, or rounded shoulders; expressions of frustration and hopelessness
Appearing bored or speaking of boredom; restlessness
Attitudes of cynicism, resentfulness, apathy or anxiety
Behavioural: Decreased productivity, inability to focus on task or complete a task
Tardiness (arriving late for work frequently)
Increased absenteeism
Withdrawal
Expressions of irritability or hostility
Overworking
Abuse of alcohol, drugs, caffeine; increased smoking
Excessive exercise, often to the point of injury.
(Source: Adapted from Carrell, et al., 1997)
Do you recognize any of these symptoms in yourself?
Do you recognize any of these symptoms in your colleagues?
Coping mechanisms:
What the organisation can do
• Reduce stressors, e.g. redesign jobs, clarifying employee expectations through a goal-setting program, provide constructive performance feedback, train supervisors in interpersonal skills, develop flexible work schedules, monitor physical working conditions.
• Change the meaning of stressful situations: Offer counseling services to employees, time management programs, teach employees stress management/coping skills.
• Manage strain symptoms: Relaxation programs, gym facilities, medical treatment.
What the individual can do
Greenhaus and Callanan [1994] suggest the following approaches:
• attempt to eliminate burdensome parts of the job
• attempt to add or better utilize staff to relieve pressures
• build more challenge/responsibility into job
• seek clarification of career prospects
• seek feedback on job performance
• seek other’s advice
• upgrade skills
• attempt to resolve conflicts with co-workers and line managers.
Edgar Schein (in Greenhaus and Callanan [1994]) suggested a four-step approach.
1. diagnose the situation: identify the real sources of the problem
2. do self-assessment: reflect on feelings and motives, get to understand yourself
3. Select a coping response: e.g. change an aspect of the stressful environment, shift priorities, manage the symptoms themselves
4. Understand the effect of the coping response and make adjustments where required.
Is your organisation concerned about employee stress, or do they see it as the type of problem that goes away by itself when ignored? Or are there stress management programs available?
Not all stress is necessarily “bad” stress, or distress. Stress can also be eustress i.e. “good” stress – a moderate level of stress that can be motivating, triggers positive action, high involvement and enhances performance and health.
However, extreme levels of stress result when optimal stress levels are exceeded, coping mechanisms are exceeded and workloads become unbearable. Also, some people have a naturally high capacity for stress.
What line managers have to do is to
• Be aware of their own stress levels
• Recognize symptoms of stress in their employees, a pattern of symptoms is important here, the mere presence of one or two typical symptoms does not necessarily mean that distress is present, and
• Provide coping mechanisms and analyse job situations carefully.
How do your stress levels, as well as that of your partner/spouse, affects your relationship or family life?
Dealing with work-family conflict
It is a myth to believe that the worlds of work and family are separate and unconnected. It is now commonly accepted that work and family lives touch each other in many respects. Think of the ways in which your family responsibilities affect your career plans and aspirations – how much time and energy you are willing to devote to work, how many weekends you are willing to spend in the office, and how many relocations you are willing to accept. Consider also how a good (or bad) day at the office affects your mood at home, the times you missed a child’s ball game because of a work commitment, or the times you missed an important business meeting because of a sick child at home.
(Greenhaus & Callanan, 1994, p, 245)
Why has the need to balance work and family lives become more intense in recent years? Probably because more individuals than ever are simultaneously pursuing a career and are committed to a family relationship. The attempt to combine heavy work commitments with an active participation in family life has put pressure on individuals and families to cope effectively with the stresses of this demanding life-style.
As became clear in the previous section on stress, combing work and family life can be a very stressful exercise. In particular, there are four types of work-family conflict that can obvious lead to stress, have an influence on productivity and affect relationships adversely:
Time-based conflict: It is simply impossible to be in two places at once – the timing of work and family commitments are often difficult to manage and eventually both may be affected. Time-based conflict is prevalent for employees who work long hours, travel extensively , frequently work overtime, and have inflexible work schedules.
Strain-based conflict: This exists when the strain produced within one role affects performance in another role. Work stressors can produce such strain symptoms as tension, irritability, fatigue, depression and apathy. These stressors and the resultant behaviour may then be carried over to the relationship. Many sources of strain may arise from the family role as well-these in turn can be transferred to the work role and affect performance negatively.
Behaviour-based conflict: People often can not shift gears when they enter different roles: behavioural styles that employees need to exhibit at work, e.g. logic, power, and authority which result in assertiveness, competitiveness, self-reliance, objectivity, etc, may be incompatible with the behaviours desired at home, namely warmth and humaneness. Spouses and children do not appreciate being treated like subordinates or clients!
