The Changing landscape of the workplace
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Transcript of The Changing landscape of the workplace
A. Generational Differences
B. Workplace Incivility/Bullying
C. Work-life Balance Initiatives
Baby Boomers – Individuals born between 1945 - 1962
Generation X – Individuals born between 1963 - 1981
Millennials – Individuals born between 1982 – 2000 Sometimes, this group is referred to as Generation Y
The Boomers Strong work ethic (their job defines them –
workaholics) Driven (focused) Consensus builders Optimistic Strong relationship skills Excellent team players (understand roles) Buy now, pay later
The X-ers Strong work/life balance (they might say,
life/work balance) Versatile (flexible) Techno-literate Skeptical/cynical Multi-taskers Value individual contributions Save, save, save
The Millennials Self-confident/believe they can do anything
(use to praise) Determined (focused) Techno-dependent Hopeful Conditioned towards an entitlement mentality Team oriented (everyone is a winner) Earn to spend
The Boomers Hours = Badge of Honor Loyal to the firm (if the firm is loyal to them) Respect authority (within reason) Love meetings, analysis and reports Look for role models and mentors Prefer face-to-face communication
The Boomers (continued) Task/process focused Uncomfortable with a challenge/question to
their authority Prefer to avoid conflict Will not openly challenge/disagree with peers Feedback only required once a year Do not handle criticism well
The X-ers Hourly mentality difficult to accept
Their credo is: hours are unimportant, results/outcome are important.
Tell them what to do, not how to do it Want autonomy they have not earned Flexibility/freedom is integral to their
productivity View work, employment and the firm as a
“contract” It is the firm’s responsibility to keep them engaged
Highly efficient
The X-ers (continued) Embrace paperless and the use of technology Have difficulty with authority
(rulebreakers/stretchers) Challenge everything (routinely ask why) Impatient when change is not immediately
implemented Want to be managers/partners now Mentors should be “advocates”
The X-ers (continued) Poor people skills Openly critical/confrontational Believe their skill set will protect them (and
define them) Understand the staffing dilemma (leverage
this to their advantage) Need positive feedback on a regular basis
Welcome “constructive” criticism
The Millennials Tracking hours makes no sense to them
Willing to work if they are told why and/or if they make the commitment to the task or project
Very receptive to the concept of value billing for services provided
They expect their work environment to be fun, stimulating and collegial
They wonder why more of the mundane tasks (entry level tasks they are asked to do) are not done through technology
Generally, they have unrealistic expectations related to their careers and the timeline for their career advancement
The Millennials (continued) Mentors must be proactive and involved (they
are essential for their success) They expect and demand training They have poor communication skills
Except with each other Too dependent on e-mail and frustrated with
face-to-face Want to feel that they are contributing and
thrive in a team approach/environment
The Millennials (continued) Want feedback constantly and need to know
what they are doing right and what needs to be corrected
They are more like boomers in terms of work ethic and attitude towards work
They are more like X-ers in terms of technology utilization and career expectations
Website/Internet Colleges/Universities (Liberal
Arts/Smaller) Alumni Current employees Faculty and programs Internships
Electronic newsletters Young professional organizations Large regional
Interesting Work Variety Flexibility A teamwork approach to engagements Training (especially on “soft skills”) Involved mentor programs Clear career paths and options An understanding of the firm’s
differentiation
Pigeonholing (no evaluation of the best fit for them)
No explanation of the firm’s work/life balance
Working for a workaholic Partners not being consistent Not learning from mistakes Too much emphasis on “busy season” To end up like their parents
Rotate assignments (industries) Provide a training calendar (with course
descriptions) Involve them in Practice Development
early Ensure a team approach/concept Involve them in planning meetings Communicate career paths and options Utilize employee recognition programs Provide a mentor/advocate program
Establish and utilize an alumni program Involve seniors and supervisors in your
efforts Establish both formal training programs
and a rainmaker academy Overhaul your current mentor program Revisit your website (from a recruiting
perspective and have new employees critique it)
Explore flexible schedules
Defined as: “Characteristically rude and discourteous behavior” (Andersson and Pearson, 1999). Examples: Being interrupted when speaking;
not being thanked; intentionally not holding open a door for someone, etc.
Intentional or unintentional Causes: Power dynamics; procedural
unfairness; organizational structure Effects: Decreased job satisfaction,
turnover, violence
Workplace violence, incivility, and bullying all have their origins in the study of organizational citizenship behavior, more specifically, workplace deviance
Workplace Deviance is “voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and in so doing threatens the well-being of an organization, its members, or both” (Robinson and Bennett, 1995, p. 556).
Four quadrants of workplace deviance: 1. Production Deviance (Behaviors that
directly interfere with work) 2. Property Deviance (The destruction of
property) 3. Political Deviance**(Mild
interpersonal behavior) 4. Personal Aggression (Harmful
interpersonal behavior)
Incivility is a negative issue and has varying degrees of intensity Mild examples:
Not making another pot of coffee after last cup has been poured not opening doors for people not thanking someone
Extreme examples: Rude comments Verbal abuse Harassment
Usually starts with some sort of change (i.e. new employee, change in ownership, new work groups)
Causes: Crowded working conditions Excess stress Power dynamics
Occurrence: 92% of current employees reported at least one
incident of incivility in the past three years (American Management Association)
80% of victims are women (Jones, 2006) Of those 80%, 50% are women over the age of
45 Incivility perpetrators are usually (77%) women
between the ages of 20 and 45 (Namie, 2003)
Sometimes referred to as “Escalated Incivility” or “Generalized Harassment”.
