The task of managing people in modern organisations is complex and certainly far from easy. There is a great difference in having a pool of trained employees available to perform a task and getting the job done efficiently, and in a timely manner.
Managements still have to face numerous constraints that affect the workforce, for instance the employees’ daily stressors of life. Nevertheless management should consider the holistic educational improvement that is being achieved by all levels of society.
The results reflect in every sphere of life and thus the workplace is not an exception. Most employees have access to the fast-evolving educational facilities such as the internet and university tuition. For the modern management this is both an advantage and a challenge.
On the other hand this positive phenomenon may provide a difficult hurdle for other management. The access to global information is steadily enhancing the democratic values of society. People are increasingly being more critical of what they read, hear and see.
People are democratic and expect to encounter democracy everywhere even at the workplace. In a democratic society every kind of relation is mostly based on trust; industrial relations are not an exception. Adopting a unilateral or an unprofessional style of management in today’s scenario won’t pay in the long run.
Gone are the days of the stick and carrot system where employees are to be solely regarded as inferior beings only interested in money. All employees today expect due respect from management’s part. Everyone has dignity and no one is ready to accept any type of humiliation anymore. Democratising the workplace requires top management and in-good-faith commitment. Workplace democracy doesn’t simply mean organising periodical staff meetings, it requires more than that. Democracy is ongoing participation.
Most management today, especially in small and medium size enterprises, realised that by adopting an open door policy, it practically delivers a humanistic message of approachability and trustworthiness. Negating contact means eliminating communication, which may be perceived as a lack of interest in the employees.
Once confidentiality is ensured this policy shall present an opportunity for many employees who usually fear victimisation if they speak up. It may also be a direct and efficient way for top management to get a clearer and balanced picture of what’s really going on at shop floor level. Middle management may also have its weaknesses and biases so as with all levels it requires monitoring. All kinds of democracies have to be guarded from abuse and explore methods to democratise further.
One of the fundamental enemies of democracy and trust is discrimination. It must be ensured that no one in the organisation is being granted any unjustified preferential treatment or service of any kind that may even result in an economic burden. Everyone in the organisation should have an equal share of opportunities.
The power of knowledge should be available to all and according to one’s needs, not just for the same selected few. Such kind of baroque mentality promoting the preferred one has long been eradicated from most of today’s successful organisations.
Granting of overtime is another factor in which management should be careful. Overtime must be employed with full transparency and not secretly to the advantage of the usual selected ones. Length of service does not automatically bring about a right to lack of accountability, the right to harass and discriminate co-workers and a divine preference to all opportunities.
Lack of trust brings about a stressful working environment. It would be dangerous for an organisation to neglect the amount of stress created at the workplace due to mismanagement.
Medical authorities today acknowledge that stress at the workplace negatively affect the health of employees in diverse methods, for instance by lowering the body’s immune system. Recent research demonstrates that 90 per cent of illness is stress-related. Thus keeping a socially healthy environment pays back even by reducing sick leave entitlement expenses. Apart from improving the health of the employees and thus their efficiency, it will save precious funds that an organisation “wastes” in monitoring possible sickness abuse.
Every organisation has its basic rules that one must adhere to, which normally carry sanctions if broken. However sanctions and rules also induce responsibility on who is enforcing them. Methods of control must be applied equally for everyone in the organisation including management. They are surely not intended to serve as intimidating weapons of coercion especially if in the hands of biased middle management.
Top management is to carry full responsibility of middle management’s operations. It should act as a watchdog ensuring non-discriminatory practices. Transparency pays for instance when it comes to vacation leave records. It must be ensured that any absence from work at all levels of the organisation is thoroughly verified and justified. Nevertheless employers should not always grant vacation leave entitlements whenever it suits the company best, but a balance must be met, taking in consideration the social aspect of the employees.
Employees should genuinely feel that everyone in the organisation is pulling the same rope to achieve a shared goal and not to contribute for the achievement of someone’s personal needs. Trust is what makes a team function properly and top management has the task to apply the right policies even by ignoring personal consequences. It takes courage to gain respect and thus to instill the noble values of trust within the organisation.
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