Will take around 20 minutes - Edit my rough draft to my teachers liking - due in 5 hours

Running head: ROUGH DRAFT

ROUGH DRAFT 4

Fig 1. A graphical representation of questionnaire results

Table 1. Harassment at workplace among direct respondents

Personally been harassed/bullied at workplace	Witnessed a case of harassment/bullied of another employee at workplace	Never been harassed/bullied and never witnessed another employee being bullied at workplace
28	68	4

Fig 2. A pie-chart represntation of harassment response from direct respondents

Table 2. Favoritism in workplace among direct respondents

Ever witnessed a case of favoritism at workplace	Never witnessed a case of favoritism at workplace
93	7

Fig 3. Pie-chart representation of favoritism from direct respondents

Discussion of the Findings of the Research

From the acquired questionnaire results, it is evident that favoritism and harassment by seniors and were the key issues identified by interviewed respondents contributing to poor working conditions. Safety at work was also significant since a good number confirmed to have been working with hazardous equipment without total protection. These results are also similar to the ones acquired from the direct respondents who were interviewed in the research study.

From these research findings, key issues that were identified to have been negatively affecting employee’s working conditions were:

i) The Role of Employees in Overseeing Safe Working Environment

After carrying out the research study, it was noted that working conditions of employees were crucial in any organization. An evaluation of the cases reported on Occupational Safety and Health administration (OSHA) indicated that the employers were highly responsible for accidents that have been happening in working environments, and that some of the accidents would have been prevented if the employer had embraced safety measures for the employees. For instance, an employee working on a metal stamping company lost three of his right hand fingers after being accidentally stamped by the stamping machine that he was operating. As a result, the ring finger, index finger and the middle finger were all crushed and had to be amputated (Osha.gov, 2015a). This incident could have been prevented through heeding to the equipment’s operational guide, ensuring that the employee strictly operated the equipment as required in the user manual through effective supervision, and ensuring that the employee was adequately trained in the equipments operation and safety measures that should be observed while working with the equipment.

In another incident that was related to the role of employers in preventing industrial accidents, two workers were left dead while another worker suffered critical burns after a steel furnace that they were operating exploded. The explosion occurred as the three colleagues were trying to unblock a valve while the furnace was still running (Osha.gov, 2015b).

The incident was noted to be intentional since the employees understood the risk of attending to blocked valves while the furnace was still running, but the employer’s desire to have the furnace running all through without any stoppage put the workers at risk when attending to blocked valves in running mode (Osha.gov, 2015b). This incident would have been prevented by ensuring that the furnace was turned off before attempting to unblock any blocked valve. The employees also ought to have been well informed of the dangers of trying to unblock valves while the furnace was still running.

From these two cases, it is evident that employers need to provide protective gears and ensure that tasks are performed in accordance with set safety guidelines. This should be enforced through supervision and strict record keeping that pertain to standard operation in a working environment.

ii) Harassment and Bullying in the Workplace

Harassment and bullying were noted to be quite common in workplaces. From the questionnaires surveys conducted, 28% of surveyed subjects confirmed that they had ever been bullied or harassed in their working environment while 68% indicated that they had ever witnessed cases of bullying in their working places on their colleagues. Only 4% indicated otherwise. From these indications, it is eminent that harassment and bullying at workplace is a major issue of concern.

Undertaking further research on the extent of harassment at workplace indicated that sexual harassment was the main type of employee harassment, and women were more affected than men were. As noted from a survey analysis on aware.org, about 54% of surveyed subjects had ever experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment. 27% of the 272 respondents had experienced harassment from their colleague, while 17% were had experienced sexual harassment from their seniors (Aware.org, 2014). Of the surveyed subjects, 79% of the victims who had been sexually harassed were women while 21% were men. Of all the subjects, 12% of the victims had received threats of job termination if they failed to comply with the requests of the sexual harassers (Aware.org, 2014). This statistics indicate that there needs to be a strategic plan to curb the vice, as it can negatively affect the performance of employees at the workplace, as well as infringe on their legal rights.

One of the organizations that was found to be very influential in curbing harass at the workplace is Equal Employment Opportunities Commission EEOC. This organization basically ensures that employees are not discriminated in their workplace, which is the main basis of harassment (Eeoc.gov, 2015).

The issue of bullying was however noted to be controversial. Basically, there may be instances where the management’s poor communication skills and antisocial interactions are mistaken for bullying. As noted from Bullyingstatistics.org (2014), bullying acts are only considered as such where one individual or a few individuals are singled out and treated unfairly. However, if such acts mistreatment cuts across the board or affects a vast majority in the workplace, the act may not be considered as an act of bullying but rather, a poor management skill.

iii) Favoritism in the workplace

Merit System Protections Board (2011) defines favoritism as a scenario that occurs “when human capital decisions are based on personal feelings and/or relationships and NOT on objective criteria, such as assessments of ability, knowledge, and skills”. In line with this, the seniors may tend to favor some employees or subordinates on these grounds, which makes it an unethical practice in an organization. Even though the seniors will most often feel at ease to allocate some positions to individuals they have good rapport with for the sake of a smooth management experience, the practice may eventually lead to low motivation and diminished morale among employees. This eventually affects the performance of the organization negatively.

