Problems People Face at
Work
Kris Varma
Problems People Face at Work
The objectives of this presentation are to:
 Consider problems people face at work.
 Examine how individuals within and outside
the Sai Organisation cope with such
problems.
 Consider the implications of such problems
for human values education.
 Seek input from you to determine whether
the problems and issues you face at work
are similar.
Problems People Face at Work
To achieve these objectives telephone and face to face
interviews were conducted of:
 5 Non Sai Organisation individuals currently in
employment.
 5 Sai Organisation individuals currently in
employment.
The people were selected randomly.
One person completed the questionnaire herself.
Everyone participating was told that:
 Their names will not be disclosed.
 The organisation they work for will not be disclosed.
Problems People Face at
Work
 5 Non Sai Individuals interviewed included:
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1
2
1
1
Community Relations Manager
Accountants
Human Resources Officer
Lawyer
 5 Sai Organisation Members included:
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1
2
1
1
Risk Analyst Granting Commercial Loans
School Teachers
Accountant
Business Executive
Problems People Face at
Work
Issues faced by Non – Sai Organisation Individuals
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1 individual had a New Manager who found it hard to
Manage the person and constantly made statements to
undermine her.
In the second individual’s case, the Manager was making
the employee’s life difficult.
Manager was treating a qualified lawyer like a secretary
and not taking into account any of the sensitivities
involved.
Manager making an employee’s life very difficult and
“mothering him” which the employee found hard to cope.
Newly appointed Manager started to Manage a Senior
employee very closely which caused the employee untold
stress.
Problems People Face at Work
Non – Sai Organisation Individuals (Cont)
Managerial Behaviour
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1 individual was asked whether she knows trial balance when
she is a qualified accountant (CPA) and has prepared a number
of trial balances in her career.
An individual was asked whether she knows anything about
SAP when she was a part of the implementation team for SAP.
An individual was told that the Manager does not have time to
discuss reporting requirements when it is the Manager who
wants reports in another format.
An individual was told during performance review over the past
6 months to improve her performance or face disciplinary
action when the Manager did not identify and discuss specific
issues despite request.
Problems People Face at Work
Managerial Behaviour (Cont)
 An individual was told that he is not
performing as per client requirements but
Manager did not have time to provide
clarification.
 An individual was told that he has not been
friendly with clients staff but no specific
examples were provided.
 An individual was told that he has not been
delivering work on time and to required
standards with no further clarification.
Problems People Face at
Work
Managerial Behaviour (Cont)
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The Lawyer is often asked to search for old case files from the
vault and this takes half a day.
The Lawyer is asked to arrange meetings and prepare tea and
coffee for meetings when the secretary who is supposed to
provide this service is sitting down with nothing to do.
The Lawyer is asked to work on basic documentation only
when she has qualifications and experience in working on other
more complex documentation.
Manager often shouts at the HR Officer in the presence of other
staff and Managers.
Manager tells HR Officer how he should eat, drink and wear
clothes. The HR Officer finds this offensive and thinks the
Manager is mothering him.
The HR Officer is slow and methodical but the Manager feels
that he is not performing and tells him so in the presence of
others.
Problems People Face at Work
Managerial Behaviour (Cont)
 The HR Officer sends out by mistake prohibited content by an e-mail
and realising his error, is able to retrieve the e-mail so that only 2
other people have seen it. The Manager issues him final warning.
 Manager writes reports instead of the Community Relations Manager
 Manager attends all internal and external meetings and excludes
Community Relations Manager from such meetings although his area of
work is not Community Relations and he is often unable to answer
questions.
 Manager criticises Community Relations Manager to people she deals
with in Local Councils and information filters down to her.
 Manager changes Community Relations Manager’s position title 4 times
in 6 months and issues different Position Descriptions although the role
of the employee does not fundamentally change.
 Manager meets all Executive Managers himself whereas the
Community Relations Manager has been doing this in the past.
 Manager goes to meet a State Minister without the employee when the
Minister asks to deal with the Community Relations Manager.
Problems People Face at Work
Issues Faced by Sai Organisation Individuals at
Work
 2 Teachers face issues with children and 1 Teacher also
faces discrimination in promotion.
 Accountant works with a Manager who does not
appreciate her work and publicly talks about her lack of
qualifications and ability.
 Colleagues are engaged in footy talk of no interest to the
candidate and colleagues are not prepared to accept a
negative decision and question her qualifications and
experience.
 Qualifications regarded as basic by fellow employees who
feel that pronunciation difficulties make this apparent.
Problems People Face at Work
Sai Organisation Members in employment (Cont)
Teachers Issues
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One teacher had a complaint against her by a child. This went
to DOCS for investigation but was dropped. The complaint was
about the teacher slapping a student when this happened
accidentally as the Teacher was turning.
One of the teachers has coped with issues such as parental
abuse of children, pregnancy and unwarranted shouting.
One teacher being Indian by background initially faced
comments such as:
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You are a curry.
Usage of b…. And f ….. Words by students.
Animated debate and shouting with a student which resulted in the
students suspension.
Pregnancy of a Year 9 student which was a nightmare to handle.
