English HOMEWORK
RVP2021
MODULE3DISCUSSION7CLASSMATEROUGHDRAFTPEERREVIEWS.docxDiscussion 7: Three Peer Reviews
Erickson Naval
Dos and Don’ts’: Human Resources Duties (rough draft)
Erickson Naval
National University
ENG240: Advance Compositions
Professor Michael Zimmerman
January 27, 2024
Everyone in the world will soon or later need to find a job once, twice, and sometimes more often than that. While looking for a new job. Theres a lot of questions that one might have in their mind, from “what job should I apply for? How much will they pay me an hour? Should I look for a salary job? How will I get compensated?” And many more. In this paper, I will attempt to answer as many questions as possible, misconceptions and myths about jobs and what you and your new employer should be doing to maximize success for you and the company from doing research and from some personal experiences.
First and foremost, when looking for a job, jobseekers tend to start questioning their ability as well as coming up with scenarios or misconceptions regarding how the hiring process works. There’s a quote that goes: “What a person looks like, what they believe, where they came from, and any other personal characteristics not related to the value they provide should not impact how much or in what manner they are rewarded.” by Robert Greene, and Peter Ronza in June of 2002, called “The ‘Why’ Behind the Paycheck: A look At Compensation Philosophy.” Public Management, Vol. 104, no.6, pp. 30-34. Applies to many aspects of the working environment and should be adhere by every human resource as well as employers. With this quote, jobseekers should have an eased mind by knowing that human resources as well as employers are prohibited from discriminating against a jobseeker in any shape or form. Having a clear mind and less stress, jobseekers should look into something that interests them when looking for a job. Of course, when jobseekers are searching or looking for their first job, They will be limited to what they can apply for due to not having enough experience in any of the working industries, however, it does not hurt to go ahead and apply for all of the job listings that are posted. Being limited when looking for a job due to lack of experience should not discourage any jobseekers. Jobseekers should choose to do something that interests them in the meantime. This will give them a step in the right direction in getting more experience for new and maybe even better job opportunities in the future.
Payments or income from any employment varies in multiple ways. Wages or salaries in a competitive market are mostly determined by supply and demand. Some workplaces have set wages for their employees and may have an increase or pay raise the longer an employee works for the company. Salaries are usually determined or established by any employers by establishing or setting a salary range. Now, when applying for a job at a salary workplace, employers tend to start their employee with the minimum salary that the company has set up. However, salaries are and can be negotiated between the employer and the employee, if the employee feels that the starting salary does not suffice the amount of knowledge and experience the employee has for the company.
With the inflation on the rise here in the United States, there’s a lot of rumors, shoptalk, and misconceptions that are going around most workplaces regarding pay raises, and compensation that employers should be providing all employees. There is another quote that goes: “Employees often think high inflation rates should be offset with commensurate increases to sustain the purchasing power of their income. However, sustaining purchasing power is not the responsibility of employers.” Taken from the article published by Robert Greene, and Peter Ronza in June of 2002, called “The ‘Why’ Behind the Paycheck: A look At Compensation Philosophy.” Public Management, Vol. 104, no.6, pp. 30-34. Upon further research, and reading through the article, Robert Greene, and Peter Ronza covered that though inflation is bad, the employer and the or the company are not entirely responsible for their employees pay raise in attempts to battle the inflation. The reason that employers as well as the employees do not get a pay raise is due to the company having to answer and adjust to the cost of labor instead of cost of living.
Inflation is a challenging time, and with inflation happening employers are having a hard time retaining employees for many reasons. One of the reasons for the challenge of retention is due to childcare, salaries and lack of compensations coming from the company. “As society opens up and children return to in-person schooling, we are finding that the number of families needing services is increasing. This increase in demand is occurring at the same time we are also seeing agency turnover and resignations on the rise. Some agencies are now facing 50 percent vacancy rates in critical functions. In an effort to hire and retain staff, leaders are offering hiring bonuses, renegotiating workplace agreements, and seeking to address compensation issues.” Taken from the article by Kelly Harder, and Sean Toole. (April 2022). “You Can’t Hire Your Way Out of the Staff Turnover Crisis: Addressing the Realities of Staff Turnover Through Process.” Policy and Practice, vol. 80, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 22-3. Like many job seekers out there, questions are always coming up, from what the company or the employers are doing to mitigate this problem.