Role-based conflict: Partners in a two-career relationship can experience ambivalence and stress if they believe that their earlier gender-role perceptions. Women may have been taught that “good wives stay at home and look after the children”, and men may equate masculinity with career success. Two-career couples often experience conflict between what they instinctively feel they have to do, and what is actually required from the situation.
Organisations need to be sensitive to these issues and realize that it is in their best interest to help their employees balance their work and family lives. But does it make good business sense to spend time and effort on these issues? If designing family-responsive policies and practices reduce absenteeism by, say 15% and prevent some cases of staff turnover, the costs incurred by such practices will already have been covered by the cost savings that go hand-in-hand with reduces absenteeism and turnover.
Typical practices that may be considered to reduce work-family conflict, are:
• child-care centers
• referral services
• community involvement
• flexible sick leave (including maternity and paternity leave)
• flexible work schedules, e.g. Flexi time, part-time employment, job sharing, working from home facilities, etc.
• comprehensive work-family programs.
• Flexible career paths and assignments.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP’s)
According to Carrell et al. [1997], in a typical company about 10% of the employees at any given time are troubled. It is estimated that a troubled employee costs the company approximately 5% of that employee’s annual salary. Typical employee problems are alcohol, drug and other substance abuse, marriage problems, financial difficulties, severe psychological problems, etc.
Symptoms of a troubled employee are:
• excessive absenteeism
• unexcused and frequent absences
• tardiness and early departures
• causing other employees injury through negligence
• involvement with the law
• deteriorating personal appearance
• poor judgments and bad decisions, etc.
To ensure the well being of its employees, some companies implement a so-called employee Assistance Program (EAP). This is a permanent facility, funded by the company, or shared by a number of companies, where employees suffering from the problems mentioned above are treated. The treatment may consist of short-term interventions to, for example longer-term therapy. The EAP usually employs a professional therapist, and the like to deal with these problems. The ethical standards of these professionals are very high and troubled employee’s problems are with in a very professional and confidential manner.
The steps to be carried out in a successful EAP are illustrated in Figure2.
FIGURE 2: THE EAP PROCCESS
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Problem solved
employee continues
to work problem solved:
counselling employee continues
Employee assistance to work or, if on
programme leave, returns to
work
Identity troubled
employee
Self-identification Employee refuses to Treatment
Supervisor seek help is terminated
Identification if problem has a Treatment
significant negative unsuccessful;
negative impact on employee is
work terminated
TABLE 4: THE DYNAMICS AND ISSUES RELATING TO CAREER PHASES
CAREER PHASE AGE RANGE TYPICAL ISSUES/ALLENGES ORGANISATIONAL ACTIONS INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS
1. Career choice 18-25 Matching personality, interests, values, etc. with occupations.
Making decisions i.t.o. expectations Making information available Career exploration
Self exploitation
Setting goals
Seeking social support
2. Career entry 18-25
(Last +-2 – 18 months)
Experiencing reality shock
Learning to work
Dealing with too much structure
Vs. too little
Dealing with supervisions
Role clarity Realistic recruitment
Assessment and selection Develop self-awareness
Identity prospective
employers
Effective interview behaviour
Assessing & choosing
organizations
3. Early career -establishment 22 -33 Socialisation
Learning!!
Understanding org. culture
Understanding reward systems
Psychological contract Effective orientation
Providing early job
Challenges
Feedback
Dealing with first supervisor
Goal setting
Dealing with responsibility
Attain sponsorship
4. Early career achievement 33 - 40 Strive for success
Gaining career mobility
Developing career anchors
Acquiring additional responsibility
Remain flexible in a changing job market Provide challenge,
Responsibility
Continuous feedback
Stimulate career exploration
Career management plans Rethink quality of work life issues
Evaluate strategies
Set realistic goals
Manage work-family conflict
5. Middle career 40 - 55 Dealing with the midlife crisis
Dealing with a career plateau
Dealing with obsolescence
Dealing with possible job loss
Dealing with feelings of guilt
Possible career change Provide flexible career paths
Encourage mentorship
Training & continuing education
Broaden reward system Acceptance
Planning
6. Late career 55+ Remaining productive
Preparation for retirement
Dealing with stereotypes about older people Understanding older
Employees
Performance feedback
Job restructuring
Retirement planning programs
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Thanks for sharing insights about the MAP test. It's interesting to learn how this assessment helps track students' progress and tailor their learning experiences. Keep it up...
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