1. Introduction
According to Black (2014), the occupational environment can be difined as “the workplace surroundings that encompass the physical and social environment,”. The social environment can be seen as social relationships, immediate physical surroundings and cultural setting in which groups of people function and interact. It includes the industrial and occupational structure, the social and economic processes and labour markets among others. Social environments also include the social, historical and power relations that have become institutionalized over time. Social environments are dynamic and change over time as the result of both internal and external forces. ( Barnett & Casper, 2001).
The work environment however, refers to the qualities and characteristics of the experience of working at the specific organisation, for example, what it is like to work there, the employer-employee relationships and work setting (United States Office of Personnel Management, 2006).
The South African labour environment and workplace has undergone a wide range of transformation since apartheid laws until the successful implementation of employment equity policies.
In order to understand the full impact of change in the work and occupational environment, the history of the South African history, the industrial revolution as well as the change in South African labour legislation were explored.
Several factor have an impact on the work and occupational environment. Globalisation influenced the way business is conducted and will continuously change it, the increase in diversity in work environments also call for change and brought about a new concept of diversity management not only in South Africa, but also worldwide.
Various changes...
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.... Social Transition
Workplaces will continue to experience change or undergo transition from a social perspective, especially with ongoing attempts to diversify and empower the workforce (Venter & Levy, 2013). Social transformation will continue to take place through employment equity and black economic empowerment and other attempts to increase diversity in the workplace.
7.4. Other changes:
As human population doubles, the resources available per person will drop, and a remarkable transformation of industry can occur. Through this transformation, society will be able to create a vital economy that uses radically less materials and energy. This economy can free up resources, reduce taxes on personal income increase per capita spending on social ills and begin to restore the damaged environment of the earth. (Hawken, Lovins, & Hunter Lovins, 2010).
8. Conclusion
As small mobile groups of hunter-gatherers adopted a sedentary lifestyle, they mastered both agriculture and animal domestication. These small settled groups quickly evolved into cities and towns that encompassed the entire globe. Today the estimated population of the world is over 6.2 million people.1 As the population has grown, it has had several deleterious effects on the Earth. These include climate changes, the spread of diseases, declining food production, deforestation, and environment pollution (particularly air pollution). As people have become more conscious of these harmful effects, they have begun to devise strategies to combat this problem. Among the suggested responses include a switch to renewable energy, a call for zero population growth, and adopting sustainable agricultural practices.
Workforce diversity refers to the existence of individuals with different cultural, economic and social backgrounds within an organization (Claretha, 2014). In the modern world, there is increased level of diversity in the workforce due to increased level of awareness and socioeconomic interactions among people. Therefore, organizations have become multicultural places which require effective communication to ensure organizational success. That is, in the modern global community, the workplaces in various organizations have become more culturally diverse (Claretha, 2014). This has had serious impact on the personal and professional relationships among employees depending on the communication model that is established in an organization. In addition, due to the increased level of competitiveness in the business environment, organizations have been forced to establish suitable framework to effectively manage human diversity. This paper will analyze the concept of workforce diversity and organizational communication and determine its benefits and possible disadvantages in relation to business success.
With market globalization and international competition, firms have come to realise that a diverse workplace is a strong competitive advantage in today’s markets. It helps to attract a diverse customer base and provides new perspectives in an organization. We see diversity initiatives being implemented to improve corporate productivity and performance.
Workplace diversity includes the attributes, elements, and differences that set a person apart from others in the work setting. There are many factors that influence diversity including age, race, culture, gender, ethnicity, birthplace, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, education and work
Environments: Environments should be designed in such a way that it facilitates staffs to work in a person-centred way.
The structural-functional analysis of jobs in the U.S. is governed by the workforce stratification and technology. The more educated and diverse a society is the better society’s job market is served. This social economic separation of class has been both good and bad for society. Many workers at the lower levels of employment are both pleased and displeased with many aspects of work. Though this fact also holds true with most any job at any level, pay scale often compensates for endurance of a particular job type. The security of a person’s job also is an issue that in today’s economic times forces one to be prepared for change. This is to say that even if one’s field of expertise is needed today it may not be tomorrow. This type of ever-changing job market leads many to believe that another socio-economic change may occur at any time. This change was apparent with the transition into the industrial age and again in the information age. These concerns caused stress, various health issues, a...
Barak, M. E. (2005). Managing diversity: toward a globally inclusive workplace. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Modern day organizations have to constantly change to meet the demands of customers. Workers have to change with the organizations to be able to perform new functions and complete new sophisticated tasks.
Employment relations refer to the relationship between the employer and the employee. Employment relations are governed by the provisions of the employment contract and/or collective agreement where applicable, common law principles and legislative provisions governing specific situations. Many factors in the external environment have an effect on the employment relations within an organization, which they need to monitor and possibly adapt to the necessary changes. The external environmental factors that would influence employment relations are political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental.
The work place has changed through the course of the centuries. Technology and globalization are the causes of the change in the workplace in the twenty-first century. Who does what work, when, and how will continue to evolve as technology becomes increasingly more advanced and communication across the globe becomes more seamless.
Nowadays, the phenomenon of globalization has massively affected the social and cultural values and has made an assembled standard of uniqueness and obstacles. Moreover, international organizations such as multinational companies, corporate brandings, non-governmental organizations, and global media play a critical part by quickening communications among social societies worldwide (Ghodrati, Joorabchi & Muati, 2015). Especially for the effect of globalization, world has started become more culturally diverse and incorporated each and another. In today’s workplace, a constructive effect of cultural diversity in the work environment is that employees having a place
Diversity issues will gain importance because of the effective interactions and communications between the people. Diversity is the reality of the business world. It can have negative and positive impact on the employee’s behaviour towards work and work results. This also depends on how the employees have understood it and grasps it.
In Today’s world, the composition and how work is done has massively changed and is still continuing to change. Work is now more complex, more team base, depends greatly on technological and social skills and lastly more mobile and does not depend on geography. Companies are also opting for ways to help their employees perform their duties effectively so that huge profits are realized in the long term .The changes in the workplaces include Reduction in the structure of the hierarchy ,breakdown in the organization boundaries , improved and better management tactics and perspectives and lastly better workplace condition and health to the employees. (Frank Ackerman, Neva R. Goodwin, Laurie Dougherty, Kevin Gallagher, 2001)
Britain became major exporters. However these new working conditions were often very harsh and pay was very low. Workers went from the flexibility of working for themselves, or working with family ...
The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in human population. For many thousands of years people lived in relative harmony with their surroundings. Population sizes were small, and life-supporting tools were simple. Most of the energy needed for work was provided by the worker and animals. Since about 1650, however, the human population has increased dramatically. The problems of overcrowding multiply as an ever-increasing number of people are added to the world's population each year.