Lahore College for Women

University

Title: The prevailing work environment in the

organizations of Pakistan and its impact on
the workers

Date: 3 June, 2017

Submitted To: Masooma

Submitted By: Nayab Sidddique

Roll no. (71651036)

Major: Chemistry

Class: Bs-1 (second semester)

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Work Environment

The term work environment is used to describe the surrounding conditions in which

an employee operates. The work environment can be composed of physical
conditions, such as office temperature, or equipment, such as personal computers. It
can also be related to factors such as work processes or procedures.

Working Environment
An attractive and supportive work environment can be described as an environment
that attracts individuals into the health professions, encourages them to remain in the
health workforce and enables them to perform effectively. The purpose of providing
attractive work environments is to create incentives for entering the health
professions (recruitment) and for remaining in the health workforce (retention). In
addition, supportive work environments provide conditions that enable health
workers to perform effectively, making best use of their knowledge, skills and
competences and the available resources in order to provide high-quality health
services. This is the interface of the work environment and quality of care. Working
environment can be divided into two components namely physical and behavioral
components. The physical environment consists of elements that relate to the office
occupiers‟ ability to physically connect with their office environment. The behavioral
environment consists of components that relate to how well the office occupiers
connect with each other, and the impact the office environment can have on the
behavior of the individual. According to Haynes (2008), the physical environment
with the productivity of its occupants falls into two main categories office layout
(open-plan verses cellular offices) and office comfort (matching the office
environment to the work processes), and the behavioral environment represents the
two main components namely interaction and distraction.

These components can further be divided in major attributes and operationalized in

the form of different independent variables. These variables will be used for analysis
of their impact on dependent variable. It is generally understood that the physical
design of offices and the environmental conditions at work places are important
factors in organizational performance. The influence of working environment, which
is mostly composed of physical, social and psychological factors, has been
extensively examined in past two decades. In a number of studies, employees‟
motivation, job satisfaction, job involvement, job performance, and health have been
found to be markedly influenced by psycho-social environment of work organization.

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Introduction

Many businesses fail to understand the importance of working environment for

employee job satisfaction and thus face a lot of difficulties during their work. Such
organizations are internally weak therefore unable to introduce innovative products
into the market to outshine their competitors (Aiken, Clarke, & Sloane, 2002).
Employee is an essential component in the process of achieving the mission and
vision of a business. Employees should meet the performance criteria set by the
organization to ensure the quality of their work. To meet the standards of
organization, employees need a working environment that allows them to work freely
without problems that may restrain them from performing upto the level of their full
potential. According to Holland, if you can match your job personality type and your
work environment, you can improve your success and satisfaction.

Types of Work Environment in Pakistan

In Pakistan there are three types of working environment depending upon the nature
of an organization.

1. Government/Public Sector
2. Private Sector
3. Overseas Companies

Definition of Public Sector

The sector, which is engaged in the activities of providing government goods and
services to the general public is Public Sector. The enterprises, agencies, and
bodies are fully owned, controlled and run by the Government whether it is central
government, statement government or a local government.

There are two types of public sector organizations, i.e. either the Government fully
finances them through the revenues they raise by collecting taxes, duties, fees, etc.
or the government holds more than 51% of the total share capital of the company
which comes under various ministries. The enterprises are established with service
motive. It is the largest sector, which works for the up liftmen of the people by
providing the following services to the people:

Generation of employment opportunities

 Postal services
 Providing education and health facilities at low cost
 Providing security
 Railway service

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Definition of Private Sector

The segment of a national economy that is owned, controlled and managed by

private individuals or enterprises is known as Private Sector. The private sector
companies are divided on the basis of sizes like small & medium enterprises and
large enterprises which are either privately or publicly traded organizations. They can
be created in two ways, i.e. either by the formation of a new enterprise or by the
privatization of any Public Sector Enterprise.

Business entities of the private sector are generally established with the sole
objective of making profit and building brand reputation. They provide quality
services to the community to win the trust and goodwill from people to survive in the
long run and compete with the enemies. These enterprises also have to follow the
government law and order. It is the largest sector in terms of employees.

