Great Working Environment

Most job seekers are very certain about having a good working environment. Many are becoming more aware that job should not only give high salaries but also provide opportunity for them to grow and express who they want to be in relation to the company; thus it is necessary that they seek workplace with good environment. But how it is to say that a company has a good working environment that caters to every employee? How could the management and employees create this kind of workplace? The era of globalization has made many companies deteriorate from having a good working environment to becoming cluttered and stressful.

The global competition has paved the way for employers to demand much from their employees sometimes compromising quality and focusing on the quantity of work they could render. It is becoming tougher for companies to treat employees well because of focusing on profits and possible company loses rather than on relationships and well-being of people. Companies sees people in the community as market and totally forget about social responsibility while they treat their employees almost like robots to cope with the demands of the capitalistic world and forget about their well-being.

Everyone wants to be the company above the rest in terms of production and services yet forget that those serving their customers are people who can also be tired and need services and benefits. The era of globalization poses opportunity for employees to be abused while staying in a workplace with bad condition. CNNMoney. com in its survey of the 100 Best Companies to Work for 2006 states that many companies may be lucky in the business to at least escape the pressures of globalization; yet no one can escape local competition.

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It is on the bottom of it, capitalism that is turning every company upside down. The competition, though, does not only concern profit but also in attracting the best potential employees to join their company. The competition goes beyond offering good working compensation to providing good working environment and that aspect depends mainly in the management of a certain company. “It isn't the nature of the business that makes a company purpose-driven. It's the management. ” Is the company’s purpose is only to become a company of profit or also a company that cares for its employees and the society?

Relationship Driven As a conclusion in the CNN’s research, it cited two best practices in making a company best place to work for  trust and recognition. “Employees treasure the freedom to do their job as they think best, and great employers trust them. ” The fact that these companies hired these employees to perform the job, employers or at least the management, should trust them that they can perform the work by themselves through their own initiatives, creativity and capabilities.

It is important for employees that they are given opportunity to carry on their jobs without much to be under their bosses’ nose or extreme supervision. On the second note, CNN Money observed that recognition is often neglected in many companies. “Telling employees they're doing a great job costs nothing but counts big. ” Through recognition, employees are encouraged to perform well in their jobs. Everybody needs some pat at the back sometimes just to recognize that what they are doing for the company contributes to wholeness of the status of the company.

These two practices are grounded on relationships to which Great Place to Work Institute enumerated: relationships between employees and management, between employees and their jobs and between employees and other employees. These relationships are grounded on five values: credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie; which on the other hand, is grounded on trust. Credibility means words with actions. It only means that the management communicates regularly with the employees yet allowing a two-way communication. It is necessary that the management solicit the opinions of the employees.

Words should be consistent with what are being carried out in line of work. This value includes the agreement of the two parties to do certain work with consistency and efficiency with human and material resources. Second is respect which means that the management supports their employee’s professional development and treats them as individuals with personal lives. In return, the employees would also collaborate with the management for important decisions; and should treat their workplace as a second home where they care for their co-employees and all the material resources therein.

Third is fairness that involves equity, impartiality and justice. The management should be particular that though employees are individuals they should receive equal treatment in terms of rewards, promotions and opportunity. The last two values focus on the relationship of the employees with their job and their fellow employees. Companies should provide the way where their employees can take pride to that they are doing by having their job righteous and just; that their individual contribution makes up a good team work.

Camaraderie talks about being oneself while on the workplace and the ability of the fellow employees to accept and respect diversity while uniting for common cause of the company’s well-being. Companies should be socially friendly and project welcoming atmosphere not only to their customers but more so with their employees. In support to the above values, Greg Smith (2005) made the PRIDE model for businesses to retain their company as great place to work for.

Pride means:

• P - Provide a positive working environment;
• R - Recognize, reinforce, and reward individual efforts;
• I - Involve and engage everyone;
• D - Develop the potential of your workforce;
• E - Evaluate and hold managers accountable.

He emphasizes the value of manager-employee partnership in carrying out the work of the company. It is necessary for him that everyone in included and engaged in the decisions of the corporation, which means that the suggestions of employees are valuable to the management in attaining certain goals.

Employees in this way are not treated as subordinates that carry the command of the management rather as people that can contribute great ideas and skills. Skills development of employees are also valued where employees are not stocked on the same job and are doing the same thing since they were hired until two to ten years or so that they stay with the company. Notable to his claim is the last value of evaluating and holding the managers accountable. As managers regularly evaluate their employees, thus they should also be evaluated and be held accountable to the performance of every employee under their team.

Lastly, Wally Bock (2006) also has his own research in making a good working environment and has found almost the same results as the above and they are as follows: interesting and meaningful work; clear and reasonable expectations; frequent and usable feedback; fairness (consequences = performance); consistency (predictability); and maximum control possible over work life. Attention to Physical Structure More than being relationship-driven, businesses should also give attention to the physical structure of the workplace.

It is necessary that the workplace is safe to work for; as many employees spend most of their time inside the company’s premises. Workplaces should be conducive to the given work; and equipments should be in best condition to help with the efficiency of the worker. The management has no right to demand employees of quality of work if they are not provided with good physical structure in their workplace. The employees should be free from worry about having threatened with environmental conditions while inside their workplaces.

Reference

1. Smith, G. (2005). “Benefits of a Great Work Environment. ” Workz. com. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://www. workz. com/content/view_content. html? section_id=530
2. Colvin, G. (2006). “The Best Companies to Work For 2006. ” Fortune. Retrieved December 7, 2008 from http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/01/23/8366990/index. htm
3. Bock, W. (2006). “What Makes A Great Working Environment. ” Buzzle. com. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://www. buzzle. com/editorials/8-15-2006-105534. asp
4. “What Makes A Great Place to Work? ” Great Place to Work Institute Inc. Retrieved December 7, 2008 from http://www. greatplacetowork. com/great/index. php

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