The New Workplace Practices and their Complementarity
1. How do the new workplace practices introduced by the new yard manager complement one another?
2. Do you think tough blue collar unions like the Transport Workers Union are more of less likely to engage in workplace changes like these than public or service sector unions? Why? How would you find out if you are right?
The topic revolves around the constructive relations within a business organisation named Top Trucking, UK. The topic will illustrate about the various management of employee relations and also how the manager of the company played a major role in it to improve the company’s efficiency. George Psaros was assigned with the task of managing the transformation of the company and replace the existing infrastructure and management operations of the company with newer ones for the deriving of good business outcomes and also ensure that the organisation functions in a smooth manner. Previously the yard manager was autocratic and thus the opinions and responses of the employees were not considered while making business decisions. This not only resulted in lack of interest among the workers but also resulted in various accidents and degradation of organisation’s performance as a whole too (Ariely, 2012). The topic would illustrate about how the transformation would be made possible and also about the new workplace practices which would be implemented by the new yard manager of Top trucking to complement one another.
1. From the case study, it could be clearly understood that the new practices within the workplace introduced by the newly appointed yard manager of Top Trucking company had brought fruitful results for the company and even transformed the way of working in a positive manner. It could be seen that previously the workplace practices were not up to the mark and also the yard manager was autocratic which showed an aggressive behavior and also not considering the opinions of employees in any cases while making effective decisions in business. The new workplace practices were implemented with the assigning of a new yard manager as the old yard manager retired. The new workplace practices have enabled the new yard manager to complement one another, as because the new yard manager has decided to transform the company from its existing condition and also spend more money for bringing enhanced organisational efficiency (Askenazy & Caroli, 2010). The yard has been cleaned up and also new uniforms have been arranged for the workers of the company so as to bring out something unique and innovative which was not the case previously. The new yard manager followed the democratic style of leadership which helped in gathering the opinions and responses of employees and then make decisions by selecting the most suitable option that would be favorable for the company. The organisational efficiency is dependent upon the performances of the workers and thus their interest and concentration on the tasks are essential. The new yard manager has managed to interact with the employees frequently and also guided them in the right direction through motivation and encouragement and this further helped in resolving certain issues too (Urciuoli, 2008). It was like a new breath of fresh air as because new computer systems were installed along with improvement of the health and safety measures so as to keep the workers safe and healthy and also prevent any sort of harm. New trucks were bought as well, which created a positive mindset among the minds of the workers (Bienvenu & Merkle, 2009). In case of any issues, the yard manager even without blaming the employees and staffs at first, got into the issue by following various rational methods and check the other things put which might be the cause of such kinds of issues. The yard manager also consulted with George about certain issues and then took the major decisions, which further resulted in improving the brand name and image and also enhanced the business operations and processes with ease and effectiveness (Cristini et al, 2008).
What are the risks to sustaining these changes if George or the yard manager moves on?
Risks of Sustaining Changes in Top Trucking
There are various risks of sustaining these changes within Top Trucking which can not only lead to transformation of the business from its effective business operations to weak organisational efficiency. The risks mainly occur when the transformation has already occurred and after that if he yard manager and George moves on to some other place leaving the transformation process not proceed further in a proper way (Yu & Park, 2010). In order to maintain the transformation process properly, it would be essential for the manager of the yard and George to carry on the workplace practices that are new and innovative for some time just after the transformation process, otherwise the transformation process might fall apart with the absence of the yard manager and George who were considered as major individuals involved with the success of the company Top Trucking in UK. The risks could be the lack of link or connection between the organisational change efforts to the market and the business strategies which might clarify the various information among the minds of the stakeholders involved in business like the investors, employees, customers and even the manager (Fenwick, 2008).
