Health and safety is considered to be one of the keys to organizational success and sustainability. Since many new and revised laws concerning safety have been circulating in the business and workplace sector, organizational groups encourage the business sector to integrate safety into their management system to ensure they are proactive, not reactive, in situations like this. As they say, prevention is better than cure. More often, businesspeople don’t realize they can minimize their costs on health insurance coverage and the like if their employees are fully committed to workplace safety. The question now is how?
Approaches to Workforce Management
A company’s success and sustainability depends mainly on how management approaches the workforce. Most of the time, two well-known strategies are used: control execution and commitment stimulation.
Control Strategy
The “control” strategy took place in the early years of workforce management when workers were assigned to specific jobs well-suited to their capabilities and were held accountable for the scope of their work. This traditional strategy aims to monitor and control positions and efforts of workers, forming a hierarchy of roles.
The soul of this approach is to establish order, execute control, and produce efficiency in application to workforce management. Workers experiencing this kind of management tend to be obedient but not committed.
Commitment Strategy
In the early 1970s, companies started to experiment and study how they could improve the efficiency and productivity of workers. By this time, many sought not just obedience from workers but real commitment to the company. These companies saw the fine line between controlling and committing, and started focusing on internal advocacies such as common interests of bosses and workers, employee engagement, and interaction.
The commitment-based approach in the sector caused a lot of changes. Jobs were broader for planning and implementation, and goals were shared in organizations, making all employees accountable for whatever happens. Hierarchy statuses also were flattened. Above all, everyone in the workforce was given equal opportunities. This management approach caused improvements and advancement on the outputs.
Costs of Commitment
Without a doubt, there are costs to achieving the committed relationship, especially on the side of the managers. Leaders have to exert more effort in approaching workers, especially on safety hazards. There will be discomfort and pain in changing old ways and habits. In addition, everything now is open to uncertainty, so employees must develop change management skills and embrace adaptability.
Employment Assurances
Every now and then, managers face difficulties with the realities of the economy, making assurances hard to provide. However, managers must keep in mind that the workforce always seeks assurances when it comes to career paths, safety with their environment, and employment status.
Compensation
One of the factors affecting the workforce is compensation. Workers’ Compensation is one of the things all managers must pay attention to as no one could ever control the realities happening with the economy. Employees facing any problems receiving fair compensation can consult a workers compensation attorney.
Technology
Innovations and technology have influenced workforce management in unconscious and undetermined ways. However, it is one of the factors also affecting the workforce. Technology can both narrow and broaden jobs. Decision-making and subjective opinions are intertwined in a way that affects both parties.
Supervisors and Managers
In the commitment-based approach, supervisors must be more open and willing to blend in with workers. That means leaders must develop their interpersonal skills for more engagement.
Union Management Relations
Unions play a big role in the business sector, especially in the traditional control strategy approach. Transitioning from the traditional approach to a commitment-based strategy requires managers to maintain harmonious relations with the unions. Both parties must understand the benefits and interests of the other.
The Transitional Stage
When moving from a control to a commitment strategy, both managers and employees must cope with ongoing changes and work together voluntarily to establish the wanted relationship. As such, both parties must be open and flexible.
By transforming from a control to a commitment strategy, organizations can ensure the application of safety in the workplace.
Paul Gilbert is a professional blogger, an enthusiast who loves to write on several niches including Insurance, Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation, and Social Security Disability. He is also a part-time consultant at Zea Proukou, providing best solutions and support to injured workers for claiming workplace injury benefits under Workers’ Compensation.
