Issues with Romance in the Workplace Environment

Due to the increased interaction between coworkers on a daily basis, studies show there is a direct correlation with romance that stems from the workplace. While there can be benefits, this paper will show how romances in the workplace can result in negative effects on the workplace environments through a multitude of ways. Workplace Romances deal with issues originating from hierarchal relationships, including sexual harassment and favouritism, which further impacts job productivity and morale. The existence of these forms of relationships may be unavoidable, yet they can also be damaging to a company when relationships become unsuccessful. Workplace Romances can have a major effect on coworkers, including tension and conflict. Workplace policies are a divided subject, as they could perhaps prevent issues, while at the same time, they may create further issues.

Menopause as a well-being strategy: Organizational effectiveness, gendered ageism and racism

Objective This study considers the example of one council who deliberately implemented menopause considerations into their well-being strategy instead of instituting a menopause policy. This example is used to explore whether such a strategy is a more viable and effective alternative. Study Design An online survey was distributed amongst council workers and completed by 189 individuals. The questions covered respondents’ own experiences of menopause transition at work (where applicable) and the availability of information and support for menopause at work, as well as a range of contextual factors. Main outcome measures Experiences of workplace environments and relationships by those experiencing menopause. Results Results on menopause experiences in this council are comparable to those in organizations who have implemented menopause policies or guidelines. Contextual factors, including gendered vertical segregation and racism, are highlighted as important factors influencing the experience of menopause transition in the workplace. Conclusions Early indications suggest that integrating menopause support into a health and well-being strategy helps mainstream menopause issues amongst staff. Long-term assessment is required to consider whether it is more effective than introducing a menopause policy or guidelines.

MULTISENSORY DESIGN FOR SENSE OF COHERENCE: A CASE STUDY OF ACADEMICS’ WORKSPACES

Multisensory design in workplace plays an important role in the sense of wellbeing and sense of coherence of its users. Both are important for workplace productivity and efficiency. Workplace designs are often driven by maximising capacity and corporate identities rather than the need for improving the quality of environments and sense of wellbeing of its users which is critical for optimising workplace productivity. Multisensory design features vary across workplace environments and the response to such may also vary based on the user groups, their background, cultural differences, type of profession or work being performed etc. The study aims to explore multisensory design in workplace and its impact on sense of wellbeing and coherence of its users in a case study of a workplace of academics in a Higher Education Institution. A qualitative approach is used to collect data on user perceptions via in-depth interviews, memory sketching, visual surveys etc. The workplace multisensory design features are assessed using checklists and photographic observations. Findings show that universal factors such as adequate privacy, availability of biophilia, informal interactions in the workplace and the flexibility for personalisation enhanced sense of wellbeing and coherence in workplace., which led to a positive impact on workplace productivity.in the users.

Towards ergonomics working - machine learning algorithms and musculoskeletal modeling

Ergonomic workplaces lead to fewer work-related musculoskeletal disorders and thus fewer sick days. There are various guidelines to help avoid harmful situations. However, these recommendations are often rather crude and often neglect the complex interaction of biomechanical loading and psychological stress. This study investigates whether machine learning algorithms can be used to predict mechanical and stress-related muscle activity for a standardized motion. For this purpose, experimental data were collected for trunk movement with and without additional psychological stress. Two different algorithms (XGBoost and TensorFlow) were used to model the experimental data. XGBoost in particular predicted the results very well. By combining it with musculoskeletal models, the method shown here can be used for workplace analysis but also for the development of real-time feedback systems in real workplace environments.

A holistic approach for suppression of COVID-19 spread in workplaces and universities

As society has moved past the initial phase of the COVID-19 crisis that relied on broad-spectrum shutdowns as a stopgap method, industries and institutions have faced the daunting question of how to return to a stabilized state of activities and more fully reopen the economy. A core problem is how to return people to their workplaces and educational institutions in a manner that is safe, ethical, grounded in science, and takes into account the unique factors and needs of each organization and community. In this paper, we introduce an epidemiological model (the “Community-Workplace” model) that accounts for SARS-CoV-2 transmission within the workplace, within the surrounding community, and between them. We use this multi-group deterministic compartmental model to consider various testing strategies that, together with symptom screening, exposure tracking, and nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) such as mask wearing and physical distancing, aim to reduce disease spread in the workplace. Our framework is designed to be adaptable to a variety of specific workplace environments to support planning efforts as reopenings continue. Using this model, we consider a number of case studies, including an office workplace, a factory floor, and a university campus. Analysis of these cases illustrates that continuous testing can help a workplace avoid an outbreak by reducing undetected infectiousness even in high-contact environments. We find that a university setting, where individuals spend more time on campus and have a higher contact load, requires more testing to remain safe, compared to a factory or office setting. Under the modeling assumptions, we find that maintaining a prevalence below 3% can be achieved in an office setting by testing its workforce every two weeks, whereas achieving this same goal for a university could require as much as fourfold more testing (i.e., testing the entire campus population twice a week). Our model also simulates the dynamics of reduced spread that result from the introduction of mitigation measures when test results reveal the early stages of a workplace outbreak. We use this to show that a vigilant university that has the ability to quickly react to outbreaks can be justified in implementing testing at the same rate as a lower-risk office workplace. Finally, we quantify the devastating impact that an outbreak in a small-town college could have on the surrounding community, which supports the notion that communities can be better protected by supporting their local places of business in preventing onsite spread of disease.

Using reflective, authentic assessments to embed employability skills in higher education

PurposeReflection on performance and progress prepares students for workplace environments where self-management is expected, and yet this is something students are not often required to do formally in higher education (HE). This paper explores this gap in students' ability and seeks to address it through a reconsideration of summative assessment practices which, particularly in light of COVID-19, must align with the needs of graduates and their employers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws from data collected from the summative reflective assessment reports that degree apprentices (DAs) submitted during the final year of their Business Management degree while undertaking a problem-based module. We undertook a document analysis of these reports and used thematic analysis where we systematically looked for repeated themes in students' reflections.FindingsStudents problematise the skills needed during COVID-19, and beyond, both in their academic studies and the workplace. Authentic assessment provides opportunities for students to work on skills and projects which are relevant to them. Through reflective accounts of skills they developed, students were able to bridge academic and professional practice and identify areas of convergence. Students engaged with academic theories in a constructive and meaningful way which suggests that authentic reflective accounts as part of assessment have the potential to maintain academic rigour.Originality/valueSkills development can bring the workplace into HE in a meaningful and systematic way and this article provides guidance for those looking to introduce reflection on skills to other courses. We suggest how this model can be utilised across modules which do not have work-integrated learning in their delivery.

Alienation Is Not ‘Bullshit’: An Empirical Critique of Graeber’s Theory of BS Jobs

David Graeber’s ‘bullshit jobs theory’ has generated a great deal of academic and public interest. This theory holds that a large and rapidly increasing number of workers are undertaking jobs that they themselves recognise as being useless and of no social value. Despite generating clear testable hypotheses, this theory is not based on robust empirical research. We, therefore, use representative data from the EU to test five of its core hypotheses. Although we find that the perception of doing useless work is strongly associated with poor wellbeing, our findings contradict the main propositions of Graeber’s theory. The proportion of employees describing their jobs as useless is low and declining and bears little relationship to Graeber’s predictions. Marx’s concept of alienation and a ‘Work Relations’ approach provide inspiration for an alternative account that highlights poor management and toxic workplace environments in explaining why workers perceive paid work as useless.