Workplace Factors

Re-education is needed also when an individual or group is out of touch with reality. We are dealing with what might be described as a divergence from the norm or from the reality of objective facts. The question which we have to ask in considering the problem is this: What has to happen in the individual in order that he give up the divergence and become reoriented toward a norm. . .? (Lewin, 1945, 56).

Consider the problems facing the employer today with employees who clearly need to be re-educated because they have undertaken behavior which is a divergence from the norm and which places them out of step with their society. Employers know that problems such as alcoholism or drug abuse can reduce productivity and cause a number of other problems in the workplace, including safety problems in certain types of business activity. The employer is asking him or herself precisely the question raised by Lewin--what will make the diverging employee face the problem and give up the divergence to become reoriented toward the norm? Employers would like to be able to answer this question, and they have adopted a number of strategies to

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n the work situation. The employee is changed cognitively by being given new information which he or she did not possess before, information about the organization, the job, and related skills and tasks. The employee is changed in motivation by being given new tasks, new standards, and new reasons for performing at a certain level. The employee is also being brought into a new group and made to feel as if he or she belongs in that group. These are clear goals for the employer from the time a new employee is hired, and the successful education of an employee in these areas--and in terms of the control of musculature as well as that relates to performing necessary tasks--means that the employee will truly fit into the group and will be a welcome addition, producing at a level that satisfies the needs of the employer. Much of a given organization's human resources development effort involves training programs and orientation programs that bring new employees into the group in as successful a manner as possible. Other employees as well are enlisted in this effort by being asked to help train co-workers and by being asked merely to welcome new employees. A successful education effort means manipulating the environment so that
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Approximate Word count = 3054
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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