The total character value of a laborer’s welfare may sometimes provoke unexpected effects to an organization where he belongs. In most cases, personal and work related issues can induce positive or negative results to the company’s normal business processes. In such a case, it is important to evaluate the degree of influence of these factors to any types of company procedures. I f a company wishes to be competitive, then work and life related issues must be addressed (Kutilek et al, 2002).
Using a personal experience, the company Ingram Micro provides some of the best approaches in dealing with work or personal life related issues of its employees. The company has a complete instructional method which was primarily implemented by the Human Resources department together with the help of the supervisors in order to combat issues related to workforce performance.
One of the strategies that the company employs to address work related issues is to implement a weekly feedback from the sales agents. This is with regards to how they have handled an entire week’s business. For the sales team, each one of the agents are required to submit a mini report which highlights the total sales and the total number of orders per item covering a specific week. This enables the company to address the issues related to inventory and possible price discount offerings for the clients. There have been times when customers tend to complain about changing prices and non-availability of items so having a report like that can help Ingram address the problem.
In terms of personal life issues, the company implements a program in which a monthly consultation with the HR department is conducted. This intends to capture each employee’s dilemmas on a personal perspective. The details about the report are confidential and only the HR team and the employee are aware of the problem. This may include personal financial problems or family concerns. Counseling is provided to employees who face such personal issues so that they can recover from depression and frustrations and would be able to continue providing quality performance for the organization. Apparently, allowing laborers to attend to personal family matters can equate to productivity for the business (Business Intelligence, 2007).
Using a personal previous dilemma, the company’s strategy towards the employees’ life issues worked out effectively. I had an issue regarding balancing my time and effort in school and at work. Because of such concern, there was a time when my performance at work was affected due to the hectic schedules patterns in school. This resulted to a low performance rate in terms of sales which covered at least three months.
With such an issue, the HR team and my immediate superior had a discussion with me in which I provided the details of my problem. After that small meeting, my supervisor suggested to allocate a different time frame for my work in which the HR positively agreed with. Since I had a very good record in terms of sales, both parties provided me a very lenient schedule which paved the way for me to effectively attend to school while maintaining my good performance at work. This is one true evidence that Ingram Micro has a very good approach in maintaining employees without compromising the resolution value for work or life related issues.
Taking care of the work and life related issues of employees can spell greater returns for a business. A small personal assistance or counseling should be enough for the laborers to feel that the company cares for their welfare. With such atmosphere in the workforce, it is not very hard to imagine that the business will be productive for a long time. Anything that is good for employees is directly good for business (Simpson, 2003).
References
- Business Intelligence Lowdown. 2007. How to Be a Manager that Your Employees Respect: 73 Surefire Tips.
- Kutilek, L., Conklin, N., Gunderson, G. 2002. Investing in the Future: Addressing Work/Life Issues of Employees. Extension Journal Inc. Retrieved February 14, 2008 from https://www.joe.org/joe/2002february/a6.php.
- Simpson, S. 2003. Good for Employees, Good for Business. Media Inc.