Report 2: Issues in Employment (Chapter 9) The relationship between employees and employers is often confusing and blurry. Who has the upper hand? Who is in control? In an ideal world, both would be equal. Unfortunately this almost never happens. It’s a give and take situation that often fails. High level executives don’t often have the lower level employees taken care of as they should be. The case study on United Airlines is just one example of this. In 2005, United Airlines won the approval to default on their pension plans. Hundreds of thousands of employees lost a large chunk of their retirement money. Much like the Enron situation, employees trusted their company with their future and it didn’t work out the way they planned. It’s unethical Employees interest aren’t being put first when it comes to larger corporations. Barbara Ehrenreich did a case study about working at Walmart that really brings this issue to light. Working in a place where you are treated poorly has absolutely no benefits. You can tell that her attitude and mind set changed significantly while working there. Walmart is effected by this because they have unhappy employees which means bad customer service. Luckily Walmart customers don’t have very high expectations as far as customer service goes but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Walmart created a vicious circle that all started with employees not being taken care of. According to Deontology, this is unethical. Walmart solely treats employees as a means to an end. They don’t care for them, they simply employ them in order for their business to He talks about how long term employment doesn’t exist anymore and that it would solve a lot of problems if it did. If people were at jobs for longer, the economy would flow better and hopefully large businesses wouldn’t be going bankrupt as often. Kanter provides a list of new policies that could help with keeping employees for the long run. One thing in the list that stuck out to me was “Measure performance beyond accounting numbers and share the data to allow learning by doing and continuous improvement – turning everyone into self-guided professionals” (pg 397). I was talking with a friend the other day and he said that working in retail was probably the hardest job he ever had because of the numbers he had to hit every day. He had to sell a certain number of jeans for every 10 people who walked in the store. It only caused stress and that stress made it more difficult to have a casual conversation with someone and get them to buy jeans. Keep in mind that my friend is currently employed at McDonalds and likes it better than his retail job. This just shows how personable management needs to be with their employees. They can’t just tell them to sell x amount of t shirts by the end of the day and go on with their own lives. It’s a relationship that takes a lot of mutual respect in order to work, and if there’s no relationship then there’s not going to be an employee for very long. And high
In Deenu Parmar's "Labouring the Wal Mart Way," the author discusses the business practices of Wal Mart, their impact on systemic poverty, and on existing work unions. Their business model forces competition to align with them, or close up shop. Wal Mart hires workers that would usually have a difficult time finding employment. That said, they pay them well below a living wage. Staff are also subject to abuses like overtime without pay. Wal Mart is resolute in their feelings towards unions. Their hiring process designed to cut out union sympathizers. This way, they can prevent any retaliation from staff seeking a better work environment. If anti-union efforts are unsuccessful, they close the store. It also forces existing unions to take pay
It’s usually this type of employee that is treated unfairly and gets stuck in a job they do not like. I know I was one of those loyal employees. With the economic shift and government influences (Obama care!) Having a job that works for you and takes care of you is vital.
...usly shamed, embarrassed, and demeaned their employees. I think this kind of behavior is a way of separating employers from employees. It helps keep employees in line and also adds the benefit of making employers feel good about themselves at the expense of their employees. Demeaning actions prevent employees from organizing or protesting for higher wages or better conditions. It keeps them “in their place” and does not allow them to hope or strive for anything better. In spite of the dehumanization of employees by employers, there are silent rebellions committed by lower class employees such as jokes, gossip, doing other's work, and just in general helping each other out. These are silent protests, they do not change the status quo in any way, that would be too risky for these employees. It is survival and caring in a corporate world that does not care about them.
To this day, when I walk into Wal-Mart and come face to face with a manager I once worked under they give me dirty looks. People report that managers will trash talk you to another job that applied for if that job contacts Wal-Mart about you. Wal-Mart has unrealistic workloads for some overnight stockers, their managers aren’t the best in the world, and their policies are harsh. This is why I constantly call Wal-Mart a communist regime; not because it shares the ideals but because it is just bad for everyone in general. Hopefully one day a high positioned power will restore the order and peace that once was Wal-Mart according to the history they teach you in training and that their policies and workloads may become more realistic and doable.
McGregor has written two theories about human nature. Theory X basically assumes that people will do the least amount of work required of them. That they will need to be monitored and workers will need a set of rules for every employee to follow . There is also no incentive for them to go above their current job duty. Theory Y basically believes that if you give the employee the opportunity to do well the employee will take that opportunity and use it to the best of their abilities. They are able to set their own work goals and really strive to put their all into their career. They will be go getters that are responsible for their self and willing to do whatever the company needs from them. They will own up to any issue and trust that their co-workers will do the same (Larsson, Vinberg & Wiklund, 2007).