As stated from above quote, leaders from higher management are coming up with ways to combat this problem. The employers are now attempting to offer bonus when available, there is also a talk on renegotiating workplace agreements and maybe even pay. Shifting our focus away from employers for a bit, these are all talked about by the Chief Executive Officer or the CEO of the company and are relayed by human resources or HR to the employees of the company. With all of the problems that HR are having to deal with. They often look for ways to attempt to retain the employees in anyways they are able to. “They minimize or delay documentation, keep safe cases open longer than necessary to prioritize high risk cases, exceed administrative deadlines, and complete fewer family visits. These compensations to address the reality of their situation also has impacts on the families, but what choice does staff have when they are trying to adhere to well-intentioned policy and practice that requires time that just isn’t available to them?” Quote that is also taken from the article by Kelly Harder, and Sean Toole. (April 2022). “You Can’t Hire Your Way Out of the Staff Turnover Crisis: Addressing the Realities of Staff Turnover Through Process.” Policy and Practice, vol. 80, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 22-3. Shows that human resources or HR are doing the best they can to keep everyone at work by delaying paperwork.
With this practice, it can be viewed in a couple ways, it can be bad, and it can also be good, depending on how the employees look at it. At the end of the day, we can all agree that human resources or HR are looking for the best interest of both the company as well as the employee’s well-being while keeping an ethical mindset, to ensure that quality and fairness are maintained.
Having a job is not always fun nor will it stay accommodating for some of the employees and or new hires. Stress always plays a factor wherever it is that life takes us. However, workplaces should have something in place to keep stress at a minimum level to where the employees and employers are still able to work together with maximum efficiency called mental health day, or for some “Self-Care Day.” Stress can usually be subsided or remedied in multiple ways. Theres a good way of coping and there are bad ways of coping. We would like everyone to practice stress relieve in a healthy manner. “We are, essentially, social animals. In fact, recent studies suggest that feeling disconnected from others is as significant a health risk as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and a lack of physical activity.” Michelle A. Barton, Bill Kahn, Sally Maitlis, and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. (April 4, 2022). “Stop Framing Wellness Programs Around Self-Care.” Harvard Business Review Digital Articles. Pp. 1-11. When it comes down to it. Employees see each other more times than they see their family, and over time it wears on them. Employees are usually going to look out for themselves however, looking out for others is also not a bad thing as this will help the employees and employes bond get even stronger. It is understanding that having a proper self-care is essential for your everyday life. In fact, “Rather than focusing on self-care, we need to be better at taking care of each other.” Michelle A. Barton, Bill Kahn, Sally Maitlis, and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. (April 4, 2022). “Stop Framing Wellness Programs Around Self-Care.” Harvard Business Review Digital Articles. Pp. 1-11.
More often than not, job seekers are going to come across what is called a “part-time job.” Former employees might start to think that hiring a parttime employee is a way for employers to slowly fire employees, but in-fact, the real reason for this is to provide aid to the company for faster hiring due to the demand of the work that is happening at the workplace. From an article written by Roy Maurer (January 23, 2023). Quiet Hiring: A New Name for a Revived Practice. HSRM. “It's not just hard to find talent. In some cases, the talent is not there, or hiring takes so long that the business is seriously impacted. Hiring a data scientist can take six months or longer, for example.” With this knowledge at hand. Upper management, Human Resources or HR as well as recruiting agencies are working diligently to avoid the lull or wait by hiring a part-time employee as it is faster to process than if hiring a full-time employee.
