Category: Employment

Work is an important versatile concept of our daily lives. According to Budd (2011), the definition of work is a “purposeful human activity involving physical or mental exertion that is not undertaken solely for pleasure and that has economic or symbolic value”. There are numerous conceptualizations of work as there is no single ‘correct conceptualization’ that would be true for all the people, as everyone tends to believe that different conceptualizations of work are accurate depending on their perspective of employment relations. Some of the known conceptualizations of work include: curse, freedom, commodity, occupational citizenship, disutility, personal fulfillment, social relation, caring for others, identity and service (Budd, 2011). Likewise, there are five different theoretical perspectives on the employment relations: neoliberal, managerialist, orthodox pluralist, liberal reformist and radical (Godard, 2017). Supporting any perspective depends on the political, social and psychological characteristics of the individual and similarly to the conceptualizations of work, there is no right perspective for everyone. In this essay, I will be exploring which conceptualizations of work are embedded in each of the five perspectives and assumptions about power and conflict rooted in those perspectives and finally, I will attempt to determine the most and least effective approaches to governing work for accomplishing the objectives of employment relationships.

Starting with the neoliberal perspective on the employment relations, which is a market-oriented perspective focused on the economic self-interest of the employees and the employers (Reynolds, 1984). The conceptualizations of work that are embedded in the neoliberal perspective are work as a commodity and a freedom. Those conceptualizations are true for the neoliberal perspective because work is a democratic right that people need to exercise and need to be paid for work as it is a service with the real economic value that they provide for the employer. Payment for work encourages people to enjoy the results of their labor, such as purchasing things and services that bring joy to them. When it comes to conflict, the neoliberal perspective denies its existence as according to this perspective, employees and employers have a mutual understanding about one another’s role and responsibilities; therefore, there is no room or need for the conflict. Additionally, the neoliberal perspective sees power in the work relationships between the employer and employees as not important as it assumes the power to be equally distributed.

Following with the managerialist perspective on the employment relations, which views the relationship between the employer and the employees as partnership in order to achieve the common goal. Managerialist perspective puts minimal importance on the power and conflict as with the right HR practices and policies; there is an assumption that there should be no reasons or for conflict as the employees and the employer as there is an expectation of the employer to provide an equitable accommodative workplace towards the employees and the employees would respond with the loyalty towards the employer (Godard, 2017). If the conflict does occur in the managerialist perspective, it is assumed to occur due to the economic reasons, for example, employee wages negotiations with the employer. When it comes to the conceptualizations of the managerialist perspective, the concept that relates most closely to it is work as a personal fulfillment. This conceptualization implies that employees and employers do their jobs because it satisfies some of their psychological and physical needs and makes them grow emotionally. This relates to the managerialist perspective in a way that the employees do their work by choice and are happy to do it; meanwhile, it is in employer’s best interest to keep the employees happy with their job and accommodate them if needed.

The orthodox pluralist perspective is in the middle of the spectrum when it comes to the importance of power in the relationship between employees and employer. The orthodox pluralist perspective assumes that there is inequality between the employees and the employer where the employer has the power advantage. This perspective assumes that conflict is inevitable as long as management and workers exist, there will be inequality and reasons for conflict. From the orthodox pluralist perspective, conflict is assumed to exist between the economic and social interests of management and workers (Katz and Kohan, 1992). The conceptualization of work that is most compatible with the orthodox pluralist perspective is occupational citizenship. Like the orthodox pluralist perspective, occupational citizenship is concerned with the human rights and standards of human dignity when it comes to employment. The major similarity that both conceptualization and perspective thrive towards is to give an opportunity the employees to express their voice in the workplace in order to try to achieve the same power level as the employer and to resolve conflicts. For example, employee voice can be expressed in a form of a strike as a protest against unfair labor practices established by the employer.

The liberal reformist perspective on employment relations is focused on inequality and social justice in the relationship between the employer and the employees (Adams, 1995). The conceptualization that is embedded in the liberal reformist perspective is work as a social relation. Out of all known conceptualizations of work, social relation is the most liberal reformist due to the its primary concern for the interaction between social classes. Based on this perspective, management and the employer are viewed as a representativeness of the representatives of the upper or upper-middle class; meanwhile, the employees are viewed as lower and working class. Due to the social class differences, there are expectations about how the employees and employees are able to treat one another: treating employees with contempt is normalized by employers; meanwhile, it is expected that employees treat the employers with relentless respect. This perspective thrives to achieve the balance of power between employees and employers though the unionization and the bargaining (Godard, 2017). The liberal reformist perspective assumes a large power imbalance between workers and the management, which leads to conflict of interest, which has mainly social reasons caused by the social class differences.

Finally, the radical perspective focuses on conflict as an absolutely necessary part of employment relations between employer and employees, which is impossible to be avoided due to the big power imbalance (Kelly, 1998). The conceptualization of work that is embedded in the radical perspective is work as a disutility since work is directly associated with continuous unresolvable conflict and oppression that workers undergo daily in order to be able to get the things and services necessary for living. Power has a fundamental role in work as a disutility conceptualization as it assumes great power imbalance where workers have no choice but to try to fight against oppression by the capital (the employer/management) and where employees (labor) are forced to work in misery due to the social class differences. The reasons for the conflict in the radical perspective are entirely social as differences arise from the power imbalance between employees and employers, who aim to exploit workers as much as possible in order to get maximum possible profits (Godard, 2017). Radical perspective is a complete opposite of the neoliberal perspective as it assumes that individual employees have no power and they will never be able to achieve the power balance with the employer, who would aim to exploit the workers no matter what.

In conclusion, the five perspectives on employment relationships have differences and similarities with one another, however, some of them are more effective to achieve the three objectives of the employment relations than the others. The three objectives of the employment relations are voice, efficiency, and equity (Budd, 2004). I believe that the perspective that is the most effective in achieving the three objectives of employment relations is orthodox pluralist perspective since its main goal is to achieve an equitable balance of power between the employee and the employer by giving the employees the voice to express their workplace concerns to their employer, while still maintaining the efficiency of the workplace. Even though the employer has more power than the employees according to the orthodox pluralist perspective, to some extent this might be necessary in order to achieve the work goals, as long as the employees thrive for a fair and equitable workplace and use their voice if it has been violated. The approach that I think is the least effective when it comes to governing work for achieving the three different objectives of the employment relationships is the Radical perspective of employment relationships. I think that the reasons this perspective would be unsuccessful in governing work is that it assumes that conflict is impossible to resolve due to the class differences between employees and the employer and therefore the equity objective of the employment relationship is impossible to achieve as well. When it comes to the voice and efficiency objectives, the radical perspective is focused on the inability of the employees to express their voice properly due to social oppression and efficiency is reached forcefully due to the exploitation of the workers by management. This perspective might still be an accurate representation of the workplace in some of developing countries, however, for Canada, this perspective is very outdated and not progressive enough to represent modern values in the Canadian workplace.