From the interviewed subjects, it this issue was also noted to be a key malpractice that employees find in their work place. Out of the 100 subjects surveyed subjects, 93% confirmed that they had at least identified an instance of favoritism in their workplace, where a colleague was allocated a position in a way that was dictated by the close interpersonal relationship, personal liking, or good rapport with the seniors.

iv) Matters Pertaining to Office Layout and Its Safety to Employees

Matters pertaining to office layout have a significant impact on the health of employees. For instance, a closed working place with poor ventilation puts the employees under the risk of suffering from communicable diseases such as common cold. The air-conditioning in such a place is poor, and thus the employees do not feel comfortable while in the premises. As such, the layout of the working premises need to put these factors into consideration in its design.

The type of equipment and other facilities installed in a given premise also contribute to the workplace design to facilitate employee safety and easy movement within the premises. For instance, hotels and restaurants are noted to have a very sensitive aspect of premises layout and installations as they determine how comfortable the workers will be while serving customers. Aspects such as décor and comfort fittings are also significant in workplace design, since they are often associated with improved employee productivity, satisfaction, and motivation while in the workplace (Bitner, 2006). With such an improved working environment, the organization is set to reap more benefits in the end.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it was noted the working conditions of the employees highly affected their morale and productivity in the firm. Where the conditions create more comfort and pleasant environment, there was a higher tendency of better productivity of the employees. The employers’ role in ensuring safe working environment was also eminent. For instance, it was evident that creating safety programs and ensuring that there is adequate supervision and operation of equipment in accordance with standard operating procedures would highly reduce incidences of injuries in the workplace, which is often costly to the firm in terms of replacement, recruitment, and compensation.

The role of external organizations in ensuring that employees have a better working environment is also appreciated. Without an organization such as EEOC, there would be more incidences of employee discrimination. With the wide range of EEOC regulations that are aimed at addressing major issues of employee discrimination at workplace, the employees rights are well protected, and those who find themselves discriminated get an avenue to forward their claims that pertaining to unfair treatment at workplace.

Reference

Aware.org,. (2014). Statistics: Workplace Sexual Harrassment. Retrieved 24 May 2015, from http://www.aware.org.sg/ati/wsh-site/14-statistics/

Bitner, M. (2006). Servicescape: The Impact of Physical Sorrounding to Employees and Customers. Journal Of Marketing Sevicescape, 56(6), 4-8.

Bullyingstatistics.org,. (2014). Workplace Bullying - Bullying Statistics. Retrieved 24 May 2015, from http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/workplace-bullying.html

Eeoc.gov,. (2015). Types of Discrimination. Retrieved 24 May 2015, from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/index.cfm

Kothari, C. R. (2009). Research Methodoogy: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International Publishers.

Merit Systems Protection Board. (2011, July). Understanding Favoritism- MSPB takes a closer look at what the concept of favoritism means. Issues of Merit, 1–7.

Osha.gov,. (2015a). 2015 - 03/24/2015 - US Steel Corp.'s safety shortcuts lead to fatal explosion. Retrieved 24 May 2015, from https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=27642

Osha.gov,. (2015b). 2015 - 04/30/2015 - Lack of proper safety controls leads to loss of worker's 3 fingers in metal press at stamping company, inspectors find. Retrieved 24 May 2015, from https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=27879

Savin-Baden, M., & Major, C. (2013). Qualittative Research: The essentiaal guide to theory and practice. London: Routledge.

Module 07 Course Project - Rough Draft

Scoring Rubric:

Criteria	Points
Introduction opens with captivating device relevant to the chosen topic, moving through transition into thesis that captures the main idea.	4.5/5
Develops in full the ideas and research support for the qualitative research section.	8.5/10
Develops in full the ideas and research support for the quantitative research section.	10/10
References Page includes a minimum of eight sources in proper APA format.	10/10
Conclusion summarizes main points of the paper and closes with strong statement in support of main "thesis" argument.	5/5
Standard mechanics are followed for spelling, punctuation, grammar, writing style.	5/5
Total	43/45

�For your final paper, be sure to include a catchy title that lets your reader know what your paper is about.

�Title page is not quite in APA format. Please correct for final paper.

�This is a good start to your introduction, but I also want to see you start with a dramatic scene or statistic to really grab your reader’s attention right from the start.

�Good work stating your thesis!

�Good!

�Great work stating your hypothesis!

�This is great research from an outside source!

However, I also want to see you conduct your own qualitative research, such as an interview or focus group. I provided additional details about this in the course announcements. You can choose anyone to interview. It can be a family member, work colleague, etc. It just needs to be someone that has an opinion about your topic. Be sure to include the questions you asked and his/her answers. Also, include your interpretation. Do you agree with the answers? Was anything surprising? How does it support your thesis?

Include direct quotes from this person and cite them in-text as a personal communication. I provided an example of this in the course announcements.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

�Good work summarizing the research!

�Good interpretation!

�Good interpretation!

�Great work interpreting the research and proposing a solution!

�Great quantitative data!

�Nice work interpreting the data and supporting your thesis!

�Good observation!

�Shocking!

�Yes!

�Good conclusion!

�Great work citing your sources in APA format!