Issues In The Work Place

Issues in the Work Place

There have always been issues in the work place. No matter were you work or what you do there will be an argument, disagreements, or just some type of personnel issue we all have to deal with. As a team we tool three different issues that happen often in the work place and related them to different parts of psychology. One might never think to relate psychology to an issue they are dealing with at work but, in out paper we related to these issues well.

When applying for a job a person who has stayed home for many years with children probably feels overwhelmed. When staying at home a person gains so much knowledge and experience working with children, running the home, financing, nursing, cleaning, managing time, book keeping, etc, unfortunately none of these experiences are accompanied by a diploma stating that the person is qualified to do a job in the workforce where these particular tasks are performed. When filling out an application generally a person is asked for work experience and references, do 18 year old children count? The transition from home maker to the workforce is a difficult one, as team members we will try to cover how a person would deal with this issue. One issue in particular that might affect this issue is human behavior. Many behaviors impact the work life. When a person goes from mom or dad to employee that person might be faced with many challenges. The person's behavior will greatly affect how that person is perceived by the employer. Attitude says a great deal when entering the workforce. If a person enters the employer's office with an attitude of learning and humility the employer might see this as a sign that the person is willing to learn a new task. If the person goes in the office with the attitude of knowing more than the employer this could be a disaster. When the employer exhibits bias and stereotyping upon learning that this person was at home for so many years and not in the workforce this can offer a great deal of frustration. A stay at home parent needs to be careful because "Stereotype threat arises when members of the stereotyped group risk doing something that conforms to the dominant cultures typecasting. If their performance coincides even slightly with a demeaning belief, they may be reduced to that stereotype, either in the minds of others or in their own minds." (Miller, 2005)

An employee might not realize the tasks that are learned when working in the home. Many people who have not experienced being a stay at home parent do not understand the trials and tasks that are performed on a daily basis. In the field of industrial and organizational, psychologists focus on ways to train and motivate workers as well as matching employees to jobs along with promoting job satisfaction and good relations. This field could prove quite useful for someone entering the workforce after a long break. Some ways to help employees and employers relate better to each other while dealing with this issue could be to offer some on the job training, perhaps places of employment could consider accepting a home maker's resume as legitimate, or even offer an evaluation exam to see if the potential employee is knowledgeable in the areas they have specified. A stay at home parent who has dedicated at least 18 years to the job would be a great asset to any workforce as they have already proven willing to stick with something for a great deal of time without giving up even under the most amount of stress.

In the workplace many employers in today's businesses are appearing younger and younger. A person is not surprised anymore to see what appears to be an 18 year old in a manager's uniform. How does a person who is much older deal with working for and answering to someone so much their junior? A person who has experienced a great deal in life and is looking for a new career might face this situation as well as anyone working in a high tech field. As time goes on many are finding out that computer knowledge is easier to those who are younger. Most employees may feel that an employer younger than them does not hold the knowledge to tell the employee what to do. In an environment where people were instructed to "respect their elders" and "wisdom comes with age" people find it difficult to accept instruction from those younger than them. The detrimental assumption in this situation is that the younger person is not educated or as wise as the more senior employee. People who were raised with the stereotype that their elders are more educated and wise accepting have a difficult time accepting employers who are younger than them. However, when the employees spend time assuming that the employer is not as wise, this could lead to a great deal of tension in the workplace. In social psychology studies are done to indicate the influence of people on behaviors. This specialty deals with the attitudes and prejudices people have towards others. In the specialty of learning and memory learning new information, new skills, and new ways of relating to other people are studied. Perhaps if the younger employer and older employee were to learn a new way to relate to each other each may find that working together is not impossible. A few ways people could deal with this issue is to have training sessions to learn to work better together, possibly an assessment could be done to determine which employees would work better with which managers. Another suggestion is that those who do have the respect for each other could lead as examples to those having a hard time. Many assume that the older generations are the ones having the difficulty with working for the younger generation