Globalization has changed the employment market into a multi-cultural one which begs for a clear recognition of cultural differences. These differences need to be understood, recognized and considered especially when implementing HR practices such as recruitment and selection and performance management (White, 2015). As Ulrich (Ulrich, 1998) put it: “Globalization requires organizations to move people, ideas, products and information around the world to meet local needs”. This has brought a number of changes to the employment market due to the increased competitive intensity. Recruiting, retaining and motivating the best people has become much more difficult and expensive. Teams are more culturally diverse, and this will make effective and efficient operations much more challenging.

A CIPD report, ‘Internal Recruitment, Selection and Assessment’, investigates the challenges associated with global resourcing in UK firms. The research concluded that organizations need to strive to understand local and cultural contexts and the reasons people want to work for them in each international labor market they recruit in. The consequence is a need for more investment in managing the existing volatile employment market so that organizations can operate on a global scale as well as they do locally.

Technology can be defined as “the state of knowledge concerning ways of converting resources into outputs” (OECD, 2001). Emerging technologies are having a huge impact on the employment market. Digital platforms have altered the way businesses are run as they are increasingly being used within work an online marketplace (Morgan, 2014). Robotics are affecting the employment market as industrial robots are taking on routine tasks usually performed by manufacturing employees (Frey & Osborne, 2017) leading to a decrease in the demand for employees. Also, evidence suggests that workers are increasingly using AI platforms via the gig economy to take on jobs (Deloitt, 2016). Technology has also facilitated the increase in remote working, which has led to a decline in the physical workplace. The increase in virtual connectedness has also opened the world to new ways of acquiring, developing, and managing talent and work.

Technical change also has the capacity to give rise to new sectors of activity which will affect the employment marking by creating demands for different skills and capabilities. The creative sector, for example has been transformed by the introduction of digital technology. There has been a move to the development of multimedia computer games and apps (Williams, et al., 2012).

Demographic trends have direct implications for employment markets through labor supply, demand and productivity. Aging societies will face difficult economic and social challenges as the labor force will shrink when workers retire. In 1992, one in five people in employment was over 50. According to a CIPD report, ‘Avoiding the Demographic Crunch: Labor Supply and the Ageing Workforce’ (June 2015), more than one in ten workers across most industry groups are over 60, while more than one in four are over the age of 50.

The point at which people leave the work force will have an impact on the employment market. In the UK, progress has been made to improve the labor force participation at older ages. However, although there has been an increase in the number of older people in employment, many are still leaving employment between their mid-50s and mid-60s (CIPD, 2015). This is because many industries have a poor record of retaining older workers especially in finance, public administration and ICT. This will result in losing skilled and experienced staff. Businesses can counteract the labor supply gap by striving to extend the working lives of existing employees and nurturing younger talent to help them acquire the skills needed to take the place of more experienced workers.

From a different point of view, demographic change, especially an ageing population may give rise to an increased demand for medical products (for instance self-diagnostic blood pressure machines) and social health services (for instance home care). Furthermore, an ageing population will increase the demand for people to work in the medial and caring sector.

Technological advances are the drivers of change for the future of employment markets. According to a report issued by the World Economic Forum (2018), automation will reduce the full-time workforce and organizations are planning to extend their workforce to new productivity enhancing roles, with automation leading to the creation of new roles. This will require proficiency in new technology as well as other ‘human skills’. Emotional intelligence is also at the forefront of required skills. Organizations will be looking to the availability of talent in different geographical bases of operations. Developments in internet and mobile technologies have increased the ability of remote working and out of the physical office.

It is impossible to investigate the changes of the employment market overtime without taking into consideration Brexit. As Stehen Bevan, head of HR Research and Development at the Institute for Employment Studies, said: “Isolating the effects of Brexit from a range of other factors influencing the way the UK labor market is performing – such as globalization, the growth of technology and automation, and structural changes in the economy – is a complex task” (Brown, 2019). While one in five employers think that Brexit will open up new growth opportunities for their organization, three in five business leaders feel that the skills shortage will worsen after the UK officially leaves the European Union (Muller-Heyndky, 2019). UK business will no longer be able to rely on tapping the EU employment market so they need to implement agile working and strengthen their talent strategies.

According to people and performance director of Formica, Michelle Robson there as skills concerns at many levels. “We’re a business based on freight, and not knowing how easily imports/exports will move is a concern. We may need to find an expert who has specific experience in dealing with export issues, because currently we don’t have anyone in the business with this skill”, she says. “Having an expert in this narrow specialism could be the difference between having continuous production and production that has to stop and start – the latter of which would also affect resourcing”. Robson is also concerned that Brexit could affect Formica’s ability to source the right talent to deal with its multinational customer base. In the past year Formica has strived to keep its staff by investing heavily in training and development (Crush, 2018).

The UK economy is increasingly relying on the services sector, shifting the focus from the manufacturing industries towards services. This has affected the employment market as there has been an increase in the demand for knowledge intensive labor. This demand is likely to intensify in the future. This, when coupled with the advance in technology, is leading to an increasing demand for high skilled labor as automation is replacing low skilled workers. The employment market has also seen a rise in the supply of part-time and self-employed workers as the ageing population are seeking to reduce their hours and work autonomously.

Future skills demand will depend on overall levels of economic demand and is influenced by the changing structure of employment. According to a UK Commission for Employment and Skills briefing paper: “The share of employment in the primary and utilities and manufacturing sectors is expected to fall. Productivity growth and increased specialization in key industries will lead to a further fall in manufacturing employment. In contrast, construction is expected to increase its share of employment, partly as a result of government investment in public infrastructure projects. In trade, accommodation and transport, employment growth from 2012-2022 is expected to be greater than from 2000-2012. Growth in the business services sector will be higher than in trade, accommodation and transport, but lower than levels experienced from 2000-2012, which partly reflects the legacy of the economic crisis in financial services. Overall, this sector will remain highly important for employment over the medium-term. The non-marketed services sector (composed of public administration, education, health, residential care and social work) will continue to grow to 2022, but at a lower rate than between 2000 and 2012, mainly as a result of Government’s plans to reduce public sector employment levels. The overall share of public sector employment will fall” (UKCES, 2014).

In conclusion, the future of the employment market remains uncertain. Radical changes in technology or new trade barriers could alter the demand for skills and capabilities. Organizations will need to change to optimize the gains from technology. Meeting future challenges will call for a more flexible and responsive skills system which better meets current and future economic needs.

SME stands for small or medium sized enterprises. Munro D. (2013) touches upon the distinctive requirements a company needs to be defined as one, for example, a company can only be categorized as an SME in the UK if the amount of staff working for them is below 250, and the total amount received from the Statement of Financial Position (SOFP) is less than or equal to £34 million (The FSE Group, 2018). SMEs are looked at as a key part of the economic structure in developed countries such as the UK with reporting that small businesses accounted for 99.3% of organizations in the private sector in 2017. Also, they go into more detail about the total employment in SMEs being 16.1 million (ANON. 2018) which highlights the fact that more than half of employment in the private sector is coming from SMEs. These statistics indicate how SMEs create many jobs, although the quality of the job isn’t taken into account. Hackman and Oldham’s (1976, p. 250) job characteristics model explores the relationship of the quality of the job and tasks the employee is given and how this might affect their motivation at work. This theory helps the reader to understand how important financial and non-financial factors are in relation to the quality of job given. However, it doesn’t go into further detail to specify whether larger organizations are the ones handing out these ‘quality jobs’, or if these types of jobs are coming from SMEs. Nevertheless, many researchers have noted that access to capital for owners of SMEs is very limited. This means that it might be more difficult for SMEs to provide quality jobs which could be one barrier which is inhibiting their development.