Although in private sector performance is the basic criterion for job stability, i.e. if you
perform well you will get promoted and if you won’t, you will be perished. The major
services provided by the Private sector are as under:

 Quality education
 Telecommunication services
 IT services
 Courier Services
 Infrastructure development

Key Differences between Public Sector and Private Sector

 Public Sector is a part of the country’s economy where the control and
maintenance are in the hands of Government. If we talk about Private Sector,
it is owned and managed by the private individuals and corporations.
 The aim of the public sector is to serve people, but private sector enterprises
are established with the profit motive.
 In the public sector, the government has full control over the organizations.
Conversely, Private Sector companies enjoy less government interference.
 The employees of the public sector have the security of the job along with that
they are given the benefits of allowances, perquisites, and retirement
like gratuity, pension, superannuation fund, etc. which are absent in the case
of the private sector.
 In the private sector working environment is quite competitive which is missing
in the public sector because they are not established to meet commercial
objectives.
 In general Public Sector uses Seniority for promoting employees, however,
merit cum seniority is also taken as a base for promoting employees. Unlike
Private Sector, where performance is everything, and so merit is considered
as a parameter to promote them

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Difference between Public Sector and Private Sector

Gone are the days, when only the Public Sector was prevalent in the economy. At
present, many countries have adopted the policy of Privatization, through which
Private Sector is also gaining importance. For the progress and development of any
country, both the sectors must go hand in hand as only one sector cannot lead the
country in the path of success.The Government runs public Sector, but private
individuals or companies run private Sector. There is a cut-throat competition
between both the sectors, to prove itself better over the other sector. So here we go,
to discuss the difference between Public Sector and Private Sector.

Comparison Chart
BASIS FOR
PUBLIC SECTOR PRIVATE SECTOR
COMPARISON

Meaning The section of a nation's economy, The section of a nation's economy,

which is under the control of which owned and controlled by
government, whether it is central, private individuals or companies is
state or local, is known as the known as Private Sector.
Public Sector.

Basic objective To serve the citizens of the country. Earning Profit

Raises money Public Revenue like tax, duty, Issuing shares and debentures or by
from penalty etc. taking loan

Areas Police, Army, Mining, Health, Finance, Information Technology,

Manufacturing, Electricity, Mining, Transport, Education,
Education, Transport, Telecommunication,
Telecommunication, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Banking,
Banking, Insurance, etc. Construction, Pharmaceuticals etc.

Benefits of Job security, Retirement benefits, Good salary package, Competitive

working Allowances, Perquisites etc. environment, Incentives etc.

Basis of Seniority Merit

Promotion

Job Stability Yes No

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Factors effecting the work Environment of any organization

The employee performance depends upon the different factors contributing to the
work environment. The organization is the combination of employees, policies and
procedures. It could be managed effectively with the help of environment friendly
policies and positively motivated employees.

Social support

The social support means the help that an individual receives from his/her co-
workers, supervisor and colleagues to perform his/her work effectively. It can be
divided into two categories such as the work related social support and the personal
social support. The current study deals with work related social support that may
come from the work place within organizations including the supervisor and the co-
workers. Employee performance is multidimensional and essential for organizational
success similarly, it is suggested that supportive management practices are crucial
to achieve high performance. It is documented that people having social support at
work are more productive than people who do not have social support at work.

Physical working conditions

The quality of work depends upon safe and healthy working conditions in
determining employee’s job behavior. The organizational climate is an important
indicator of employee behavior as a combination of social and psychological factors.
It is found that working conditions are attached with employees’ job involvement and
job satisfaction that ultimately leads to better performance of the employees. The
effects of stressful work environment on the performance of medical house officers.
The results reveal an inverse relationship between job stress and job performance.
High job stress in the house of officers results in low job performance. Similarly, it is
reported that perceived adequacy or inadequacy of work environment, both physical
and psycho-social, extends noticeable effect on employees’ job satisfaction,
performance and perception of effectiveness of an organization.

