...January 2011 WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANISATIONS Dr. K. CHANDRASEKAR Assistant Professor, Alagappa Institute of Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India Email: chandrasekar77@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The workplace environment impacts employee morale, productivity and engagement - both positively and negatively. The work place environment in a majority of industry is unsafe and unhealthy. These includes poorly designed workstations, unsuitable furniture, lack of ventilation, inappropriate lighting, excessive noise, insufficient safety measures in fire emergencies and lack of personal protective equipment. People working in such environment are prone to occupational disease and it impacts on employee’s performance. Thus productivity is decreased due to the workplace environment. It is the quality of the employee’s workplace environment that most impacts on their level of motivation and subsequent performance. How well they engage with the organization, especially with their immediate environment, influences to a great extent their error rate, level of innovation and collaboration with other employees, absenteeism and ultimately, how long they stay in the job. Creating a work environment in which employees are productive is essential to increased profits for your organization, corporation or small business. The relationship between work, the workplace and the tools of work, workplace becomes an ...
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...Open University of Malaysia WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE A study submitted to Project Management Department in Saudi Aramco BY Nowier Mohammed Al-Anzi Open University of Malaysia 2009 i Open University of Malaysia WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE A study submitted to Project Management Department in Saudi Aramco Nowier Mohammed Al-Anzi 51060418 Project Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration Open University of Malaysia 2009 ii DECLARATION Name Student's Number : Nowier Mohammed Al-Anzi : 51060418 I hereby declare that this project paper is the result of my own work, except for quotations and summaries which have been duly acknowledged. I hereby verify this research has not been submitted in substance for any other degree. Signature:ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ Date: ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ Supervisor Name: Mr. Iqbal Singh Kaundali Signature:ــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ Date: ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ iii APPLICATION TO CONDUCT RESEARCH PAPER PART A: STUDENT PARTICULAR 1. Name Student’s Number : Nowier Mohammed Al-Anzi : 51060418 PART B: PARTICULARS ABOUT THE PROJECT 1. Title of the project : Workplace Environment and Its Impact on Employee Performance : To determine the...
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...How Work-Stress Effects the Employee Todd Smith BUS642: Business Research Methods & Tools Ruizhen Hardin October 15, 2012 Introduction It is almost inevitable to experience stress in the workplace, regardless of what organization or industry an individual works in. Through history, the presence of stress has always been a reality that once must face in the workforce. However, with the current state of economy stress in the workplace is a growing concern due to employees facing increased conditions of overwork, decreased levels of job satisfaction, harsh work environments, job insecurity, and lack of self-sufficiency. In many organizations, employees as well as management are not completely clear about what their roles are in the organization, which ultimately leads to increased levels of stress. There have also been research and studies conducted that indicates that even with high levels of stress in the workplace, it actually exerts better performance in employees. In addition these studies also indicate that stress is actually needed in the workplace to increase levels of performance. Considering the implications of these studies, it is important to explore a hypothesis on how causes of work stress has an effect on motivation and job performance. This hypothesis is crucial in confirming that stress in the workplace has more of a negative impact on employees. Contributes to much health related issues. General Causes of Stress ...
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...to create an environment that attracts, retain and motivates its workforce. This study seeks to examine the working conditions on the performance of employees. It is also aimed at identifying the perception of employees about their working conditions. The study employs descriptive and sample survey techniques. A sample of 50 employees was selected from the Madina Polyclinic in Ghana where the study is focused by the application of stratified and sample random sampling methods. Data was collected by the use of a well-designed questionnaire. It was found that casual workers were not satisfied with their working conditions while aside them other employees were somehow/ averagely satisfied with their working conditions. Working conditions such as quietness of workplace, office arrangement, availability of working materials, salaries, bonuses and allowances and job security have an influence on the performance of employees. It was thus recommended that to ensure improvement in employee performance and productivity, measures should be put in place to establish a conducive working condition for employees. 1.1 INTRODUCTION Management’s new challenge is to form an environment that attracts, retain and motivate its workforce. The responsibility lies with managers and supervisors at all levels of the organization. Businesses must step outside their time-honored roles and comfort zones to look at new ways of working. They have to create a working environment where people enjoy...