The student, a migrant who came as a refugee came from a
broken family and was finding it hard to cope.
Problems People Face at Work
Teachers Issues (Cont)
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One teacher faces disengaged students who do not want to come to
school, claiming often that they have lost their books.
One English Teacher initially faced issues such as “Miss - Do you speak
English?”
One teacher faces more problems with migrant refugees. They come
initially as refugees and find it hard to adjust to mainstream society.
They are from low socio economic and NESB background. They come
from broken homes and do not respect a female teacher.
Children use a rubber band to throw things around when they do not
want to learn as a lesson is being held.
One Teacher has not been promoted despite several applications and
interviews for higher level positions for which she meets all criteria
better than other applicants. She therefore feels that she should not be
applying for future roles due to bias and discrimination.
Student discipline is an issue for one of the teachers.
Truancy is a common issue faced by one Teacher.
Problems People Face at Work
Work Issues faced by Sai Organisation Individuals
 Accountants work is not appreciated. Manager publicly
criticises the Accountants work.
 Manager is constantly critical of employee’s work during
performance reviews.
 There is footy talk during working hours which does not
interest the Individual.
 Qualifications of an individual are questioned when
decisions are made by the individual not in favour of the
applicant.
 Qualifications are regarded as basic by fellow employees.
 Other employees are critical of his pronunciation.
 Different cultural background means that the candidate
is excluded in social gatherings by fellow employees.
Problems People Face at Work
Coping Strategies Used by People
Interviewed
Non- Sai
Organisation
Individuals
1.
2.
2 Accountants have worked
harder and longer hours to
cope with issues at work.
1 Accountant has grown
quieter and less sociable
and wants to focus on work
alone.
Sai Organisation
Individuals
1.
2.
3 People have remained
calm to handle their
situation and worked
smarter rather than harder.
2 Teachers have used Daily
Meditation and Prayers as a
means of coping.
Problems People Face at Work
Non- Sai
Organisation
Individuals
3.
4.
5.
2 people have been on
stress leave.
1 person has engaged the
Union and hired a solicitor
to handle her issues with
the organisation she works
for.
1 Accountant has engaged a
trainer to train her on
planning and coach her on
the steps to take.
Sai Organisation
Individuals
3.
4.
1 Teacher feels that the Sai
Organisation and its
teachings on human values
have prepared her
adequately to handle each
situation well.
2 Teachers feel that STP
programs have been an
important vehicle for them
to handle each daily
situation in the classroom.
Problems People Face at Work
Non- Sai
Organisation
Individuals
6.
7.
1 Lawyer is considering
changing her career to
become financial adviser
and get away from her legal
profession on the basis of
her treatment. She is not
considering a future in her
current career.
1 employee is negotiating
redundancy.
Sai Organisation
Individuals
5.
6.
7.
3 people are using Daily
Meditation and Prayers to
cope.
1 person has remained calm
and her calmness is
resulting in her acceptability
at work.
1 employee is finding it
difficult to mix with people
at work and is working on
strategies for acceptability.
Problems People Face at Work
Implications for Education
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In comparing the Non-Sai Individuals with the Sai Organisation
individuals, it appears that the Sai Organisation individuals are able to
cope better with problems at work. This is evidence that Sai
Organisation programs are effective.
2 Sai Organisation individuals I spoke to were very supportive of
programs such as STP. STP could therefore be encouraged in other
locations within the organisation where it has not been implemented
so far. Other STP style programs could be drawn up for adults.
Meditation and Daily prayers were used by 2 Sai Organisation
individuals very effectively to deal with problems at work. These were
learnt through the recent STP Code introduced in NSW.
The calmness of some Sai Organisation individuals at work have won
friends and also enabled greater social acceptability within the
organisation.
2 individuals outside the organisation were on stress leave and 2
others were very close to becoming stressed at work. This suggests
that the Sai Organisation Education programs taken to the public will
benefit those who are facing problems at work.
Problems People Face at Work
Implications for Education (Cont)
 Managers within organisations require training in People
Management. Human Values training if included as a part
of this training, will assist them in managing and
interacting with their staff better. The question is “Should
the Sai Organisation play a role in such education
programs?”
 Individuals outside the Sai Organisation are coping with
problems at work differently to those within the
organisation. The question is “Should the Sai
Organisation produce booklets and material on coping
with problems at work from a Human Values
Perspective?”
 There are generational and cultural issues faced by
people at work. What role should the organisation have
in educating organisations on these issues?
Problems People Face at Work
Implications for Education (Cont)
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The Fair Work Act and the Unfair Dismissal Legislations place
an additional burden on organisations to manage their staff
well or face Legal battles. Should the Sai Organisation produce
programs to educate Managers and Organisations in managing
their staff from a human values perspective.
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1 individual within the Sai Organisation said that the
organisation is not ready to go to the community with human
values education programs. This is because we have as an
organisation not taken action to understand what other
programs are being offered in the community and how we can
bland our programs with these. The questions is, “Is there a
need to bland our programs with that of other organisations
programs, particularly in those cases where such other
programs are also successful?