Job seekers and or former employees probably have a lot of questions regarding the term “quiet hiring” just like the word “quiet quitting” this is a way to combat the loss of staff in the workplace. Human Resources and the recruiting agencies work hand in hand with the company as well as the employer to ensure that if workers were to quit due to the rumors of part-timers and maybe loosing a job in the future, the company have a back up worker to ensure that the workplace is still running smoothly. “High turnover is expected to be "relatively permanent, consistently higher than it was before the pandemic," McRae said. "So, if you don't have enough talent, you have to maximize the talent you have.” Roy Maurer (January 23, 2023). Quiet Hiring: A New Name for a Revived Practice. HSRM.
In conclusion, there will always be doubts, questions and misconceptions that a job seeker will have. Misconceptions with hiring with discrimination of any kind. Something that job seeker might want to keep in mind is to watch what they put in their social media. There was a time when recruiting agency were looking into potential candidates’ social media. “But a significant share of profiles contained details that companies may be legally prohibited from considering, including gender, race, and ethnicity (evident in 100% of profiles), disabilities (7%), pregnancy status (3%), sexual orientation (59%), political views (21%), and religious affiliation (41%). Many of the job seekers’ profiles also included information of potential concern to prospective employers: 51% of them contained profanity, 11% gave indications of gambling, 26% showed or referenced alcohol consumption, and 7% referenced drug use.” Harvard Business Review. (September 2021). Stop Screening Job Candidates’ Social Media. pp. 19-23.
With all of the search and privacy breech that the recruiting agencies have, Human Resources suggest that any potential job seeker should put their social media profile in privacy mode or limited mode, that way the recruiters are only able to see what is needed to be seen to prevent any type of discrimination. “The researchers suggest that job seekers “clean up” their social media pages, including problematic content that others may have posted, and tighten their privacy settings.” Harvard Business Review. (September 2021). Stop Screening Job Candidates’ Social Media. pp. 19-23. Remember not all of Human Resources are bad, they are here to help employees get the most out of their job by providing resources. Job seekers should have nothing to worry about regarding the search discrimination, as it is illegal for any company to do so, and Human Resources are ensuring to the best of their power that this behavior will not happen.
References:
-Robert Greene, and Peter Ronza in June of 2002, called “The ‘Why’ Behind the Paycheck: A look At Compensation Philosophy.” Public Management, Vol. 104, no.6, pp. 30-34.
-Kelly Harder, and Sean Toole. (April 2022). “You Can’t Hire Your Way Out of the Staff Turnover Crisis: Addressing the Realities of Staff Turnover Through Process.” Policy and Practice, vol. 80, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 22-3.
-Michelle A. Barton, Bill Kahn, Sally Maitlis, and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. (April 4, 2022). “Stop Framing Wellness Programs Around Self-Care.” Harvard Business Review Digital Articles. Pp. 1-11.
- Roy Maurer (January 23, 2023). Quiet Hiring: A New Name for a Revived Practice. HSRM.
-Harvard Business Review. (September 2021). Stop Screening Job Candidates’ Social Media. pp. 19-23
Discussion 7: Three Peer Reviews
Clifford Brooks
Clifford Brooks
National University
ENG240
Professor Zimmerman
Date: January 20, 2024
The education system has thrown away its traditional approach to learning. The latest development in the works is introducing AI chatbots into the education curriculum to prepare students for AI in the workplace. With the alarming success of technology use in college and work environments, security has been the focus of conversation. An article by Melissa Heikkilä who is a senior reporter for MIT Technology Review stated: “I think this is going to be pretty much a disaster from a security and privacy perspective.” (Heikkiä, M. (2023, April 3). With the increase of data breaches and leaked information online, people are skeptical of chatbot ideas. Like any invention there will be discrepancies and mishaps that will need to be fixed before the model is foolproof. We are in the beginning stages of accepting and embracing AI and chatbots into our lives.