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...Problems of Stress and Burnout for Employees and Employers Introduction Work-related stress and burnout turn into a more widespread problem in the American workforce. Both employees and employers face problems when dealing with this issue. Our book defines burnout as a special type of job stress; a state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about your competence and the value of your work (Dressler, 2011). Stress is much more then just a specific situation though. Stress basically is a responsive reaction of an individual to a particular situation. This is why stress is usually difficult to cope with because every person reacts differently to a certain situation. Overwork, job insecurity, and other numerous factors have a negative effect on a person. Distress is produced, and an employee physiologically and psychologically deviates in her or his experiences in comparison to healthy functioning (Sandon, 2006). Stress and burnout are some unnecessary pressures at work can not only be detrimental to the well being of an employee but also affect the company in negative way. Causes of Stress and Burnout in the Workplace While mild stress can be beneficial to a person, providing stimulus and challenge. Stress becomes health threatening only when individuals feel unable to cope with demands expected from them. There is a clear difference between stress and burnout. Stress causes lots of anxiety and stirs up many emotions, while those suffering from...
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...Causes of Workplace Stress There are many factors that can exacerbate the causes of stress in the workplace. The challenges faced by people in the workplace make the job more exciting and interesting. However, there are challenges that can also have negative effects. The normal reaction to stress is tension, anxiety and excitement and work-life goes back to normal after a while. If however, the stress becomes overwhelming or if it happens too often, there can be a problem getting back to the normal state and one is no longer able to relax. The most common causes of stress in the workplace are the following: • Demands at work become too extreme or excessive • There is disproportion between the workload and the abilities of the employees • Fear for security of employment as a result of massive layoffs • Ineffective management which makes employees feel they are in a dead end • Dealing with reorganizations in the workplace • Dealing with workplace bullies • Dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace • Information overload which causes mental stress • A poor physical working environment • Employees who fear they will be declared as redundant Demands can be seen as a result of technological advances that make work more efficient but in the end, eventually require employees to perform more tasks. This is the contemporary cause of workplace stress. Expansion of technology demands that workers constantly perform near their peak, be competitive and constantly...
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...Introduction Everyone who has ever held a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short-term, you may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfill a challenging obligation. But when work stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelming — and harmful to both physical and emotional health. Job stress comes in different forms and affects human mind and body in different ways. Small things can make feeling stressed, such as a copy machine that never seems to work when anyone need it or phones that won't quit ringing. Major stress comes from having too much or not enough work or doing work that doesn't satisfy him. Conflicts with boss, coworkers, or customers are other major causes of job stress. It's normal to have some stress. Stress releases hormones that speed up human heart, making breathe faster, and giving a burst of energy. Stress can be useful when anyone need to focus on or finish a big project. But too much stress or being under stress for too long isn't good for health. Constant stress can make anyone likely to get sick more often. It can make chronic pain worse and can also lead to long-term health problems such as heart diseases, back problems, and depression. Looking for these signs of job stress: * Headaches * Trouble sleeping * Problems concentrating * Short temper * Upset stomach * Job dissatisfaction and low morale Definition of...
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...importance in the employees work environment because now a days human resource is the most valuable asset that an organization does have and the existance of bad occupational health and safety environment greatly affect the job performance of employees. In this study the policies regarding occupational health and safety, health hazards associated with the job environment, employer’s responsibility for having good occupational health and safety measures are discussed. Purpose of the study is to know the effects of occupational health and safety on job performance, the lack of health and safety measures at workplace and how health hazards reduce job performance of the employees. Data was collected from different sources, sampling techniques were applied to the data collected and analysis was done through different quantitative tools thus recommendations and conclusions were drawn from that. Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to revise the effects of occupational health and safety on job performance of the employees’ i.e. how health hazards at occupational environment affect the employee job performance. Employees at work environment are out in the open to many of the health and safety hazards. The human resource is the most valuable asset at workplace because its effective and efficient use can result in higher level of performance in other areas of the organization so for this reason it’s necessary to provide healthy and safe environment to the workers so that the employee...
