A2 Management Actions to Address Human Resource Issues
Workplace stress refers to the emotional strain that can be caused as a result of pressures related to a person’s job. Workplace stress can be caused by a range of issues such as lack of job security, heavy workload, feeling unsafe in the working area, not feeling confident in how to complete tasks, tight deadlines and poor relationships with managers.
The first step in reducing workplace stress is to identify the sources of stress. This involves good communication and a culture where people feel comfortable talking about their stresses. The next step is to look at ways of preventing stress occurring through operational changes such as training, redistributing workload, hiring additional staff, leadership training or more flexible hours. Where stress exists, managers may offer support to overcome it through actions such as counselling services or wellbeing provision such as an onsite gym or relaxation room.
Absenteeism refers to time employees take off work that is unexplained. Employees are entitled to take time off work when they are ill in order to recover or if they have family issues they need to deal with. However, when absences are unexplained, it may indicate there is another issue such as low morale or workplace bullying. High absenteeism reduces the productivity of the workplace and can lead to the need to pay for staff to cover the workload of an absent member of the team.
Actions managers may take to reduce absenteeism is to have a clear attendance policy which outlines expectations, to monitor employee attendance to see patterns or concerns, follow up on any concerns with attendance to try and discover any underlying issues and rewarding good attendance through incentives such as a bonus at the end of the year.
Motivation in the workplace is the drive that employees have to complete their work to the best of their ability. Motivated workers bring energy and enthusiasm to the workplace and are generally more productive, efficient and innovative as a result. Employees can become demotivated as a result of a range of factors including lack of appreciation by leadership, lack of clarity on goals and purpose of their tasks, lack of confidence in their work and a feeling that their pay does not reflect their workload. Demotivated workers are generally less productive and can contribute to a negative workplace culture.
Managers can use a range of strategies to motivate their staff. Financial motivators include bonuses, performance related pay, share issue and fringe benefits. Non-financial motivators include job rotation, job enrichment, praise, recognition, teamwork and social events and opportunities for promotion.
Engagement with business culture refers to how on board employees are with the aims, mission and values of an organisation. A culture gap occurs when the actual values of staff differ from the intended values of leadership. Where a culture gap exists, managers may find employees are less enthusiastic about meeting their aims and objectives as they would like them to be. Alack of engagement in aims and objectives can reduce productivity, efficiency, quality and customer service.
In order to reduce a culture gap, managers need to first understand why the gap exists. Gathering feedback from staff on why they are not on board with the company mission and values can help managers understand what to do next and can have the added benefit of making employees feel that their opinions are valued. Methods to close the culture gap include improving communication of company values to staff, managers being good role models, and getting a few members of staff in board and encouraging them to ‘champion’ the culture amongst their peers..
Employee satisfaction refers to the extent to which employees are content in their workplace. Employee satisfaction is not the same as motivation as motivation refers to how employees feel about the job itself, whereas satisfaction is related to the work environment and conditions. In workplaces where staff are dissatisfied absenteeism and turnover may be high and productivity may be low.
Methods to improve employee satisfaction include improving communication, gathering feedback before decisions are made, offering flexible working hours, providing a clean and safe working environment, providing adequate equipment and clothing where necessary and having clear aims and objectives.