Workplace bullying refers to highly negative verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors that are characterized by: Repetition/frequency /duration(persistent) Intentional Escalated Power Adverse Effects
Both men & women engage in bullying (women tend to bully more than men)
Men are bullied by men/women are bullied by women
Bullies are typically identified as managers or those with a higher org rank than the target
Targets self-report they are college-educated (84%) & veteran’s of the org (7 years)(Namie, 2003).
There is a large gap in research on workplace bullying: The HR (ombudsman) perspective The bully’s perspective Varying definitions Overlap in the construct
Salin’s (2003) comprehensive review of literature identified three necessary organizational antecedents to bullying in the workplace: 1) enabling structures and processes 2) motivating structure and processes 3) precipitating processes.
Individual: Psychological trauma Severe stress Physical health issues Negative self-identity which requires
remediation
Organizational: Toxic organizational culture(recruiting
issues, etc.) Absenteeism, High turnover Lower productivity Costly employee health effects Legal countermeasures by employees
Defined WKB similarly to targets and academics but with important differences
Complicated to identify and pin down bullying due to the myriad of behaviors associated with it, its subtle nature, and its varying degrees.
Varying degrees: Based on repetition and the actual behaviors associated with the bullying.
These HR professionals made sense of how and why bullying happens in organizations in a variety of ways.
Roles: The HR profs. felt they played a progressive,
changing role in bullying situations, emotional laborer, powerful vs. powerless.
The HR profs. felt UM saw their role in bullying situations as: 1) a partner/resource, 2) “take care of it”, 3) objective, third party, 4) and as a nag.
The HR profs. felt targets saw their role in bullying situations as: 1) “fix it” and 2) trusted listener.
Do U.S. orgs use policies to address bullying? 1 had an anti-bullying policy 16 had policies they felt covered bullying
(without labeling it as such) 17 did not have a policy that covered bullying
or did not know if they had a policy. What did these policies seem to be
communicating? What did the HR professionals feel the
policies communicated?
Does what happens in your personal life affect your work life and vice versa?
Should organizations help us manage the relationship between work and home?
What kinds of initiatives have organizations adopted to help achieve better balance?
How has the relationship between paid work and home been viewed historically?
• Diaries• Family letters• Tombstones• Sermons• Publications• Legal Documents• Institutional records (school, hospital, business records)• Songs• Household architecture
A Worthy Matron of unspotted LifeA loving Mother and obedient wifeA friendly neighbor, pitiful to poorWhom oft she fed, and clothed with her
storeTo Servants wisely aweful, but yet kindAnd as they did, so they reward did findA true Instructor of her FamilyThe which she ordered with dexterityThe publick meetings ever did frequentAnd in her Closet constant hours she
spentReligious in all her words and wayesPreparing still for death til end of dayesOf all her Children, Children lived to seeThen dying, left a blessed memory
What does this document say about women’s roles in colonial America and their power in the home and the community?
What was the household composition?
How were roles divided?
How did they intersect?
What were the rhythms of the day? When did work start and stop?
What were the main barriers to “success?”
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, work was carried out by the entire family together, including children—this blurred the line between work and family
Shared responsibility for work Women, however, were still also carrying
the double burden or working and being the sole caretaker of their children
Wages become the family economic lifeline.
Demise of cottage industries in exchange for factories and assembly lines
“Unemployment” becomes a new concern.
Time replaces tasks as the system of organizing work.
Work became physically separated from the home - Emergence of ideology of separate spheres
Family interests were seen as competing loyalties
Entrenchment of segregated gender roles
The mark of manhood became the ability to bring home a wage
Women’s work became defined as “non-productive”
Cult of domesticity and new visions of femininity
What were the benefits and costs of this arrangement for women?
How about men, were their interests advanced or harmed by this arrangement?
Boundary Management (separation/integration) Spillover (open systems perspective) Compensation (offset dissatisfaction in one role by
seeking satisfaction in another role) Segmentation (intentional separation of work and
family roles) Conflict (simultaneous pressures from work and family
that are mutually incompatible) Balance (equally involved in and equally satisfied with
work role and family role) Border Theory (work/family constitute different
domains but they always influence one another—flexibility and permeability)
What challenges face working families today and how do they depart from the challenges faced at the mid 20th century?
Changing family structures Changing work opportunities Changing economy Changing demographics
Source: Moen, P., Sweet, S. & Bickley, T. (2001). How Family Friendly is Upstate New York? Ithaca, NY: Careers Center, Cornell University.
Industries/Sectors What is being produced
Occupations/Jobs The tasks involved
Organization size Small vs. large companies
Employees The types of people performing work
Contractual arrangementsCompensation, security
Schedules When work is performed
Geography Where work is performed
Corporate Campuses Help or hindrance with work/life balance?
Do you believe that companies treat employees differently if they leave work early to address family concerns (e.g., pick up a child) as opposed to personal concerns (e.g., leave early to go to the gym)?
Why might organizations be more supportive of family reasons? Is it the value society places on family? Or, is it because obligations that involve children are seen as necessary?
If two obligations are seen as "necessary," does it change the way that the organization treats family vs. non-family obligations? (For example, a person leaving early for a medical appointment vs. leaving early to pick up a sick child).
Do you think organizations should treat family concerns (e.g., picking up a child from daycare) and non-family concerns (e.g., leaving early to further one's education) in the same manner?
As mentioned in Cowan & Hoffman (2007), organizations need to articulate what they mean by “work-life balance” and how employees and managers alike, co-create these meanings (i.e. flexibility is not about telecommuting, flextime or job sharing but rather it’s in reference to time, space, evaluation and compensation)
Researchers studying work-life/family should not impose constructs on the study but rather, allow participants to define the relationship
What does the term “work” really mean in 2010? Is it a place? A period of time? An activity? This needs further clarification