In the first couple years of trading, SMEs would be looking at survival as their main corporate objective with their being no genuine impact being made on the economy if they were to not focus on surviving and go bankrupt after a year with all these jobs already being created. The Office for National Statistics (Scruton et al., 2018) does not support the idea of a low survival rate for SMEs as its discoveries show that 60.5% of SMEs created in 2011 have survived at least three years. This evidence indicates that SMEs can create very important jobs. The findings included small firms that are both innovative and non-innovative. Although, it doesn’t state which type of firm contributes more in creating jobs. Many writers argue that high growth innovative firms are in the lead in terms of job creation due to the fact that they’ll need to employ more workers with it being easier to create new ideas, processes and enter niche markets with more employees being involved in the decision-making process. This highlights how the managers and directors of SMEs should be taking a more democratic leadership approach. However, this could potentially slow down the decision-making process which ultimately gives you less room for error. Furthermore, not every high growth firm in the SME sector has to be innovative with different markets having different needs, and many markets being unsaturated making it easier for the smallest of companies to enter.

A well-developed SME sector can positively affect economic growth and increase GDP with SMEs adding £473 billion to the UK economy (ANON, 2018). All things considered, as well as the economic benefits that SMEs bring, they are also responsible in giving back to society with many having a high corporate social responsibility (CSR) status is at a respectable level. This means that they voluntarily interlink the social concerns they might have into their business operations with their employees, for example, SMEs have given a chance for low skilled workers to develop their skills by the way of training and skills development with recent surveys showing that 55% of SME employers arranging funded training or development for staff in the 2016 (Longitudinal Small Business Survey Year 2, 2016). They also help their employee’s access to public sector needs such as health care which is important as it suggests that they are looking into helping to fix real life issues going on today, such as the fluctuating employment and poverty rate with many people being in the category of relative low income and as many as 4.6 million people were experiencing ‘persistent poverty’ (ANON, 2018), although, in recent years, this has started to decline in and around the aftermath of the recession with increases in employment also starting to occur.

Even though SMEs can be very successful, the biggest types still may not be able to contribute as much to employment the same way larger organizations do. However, in recent years, statistics show this may not be the case for much longer. A simple survey conducted by the Academy for Chief Executives (2018) which was gathered as recently as September 2018 highlighted that the main issue involving the success of UK SMEs at this moment of time is ‘people’ who are a key part of the marketing mix. They concluded that there were many different problems that these businesses were facing in regards to people, for example, in order for the business to grow both organically and externally they would have to look at recruiting the right individual for the job which might need them to check if they have the appropriate qualifications. The latest Aldermore Future Attitudes report reveals that 67% of SMEs find it difficult to hire qualified staff members or keep existing talent in their companies. The evidence indicates that SMEs may not be able to offer certain roles which larger organization will due to the fact that they put a large amount of emphasis on creating ‘quality’ jobs as this will benefit them in the long term with retaining and developing a workforce saving costs and time in the long term.

It is common business knowledge that SMEs have many opportunities to grow; however, the actual challenge they face is financing these opportunities which are coming their way. This is because it is currently difficult for smaller firms to gain access to finance with SMEs usually being met with higher interest rates in comparison to larger organizations due to a shortage of assets in order to secure loans. These financial problems they face can impact the amount in which they contribute to employment in the future as these firms may start to focus their strategies on other areas rather than training and developing employees. As a result, this could lead to a higher labor turnover.

To conclude, it is evident that SMEs are very important to the UK economy in terms of employment. But then again, many researchers have come to an agreement that this hasn’t always been the case with statistics from the financial crisis going against the idea that SMEs create significant new jobs. This could possibly change again in the near future with the Bank of England warning that a no-deal Brexit could trigger an even worse recession than the last financial crisis (BBC News, 2018), which could possibly impact both the poverty and employment rate negatively like it did during the last recession. Nevertheless, the findings presented in this essay highlight that it is looking very positive as of this moment right now in regards to job creation with SMEs having a different variety of jobs available as they’re able to grow so much due to the conditions of different markets, some very competitive, but others being unsaturated.

This research aims to investigate how the green economy can create new job opportunities, therefore defining some future social scenarios in Italy. The reason for which the green economy can create new employment for future generations is due to the use of new ecological and non-pollutant technologies that have been created and that will be furtherly developed in the near future.

The reason for which Italy has been chosen for this research is because it is one of the most developed countries in this sector and has already started to create innovative working scenarios for people that have proved to have the right skills. Indeed, the green economy can’t produce at the moment new job opportunities for present generations as they have not yet developed the appropriate skills to use them at their full potential. Italy has the chance to promote, throughout the green economy, an advanced and ecological economy, that won’t benefit merely Italy’s pollution, but, overall, the country’s whole well-being.

Economists and sociologists may draw some future outlook: the green economy will progressively substitute ‘old’ and ‘antique’ jobs with more advanced and efficient jobs. This does not mean an immediate decrease in unemployment or an increase in Italy’s GDP, it firstly just creates a shift in the demand and supply of green jobs. But in the upcoming mid and long term, the green economy should drive solid growth trends if correctly incentivized by the government, therefore ensuring to Italy a more ecological future.

Green Economy

The green economy, as stated from the United Nations, has no real definition: “There is no internationally agreed definition of the green economy and at least eight separate definitions were identified in recent publications”. The UNEP has defined the green economy as “one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. It is low carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive”, while the Green Economy Coalition defined it as “a resilient economy that provides a better quality of life for all within the ecological limits of the planet”. The green economy can thereby be defined as an economy that aims to increase human well-being meanwhile reducing environmental risks and respecting the ecological limits of the planet.

Analysis

The first data is collected from Green Alliance’s study on how the circular economy could affect unemployment in Italy, Poland and Germany by 2030.

The circular economy is a subset of the green economy: the green economy focuses from waste management to increasing human well-being, while the circular economy focuses mainly on waste management, waste prevention and resource efficiency. The latter not only includes the correct use of materials and natural resources, but also the correct management of human skills and resources, trying to reduce unemployment by using employer’s full potential and providing them with new job opportunities, suitable for their skills. The circular economy keeps products, parts and materials in the economy for as long as possible, using the least amount of resources. Ideally, this means the direct reuse of products, which preserves both the highly engineered character of a product and its useful function.

Green Alliances’s study outlines how a growth in the circular economy could create more jobs in the bioeconomy, recycling, repairing and, the most important, at the base of the circular economy, remanufacturing. This eager plan could give work to at least 270,000 unemployed people in Poland, Germany and Italy, saving at least €3 billion in unemployment costs: this is because jobs related with the circular economy, known as green jobs, are predicted exist also after 2025.

