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Identifying the Ergonomic Risk Factors of a Job
Full text link[Excerpt] When we experience overexertion of muscles and joints, common symptoms include soreness, pain, discomfort, redness and swelling, limited range of motion, stiffness in joints, weakness and clumsiness, numbing/ tingling sensations (“pins and needles”), popping and cracking noises in the joints, and “burning” sensations in muscles. We need to pay attention to these warnings and act quickly to prevent trauma from becoming more serious. For repetitive jobs, over time, cumulative trauma injuries can develop. At first, our symptoms of pain and/or weakness are felt during work and disappear during off-hours or rest. Usually the body recovers and the problem is completely reversible at this stage. But, if the workplace conditions of the task are not changed, the injury can progress to the point that our symptoms no longer disappear completely between work shifts. This means that our bodies are unable to completely repair the affected tissues during rest. We may find that our symptoms are beginning to interfere with our ability to perform our usual work activities. We might find that we are moving more slowly, taking care how we bend or reach, conserving our movements just to get through the day. But, if the work conditions are still not changed and the trauma is allowed to continue, we may find that the pain persists even at rest, even to the point that we have trouble sleeping. At this stage, severe pain, limited mobility, loss of sensation or muscle weakness can make it impossible to perform most tasks. We find both our work and our home life affected – brushing teeth, combing hair, picking up objects, getting up and down on the toilet – everyday life is impacted
What\u27s HR Got to do with it? A Look at its Effects on the Bottom Line in Service-Based Organizations
Full text link[Excerpt] For a long time it was assumed that service-based organizations could compete on the basis of differentiation or on the basis of low prices, but not both. Great customer service was thought to require customized offerings that were necessarily time-consuming and costly to provide, whereas low prices could be achieved only by offering standardized services delivered in high-volume. More recently, however, spurred on by the Total Quality Management movement in manufacturing, an increasing number of service providers in hospitality, retail, healthcare, and other industries have rejected the conventional wisdom and adopted a so-called hybrid marketing strategy aimed at delivering personalized products and services at very competitive prices. In the telecommunications industry, for example, representatives in service and sales centers (hereafter call centers) are called upon to deliver great customer service by being highly responsive to each caller’s particular concerns while also generating revenue by offering a range of add-on services to meet individual\u27s particular needs or preferences. At the same time, though, these reps are expected to be highly efficient by minimizing the amount of time they spend on each call thus increasing the volume of calls handled per shift. Companies then put in place various HR practices intended to facilitate the simultaneous pursuit of these two seemingly contradictory outcomes. Research shows that this often results in relatively high levels of employee stress, burnout, absenteeism, and turnover. Thus far, though, no study has parsed the effects of existing HR practices on the attainment of the hybrid model’s two key operational outcomes – service quality and labor efficiency – or, ultimately, on the bottom line. The present study aims to fill this gap. As shown in Figure 1 on page 2, it examines the full range of linkages across four HR practices under the control of call center managers (discretionary work design, training, and two forms of compensation), the two operational outcomes (service quality and labor efficiency), and the firm’s preferred measure of profitability (net revenues per call). More specifically, the study addresses two basic questions. First, in call centers pursuing a hybrid marketing strategy which operational outcomes makes the greatest contribution to units’ financial outcomes? Are both equally necessary or is it better to excel at one while being simply okay on the other? Second, which locally-determined human resource practices – either singly or in combination – are most likely to result in the best blend of operational outcomes and, thus, the highest levels of unit profitability
Erasing Red Lines: Part 3 - Building Community Wealth
Full text linkErasing Red Lines of discrimination and inequality from our map is a monumental task that will require transformational systems-change. As community-based organizations are demonstrating the possibilities of alternative systems in specific geographic places, the questions of (1) how to bring those efforts to scale, and (2) how public policies might change in response to the lessons learned from those efforts, require greater attention. Building on the previous installment of this series, this report engages with aspects of these two questions by: (a) further unpacking some of the beliefs, values, and goals that define the current economic system; (b) summarizing and synthesizing selected ideas from the literature to describe mental models that might underwrite a “next system”; and (c) relating a public policy case study from Buffalo, NY, in which a City-run program was redesigned to be a vehicle for bottom-up community empowerment as opposed to a tool for top-down command-and-control. The case study shows how the program redesign implicitly reflects, and explicitly embraces, some of the “next system” mental models that are outlined in the report. For these and other reasons, the program has received (inter)national recognition, and researchers have argued that it might offer budding insights for how local governments can begin reorienting their existing policies away from goals of growth that support the status quo, and toward goals of equity and community wealth-building. The report concludes with a summary of the case study’s practical lessons for policy development moving forward
Occupational Exposure to Cytomegalovirus (CMV): Preventing Exposure in Child Care and Educational Settings, Including OSHA Advisories
Full text linkHow Does HR Need to Change its Operating Model to Align More to Changing Times?
