Reflecting on focus and content of this course, what is an important challenge facing management of organizations today, and how would you go about addressing it?
An important challenge facing management of organizations today is the changing perception and nature of work in post-industrial economies where majority of jobs are represented by the services sector. While a typical job was characterized by strict compartmentalization between one’s personal life and job-related life in industrial era prior to the 1970s, “work’s intimacy” (Gregg, 2013) is the new norm, and is resulting in intrusion of work in employees daily and personal lives. In fact, so profound the dissolution of boundary between personal and professional roles is that employees have largely acquiesced to the idea of managing the two simultaneously. One reason is the ubiquitous nature of communication technologies that keep the employees connected to their workplace almost all the time. The other reason is the very nature of job in today’s knowledge economy that relies more on intangible inputs.
Business management has taken this changed perception of work as a given, and does not seek to reverse it. As such, instead of instilling a worldview that takes cognizance of employees’ commitments, pursuits, preferences, and interests outside his/her workplace, the new management paradigm seeks to blend personal and professional environs together. This way, the employees are made to feel “at home” while at work, and are extended amenities that were traditionally associated with intimate environment of one’s home (Smith, 2012).
It would be naive to expect a quick reversal of this trend in the foreseeable future. Instead of forcing a dichotomy between personal and professional roles, both the employees and the management would be better off if workplace is made more accommodative to employees’ personal and social needs. I would argue in favour of arrangements and ‘social contracts’ that allow employees to fulfil their outside-work social and personal roles. Engendering the image of a caring organization is imperative not only for attracting and retaining quality workforce, but also for achieving greater employee satisfaction.
References
Gregg, M. (2013). Work's intimacy. John Wiley & Sons.
Smith, J. (2012, August 24). The Best Workplace Luxuries. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/08/24/the-best-workplace-luxuries/