In particular, for Italy, Green Alliaces’s focus is on how an ambitious circular economy policy could double circular bioeconomy activity in Italy, revitalizing its southern agricultural economy and reducing the north-south unemployment divide, with two thirds of all net jobs created in the south and island regions.

It was argued that the green economy could create new jobs for future generations in Italy. It showed how the economy is progressing with no new initiatives: there are 35000 gross jobs, the largest employment increase is in the islands by 0.22% and in plant and machine operators and assemblers by 0.20% and there has been a reduction in unemployment costs by €0.15bn. It also explained the second situation with current growth rates: there would be 220,000 gross jobs, a 0.58% decrease in unemployment in the south and a 1.45% increase in trades and related occupations and a reduction in unemployment costs of €0.75 billion. The final scenario explained and demonstrated how the green economy could create new jobs: there would be 541,000 gross jobs, a 1.26% drop in unemployment in the south, and the biggest occupational unemployment fall will be of 3.38% in craft and related trades and a reduction of €1.69bn in unemployment costs. The third scenery also argues that 92% of the jobs available due to the green economy will be future proof, that the bioeconomy in Italy will expand massively and that inequality will be reduced.

Italy’s unemployment is above the EU average, at 12.7 percent, although the spread of unemployment rates between the north and south is vast, with the south having some of the highest in Europe, at 20.4 percent, and the island regions on 21.2 percent, while the north east is at 7.7 percent. Occupational mismatch is also significant, spanning 3.97 percent for professionals to 20.06 percent in elementary occupations.

Bioeconomy

The bioeconomy comprises those parts of the economy that use renewable biological resources from land and sea – such as crops, forests, fish, animals and micro-organisms – to produce food, materials and energy. Europe is setting course for a resource-efficient and sustainable economy. The goal is a more innovative and low-emissions economy, reconciling demands for sustainable agriculture and fisheries, food security, and the sustainable use of renewable biological resources for industrial purposes, while ensuring biodiversity and environmental protection. To achieve this, the European Commission has set a bioeconomy strategy and action plan which focuses on three key aspects: developing new technologies and processes for the bioeconomy; developing markets and competitiveness in bioeconomy sectors; pushing policymakers and stakeholders to work more closely together. Moreover, the Commission works on ensuring a coherent approach to the bioeconomy through different programs and instruments. The innovative bioeconomy is an important source of new jobs – especially at local and regional level, and in rural and coastal areas – and there are big opportunities for the growth of new markets, for example in bio-fuels, food and bio-based products.

One of the best opportunities for Italy is in the bioeconomy. Italy could build on its large process manufacturing sector, which is the second largest in Europe after Germany. This type of manufacturing involves the food, beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods and biotechnology industries.

Italy has a large and successful agricultural sector focusing particularly on grapes, olives and citrus fruits, as well as grains. The sector produces nine million tons of waste annually and 20 million tons of crop residues, which could find valuable reuse opportunities in composting, anaerobic digestion and, eventually, bio refining. Already, Italy has 240 compost plants and 43 anaerobic digestion plants, together employing more than 2,600 people and processing 5.6 million tons of waste annually. By 2030 bioeconomy activity in Italy could grow well above the rate of scenario 3. Moreover, current circular bioeconomy activity takes place disproportionately in the north of the country: only 22 percent of anaerobic and composting facilities are located in the south or island regions, even though these regions contain around half of Italy’s agricultural land. The imbalance of waste supply suggests additional composting and anaerobic plants are likely to be built in the south. The high unemployment rates in Italy’s south and island regions provide the right conditions for an expansion of this industry to have a positive impact on the labor market, reducing unemployment rather than displacing people from existing jobs. Even more value can be captured through the opportunities in bioplastics. Italy’s bioplastics industry had a turnover of €370 million in 2012 and further growth would provide regionally dispersed jobs in higher skilled occupations.

Green Jobs

Green jobs are decent jobs that contribute to preserve or restore the environment, be they in traditional sectors such as manufacturing and construction, or in new, emerging green sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency. At the enterprise level, green jobs can produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment, for example green buildings or clean transportation. However, these green outputs (products and services) are not always based on green production processes and technologies. Therefore, green jobs can also be distinguished by their contribution to more environmentally friendly processes. For example, green jobs can reduce water consumption or improve recycling systems. Yet, green jobs defined through production processes do not necessarily produce environmental goods or services.

In Italy there has been the concept awareness of the circular economy and the opportunities connected to it. Some examples of this increasing awareness are described in the essay ‘100 Italian Circular Economy Stories’, in which there are listed the best practices used in large firms, in small and medium firms, from the local authorities and from society. Important events are taking place at national level. The EU is providing further support in this area through, for example, the FORCE project funded by the European Union, aimed at encouraging cities to work together to promote the circular economy. This project involves the city of Genoa, which is hiring a prominent role in the issue of wood waste. The Restarter project of 2018 encourages the creation of a circular economy for second-hand clothes.

Given this information it can be argued that Italy has the possibility to create new job opportunities for future generations in Italy and, if it follows the predictions, it can increase potential employment and, overall, increase Italy’s GDP and national well-being, reducing inequality and increasing standards of living.

Conclusions

What would we like Italy to be in the next decade as far as the green economy and sustainability are concerned? Some studies have outlined some key target areas that need to be addressed and furtherly implemented, and new jobs numbers have been outlined as well:

1. Promote green building practices: apply major renovations in existing homes, schools, offices aiming at very low or passive energy consumption (130000 new jobs).
2. Promote the production and use of renewable energy: fulfill electricity demand using renewable sources, thermal energy and bio-fuels and phase out from carbon-based sources (312000 new jobs).
3. Incentivize the circular economy: produce less waste, extend product lifetime, repair products whenever possible, recycle waste, reuse waste whenever possible (149000 new jobs).
4. Promote sustainable urban life: past styles of life and mobility are too much polluting and should evolve into efficient low impact public transportation within newly designed cities and social environments (111000 new jobs).

These scenarios look very appealing to fit into social issues Italy is facing today: percentage of unemployment is still too high and economic growth is proven at the last ranking within all EU countries.

Of course, these changes will not happen easily. All of the above will never be developed without a strong mid- and long-term investment policy. While this huge effort is responsibility of our government, we also need to help these achievements with our many little daily actions, keeping in mind these upcoming targets, and being knowledgeable about the next sustainability challenges.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said: “There can be no plan B because there is no planet B, both science and economics tell us that we need to change our course very soon”.

Introduction:

This Essay is about Emily who works as a luxury retail manager in the UK and moved to the UAE after getting an attractive offer from a rival company. After coming to the UAE, she realized that the culture in the UAE was different from that of the UK in the way the customers interacted with her. Customers would not come to meetings on time and would contact her personally outside office hours for help. Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory (1984) will be used to evaluate the given issues and give some suggestions for possibly solving them.

Analysis:

After moving to the UAE from the UK Emily realized that the culture in the UAE was more centered on culture. According to Al Mazrouei and Pech (2015), the “UAE is very culturally sensitive and aware”. The clientele in the UAE would ask for her personal contact and contact her outside her office hours which was not seen with clients back in the UK. Another issue to be pointed out was the fact that clients would never get to meetings with Emily on time and would always be around 2 hours late. The clients would also expect her to contact them personally after purchase as the culture in the UAE was such. According to Fernandes and Awamleh (2006), “All justice constructs had an impact on satisfaction for the expatriate group”. Emily would expect the company to provide some sort of rule regarding this issue but the business outlook in the UAE is such that this is seen as the culture within the region.

