The purpose of this report is to examine the Work Environment Assessment and present the results/findings based on the information gathered through the assessment while providing recommendations on how to address shortcomings and bolster successful practices revealed in the Work Environment Assessment.
Part 1
From the results of my workplace assessment, one of the key aspects to note is that my workplace shows a clear and discernible level of trust, specifically between the leadership and other persons within the workplace environment. By building or promoting trust, the leadership can enhance confidence among other members of the workplace; thus, serving as a guarantee that the workplace would achieve its intended objectives (McManus & Mosca, 2015). The results also that communication at all levels of the organization may be considered as being moderate. The assessment showed laxity in some aspects of communication within the workplace, attributed to a wide array of factors that affect the communication strategy put in place. Lastly, the results also the opportunity for career advancement and promotion within the workplace are sufficient, which has been of great value towards boosting morale among employees.
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The first thing that surprised me from the Work Environment Assessment was the fact that there were no sufficient resources that would allow for professional growth and development. Personally, this surprised me because I have always believed the workplace environment should always be on the forefront towards fostering growth and development from a professional perspective. The second thing that I considered as being most surprising is the fact that the workplace has failed concerning its placement of emphasis on wellness and self-care of individual employees. Failure to promote employee wellness and self-care means that employees may find themselves in a position where their performance may be hampered significantly by a wide array of factors (Alexander, Rollins, Walker, Wong, & Pennings, 2015). One of the key ideas that were confirmed by the results of the assessment was the fact that the workplace has been able to foster an environment of trust.
The results of the assessment suggest that leadership has failed in its approach towards enhancing health as one of the critical aspects that define the performance of their employees in the workplace. That can be seen from the fact that the leadership does not emphasize the employees' wellness and self-care. The expected outcome is that this may create a situation where some of the employees may experience demotivation towards performance, considering that they hold the perception that the leadership does not care about them. Regarding civility, it was clear that leadership has been at the forefront in nurturing civility, which is reflected from the results of the assessment. Civility is a critical factor that helps in building an organization's culture as a reflection of mutual respect. In this case, the leadership has been fundamental towards promoting civility as a critical factor that would define organizational performance.
Part 2: Reviewing the Literature
Clark (2015) engages readers in seeking to understand the concept of civility as it relates to the workplace environment, as it reflects on the expectations projected concerning conduct and behaviours. By promoting civility, leadership can foster an environment that supports mutual respect while creating a platform for openness in every aspect towards improving the workplace environment. In cases where the workplace shows some form of incivility, the outcome would be aggression or violence, which affects the effectiveness of the workplace in seeking to deliver on its key objectives. That supports the position suggesting that indeed, the workplace environment should always operate through civility in trying to establish a front through which to promote positive behaviours.
The results of the Work Environment Assessment pointed to the fact that the leadership has been at the forefront in promoting trust as a way of improving confidence among the employees. That is one of the critical reflections of civility, which is projected by the fact that the leadership understands the vital role that trust would have towards ensuring that employees behave in a manner that can be described as being civil. Additionally, the results of the assessment also relate to the concept of civility, as they reflect on the generalized idea of growth and development from both a personal and professional perspective. For one to achieve growth and development, he or she must be within a local environment that promotes respect and trust from all angles. In this case, the workplace has played a critical role in fostering the need for civility; thus, paving the way for personal and professional growth and development.
The organization could apply the concept of civility by ensuring that the leadership would serve as role models to the other employees, especially in areas such as communication and behaviours in the workplace. The idea is that this would create a better approach through which to create an enhanced capacity for engagement; thus, ensuring that the organization is in a superior position to build stronger work teams. On the other hand, the organization may need to focus on placing much of its emphasis on wellness and self-care. Through this approach, the expectation is that the leadership would work towards improving organizational health as one of the critical factors that would define ultimate performance outcomes. The expected impact of wellness and self-care is that the employees would find themselves in a better position through which to deal with any health issues that they are facing.
Part 3: Evidence-Based Strategies to Create High-Performance
Strategies for Shortcomings
One fundamental shortcoming that has been revealed from the Work Environment Assessment is the fact that the organization faces a challenge in attracting and retaining the 'best and brightest.' That creates the need for having to come up with effective talent management strategies that would help in dealing with this shortcoming. The first key strategy to assist in attracting and retaining talent as part of the organization is providing continuous training and developing opportunities for the employees. Training and development opportunities play a critical role in talent management, considering that they help in improving the full potential of the employees; thus, allowing for the utilization of their talents (Hanaysha, 2016). The challenge that the organization is facing may result from the employees feeling underused or bored attributed to the underutilization of their abilities.
The second strategy to help in attracting and retaining talents as part of the organization is cultivating a culture of rewards and recognition. Along with training and development, compensation and honour play a critical role among employees in seeking to ensure that the employees develop their abilities to perform much more effectively (DDD). The expectation is that this will attempt to create a new platform through which employees can deliver on what is expected of them while feeling appreciated. From an organizational perspective, the leadership may find itself in a viable platform through which to cultivate professional and development of their employees as one of the ways through which to define their performance.
Strategies to Bolster Successful Practices
One of the successful practices that have been revealed from the Work Environment Assessment is the fact that trust remains a central part of the organization. That creates the need for having to focus on strategies that would be of value towards bolstering the success achieved in building trust between leadership and employees. The first strategy that the leadership may consider as part of building trust is seeking to foster a platform for frequent and open communication. Poor communication is one of the leading factors contributing to increased work-related stress, as it becomes much harder for employees to perform based on what is expected of them (McManus & Mosca, 2015). By promoting communication, the leadership would find itself in a much better position through which to build on trust and confidence among its employees.
The second strategy to help in building trust between the leadership and employees is by enhancing transparency in the decision making processes, especially on matters that are likely to impact the employees in one way or another. Honesty remains as one of the critical factors that define the levels of trustworthiness, as it creates a much more advanced platform through which to promote absolute confidence (McManus & Mosca, 2015). The expectation from the leadership is that it will focus much of its attention towards engaging the employees on all matters associated with the organization. That would help create an environment through which employees show a higher level of confidence concerning the fact that the leadership is involving them on a wide array of matters associated with the operations of the organization.
Conclusion
The results of the Work Environment Assessment show a clear and discernible level of trust, communication at all levels of the organization, and opportunity for career advancement and promotion. However, the two main aspects that surprised me from the results were that there were no sufficient resources that would allow for professional growth and development and no emphasis on wellness and self-care of individual employees. The strategies to address any shortcomings revealed in the Work Environment Assessment were continuous training and developing opportunities for the employees and cultivating a culture of rewards and recognition. The strategies to bolster successful practices revealed in the Work Environment Assessment were fostering a platform for frequent and open communication and promoting transparency in the decision making processes.
References
Alexander, G. K., Rollins, K., Walker, D., Wong, L., & Pennings, J. (2015). Yoga for self-care and burnout prevention among nurses. Workplace health & safety , 63 (10), 462-470.
Clark, C. M. (2015). Conversations to inspire and promote a more civil workplace. American Nurse Today, 10 (11), 18-23.
Hanaysha, J. (2016). Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee training on organizational commitment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 229 , 298-306.
McManus, J., & Mosca, J. (2015). Strategies to build trust and improve employee engagement. International Journal of Management & Information Systems (IJMIS) , 19 (1), 37-42.