The employer or the management is tasked with the role of developing solutions for these issues. Not only for the organization, but also for the employees or the affected individual. One of the workplace issues that may be encountered in the place of work is the accommodation of people with disabilities.
...ir employees without their knowledge at all. Because of their prices being low, wage is even lower to make an over decent profit. Wal-Mart is a growing competitor to those who have enough trouble just surviving. It is easier for everyone just to back-off and let them do what they want, but they have taken advantage of that and the people do not like that.
For example one of the rules states ““strive for excellence” but the employees at Walmart act the opposite. That is not what it takes to be a Walmart Employee. There was a video shown at the orientation of an employee caught on tape stealing from the cash register. When Walmart was having the presentation with the pre employees they were in a windowless room filled with no distractions because they wanted them to only be focused on that specific thing the “orientation”. While Ehrenreich was working for Walmart she saw a lot of hostile behaviors she did not like that environment but she had no choice because of the few jobs available in the town she didn't have a alternative. I felt the same way if there were more jobs in my neighborhood I would definitely would have stopped working for
Most companies are just out there to make money and not care for the welfare of their employees. It may be difficult to see this as business has always been portrayed as a stimulator of the economy and always on the lookout for its employees. However, this is only because the companies that abide by such practices are given as examples and not the ones that do poorly. We oftentimes complain about the little petty things in life when we should be worried about the people who are suffering in our world. The saying always goes; you never know what you have till it’s gone. Unfortunately, this saying corresponds particularly well this
This is an area where Southwest Airlines needs to focus more of their attention. Currently, Southwest Airlines, is approximately 85% unionized and the airline is trying to negotiate seven contracts concurrently. The ramp, operations and cargo unions have been working without a contract since 2011. The pilots and mechanics have not had a contract since 2012 and the flight attendants contract expired in 2013 (Leff, 2015). In a statement made by the president of Southwest Airlines’ Pilots Association, union representatives must do something while ongoing poor decisions are being made by management that are affecting our airlines passengers (Schlangenstein, 2016). Additionally, the union is also demanding the removal of CEO Gary
Walmart has had a long-standing presence in America society since the middle of the 20th century, seen as a place to get everything done, Walmart has become a fixation in our society. From grocery shopping, to changing your oil and even filing your annual tax returns, Walmart is always there, everyday. Started by Sam Walton in 1962, it began as a small operation catering to a small Arkansas community. It was started on principles very similar to small local businesses in small towns. Today Walmart has gotten a different, darker reputation. On the surface, Walmart may seem like the solution to everyday issues. Low-income families are attracted to the low prices, and people who work odd hours benefit greatly from the 24 hours a day that many Walmarts are open. Lately, Walmart has also managed to be publicly recognized as a store that sells many of today’s green products, including organic food, environmental conscious cleaning products, as well as, paper products made from recycled paper. However, underneath all this, Walmart has a different side. Exploitation of its workers is widespread amongst Walmarts who do not belong to a union, especially in the United States. Wal...
Unnecessary conflict may be prevented through employee involvement and treating employees in a fair manner. Ethical employment practices, involving employees in decisions, and treating employees as valued organizational members all work towards a positive employer-employee relationship. Unfortunately, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for an outside party to help employers and employees resolve differences through processes such as mediation or arbitration. Taken together, positive engagement strategies and constructive resolution of differences help to develop relationships which support organizational performance and success.
From the beginning, the film is filled with controversial decisions. First, the firm that is depicted in this film decides to lay off most of the employees in the firm leaving only 20% of the workers. However, the firm’s managers do not lay off the workers personally but hire another firm to do this. Without prior warning, the mass layoff takes place in a rather insensitive manner with employees expected to leave immediately. First, the decision by the company to lay off the people without warning is a questionable decision. Though they are offered a severance package, the employees are traumatized by the lay off. Having reported to work just like a normal day, none of the employees expect that they are going to lose their jobs on this particular day. Therefore, it is a surprise when the hired human resource team comes in and explains to the employees that they no long...
Employee stakeholders have another story. The discrimination lawsuits ranging from female employees not getting equal pay or equal positions, to disabled employees, class-action lawsuits stating that Wal-Mart doctors questionnaires to prevent disabled workers from applying, Wal-Mart does not rank very high with these employees. Lawsuits stemming from Wal-Mart’s failure to monitor labor conditions at oversea factories and hires illegal immigrants add to the rift in relations between the employees and the company. Wal-Mart continues to deny charges...
...arket, they still attempt to improve their performance in other areas, by contributing to charity and hence improving their local reputation, however they have very low customer and employee satisfaction. These lowered performance indicators stem from low employee motivation. It would be very beneficial for Walmart to increase these performance factors as the small cost of improving employee’s conditions and motivation would be balanced by not having to re-hire 70% of their work force every year.