Looking at the issue where clients would personally contact her outside office hours as noticed in Hofstede’s theory (1984) that when comparing the UAE to the UK there is a difference in the way people interact with others around them. In the UAE the culture is born out of respect and that personal touch which is seen in the case of Emily. To the clients, Emily is seen as a friend more than an employee. For Emily, this was seen to be too personal.

The issue with clients coming in 2-3 hours late for a meeting is something seen in the culture not just in the UAE but also in the GCC countries as a whole. In the UK time is seen as important to the point where people would be at meetings well before time. In the UAE time is given importance but only with regard to certain situations. According to Klein, Waxin, and Randell (2009), the national culture of the UAE greatly influences the organizational culture. This explains why the lack of timekeeping is seen in clients

When Emily mentions the moment when her client was upset that they did not get a personal message from Emily the same point as from the first issue arises. In the UAE the whole idea of creating a more personal relationship is seen as a norm. Unlike in the UK where the relationship between the employee and the client is only work-related the UAE culture is far deeper rooted in making a bond.

All three issues are a case of indulgence vs restraint dimension (Hofstede,1984) with regards to the culture of the UAE vs the UK where Emily used to be. In this case, the UAE is more indulgent in that they allow for more freedom in terms of culture whereas the UK is tighter on their culture with regards to businesses and their clients. Also, these issues also come under the collectivistic dimension (Hofstede,1984) in the UAE where everything is a ‘we’ as compared to an ‘I’ in the UK.

Recommendations:

The main issue with clients not being in on time is can be sorted by a better relationship between employees and the business. Bashir (2012) states that “there is a positive relationship between organizational support and expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment”. The business gives out rules regarding meetings between clients and employees. The advantage is that the client will have to make it for the meeting thus reducing the delay. The caveat here is that clients may not like this system as it may be unfit for a luxury retail brand and therefore may object to the idea.

When clients contact Emily outside of office hours a suggested solution would be to give a certain time period for clients to contact her outside of office hours. It would be a fixed time period throughout the week and must be strictly followed by Emily and her clients. According to de Waal and Frijns (2016) that “Despite the international business setting there is still an Arab business setting that is seen in the business”. Not all clients may find it suitable to contact Emily during the specified time period as it may not match their view on the business setting and will want more flexible timings. Another caveat to be seen is in sudden requests and needs outside of the hours Emily will have set and she may have to make time for such out-of-the-blue requests which are outside of her given time periods. As much as this solution will curb sudden requests, calls, emails, etc. during Emily’s private life those out-of-the-blue requests will always come in and will need to be dealt with

Looking at the final issue the client who expected a mail from Emily has the right to expect it as the culture of the UAE is such. According to Cerimagic (2010)” In order to act appropriately, they need adequate expatriate preparation and cross‐cultural training which can reduce or even prevent expatriate failure”. Emily could train herself towards understanding and adapting to the culture in the UAE but that would mean departing from her original culture as a British national. For the clients, this means Emily will be more understanding of their needs which would be a plus point.

Conclusion:

In summary, the main issue pointed out by this essay is the fact that Emily after having moved to the UAE from the UK as a retail manager of a luxury retail company. Her issues stemmed in that the culture of the UAE was on a personal level, unlike the UK where everything was more professional and to the point. A number of suggestions for the issues were given and they were critically examined

References:

1. AlMazrouei, H. and Pech, R.J., 2015. Working in the UAE: expatriate management experiences. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 6(1), pp.73-93.
2. Bashir, S., 2012. Perceived organizational support and the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in the UAE. Education, Business, and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 5(1), pp.63-82.
3. Cerimagic, S., 2010. Influence of culture on project practices: Insights from Australian project managers in UAE. Education, Business, and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 3(4), pp.277-288.
4. de Waal, A. and Frijns, M., 2016. The influence of the UAE context on management practice in UAE business. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 9(2), pp.236-253.
5. Fernandes, C. and Awamleh, R., 2006. Impact of organizational justice in an expatriate work environment. Management research news, 29(11), pp.701-712.
6. Hofstede, G., 1984. Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values (Vol. 5). sage.
7. Klein, A., France Waxin, M. and Radnell, E., 2009. The impact of the Arab national culture on the perception of ideal organizational culture in the United Arab Emirates: An empirical study of 17 firms. Education, Business, and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 2(1), pp.44-56.

Globalization refers to the socialization, interaction, cooperation, communication, and engagement among organizations, governments, and individuals at the global level. Advancement in communication, transportation, and technology has helped to make globalization a realization where humans engage in real-time transactions, socialization, meetings, treaties, and engagement among others despite having disparate geographical locations. According to Pietro, Girsberger, and Vuille (n.d.), there are four main drivers of globalization: trade, migration, the spread of technology, and foreign investments. The realization of globalization has turned the world into a global village, where individuals thrive through interaction, cooperation, and engagement on the global level. The field of work and employment has greatly benefited from globalization and has seen many employees leave their countries to seek employment abroad. Although globalization has many positive impacts, such as increased job availability for the competent, increased labor market for companies, and improved flexibility in the structure of jobs, it also has challenges due to increased inequality and oppression of vulnerable groups in society, especially women.

Globalization has greatly transformed flexibility in employment around the globe. Individuals can now work easily in a different country or operate from a different country, yet belong to an organization that is located in a different country. According to Pietro, Girsberger, and Vuille (n.d.), there has been a sharp increase in the number of individuals migrating to other countries for employment. It is worth noting that countries exhibit both inflows as well as outflows of labor, which could have adverse impacts on an economy. Pietro, Girsberger, and Vuille (n.d.) reveal that about 16 migrations around the globe are attributed to labor exchanges between nations. Apart from that, it is worth noting that the coming of the Internet has transformed the structure of work, and it has helped many employees to work remotely. Various organizations and governments have greatly adopted the use of remote work structures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many organizations and employees have affirmed their liking for remote work structure, and many entities will retain this work-plan structure.

It is also worth noting that globalization has helped to create new types of jobs at a time when jobs in the traditional job market were dwindling. Globalization and advancement in technology have led to the adoption of machines and automation in the industrial market, which has reduced job opportunities in these traditional job havens. On the other hand, the emergence of online audiences has created employment opportunities for many content creators and businesses. Advancement in globalization has helped to generate many new job positions that did not exist during the industrial revolution era.

Globalization has also had immense impacts on the employment of women since it has helped to open up more job opportunities for women. Women have been empowered in various ways in the globalized world, where many have found passion to engage in online content creation, migrate to another country for better-paying jobs, acquire skills from international peers through online platforms, and many others. This has helped to increase the participation of women in the market economy and employment, in both developed as well as developing nations.

