SOC 100 - Formal Organizations

Here's the assignment: Look on the internet at several different large companies or organizations and find how they try to use the environment to cut down on the routine of everyday work for their employees.  In other words how do company policies encourage the employees to personalize their work and work space.  Write a one page essay on what you find and evaluate your findings as to what you think is the best way to personalize the bureaucracy. And here's my paper. For some reason the references at the bottom don't want to stay in the correct format and the original paper is double spaced. I received a 43/45 on this one.

Personalizing the Bureaucracy in the Workplace

I was able to find a few articles on companies that have flexible policies pertaining to office work space. The first article I found mentioned that J.C. Penny in 2004 stopped the strict policy it had. The new CEO found that employees were still calling managers “Mr.” and “Ms.” and that formal business attire was required. The new CEO felt this was keeping the employees from expressing themselves individually. He also found that this policy was causing a high turnover and keeping talented people from joining J.C. Penny. He recruited a new Human Resources officer to help change the strict policy and in addition the company began allowing employees to decorate their work spaces ("Uniqueness,"). Relaxing the dress code is an excellent way to allow employees to feel more like individuals, instead of feeling like cogs in the wheel. Here in Pierre, South Dakota our state government employees have casual day where they can dress in jeans and other more casual attire one day out of the week. I’ve also noticed in our state offices that workers are allowed to do a little decorating in their work space. I’ve seen family photos and plants on and around desks. I think management has found this increases morale and makes for happier employees. In a couple of other web documents I’ve seen that a lot of the technology companies, especially those that hire people right out of college, have a much more relaxed approach to company policy. Google is known for being very relaxed and quite a bit out of the old norm. Staff at Google even has their laundry done for them (McEntegart, 2010). G5, a company in Bend, Oregon, allows employees to bring their pets to work. I’ve seen where there are a lot of tech companies that allow pets at work. That’s really relaxing company policy.

It’s definitely not as it once was and I think the very best ways to personalize the bureaucracy is to let employees have some freedom and maintain some individualism. Family photos, plants and decorations in the work space are the best ways I can see to personalize the bureaucracy. It allows workers to show some individuality and gives them freedom to be themselves. I think doing so relieves stress and makes for a happier workplace. Having a relaxed dress code or at least a casual day is another good idea.  It’s more comfortable for employees and gives them a way to feel more like individuals. Allowing pets in the workplace is probably not one I would recommend, but it’s really fun to see. I guess it just depends on the company or organization and what clients or customers it has. The old strict policies are losing ground and the new flexible, personal policies are becoming the norm. It’s nice to see.

 

References

Uniqueness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.omworkspace.com/insight/uniqueness.htm

McEntegart, J. (2010, October 29). Google staff can get laundry done for them. Retrieved from                 http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Googlers-Employee-Perks-Work-at-Google-            TaskRabbit,news-8515.html