Arrangment of Work

In which ways might work be arranged?

Work is arranged most clearly in shifts.  While many employees work the standard 9-5 shift, a great deal of employees in public service (i.e., doctors, firefighters) must work a wide variety of shifts (i.e., 11pm-7am).

The night shift has gained a fair level of notoriety for being a difficult shift for the human body to adjust.  However, research has shown that rotating day, evening, and night shifts may be even more difficult than fixed night shifts due to the body’s inability to adapt to an ever-changing sleep/wake cycle.

Beyond the characteristic of time, work might also be arranged in terms of location. 

For example, an organization in the US expands its operations overseas, and while it employs a number of workers from the host country, a number of US citizens must also go overseas in order to oversee this new operation.

This is becoming more and more common in the United States, and yet this method is plagued with issues.  For instance, many expatriates do not complete their work assignments before coming back to the US.  This may happen due to a variety of reasons:

• The employee has difficulty communicating with his/her new coworkers/supervisees in this new country/culture
• The job itself is different overseas than in the US
• The employee or his/her family are unable to adjust overseas
• Managerial behaviors that were effective in the US are not effective in the foreign location

Because the incompletion of overseas assignments has become such an issue, many suggestions have been made in order to reverse these effects. 

For example, cross-cultural training could be offered in order to prepare employees for their new position/role. 

Also, support could be given to the employee’s spouse/family such as classes regarding the new culture, or language classes to enable better communication in the host country. 

Furthermore, it could be that these expatriates should be selected based on certain KSAOs that translate into more successful assignment completion.  Unfortunately, however, it is not entirely clear which characteristics set effective expatriates apart from ineffective expatriates.