According to Helpman (2018), globalization has led to an increase in wealth inequality among nations, with developed nations reaping greater benefits from globalization as compared to developing nations. This is true considering that developed nations are the manufacturers of most products and reap the benefits through profits in selling such products and services to developing nations. Inequality in economic empowerment of nations in the age of globalization has exposed women in developing nations to financial frustrations due to a lack of access to job opportunities. This has made them vulnerable to engaging in diverse money-generating activities that endanger their lives. As Helpman states, young unemployed women in developing nations are vulnerable to being tapped by rich tourists flocking to developing nations for pleasure. Economic frustration has also pushed many women to seek self-employment, which has many challenges for women, such as low wages, market instability, and the risk of undergoing losses.

Globalization is largely to blame for the worsening economic condition in most developing nations, due to economic inequality in the global market. The mass exodus of women from developing nations to other nations to find employment opportunities is a good sign of the impact of globalization on women and work. According to Laiboni (1999), women in developing nations such as Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are actively engaged in the pursuit of greener employment opportunities in the Middle East. This is mainly fueled by the dwindling employment opportunities in the traditional job market in the industries. Laiboni reports that developing nations such as Kenya and Uganda report high rates of unemployment among the youth. Women report higher unemployment rates in developing nations, which has pushed many to seek employment opportunities in other markets, especially the Middle East. However, these women face many challenges and problems in their pursuit of work in the Middle East, with many suffering psychological, physical, sexual, and emotional torture from their masters. Laiboni reveals that most domestic workers from developing nations working in the Middle East face dehumanizing treatment and even death at the hands of their masters. Laiboni reports the case of Pamela Mbogo, who once worked as a domestic worker in Bahrain, where she was mistreated and locked inside the house for days as punishment, but was forced to seek yet another employment opportunity in Saudi Arabia due to lack of employment in her native land Kenya. The lack of employment in the local market has forced many women to travel to foreign nations to seek greener pastures. Laiboni reports that at least 1.5 million Ethiopian girls are working in the Middle East. This trend began in Ethiopia in the 1980s and has since increased rapidly, enabling more and more women to travel to the Middle East to seek employment. Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania are also active participants in the Middle East job market, each contributing at least 100,000 women in the foreign job market. It is worth noting that women face dehumanizing treatment and conditions during their stay as employees in the Middle East, but they are forced to persevere through harsh treatment due to ineffective governmental and legal protection. Women are forced to seek job opportunities in the Middle East due to corruption and dwindling economic conditions in the job market, which prevents them from accessing job positions. Considering that globalization is the driver of the migration of women to foreign nations, it follows that it has adverse impacts on women’s experiences.

In summary, it is evident that globalization has many impacts on work and employment. Globalization and employment are closely intertwined terms because employment is one of the drivers of globalization, presenting a reverse impact on globalization. Globalization has led to changes in employment structure, it has increased job opportunities, empowered women’s participation in the job market, as well as exposed many vulnerable employees such as women to many challenges.

Creating a business and growing it to generate a profit is entrepreneurship. But that definition is somewhat limiting. The more modern definition of entrepreneurship refers to transforming the world by tackling pressing issues. Social alternatives or bringing about a revolutionary product that challenges the status quo of our day-to-day lives are referred to as entrepreneurship. It’s when people take control of their careers and dreams and lead them in the path they desire. The meaning of entrepreneurship involves an entrepreneur or a visionary who undertakes action to bring about a change in the world.

Sustainable employment is the capability of the employee to provide value addition for an organization presently and in the future, while also experiencing added value themselves. Research has shown the significance of entrepreneurship as a tool for the sustainable creation of jobs, a crucial factor needed to grow every country’s frugality, especially in developing nations. In a country, entrepreneurship is a sure way to fulfill one’s aspirations and a key weapon in fighting unemployment, poverty, and underdevelopment. For this reason, its importance to each individual and family cannot be exaggerated.

Unemployment among highly educated or skilled youth is a significant challenge for many economies. If such young people were to become entrepreneurs and form new companies, they would not only create jobs for themselves but also create jobs for others. Presently, many developing countries are seeing unemployment as a rising issue. This has caused a spike in people’s interest in starting their own businesses. Small businesses are for the most part regarded as the driving force of economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction in developing countries.

Creating a new venture stimulates the economy by creating employment opportunities for different sections of society. Setting up a brand-new venture creates employment possibilities for laborers, providers of inputs and business systems, marketing traders, and so on. These opportunities provide impetus to the country’s economic growth. Multiple sectors benefit in parallel when new enterprises are set up and while existing enterprises expand. Employment opportunities are created by the entrance of new units in the economy. When there is an increment in the production capacity of the existing units, more employment opportunities are created. A new industrial unit will require raw materials, power, water, banking, communication facilities, plant and machinery, furniture and fixtures, etc. The providers of all these goods and facilities will get work from the establishment of the new unit. The suppliers of all the goods and services will be gaining from this demand. These inputs and services will be required regularly, causing an ongoing demand for these things. The goods and services produced by the entrepreneurs will be marketed. This would require the services of traders. The increase in commercial activity will further require the services of transport, insurance, warehousing or storage, advertisement, etc. The resultant effect would be the creation of more employment opportunities in the economy.

Mr. Anurag Jain, Secretary of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), stated that around 6.5 lakh Indians have got employment with the emergence of more and more start-ups in India. He also mentioned that DPIIT is strategizing to generate 20 lakh of new employment in the sector by officially registering 50,000 new start-ups in the upcoming three years, that is, by 2025. Hence, this shows how important entrepreneurship is for generating and sustaining employment.

In order to analyze entrepreneurship as a tool for sustainable employment, let us look at a company founded in the last decade that has helped create thousands of job opportunities in India, Lenskart.

Created in 2010, Lenskart is an Indian optical prescription eyewear retail chain founded by Peyush Bansal and Amit Chaudhury. Lenskart is India’s fastest-growing eyewear business today. With over 5000 employees working for Lenskart, the company has provided thousands of employment opportunities to the Indian workforce. Not only that, it has managed to retain most of its employees by providing them with special benefits and taking good care of them so that labor turnover is minimum. Almost all the employees love to work at Lenskart.

In order to understand how a company helps employment in multiple sectors, it is important to break down the opportunities a company of this scale provides to the economy. Firstly, Lenskart comprises of more than 500 stores in over 40 cities across the country, providing retail, sales, and marketing employment opportunities to the people. Secondly, the company houses over 300 engineers, programmers, and data scientists, helping provide jobs in the technology sector, which is seeing a massive job crunch in recent times. Lastly, their production comes from a manufacturing facility in New Delhi, which produces over 3 lakh pairs of glasses every month. This factory not only helps direct employment for over 500 workers there but also provides impetus to the suppliers and transporters of the raw materials for these glasses, causing the generation of many employment opportunities.

As and when these companies grow, the opportunities provided also grow with them. For instance, Lenksart is planning to hire more than 1600 employees in the coming year with 1,500 more retail employees to oversee its stores, and more than 100 engineers to the technology team across Bangalore, Hyderabad, and NCR.

