CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AT WORK

“Work” as has been described in sociology is the process of doing

several tasks in which there is a necessity to give physical and mental
effort. The objective of doing the work is to provide and produce
services and goods to meet the needs of the human lives. Work in the
form of occupation is done to earn salary or wage which acts as the
means of livelihood. Work acts as the basis of the system of
economy. This is because in any economic system the culture is made
up of all the institutions that produce and distribute the services and
goods. However, a striking difference can be seen in these institutions
as they vary from one culture to another and in ancient societies and
modern societies. In ancient times the types of work that were the
main occupation of the people were “food gathering and food
production”. However, in the modern society people work in several
other varieties as the options available these days are uncountable and
vast[ CITATION Ash19 \l 1033 ].

Initially in the Hebrew or the medieval cultures the norm was not to work hard.
It was only after the “Protestant Reformation” that “physical labor” became a
part of the culture and was accepted by the society. The Greek also regarded the
culture of work as a curse. According to “Aristotle and Plato” the purpose for
which man had to work was to engage the mind in something. The Romans
believed that work was meant to be done by those people who were slaves. With
the passage of time as have been opted by “Benjamin Franklin” the beliefs and
attitude towards hard work was changed and was woven as per the norms that
the western culture beheld. The real beginning of work in its true nature was
with the beginning of the industrial age and it was made sure that people feel
important while they were doing the work. In the early 1950s salary, policies of
the company, conditions of working style of supervision and other such factors
got impaired to work[ CITATION Ste09 \l 1033 ].
 As per the Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” a person will be
motivated to work only when the needs get fulfilled. These needs
include the psychological needs, needs of safety, social needs,
needs of self esteem and recognition and needs of self
actualization which provide the chances of self development.
Again according to Hertzberg’s “Two Factor Theory” the
factor of motivation is needed to bring job satisfaction in a person
that would in turn create the ability of higher performance in that
person. As per the McClellands “Theory of needs” the there are
three motivating drivers that create the sense of need and hence
the urge to work. The three motivators include achievement,
affiliation and power. As per Vroom’s “Theory of Expectancy”
there are two expectations in people that will lead them to work.
Firstly people will put increased effort when they know that the
efforts will get some successful results. Secondly, people would
also put effort to work when they know they would be rewarded
for their success[ CITATION Kno20 \l 1033 ].

References
Crossman, A. (2019, March 3). Sociology of Work and Industry. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/:
https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-work-3026289

Knowledgehut Tutorials. (2020). Motivation Theories. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from https://www.knowledgehut.com/:
https://www.knowledgehut.com/tutorials/project-management/motivation-theories

Stark, S. (2009, June 19). A Brief History Of Work. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from https://www.slideshare.net/:
https://www.slideshare.net/stevenstark/a-brief-history-of-work