The workplace today is much diversified with most of them having a workforce that is comprised of teams of individuals with different backgrounds and cultures (Jonassen, 2003, p19). All these individuals in the workplace have different ways of approaching issues in the workplace. The employees also have different views of life in terms of social aspects, religion, and personal behaviors among others.
The workplace is therefore deemed to be affected by the reactions of these individuals to different issues and this may cause a lot of problems in the workplace. It is also important to note that the way these individuals approach challenges in the workplace is very different and some employers and employees may not be in a position to understand them. However, many problems in the workplace need a lot of understanding in helping the involved employees solve the problem. Such workplace problems include lack of effective communication, conflicts, drug and alcoholism, incompetence among others (Beach, 2007, p10)
Within the health care field, understanding individuals comes out as a very strong aspect in helping individuals solve their problems. This is because understanding involves coming down to the level of these individuals and trying to reason with them why they do what they do. This helps the managers in the work environment to have better knowledge of what could be leading the employees to many of these problems in the workplace. Ineffective communication is one of the problems that can be solved by understanding the employees. In this case, the managers should try and understand what the background of such problems is.
Ineffective communication in the workplace can result from differences in language, culture, religion among others (Arnold, 2005, p22). An employee could for example be experiencing communication problems because he or she cannot understand other cultures and may therefore not appreciate and respect individuals from such cultures. The employee may also be using a body language for communicating in the work place which is understood differently by others.
Lack of proper communication causes a lot of misunderstanding in the work place and this may be a serious problem in the work place. Such a problem can be resolved by understanding the employee’s ways of communication and how they differ from the rest of the employees. The employee can then be persuaded to learn and appreciate other cultures and their ways of communication and behavior.
Another problem that can be resolved through employee understanding is alcoholism and drug use in the work place. Substance abuse in the work place can bring a lot of destruction and ineffectiveness in the work place. It is not surprising that such individuals may have been very effective employees and their uptake of such behavior results from the work place. Solving such problems should be approached in a very understanding manner to find out the root causes of taking such substances.
Some individuals find it easier to reduce their pressure and stress at work by taking sedatives that help them to relax their minds. With time this becomes a habit and eventually addiction results to problems within the work place (Beach, 2007, p16). In solving substance abuse problems, understanding of such individuals is very important. The understanding approach helps to bring the person very close and to open up why they result to such substances. The managers in the work place can then help such individuals to get rehabilitation in the health centers and also adopt measures that prevent the root courses to such problems.
Conflict between the employees and employee incompetence are other aspects in the work place that is resolved through employee understanding. Most conflicts in the work place result due to lack of understanding between the employees. The work force usually comprises of individuals who have different abilities and ideas in the work place. The employees have different methods of approaching issues. There are those who feel that their ideas are better than others and may therefore overshadow other employees. Conflict normally results from ineffective communication between the employees.
The employees may not be understanding each other due to difference in culture, language and other social aspects (Arnold, 2005, p31). The managers should solve conflict problems by taking an initiative of understanding why such conflict occurs and this will help them to come up with measures to solve conflicts. This could be through training the employees on conflict management and also understanding the different personalities of other employees.
Employee incompetence in the work place may be resulting from external forces and the managers should take an initiative of finding such external forces instead of putting pressure on the employees. Some employees may not be able to beat deadlines because they are over worked due to low staff in the workplace. The employee may be incompetent due to lack of proper training or is not exposed to enough information to ensure competency. Understanding is the only way the managers can be able to solve such problems. Through understanding the managers will help the employees to understand what they are required to do, to be more organized in terms of prioritizing and coping with external interruptions (Beach, 2007, p22).
References
David H. Jonassen (2003). Learning to Solve Problems in the work place. Pfeiffer Publishers.
J Arnold (2005). Work psychology: understanding human behavior in the workplace. Prentice Hall.
Lee Roy Beach (2007).The Human Element: Understanding and Managing Employee Behavior. M.E. Sharpe Publishers.