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...many changes in how we think and how we interact in our everyday lives and in our workplace. In this fast paced world we live in there is the internet, cell phones and email have become as common as a pen. Everything is accessible at the click of your mouse and multi-million dollar contracts are being processed and negotiated via email, fax, or video conferencing. One can now conduct banking business on-line, set up appointments online. Nowadays, everyone is operating at warp speed and these speeds of work has become a double edged sword because in our fast paced working environments these speeds in which we travel during a work day can produce workplace stress. Stress can come from many different reasons, but it can be broke down into two forms: individual induced stress and physical environment stress. Individual stress includes work overload, responsibility for others, role conflicts. Work overload is self explanatory and is basically the amount of work that is required from an employee on a day to day basis. Responsibility for others is the responsibility that is place on the employee to be responsible for others within the organization. Role conflict occurs when accomplishing one job inhibits or greatly reduced the chance at completing another assigned task. A person who is tasked to do the jobs will incur some type of stress while trying to figure out how to get both tasks accomplished in the given amount of time. Physical environment stress is sometimes...
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...Diversity in the Workplace Wendy Fowler Diversity in the Workplace Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. Workplace diversity is about acknowledging differences and adapting work practices to create an inclusive environment in which diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds are valued. It is about understanding the individual differences in the people we work with that arise from a broad range of backgrounds and lifestyles, and recognizing the value of using those different perspectives, ideas and ways of working to enhance the quality and outcomes of work. Our diversity is shaped by a variety of characteristics including age, ethnicity, gender, disability, language, religious beliefs, life stages, education, career responsibilities, sexual orientation, personality and marital status (Leonard 2013). Workplace diversity builds on the traditional principles of equal employment opportunity (EEO). While EEO focuses on ensuring that all people have access to employment opportunities and conditions, diversity means accepting, welcoming and valuing the differences essential in every individual and recognizing the contribution that a diverse workforce can make to organizational effectiveness and performance. To understand how diversity affects the work place let us look at different types of diversity which includes differences in skill and abilities, values and attitudes, occupation differences, and age. Different Types...
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...environmental hazard is any hazard that present a danger to a surrounding environment. Environmental hazards in the workplace can range from something as simple as cleaning products not stored properly to the improper handling of bodily fluids. Hazards can be categorized in five types: 1- Chemical 2- Physical 3- Mechanical 4- Biological 5- Psychosocial * WHY SHOULD WE EVALUATE THE WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT? * When people are working in situations that suit their physical and mental abilities, the correct fit between the person and the work task is accomplished. People are then in the optimum situation for learning, working and achieving, without adverse health consequences, e.g. injury, illness. * WHAT WORK ENVIRONMENT FACTORS SHOULD BE ASSESSED? * When assessing the workplace environment, consideration should be given to individual human characteristics such as age, sex, experience, physical stature etc., and how well these human characteristics match the physical environment. Appropriate design of workplace environments will ensure that they accommodate a broad variety of human characteristics. * The four main categories of physical characteristic that need to be considered in the work environment are: 0 clearance, e.g. headroom, legroom, elbow-room, access; ...