Reluctantly, Greg Sterling who is a member of the programming team at Search Engine Land believes we are heavily invested in AI chatbots, and we do not even know it. He reported in an article that Amazon said: “It sold millions more Amazon devices than it did last year, with Echo Dot leading the way.” (Sterling, G. (2021, May 13). The Amazon Echo Dot is an AI smart speaker that offers music, weather, news through voice interaction. The article reported that the number of smart speakers in U.S. households have increased 135% in two years. Most people are unaware that this device is AI and chatbot enabled. The report stated that “54% of adults over 18+ have used voice commands, and 24% of that group does it daily.” The primary use of chatbots and voice command is convenience.
Colleges have embarked into AI by contracting Amazon’s Echo Dot into each dorm. Saint Louis University installed smart speakers into 2,300 dorm rooms on campus. The chatbot is a support device for students who have campus related questions. The device is called askSLU and has 130 school related questions programmed into the device. Mateo Cantano who is a second-year student at Saint Louis University, embraced the smart speaker in his dorm room. Cantano said: “Living in a single, AskSLU definitely made me feel less lonely,” (Miles, K. (2021, April 29). He enjoyed being able to ask the smart speaker about his grades and what time the dining halls closed. Some teachers at other colleges did not like the idea of having AI chatbots in student's dorm rooms. At Emerson College, students and faculty members had created a committee to draft privacy policies for the campus. Newman stated: “We need a safe way to experiment with these technologies and understand the consequences of their use instead of just continuing a blind march towards surveillance for the purpose of profit-making,” (Miles, K. (2021, April 29). Creating a safe approach and introducing students and staff into AI and having proactive measures is a great starting point. We have created an efficient way to save time without using our hands. You can voice control the temperature in your home, ask the device to play your favorite song. If you use any type of voice command, you are embracing the future of AI.
In this study it expands the knowledge of how AI chatbots can further develop learning skills than traditional learning. The assistant that can be provided will allow students to boost their education level, how they view learning and provide support for challenges in a specific subject area. In the report it stated: “Traditional educational tools merely offer access to knowledge, while AI chatbots could take on the roles of partners, assistants and even mentors in learning environments.” (Fidan & Gencel, 2022; Wollny et al., 2021). One of the biggest challenges teachers run into is having many students. AI chatbots can provide feedback and one-on-one learning for students that teachers cannot provide. In a way this can assist teachers who may have 20+ plus students and not have the capacity to provide different learning methods. This can also assist the students who need extra help and guidance outside of the classroom.
In a study focused on students Anxiety, it said: “AI chatbots could reduce the anxiety levels of secondary school students in foreign language learning.” (Han, 2020). Students who have learned English as a second language and have a disadvantage because they may be unaware of what the teacher is saying, with AI chatbots assistance it has proven to lower anxiety for that student. In the study, it showed that students using the chatbots experienced less anxiety than those in the controlled groups. Furthermore, AI chatbots can provide a “perceived value of learning” for students working with them. Students are absorbing the information and are learning at a higher level than traditional learning.
The use of AI chatbots in education has brought forth increased learning capabilities amongst students. In an interview with University World News Africa Edition one of the students, Consolation Mangena said: "It's like having a personal assistant. l no longer has to learn just to pass, but I learn to understand and master the concepts.” (Mashininga, K. (2023, June 1). He is attending Zimbabwe Midland’s State University specializing in land surveying. One of the challenges students dealt with is understanding the information being taught to them. This problem has created a vital role for AI in education, providing students with personal interaction that they might not receive from the professors. The creation of AI and chatbots is to help us simplify and manage complicated tasks. Using technology to our advantage allows us to take control and have unlimited resources to further develop our ideologies.
Acceptance of AI chatbots in major career fields can provide timely assistance, enhance company engagement and overall efficiency. Medical students attending the University of Luebeck in Germany, conducted a study for their attitudes towards AI chatbots in the medical field. In the discussion, one of the points made is that “Digital learning opportunities and the development of AI skills are essential in medical education and may help to meet the vast need for qualifications. (Mosch L, Back D-A, Balzer F, et al. Lernangebote zu Künstlicher Intelligenz in der Medizin. 2021). Germany is embracing AI and chatbots as the future of technology and the importance of learning how to understand and manage it into the curriculum.