Such great was Peyush Bansal’s success from his start-up company Lenskart that recently he was invited as an investor on Shark Tank, India. He has invested in more than 15 start-ups on the show and has made his vision very clear that for every rupee he spends in India, he wants the betterment of his fellow Indians and wants India to prosper. This has shown that after he succeeded, he helped other budding entrepreneurs to emerge and helped in sustainable employment.

As of today, entrepreneurship has to a large extent contributed to the financial advancement of countries and has generated employment opportunities for a number of individuals. Apart from increasing national income by the formation of new job opportunities, entrepreneurship acts as a constructive force in economic growth by serving as the bridge between innovation and the marketplace and serving as a tool for sustainable employment.

I believe you should hire me over the other applicants due to my knowledge that I will be going over soon, I have the ability to work well with other staff members, and of course, due to the fact I have experience working as an MR at Bloxton Hotels. It means I would be able to be an MR at SizzleBurger, and due to my experience as an MR at Bloxton Hotels, I am required to learn about how to use basic commands, assist at training sessions, have good leadership skills, ensure the place is organized, deal with trollers and exploiters, respond to customers and staff members’ concerns, and of course, help the community.

I am very active on Discord, therefore I believe it would be very beneficial to the community as I would be able to help many customers and staff members through our communication server, by responding to their concerns on the community and staff channels, and of course, through direct messages.

I am also very active on Roblox, so I believe it would be very beneficial as I would be able to assist at training sessions, make shifts at the restaurant, and of course, respond to tickets.

As English is not considered my first language, it means that I can speak another language, and yes I do. I am Brazilian, therefore I speak Portuguese. I believe it would be very beneficial to SizzleBurger due to the fact that most of the staff members are not able to speak Portuguese and there is always a customer who speaks Portuguese and doesn’t know how to speak English. Therefore, I believe it would be very beneficial, and of course, I would be able to help them, if necessary.

I am very active in the community. I am always professional and polite while I am on duty as I am always trying to offer great customer service and be a good employee at SizzleBurger.

I always take care of myself, spending time with my family, friends, and of course, myself. I always take care of my mental health, as in my view, overworking yourself and not having time for yourself is not considered healthy.

I would love to have the pleasure of working as an MR at SizzleBurger and I believe it could benefit me and my career as well. It seems to be a fun position, I could make new friends there, and of course, I would like to have the experience of being a member of the SizzleBurger management team. I believe I could be a good staff member in the community.

In conclusion, I believe I would be able to receive a management intern position due to my experience, and of course, my knowledge. Therefore, I believe you should choose me over other applicants.

Interpersonal trust can be defined as ‘the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party’ (Mayer et al., 1995). There are three main facets of trust (Whitener et al.,1998): first, trust in another person reflects a person’s expectation or belief that the exchange partner will act benevolently; secondly, trust involves the willingness to be vulnerable and risk that the other person may not fulfill the expectations; and thirdly, trust involves a certain level of dependency which means that a person is affected by the actions of others. Hence, in workplace relationships, employees will feel safer and more positive about their managers and peers when they believe that their leaders and peers are trustworthy. In contrast, low levels of trust lead to psychologically distressing situations, as leaders or peers may have power over important aspects of one’s job (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002). As a consequence, trust should have a strong and direct effect on employee satisfaction.

Rotter (1967) defined interpersonal trust as ‘. . . an expectancy held by an individual or a group that the word, promise, verbal or written statement of another individual or group can be relied upon’ Trust in the supervisor is seen as pivotal for leader effectiveness and work unit productivity Moreover, the leader’s behavior is fundamental in determining the level of interpersonal trust in a work unit. These supervisor behaviors include those often used to delineate higher-quality exchanges, i.e. sharing appropriate information, allowing mutuality of influence, and not abusing the vulnerability of others. Trust is a relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law, and their previous promises. Trust does not need to involve belief in the good character, vices, or morals of the other party. Persons engaged in a criminal activity usually trust each other to some extent. Also, trust does not need to include an action that you and the other party are mutually engaged in. Trust is a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown.

Studies on the effects of trust (Dirks & Ferrin, 2001) have found that it leads to more positive workplace attitudes (e.g. employee satisfaction and commitment), workplace behaviors (e.g. knowledge sharing, organizational citizenship behavior), and performance outcomes (e.g. individual performance, group performance, and business-unit performance). Trust enables cooperative behavior, promotes network-based forms of organization, reduces conflicts, decreases transaction costs, facilitates rapid formulation of ad hoc work groups, and promotes effective responses to crises (Rousseau et al.,1998).

Interpersonal trust can be defined as a person’s willingness to depend on another person’s actions that involve opportunism (Williams,2001; Zand, 1972). By sharing a brand new idea with a team member, one is willing to risk the ownership of the idea. Trusting an individual means ‘the probability that he or she will perform an action that is beneficial or at least not detrimental to us is high enough for us to consider engaging in some form of cooperation with him.'(Gambetta, 1988: 217). In his study on the relationship between trust, job satisfaction and performance of salespeople, Rich (1997) found that trust in one’s manager directly influences job satisfaction, as sales managers are responsible for many duties that directly affect salespeople, such as performance evaluation, promotion, authorizing raises, assigning territories, training, providing leads, etc. Rich argues that salespeople will be more satisfied with their jobs when they have honest, competent, and reliable sales managers who can be trusted.

Smith & Barclay (1997), in their study, argued that trusting behaviors affect perceived task performance and mutual satisfaction and mutual perceived trustworthiness had both a direct and indirect effect on satisfaction. Flaherty & Pappas (2000) studied the salesperson–manager relationship and reported that trust has a strong impact on job satisfaction. Brashear (2003) found that interpersonal trust is most strongly related to shared values and respect. In that study, trust was directly related to job satisfaction and rationalism, and indirectly related to organizational commitment and turnover intention.

The study conducted by Kurt Matzler and Birgit Renzil (2006) argued that not only trust in management but also trust in peers plays a major role in employee satisfaction. Trust in a team member reflects the expectation that the team member will act benevolently, it involves the willingness to be vulnerable and risk that the other team member may not fulfill the expectations and it involves dependency, as a trustee will be affected by the team member’s behavior. Thus it is expected that employee satisfaction in team-based organizations is strongly affected by trust in management and trust in peers.

Employee satisfaction

High employee satisfaction contributes significantly to high customer satisfaction, which drives intent to return, and therefore, financial results. High employee satisfaction expresses itself as enthusiasm for one’s work, which directly impacts the experience of the customer. When companies are committed to providing high-quality products and services; when companies set high work standards for their employees; and when employees are empowered through training and development, provided with knowledge and information, permitted to make mistakes without punishment, and trusted; they will experience an increase in their level of satisfaction at work. This level of satisfaction can be enhanced further if teamwork and visionary leadership are introduced.

Satisfied employees are more likely to stay with the company and become committed and are more likely to be motivated to provide a high level of customer service, doing so will also further enhance the employee’s satisfaction through the feeling of achievement. Enhanced employee satisfaction leads to improved employee retention, and employee stability ensures the successful implementation of continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction will no doubt lead to corporate success and greater job security. These will further enhance employee satisfaction.

