Saturday, June 20, 2009

Organizing Healthy Organizations

I was shocked to read that EVERY DAY in the US, "15 occupational fatalities occur, 130 employees die from work related illnesses, and 11,ooo workers become disabled from work-related injuries." Although critical theorists have a valid point that employees only contribute to unsafe working conditions by not reporting their injuries, I think the book failed to point out that sometimes people are unable to afford being injured and not working.

In my opinion, it is in a company's best interest to keep their employees healthy. After all, a healthy employee is going to be a lot more productive than an unhealthy or injured employee. I think what it comes down to is communication and a people oriented culture. I have worked a couple of different jobs and none of them have been as empoyee oriented as Nordstrom. Everyone is free to take breaks when they need one and encouraged to take a full hour for lunch so that they can not just eat, but also go for a short walk or take some time just to relax. In turn, I feel refreshed and have more energy to devote to my job.

2 comments:

  1. That is amazing to find out that so many people end up getting injured while doing work. I agree with you that the booked failed to recognize the fact that people simply can not afford to call in sick or report an accident. Doing so may result in less hours for work, which means a smaller check. Or in some people's cases, they cant report an accident because they will suffer from a coercive relationship. It is sad to see how many accidents actually happen during work.

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  2. I totally agree with your post. Organizing your organization is one of the key components in my opinion to a successfully operated comany. It is vital that organizations look out for the well being of their staff. Injuries in the work place can be easily avoided often times by proper training, communication and also the flexibility to be able to take a time out as you mentioned Nordstrom lets you do. I have seen staff members at various organizations become so overworked they are hardly able to operate and complete their daily tasks. If companies look out for their employees well being a little bit more it will in turn help their organization be a successful one because employees will be more on top of their game.

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