In the completed medical study for students' attitude towards involving AI chatbots into medical practice came back as helpful. According to the Acceptance and Trust data results reported: “The use of chatbots as therapy tools or interactive diaries for patients was considered by the students to be a good opportunity to reduce anonymity, shyness and shame about disclosing personal and painful information.” (J.-A. MOLDT ET AL.PG 6. 2023). The enabling use of chatbots allowed patients to let their guard down and freely interact with the chatbots. The positive effects working AI chatbots into careers has shown a positive impact, not only for the medical providers but also for the patients as well. Creating opportunities to instill modern day technology into the workforce is the future of today.
In this study it expands the knowledge of how AI chatbots can further develop learning skills than traditional learning. The assistant that can be provided will allow students to boost their education level, how they view learning and provide support for challenges in a specific subject area. In the report it stated: “Traditional educational tools merely offer access to knowledge, while AI chatbots could take on the roles of partners, assistants and even mentors in learning environments.” (Fidan & Gencel, 2022; Wollny et al., 2021). One of the biggest challenges teachers run into is having many students. AI chatbots can provide feedback and one-on-one learning for students that teachers cannot provide. In a way this can assist teachers who may have 20+ plus students and not have the capacity to provide different learning methods. This can also assist the students who need extra help and guidance outside of the classroom.
In a study focused on students Anxiety, it said: “AI chatbots could reduce the anxiety levels of secondary school students in foreign language learning.” (Han, 2020). Students who have learned English as a second language and have a disadvantage because they may be unaware of what the teacher is saying, with AI chatbots assistance it has proven to lower anxiety for that student. In the study, it showed that students using the chatbots experienced less anxiety than those in the controlled groups. Furthermore, AI chatbots can provide a “perceived value of learning” for students working with them. Students are absorbing the information and are learning at a higher level than traditional learning.
Percy Spencer, the man who invented the microwave use the creation to move humanity forward in time. The convenience of having a microwave shortens the time it takes to go outside and starts a fire to create hot food. This can be applied to learning, as well. The data provided has supported the idea of welcoming AI chatbots into our school systems. This has furthered students' education by creating different learning methods that work for them. The benefits of implementing AI chatbots into schools, colleges, and the workforce offers a forward development in society to work out the mishaps and privacy concern. The one trick pony gig is up. We have answers to our questions in mere seconds and the world is moving at a faster pace today than yesterday. The time has come to adapt and embrace technological advancements.
References
Miles, K. (2021, April 29). Should colleges really be putting smart speakers in dorms?. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/12/27/131139/colleges-smart-speakers-in-dorms-privacy/
Heikkiä, M. (2023, April 3). Three ways Ai Chatbots are a security disaster . MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/04/03/1070893/three-ways-ai-chatbots-are-a-security-disaster/
Mashininga, K. (2023, June 1). Proper use of Chatbots opens up a new world for students. University World News Africa Edition . https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230528204120262
Sterling, G. (2021, May 13). Roughly 1 in 4 U.S. adults now owns a smart speaker, according to New Report. MarTech. https://martech.org/roughly-1-in-4-u-s-adults-now-owns-a-smart-speaker-according-to-new-report/
Julia-Astrid Moldt, Festl-Wietek, T., Amir, M. M., Nieselt, K., Fuhl, W., & Herrmann-Werner, A. (2023). Chatbots for future docs: exploring medical students’ attitudes and knowledge towards artificial intelligence and medical chatbots.Medical Education Online, 28(1) https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2023.2182659
Wu, R., & Yu, Z. (2023). Do AI chatbots improve students learning outcomes? Evidence from a meta‐analysis. British Journal of Educational Technology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13334
Three Peer Reviews
Danielle lacey
Overworked Yet Underproductive: Unraveling the Cult of Busyness, A Threat to Employee
Health and Workplace Efficiency
In today's business culture, being busy has become a prestige symbol associated with production and importance. However, research indicates that this fixation with busyness harms employee well-being and company success. The contemporary emphasis on busyness as a virtue in enterprises reduces productivity, adds to employee burnout, and has a detrimental influence on general well-being. Drawing on the insights from the class reading, "Beware a Culture of Busyness" by Adam Waytz, this research contends that the current attitude, which values long work hours and continual activity, promotes negative workplace behaviors and consequences. Challenging the cult of busyness through intentional changes to organizational policies and practices can boost productivity, innovation, and employee wellness.
