Rlchard Pettlnger

Managing alienation

Workforce alienation is a key cause of stress (see Chapter 3). Its potential for existence is more or less universal, and it can be managed into, or out of, all situations. The problem of alienation is therefore organizational. It is not a necessary condition of certain types of standardized industrial production activities (see Summary box 6.2).





THE STATE OF THE ART 61
» Isolation: which may be either physical or psychological. Phys- ical isolation may be remoteness of location, or caused by extremes of noise, heat or cold. Psychological factors include psychological distance from supervisors, management, and the rest of the organization.

» Feelings of low self-esteem and self-worth: arising from the lack of value placed on staff by the organization and its managers.

» Loss of identity: with the organization and its work.

» Feelings of being trapped: arising from lack of prospects, variety or advancement for the future; feelings of being stuck in a situation purely for economic gain.

» General rejection: based on adversarial, managerial, and super- visory styles.

» Lack of equality: of treatment and of opportunity, especially where the organization is known, believed or perceived to differentiate between different types and grades of staff to the benefit of some and detriment of others.

Effective interventions are possible to address each point. The European Union has legislated for the provision of works councils in all organizations of 20 or more staff. A by-product of this is that it is now possible for specific causes of stress to be addressed on a formalized basis. It also creates the conditions by which more general feelings of powerlessness and helplessness can be brought out and addressed.

Conversely, loyalty to profession or occupation rather than to the employing organization is a more or less universal response where alienation is present. In these situations, people say:

» ‘‘I am a surgeon,’’ rather than ‘‘I work for the National Health Service.’’

» ‘‘I am a journalist,’’ rather than ‘‘I work for Reuters.’’

» ‘‘I am a pilot,’’ rather than ‘‘I work for QANTAS.’’

This is to be contrasted with the approach taken by Japanese organizations (see Chapter 5) where it is considered that the basic