Job characteristics

Positive relationship between employees’ perception of performance-related pay

plans and management-employee relations. The performance of public sector
employees is affected by compensation practices and promotion practices whereas
performance evaluation practices have insignificant impact on perceived employee
performance. It is inferred that, when employees perceive high pay for performance,
they tend to exhibit positive work attitudes. In addition, it is reported that reward
practices could be linked to one’s pay increase to one’s performance. It can be used
to direct, sustain and motivate desirable behaviors, such as knowledge sharing,
creativity, quality and customer satisfaction

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Training and development

Training and development activities are designed for the employees and
organizational development to cope with the challenges of the recent age. It aims to
increase and refine the knowledge and skills of employees for better performance.
Training has direct relationship with the employees’ performance. The training
focuses on formal and systematic modification of behavior through learning which
occurs as result of education, instruction, development and planned experience
Training has acquired a strategic value for the organizations and service quality
depends on employee customer care effectiveness. So organizations must reduce
the gap between desired and actual performance. Education and training are
essential for improving performance. Organizations make heavy investment to
upgrade employee skills in order to attain job performance, job satisfaction and job
involvement. These skills can be improved by providing necessary technical/non-
technical training and coaching

Communication practices

Communication is the transmission of meaning from one person to another or many

people, verbally or non-verbally. The simple and easy ways of getting and sharing
information that helps the employees to get through difficult situations easily to
perform job. Communication from one person to another is commonly depicted as a
simple triangle consisting of the context; the sender, the massage and the receiver
Effective of interpersonal communication skills are essential for social interaction,
building and maintenance of relationships. Poor communication skills can cause
irrevocable damage to relationships; affecting productivity, satisfaction, performance,
morale, trust, respect, self-confidence and even physical health.

Impact on the Workers

Both positive&negative impacts can be observed in all of these environments.A

positive work environment makes employees feel good about coming to work, and
this provides the motivation to sustain them throughout the day.

Characteristics of a Positive Work Environment

1. Transparent & Open Communication

It is thus essential for staff to discuss the organization’s philosophy, mission

and values, from time to time during retreats, meetings, etc to ensure that
everyone knows what they’re working for other than their paychecks. Having open
discussions get people involved and allow them to share their views and

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perspectives on how to achieve company goals. After which, the management side
will give their own perspectives on how to fulfill the organization’s mission.

2. Training & Development Focused

Adapting to change is never more crucial in this era because those who don’t get

replaced. This applies to both the individual and the organization itself. Essentially

speaking, there are two kinds of skills that can be developed: hard skills and soft

skills.

 Hard skills: impact work productivity directly e.g. knowledge of a new

database management system

 Soft skills: interpersonal skills which could affect the morale of the

organization.
A positive work environment would have routine trainings to improve efficiency and
instill positive attitudes among employees.

3. Recognition For Hard work

Rewards are necessary to encourage certain behaviors in persons. This is known

as positive reinforcement under operant conditioning in the field of psychology. It is
used in organizational behavior management as well: by rewarding employees who
put in effort for their work, this will promote similar behaviors in the future.

4. Strong Team Spirit

Instilling a strong team spirit is not easy because it involves the acceptance and
tolerance of differences in perspectives and working styles between
teammates. There is a need for them to see that they’re working towards a common
goal before they can look beyond the differences.

Characteristics of a Negative Work Environment

1. Lack of Advance Communication System

If the system of communication is not so good, company can face difficulties.

Employees make mistakes due to the absence of top management instructions.

2. Lack of Training & Development

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Training is an essential part in an organization because employee only works
efficiently when he aware of advance technologies and tools used in an organization.

3. Lack Rewards

Employees are volatile entity in an organization; it is human nature that a person

wants to get group acceptance for his satisfaction. If an organization does not give
reward to its employees, it cannot increase or maintain the level of productivity or
productivity may become decrease.

4. Lack of Motivation

If an organization do not motivates its employees, efficiency of work may decrease.

Motivation is an essential part to perform every task.

Conclusion

Nowadays, Private Sector is progressing faster because promotes quality, not

quantity; it encourages talent. Public Sector is full of reservations like reservations for
minority section, females, a person with a disability and much more, here nobody
sees talent, it is completely ignored and because of this, competent youths remain
unemployed.

Public sector enterprises give so many facilities to their employees, which makes
them satisfied that their job is secured, due to which, all the people are running after
it like it is a marathon. However in the Private Sector, your job is never secured,
even if you give years to it, you can be fired anytime just because of a single
mistake.

Again in the private sector, where performance is king, the workload is much, but it
keeps you active, this is missing in the public sector due to which the work
sometimes becomes monotonous which creates boredom. One thing is really good
in Private Sector i.e. it is corruption free. In Public Sector, you have to pay lots of
money to the government officers even for a simple work, for no reason. It is an
unending debate, both are good at their places, if the drawbacks are removed, they
will surely prove good for the economy.