The Damaging Effects of Workplace Busyness
Most modern workers' physical and mental health suffer significantly as a result of their excessive productivity. As Waytz notes, studies show that overwork greatly raises the chances of getting long-term illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and even dying too soon. Being busy at work all the time and working long hours can hurt ones heart health, cause hormonal imbalances, and cause inflammation, all of which can lead to major health problems over time. According to the World Health Organization, overwork leads to bad health results. Each year, overwork is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths around the world. Besides hurting one’s health, too much work raises stress hormones for long periods, which can lead to burnout, anxiety, sadness, and less happiness in life. People are constantly busy at work, which puts their health and well-being at great risk in many physical and mental ways.
However, being too busy affects more than just one employee; it also affects an entire company's overall productivity and efficiency. According to research, overwork and a busy workplace make people less engaged, more likely to miss work, and more likely to want to leave their jobs. Disengaged, absent, and unstable workers directly hurt output and efficiency so that these outcomes could be better for any business (Schulte). Additionally, when companies try to encourage people to be busy by rewarding time spent at work instead of real output, this leads to worse performance. People put off doing their work to spend more time at the office instead of getting it done quickly and efficiently. So, the wrong way of praising busyness hurts both individual well-being and the success of organizations.
The Root Causes of Workplace Busyness
One key underlying cause of excessive working busyness is the belief that being always active indicates importance and ability. As Waytz says, busy workers are often seen as impressive and important (Turek). Companies reward and promote workers with a lot of work, spreading the idea that being busy means being productive. This keeps up a culture where workers feel they have to make up work and do small jobs to look busy. It does not matter if they know that all the activity is pointless; the social signals from being busy make them keep up a crazy routine. Ultimately, wrong social ideas that connect being busy with social status lead to unhealthy overwork and doing things just because they're fun. The key to ending the busyness epidemic is to challenge these deeply ingrained ways of thinking at both the business and societal levels.
Another motivator is psychological traits such as effort justification and idleness aversion, which cause employees to stay overly busy. Waytz says that people naturally value projects more when they put more effort into them, even if the work is pointless. This habit makes workers actively pass the time and show clear signs of exhaustion, which hurts productivity. Similarly, people who do not like being idle will choose less-than-ideal tasks over relaxing breaks to avoid being idle (Turek). These deeply ingrained urges keep people thinking that spending more time at work means more dedication and purpose. It makes people even busier by making them always do low-value jobs and avoid free time, which is when creativity shines. Organizations will have difficulty stopping people from being too busy once they understand these psychological factors holding people back.
Finally, multitasking impairment is an overlooked cause of job busyness. Though multitasking appears productive, continual task switching has high cognitive costs that considerably reduce production and efficiency (Waytz). However, because workers need to think about these hidden switching costs, juggling makes them look busy and makes them feel overworked. Distractions and quick chores like email can also break up the intense focus needed for difficult mental tasks. This further lowers the ability to focus deeply while making people feel busier on the surface (Gruman and Choi). As long as companies realize how much multitasking hurts output and allow workers to stay focused, they will continue to be overworked and burned out by the many tasks they must do simultaneously. To fight the busyness epidemic, protecting deep work is vital.