Satisfied and loyal employees represent value to a company (Anne Martensen & Lars Gronholdt, 2001). A company’s success will therefore depend on its ability to attract and hold on to employees who, in the future, will be among the most competent, productive and motivated employees, that is, employees who are loyal to the company and its values, and who develop concurrently with the company. Work is satisfying to the extent that the worker undertakes it willingly and finds it to be an optimal challenge (Brown and Peterson,1994).

Many companies invest considerable amounts of resources in programs to monitor and increase employee satisfaction (Heskett et al., 1997). It is assumed that employee satisfaction leads to motivated and committed employees, to more effective and efficient work, and in turn to higher process and product quality (Eskildsen & Dahlgaard, 2000). Ultimately, employee satisfaction is expected to lead to higher customer satisfaction ( Homburg & Stock, 2004), which directly impacts firm performance (Anderson, 1994).

In the study by Kurt Matzler_ & Birgit Renzl,2007 the relationship between three personality traits (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) and employee satisfaction, as well as the impact of employee satisfaction on affective commitment towards an organization is illuminated. Organizational effectiveness depends on the social structure of the organization, which can be measured by employee satisfaction and productivity of workers (Emery and Trist 1960). Other theorists have suggested that satisfied workers are productive workers {Likert 1961; McGregor 1960) because satisfied employees work harder and better than frustrated ones (Gross and Etzioni 1985), resulting in greater organizational effectiveness (Kopelman. Brief, and Guzzo 1990). Satisfied employees are more likely to engage in collaborative efforts and accept organizational goals that increase productivity (Likert, 1961). Employee satisfaction also affects financial performance by reducing employee turnover because employee turnover increases transition and adjustment costs. Thus, improving employee satisfaction helps an organization improve financial performance.

A study conducted by Yair Berson1 and Jonathan D. Linton, 2005 identified that transformational leadership style was related to employee satisfaction. Extensive research (Lowe et al., 1996) has demonstrated that transformational leaders have employees who are more satisfied with their jobs than employees who report to other leaders. Transactional leadership is also associated with employee satisfaction, although to a lesser extent (Lowe et al., 1996).

Employee loyalty

Josee Bloemer, and Gaby Odekerken-Schroder, 2006 conducted a study to investigate the impact of employee relationship proneness on three different types of attitudinal loyalty and relate these different types of attitudinal loyalty to employee loyalty. Affective commitment plays a pivotal role in creating all positive loyalty behaviors of employees. An empirical study of one of the UK’s four supermarket chains reveals an inverse correlation between employee satisfaction and the measures of productivity, efficiency, and profitability, the most profitable stores being those in which employees are least satisfied.

Employee loyalty, measured in terms of length of service, also appears to be inversely correlated with productivity and profitability. The relationship between employer and employee should be based on mutual respect and understanding, treating employees fairly and equally, no matter what their position may be. Communication is an important step in promoting employee commitment. Managements’ expectations might not be similar to those of the employees, so mutual expectations should be crystal clear to make sure all parties understand what is expected from them. When managers gain respect and confidence from their team commitment is reinforced. So offering leadership development programs to managers can perfect their skills in leadership and help them in specific areas. In a tight labor market, keeping good employees and developing employee loyalty becomes increasingly important and a continuing challenge.

A study conducted by Hooi Lai Wan defined and modeled the approach of developing employee loyalty through human resource management policies by identifying human resource management policies that augment employee loyalty and analyzing if the Japanese style of human resource management has a role in enhancing employee loyalty. A continuous and systematic approach to training and development, recruitment policies that reduce job-hopping and ensure long-term employment, internal promotion practices with little recognition given to seniority, and the implementation of the productivity-linked wage system would create a more committed employee towards the company. Most of these elements are representative of the Japanese style of human resource management which enhances employee loyalty and encourages long-term employment.

Studies such as Frederick Reichheld’s “The Loyalty Effect,” (1996) and James Heskett, W. Early Sasser, and Leonard Schlesinger’s “The Service Profit Chain” (1997) conclude that there are direct and quantifiable links between customer service variables (such as satisfaction and loyalty), employee variables (such as satisfaction, enthusiasm, loyalty, commitment, capability, and internal service quality), and financial results. In 1997, Development Dimensions International (DDI) conducted focus groups, customer interviews, literature reviews, and surveys to determine the drivers of an effective service environment. They found that employee satisfaction was strongly related to employee commitment and loyalty, and both measures have proven relationships to retention and productivity.

Should social media be used to employ or discharge an employee? What is social media? Social media is a technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, photos, events, and information through the building of virtual networks and communities. What are some examples of different social media? Social Media can be broken into three different categories. Social networking ranking first, such as Facebook, Linked In, Google Plus (+), Twitter, and Tumblr (microblogging). The second category is photo-sharing through Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. The last category being video sharing through YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Live, Periscope, and Vimeo. All these social media platforms are used by millions of people. Social media has changed the way we interact as a society and different technologies permit us to communicate more rapidly and to a larger crowd than anyone could ever dream of. Strangers who do not even know you personally can view your daily activities extremely easily because of social media. These strangers could possibly be potential employers seeking employees for unfilled positions. In today’s world, employers are viewing the profiles of many possible applicants’ to decide if they would like to hire or fire the employee. Social media should not be used to employ or discharge a worker because of unintentional bias, personal versus professional lives, and fabrication.

Social media should not be used to employ or discharge a worker because of unintentional bias. One of the most important considerations in employment decisions is compliance. (Bolsu, 2018) When searching online for an employee, it is extremely important to be alert to any bias or prejudice against a secured class. Probing for a candidate’s social media may not appear detrimental, but it is easy to inadvertently gain knowledge beyond what you were initially searching for. With all the information in which social media harbors, it can lead to implied bias. It is extremely important to get an unbiased first impression, and then, if needed, you can follow up based on what has come to your attention.

Social media should not be used to employ or discharge a worker because of their personal versus professional lives. “Back in 2005, 5 percent of American adults used at least one social media platform, according to findings from Pew Research. As of June 2019, 72 percent use social media.” (DeLoatch, 2019) When it comes to social media, employers must be careful that they do not make discriminatory hiring or firing decisions. Social media can be an incredibly positive tool. For example, there are a large number of people who share projects online, which allows you a good view of their body of work. In the hiring process, you can gather a lot of circumstantial information from a candidate’s online presence. The internet can be an amazing way to keep and exhibit your valuable work and portfolios. It is particularly important to facilitate a supportive and accepting culture. (Bolsu, 2018) Private is just that, private and public is public. All in all, the only thing that truly matters is if they can or cannot do the job.

Social media should not be used to employ or discharge a worker because of fabrication. “Social media works well in attracting candidates, but it can be a slippery slope if used to screen them during the hiring process.” Social media accounts should not be taken seriously because information can be disguised, misinterpreted, or fictitious. Some accounts are operated by hackers with someone else’s name, picture, and sometimes even their information. There are scammers who pretend to be someone through social media. There is no real standard on what behavior or post should be regarded as unacceptable by prospective employers. For example, a more conservative boss may take offense to a possible employee whose social media profiles suggest that likes to party and be free or wild when it comes to posting. On the other hand, a progressive hiring manager may not be concerned with someone’s online image as much as their direct work qualifications.