Contents
Executive Summary
The main issue affecting employers
or managers is low performance among young generation workers, which is caused
by various aspects. For instance, the use of phones, laziness, slacking, and
work-life imbalances are some of the main problems associated with low
productivity. To deal with low productivity in the workplace, managers should
consider various alternatives. Some of the recommendable alternative solutions
include motivation, work-life programs, and knowledge sharing. However,
offering motivation program for employees is the recommended action plan
because it will lead to a sufficient resolution of the identified issues.
Whichever, the ultimate goal of the action plan is to inspire employees to put
more efforts and avoid laziness int the workplace. Without motivation,
employees are likely to get fatigued for doing the same activity for a long
time. Therefore, employers or managers need to motivate their employees to
enhance their productivity in the working environment.
Statement of Problem
Low
performance in the workplace is the main problem affecting employers and
managers in the contemporary world. Employees in the current workforce do not
ensure sufficient work-life balance, which plays an essential role in their
productivity. Lack of concentration among the young generation is also a
significant issue among the young generation. Lastly, slacking in the working
environment is a crucial problem associated with numerous workers.
Root causes of the Problems
Laziness
is the leading cause of slacking, which, in turn, leads to low productivity
among workers. Inappropriate work-life balance is mainly due to poor time
management, in which employees take their social issues in their working
environment. Among the young generations, the use of phones leads to low
performance due to the lack of concentration.
However,
the identified problems can either be short- term or long-term. In addition,
employers and managers should motivate their employees, including the young generation,
to improve productivity. Intrinsic motivation increased productivity in any
organization without supervision.
Causes of the Problem
In
the contemporary world, low performance among employees can be influenced by
numerous factors. According to specific research, the young generation
individuals are perceived to portray cases of laziness, lack of commitment,
inadequate response to clients, late job attendance, and negligence, among
others (Zhakata, Bhebhe & Karedza, 2017). Researchers argue that most of
the youthful employees in modern workplaces have the ‘I do not care’ attitude,
which has an adverse effect on productivity.
However,
similar scenarios are reported in the provided case in which some people claim
that slacking, which can lead to poor performance, is not always bad. Rather
than concentrating on work, youthful employees are likely to spend most of
their time chatting with their friends online. Surprisingly, other workers are
not able to ensure sufficient work-life balance because of bringing their
social issues at the place of work.
Furthermore,
millennials require an open position, and their chances of selecting their
personal life over their professional duties are high (Smith & Nichols,
2017). As more of the young generation individuals join the workforce, they
will lead to significant changes in organizational behavior. With their
increased dependence on smartphones and negligence to do their work seriously,
in which they spend a lot of time for lunch and breakfast, the young generation
might not be very productive in the workplace.
From
the identified issues, it is clear that there is a close connection between
work performance and behavior of employees. In research that involved 263
participants, investigators discovered that character plays an essential role
in the productivity of millennial workers (Ranaweera & Dharmasiri, 2019).
As a result, laziness and slacking attitude should not be tolerated in the
place of work as long as managers or employers are willing to ensure high performance.
Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions
Criteria for Evaluating Alternative Solutions
Alternative
solutions to increase productivity among the young generation in the workforce
can be evaluated based on acceptability to management and time for
implementation. The alternatives should be easy and cheap to implement. For the
implementation to be effective, it is necessary to consider whether the
alternative solution requires a lot of involvement between the manager and
employees. Nevertheless, managers should offer clear communication and
prospects upfront (Deyoe & Fox, 2018). Acceptability to management, on the
other hand, plays an essential role in the type of best alternative solutions
to be chosen. Alternative solutions should be comfortable and inexpensive to
implement and manage while leading to high productivity among employees.
Alternative Solutions
Furthermore,
various alternative solutions can lead to high performance at the workplace
among the young generations, and they include:
Offering Work-Life Programs
As
portrayed by the provided case and other researchers, employees are facing
difficulties in managing work-life, which might result in laziness and reduced
productivity. Employees should be provided with flexible work hours, in which they
might be allowed to report and leave work early (Beasley, 2017). The advantages of delivering work-life
programs include improved time management and adherence to codes of ethics. Its
limitations involve subsequent monitoring of employees’ activities, negligence
or works, and unwillingness to adopt new changes.