Strategies for Unraveling the Culture of Busyness
Compensation and promotion criteria that reward employee activity and time spent must be changed to prioritize production and performance (Waytz). Instead of focusing on face-to-face time and hours worked, businesses should use merit systems and rewards linked to measured productivity, output quality, and business impact. This shifts the incentives for progress and financial gain away from being busy just for being busy. Also, group leaders should show by their actions how to get things done without being too busy (Gruman and Choi). Setting aside time for family or taking regular trips by executives shows that it's okay to have a good work-life balance. It's better to set new standards for productive but controlled work styles than to force big, general changes from the top down.
Additionally, workflow audits should methodically identify and eliminate or streamline redundant approvals, status meetings with no evident benefit, and other low-value busywork that detracts from significant production (Pope-Ruark). Organizations can fix overloaded schedules by making an evidence-based list of the places where effort goes beyond worth. Also, companies should strongly urge their workers to disconnect from work, take vacations, and clear their minds. Overcoming the urge to be connected and the fear of being idle is important so people have time to think and develop new ideas. Building slack by improving resources and flexibility also enables businesses to handle sudden business shocks or surge times of activity. As a result, established cultures of workplace busyness can be broken by tackling root causes from different angles, such as norms, incentives, eliminating waste, and allowing renewal.
Moreover, increasing transparency about responsibilities and timetables helps to reduce unnecessary meetings and promotes blocks of focused work time (Schulte). Publishing workers' most important projects in team spaces makes the trade-offs of taking on more meetings clearer (Pope-Ruark). Also, people letting others know about times they have set aside to work on important projects shows how divided time can cost one opportunities. This openness makes it possible to work together on projects important to the business instead of automatically taking every meeting invite. People are less likely to think that everyone is available all the time when there are visual cues that leave room for deep individual work.
Finally, cultivating social awareness and connectedness among colleagues' lives decreases misperceptions about constant work (Schulte). Leaders talking freely about hobbies, vacations, family events, and other interests make things outside work stand out more. Teams that use flexibility policies are also challenged by the idea that they should always be on. Relationships at work based on seeing coworkers as complex people with lives outside of work allow for fair expectations and balances (Schulte). Social cues that make people feel more like real people tell workers that their coworkers have personal lives and responsibilities outside of work. People will only think that everyone else is working sometimes, which leads to more balance.
Conclusion
The cult of busyness in modern organizations comes at a high cost, compromising employee health, engagement, and retention while eroding organizational efficiency. However, the epidemic continues because of ingrained incentives, customs, and cognitive biases. Busyness must be transformed from a virtue to a liability through various interventions, ranging from reformed compensation schemes to leadership behavior modeling. Eliminating unnecessary busy work, arranging focused work time, and enhancing workload transparency can all improve overall efficiency. Most importantly, creating social bonds based on employees' humanity rather than efficiency resets realistic expectations. Organizations can develop long-term cultures emphasizing achievement over simple activity by working together to address core problems. The journey beyond busy begins with recognizing that busyness does not equal productivity. Fulfillment and success are achieved by working smarter, not harder or longer.
Works Cited
Gruman, Jamie A., and Ellen Choi. "Well-Being at Work: A Balanced Approach to Positive Organizational Studies." Springer EBooks, 1 Jan. 2021, pp. 169–207, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30025-8_84 . Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.
Pope-Ruark, Rebecca. Unraveling Faculty Burnout: Pathways to Reckoning and Renewal. Google Books, JHU Press, 20 Sept. 2022. Accessed 19 Jan. 2024.
Schulte, Brigid schulte. “Preventing Busyness from Becoming Burnout.” Harvard Business Review, 6 June 2019, hbr.org/2019/04/preventing-busyness-from-becoming-burnout.
Turek, Dariusz. “When Does Job Burnout Not Hurt Employee Behaviours?” Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 8, no. 1, 24 Dec. 2020, pp. 59–79, https://doi.org/10.1108/joepp-04-2020-0055 .
Waytz, Adam. “Beware a Culture of Busyness.” Harvard Business Review, 1 Mar. 2023, hbr.org/2023/03/beware-a-culture-of-busyness.
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