Full text link[Excerpt] The workplace is being shaped by many changes, including digitalization, globalization, demographic shifts, leadership transitions, and organizational redesign. Over the last 10 - 15 years, many large organizations have gone through a structural transformation of their HR function centering on the “three-legged stool model” which distributes HR work into three key groups: HR Business Partners, Centers of Excellence, and Shared Service Centers. This model initially allowed HR to become leaner, less administrative & more strategic, although the adoption and results of the model have been mixed. Inconsistent implementation of theorist recommendations, HR role changes over time, and the changing needs of organisations and how those needs might be fulfilled have signaled a need for further HR change. As the rapid growth and usage of technology has digitized service delivery and customer engagement in every business sector, the HR operating model will need continuous transformation
How Can Organizations Integrate and Connect Learning with Work?
Full text link[Excerpt] Over the last few decades, workforce management has evolved to become complex and dynamic due to an increasingly competitive business landscape, the digital revolution and the mix of employees that now includes a multigenerational workforce. Work roles are expected to keep evolving requiring employees to keep up with new knowledge and upskill to remain employable; and as this happens, the ways of learning change as well. Research has also shown that companies that invest in the development of their employees are 2.4 times more likely to hit their performance targets, hence, organizations need to be proactive about adopting effective strategies that will enable them to manage the development of their employees in a way that supports the business priorities
The Goldilocks Effect of Strategic Human Resource Management? Optimizing the Benefits of a High-Performance Work System Through the Dual Alignment of Vertical and Horizontal Fit
Full text link[Excerpt] Fit is a foundational concept in strategic human resource management (SHRM). In this context, there are two types of ft: vertical ft, which refers to the degree of alignment between a frm’s HR strategy and its business strategy, and horizontal ft, or the extent to which a frm’s bundle of HR activities is aligned or mutually reinforcing. The dual alignment model of SHRM postulates that organizations perform best when both types of ft are in play. This study provides support for the dual alignment model and, thus, for a comprehensive and integrative approach to the design and implementation of HR strategies. Data for the study derive from Workplace Panel Surveys conducted biennially between 2005 and 2011 by the Korean Labor Institute. The overall sample included 1,416 frms representing 17 different industries. Data analysis involved 3,456 establishment-year observations – 806, 842, 897, and 911 across the four years covered by the study
HR and the Implementation of High-Performance Work Practices: Tactics That Work
Full text link[Excerpt] Studies consistently show that bundles of High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs) can and often do contribute to the achievement of a number of positive organizational outcomes including higher productivity, better quality, improved customer service, and enhanced revenues and profits. At the same time, evidence suggests that the HPWPs concept is only slowly diffusing across companies both in the U.S. and abroad. Why is this? Better still, what can HR managers do to close this gap and, thus, better serve their organizations? A study by Michel Hermans, a recent graduate of the ILR School’s PhD program, addresses these questions by identifying the activities that HR organizations worldwide have used to foster the successful adoption of HPWPs in their firms. The study used data obtained from a global survey – the Human Resource Competency Study (HRCS) conducted in collaboration with Dr. Dave Ulrich and the staff at the RBL Group – that ultimately involved 274 business units, primarily in manufacturing and services. Respondents included 6,019 HR managers and 3,603 line manager
The Fair Labor Standards Act at 80: Everything Old is New Again
Full text linkOn the 80th anniversary of the federal wage and hour statute, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), critics warn that it cannot keep pace with shifting business trends. More and more individuals engage in “contract work,” some of which takes place in the much publicized “gig economy.” These work arrangements raise questions about whether these workers are “employees,” covered by U.S. labor and employment law, or “independent contractors.” Subcontracting arrangements, or what some call domestic outsourcing, are also expanding. Indeed, more and more workers in the U.S. economy engage with multiple businesses, raising questions of which of these businesses are “employers” responsible for the payment of wages. These are pressing questions for the judiciary, policymakers, scholars of work, and the U.S. Department of Labor because many of these individuals work in low-wage sectors and do not make minimum wages or overtime premiums for the hours they work. This Article uses a systematic study of thousands of pages of legislative history documents to bring a historical lens to the independent contractor and joint employer debates that are raging on Capitol Hill and in the courts. It concludes that Congress broadly and flexibly worded this New Deal legislation with foresight about the need to cover evolving business relationships regardless of business formalities. It calls for a narrow reading of the independent contractor category and a broad interpretation of employment relationships that should help the FLSA to serve its statutory purpose of ensuring “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” in the twenty-first century