As soon as the changes occur like here the employees were provided with new trucks and also uniforms the employees would feel the pressure at first, though they would get habituated with those afterwards. This might also lead to some kinds of risks in case the yard manager and George moves on as because the employees would feel lost and would find it difficult to cope up with the changes and also move in the right direction. Without the influence the yard manager, the performances of the employees would likely get deteriorated, thereby resulting in deterioration of organizational performance too. The other reltead risks could be lack of vision and mission statement known to the employees and finding it complex to move on and improve the organisational efficiency (Grawitch et al, 2006). Leaders often experience this lack of commitment as resistance due to which the employees could also face issues in business. As the yard manager followed the democratic leadership approach, so there could be situations when the employees would be unable to discuss about their issues and also share their opinions with someone superior and ensure moving in the proper direction for coping up with the changes (Kuipers, 2013). The risks associated with the changes could also be the leadership issues where the leaders might not be able to predict the feasibility of these changes which might further result in downfall of the organization. If the yard manager and George moves on, then the corporate governance would also be changed and thereby result in improper functioning of the company too. If George and the new and effective yard manager move on, then the new leaders might be unable to provide strategic disciplines for managing the changes according to the change agenda, change process methodology and also inappropriate infrastructure of the business organisation Top Trucking, UK (Kiselyov et al, 2008). There could also be risks related to lack of resources and lack of motivation and encouragement of workers due to absence of George and yard manager that might further deteriorate the organisational efficiency.
2. Yes, my personal opinions are more inclined towards believing that the blue collar unions like the Transport Workers Union are more of less likely to engage in workplace changes like these than public or service sector unions. This is because the public service sector unions are involved with the management of business operations and processes by working within the organization while the blue collar unions are more focused on managing the hand held tasks. The white collar employees of organisations are found to work within offices, cubicles and within other administrative settings where the changes are often informed to them which make them easily consider those while working within the organisation. On the other hand, Top Trucking company is a reputed company and it has managed its transformation process with the involvement of union delegate George and the yard manager (Cronqvist et al, 2009). Here the blue collar unions like the Transport Workers Union are found to be working and they may be less concerned about the changes within the organization’s workplace. The blue collar employees’ job roles include manual labor also handling certain machineries and equipments within Top Trucking, UK.
Difference in Workplace Changes among Blue Collar and Public or Service Sector Unions
The unions among the white collar employees are likely to get more engaged with the changes in workplace as because they are more focused with the office related tasks like administrative functions, and other related tasks within the office premises. Changes within the occupational and industrial structure as well as other workplace related changes could result in keeping the white collar employees more engaged as because they would be able to work in better working conditions and would also be able to move in the right direction with the involvement of the manager of the organisation (Frick, 2009). Based on the changes within the workplace including changes ij attitudes and values would also influence the behavior of employees and make them perform with much more dedication and commitment. On the other hand, the blue collar unions would be less involved with the changes in workplace as because their tasks would be concerned with the manual labor (Form, 2015). Within Top Trucking, the changes experienced were buying more trucks and arranging uniforms for the workers through more investments and management of human resources in a proper manner. The changes would definitely make the employees gain interest in their roles and responsibilities and perform to their potential. This is because the opinions of employees would be taken into consideration also they would not be blamed like before without exploring the issues by the yard manager. Thus the new yard manager would explore the issues rationally and would even improve the effectiveness of security measures so as to keep the workers safe and healthy. Therefore, from this case study, it could be predicted that the blue collar unions like the Transport Workers Union would like to get involved in workplace changes within Top Trucking, UK (Ariely, 2012).
Conclusion
The topic covered the various aspects of constructive relations and also how the transformation process had been managed within the organisation Top Trucking in United Kingdom. It could be seen that the new yard manager and union delegate had worked in coordination so as to ensure good changes within the workplace by improving the leadership skills and manage the workers properly through motivation and encouragement (Lillie & Sippola, 2011). New computer systems have been used along with buying of new trucks and uniforms for the workers. The manager also focused on the health and safety of workers which further created a positive mindset among the workers, thereby making them more interested in getting involved in the changes within the workplace of Top Trucking (Askenazy & Caroli, 2010). The essay also included the various new practices within workplace by the yard manager and also the risks that could emerge while sustaining the changes and also in case the yard manager and union delegate move on.
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