Rewards and Recognition
In
most cases, workers not likely to portray a significant effort to achieve their
organizational goals if they are not recognized or rewarded for their
commitments. However, this alternative requires managers to work effectively
while developing engagement of employees to assist them in achieving their
objectives (Beasley, 2017). The main benefit of rewards and recognition, which
involves motivation, is that they lead to positive behaviors and attitudes,
thus increasing performance.
Besides,
motivation can reduce slacking and laziness among individuals. On the other
hand, rewards and recognition might require an organization to use a lot of
resources, although they will be beneficial after settling the main issues.
Motivation ensures a sense of ownership and dedication.
Knowledge Sharing and Feedback
In
a workforce consist of people from different generations, knowledge sharing and
feedback might be necessary for increasing productivity. Unlike the young age,
older adults spend their time work since they are not involved in social media
activities. Furthermore, allowing people
to share knowledge is the key to success in the traditional market (Bencsik,
Horváth-Csikós, & Juhász, 2016). From this perspective, it is clear that
sharing knowledge with the young generation on the way they should behave at
the workplace is crucial since it can lead to improved productivity. The only
limitation with this alternative solution is that the young generation might be
reluctant and not willing to exchange ideas with older people.
Recommended Solution, Implementation, and Justification
For
managers to improve productivity, it is recommendable to create a motivational
program, which will take place for one month to determine the impact of
rewarding employees in an organization. Rewarding employees for their
dedication and commitment allow business people to focus on significant issues
affecting employees at the workplace. All employees will be required to
participate in the program for the sake of general performance. Moreover,
ensuring fairness in rewarding and recognizing workers is essential for their
performance since they will feel like a crucial component of their
organization.
Solution and Implementation
However,
the motivational program will be implemented in different phases, which are
expected to be four. Workers will be rewarded according to the performance. As
workers undergo various motivational levels, their productivity is likely to
increase. After reaching a certain level of performance, top performance
employees will be given specific targets, which will be probably higher than
those of the other workers.
Contingency Plan
Offering
training programs is the contingent plan because it can allow managers or
employers to get into conduct with their workers, thus identifying and solving
issues affecting them. From the provided case study, laziness, use of phones,
slacking, and negative attitude towards work are some of the main problems
affecting the young generation in the workplace. For business organizations to
ensure adequate growth of their workers professionally, they should offer some
training programs to improve their skills and knowledge.
Surprisingly,
research suggests that 58% of managers did not receive any training before
being placed in their positions (Robbins & Judge, 2017). With appropriate
skills and experience in the fieldwork, individuals are likely to portray some
significant attitude towards their responsibilities. Thus, firm are able to avoid slacking and
laziness.
Justification
Whichever,
motivation is chosen as the best-recommended plan of action because it
reinforces active behavior among workers and triggers the tendency to continue
(Dobre, 2018). Although the performance of an employee might depend on other
factors, such as satisfaction and appraisals, motivation creates the desire to
work towards goals, which appeared impossible for some individuals.
Some
of the main issues identified in the provided case study include laziness,
slacking, and the use of phones among the young generation. With the use of
motivation, it will be possible to encourage workers, thus inspiring them to
work hard, which, in turn, will lead to high productivity. Therefore, reward
and recognition will work in the provided scenario since it will encourage
employees to put more effort into their work.
References
Beasley, G. E. (2017). Strategies to
improve productivity of a multigenerational workforce. Walden University.
Bencsik, A., Horváth-Csikós, G., &
Juhász, T. (2016). Y and Z Generations at Workplaces. Journal of
Competitiveness, 8(3).
Deyoe, R. H., & Fox, T. L. (2018).
Identifying strategies to minimize workplace conflict due to generational
differences. Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, 5,
1.
Dobre, O. I. (2018). Employee
motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied
Socio-Economic Research, 5(1).
Ranaweera, U. C., & Dharmasiri, A.
S. (2019). Generation Y and their job performance. Harvard
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A.
(2017). Organizational behavior. Pearson education Limited.
Smith, T. J., & Nichols, T. (2017).
Understanding the millennial generation. The Journal of Business
Diversity, 15(1), 39.
Zhakata, L., Bhebhe, T. B., &
Karedza, G. (2017). An Investigation of Factors Affecting Employee Performance
among Millennials in the Public Service in Zimbabwe: A Case of Hospitals in
Zvimba District.
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