Creating an effective workplace

Creating an effective workplace is one of the most challenging and important tasks that human resource managers face. In his book, The Phoenix Agenda, John Whiteside takes on the issue of how not only human resource managers, but all employees can create an atmosphere that encourages productivity and effective interoffice and intraoffice communication. This research examines Whiteside's work and presents the salient principles from the agenda.

Whiteside identifies 12 separate principles that can be implemented in the workplace in order to make the workplace more effective (94):

While each of these principles can be quickly explained, using them to transform the workplace is a more difficult task. Whiteside acknowledges this, but suggests that failure to follow these 12 steps will result in a company that is unable to effectively compete in the future. Failure to fully understand both the concepts and the philosophy behind them will also lead to the eventual failure of an organization.

Whiteside begins his discussion by insisting that companies and individuals work to generate trust. The goal here is not to earn trust, but to give trust freely and create an atmosphere in wh

Related Essays

Workplace Violence .... in the workplace. Creating an effective workplace violence policy is part of a sound security program. Workplace violence policy .... (7350 29 )

Health & Fitness Program in the Workplace .... Recognizing the importance of employee participation in creating a safe work .... adds that the benefits of an active and effective workplace safety extend beyond .... (1433 6 )

Communication in the Workplace .... Much communication in the workplace is persuasive. .... The key to effective communication in a crisis is to .... Creating a crisis manual and distributing copies to the .... (2511 10 )

Effects of Illiteracy in the Workplace I. The .... Creating effective training program requires the assessment of both organizational and .... of this author, the questions posed by workplace illiteracy appear to be .... (3648 15 )

On Leadership .... Effective leaders also play a powerful role in creating a healthy environment that encourages creativity and minimizes dissension within the workplace (Gardner .... (1283 5 )

of the year." This is to be contrasted with the imprecise request, "Let's refer that decision to committee." By using precision requests, companies are able to clearly communicate their goals, and indicate the method by which success in achieving those goals will be gauged (139). Moments of truth are those instances when, according to Whiteside, opportunities present themselves. From crisis can come innovation. Taking advantage of the crisis to improve processes or move forward is much more constructive than seeking to fix blame or ignoring the situation. Companies which are able to take advantage of their crises are characterized by a high level of entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility. Companies which do not recognize crises as opportunities are characterized by resistance to change, more crises than otherwise, and lack of the ability to fully realize their potential (147). Maintaining awareness means that a company is willing to use creative ways to make goals, plans, commitments and accomplishments visible and memorable by the staff. This can begin with a strong mission statement that codifies the company's existence and focus. Maintaining awareness of the company's overriding goals means that the company will be ab

Category: Business - C