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...Workplace Violence Case Study Walaa Essam, Group 52F ESLSCA Business School Workplace Violence Case Study Introduction This case study addresses the problem of workplace violence by analyzing two actual incidents which took place at two renowned multinational firms, which are “DaimlerChrysler’s Toledo, Ohio, assembly plant” and “Lockheed Martin”. The purpose of this study is to help finding a useful managerial tool to decrease the potential for future workplace violence that may lead to loss of life and unnecessary monetary loss. Managers are not necessarily equipped to develop appropriate measures to effectively deal with violent issues. Given the proper tool, managers can often work wonders. But we first need to look at how we define the problem of workplace violence. Generally, people think of workplace violence solely in the context of physical assaults or homicides. Many mental health professionals consider such a definition too narrow, and instead define workplace violence more broadly, such as "any verbal or physical assault or any violence that occurs in the workplace even if its source is not related to the work environment or any abusive, threatening, intimidating, or assaulting conduct against a co-worker whether physical or verbal. Such conduct can be seen in the form of shaking fists, throwing objects, destroying company property, written or verbal threats, swearing, insults, condescending language, hitting, shoving, pushing, kicking...
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...Psychology of Health in the Workplace Kimberly Okony HCA/250-The Psychology of Health University of Phoenix Axia April 22, 2012 Darlene Tomlinson Psychology of Health in the Workplace The relationship between health and psychology has become more established in recent years. Past and continuing studies, and research, is providing insight into how an individual’s entire feeling of wellbeing should be considered when trying to balance or maintain the status of their overall health. They are discovering that many biological, mental, and environmental factors can all work together to add to people’s health issues. Finding the correct balance of treatment choices is now including other alternative influences and circumstances as possible elements that may be adding to the causes of physical health issues. An example of a specific lifestyle choice that can affect health and psychology in the workplace is poor eating habits. For an individual who may choose to skip breakfast in the morning, he or she can become irritable, have a difficult time concentrating, or develop physical symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or headache. Irritability can lead to poor communication with co-workers and loss of production on everyone’s schedule. Loss of energy from low blood sugar may lead to feeling tired and unable to concentrate which again can lead to misunderstandings and poor communication in order to resolve work related issues. One...
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...analyze the detriments and implications of a workplace tainted with harassment issues, as well as to provide recommendations to assist organizations on how to avoid legal liability regarding harassment claims and how to achieve a harassment-free work environment. Drawing on scholarly sources, the report identifies three forms of harassment, which are bullying, sexual and racial harassment. It examines the differences in people’s perception of harassment in general as well as the factors influencing individuals’ experience of it. The report describes the risks for businesses experiencing harassment in the workplace; it examines the negative effects they can have on organizational environment, and its impacts on the organizations’ professional image. The findings of this report suggest that organizations can prevent and resolve harassment in the workplace by improving leadership and communication among employees, and by implementing and enforcing a clear and effective anti-harassment policy. The recommendations made in this report are to: * Provide basic guidelines on how to create and enforce effective human rights policies in organizations * Provide the necessary elements an effective anti-harassment policy should have * Provide adequate training and education programs for everyone at the organization INTRODUCTION Over the last years, there has been a rising concern over the issue of harassment in the workplace. Despite some employees may ignore or find...
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...Workplace Stress Stress is a factor in everyone’s life mainly during difficult times such as divorce, marriage, and even when buying a house, but the most stress seems to be related to the workplace. Employees deal with firings, change in financial status, and problems with the boss, altered responsibilities, variations in work hours, business readjustments, retirement and vacations. Stress interferes with your productivity and can reduce your physical and emotional health and affects everyone differently. Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. The body’s defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response. The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When it is working properly, it helps you stay focused, alert, and energetic. In certain emergency situations, stress can save your life. It goes extra strength to defend you. Stress response also helps you meet challenges. Managers should be educated and aware of the many symptoms of stress because if they go unnoticed and unattended they can lead to bigger problems. People feel overwhelmed and several signs and symptoms can occur such as: • Feeling anxious, irritable, or depressed • Apathy, loss of interest in work. • Problems sleeping • Fatigue, • Trouble concentrating • Muscle tension or headaches • Stomach problems • Social withdrawal • Loss of...
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