Working Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Working Practices - Essay Example However, contemporary society has altered the structure with the home life and the familial relationships and duties. Even though this has altered, the work pressures have not changed and are often more demanding than before. This is causing pressure with many people in the family life and often becomes reflected in the work pressures that are inside the home. Understanding specific changes and developments which can occur with the work structure and associations with family life is one which also can provide a different approach to the organizational structure and the way in which work can determine needs for family and social structure. This research paper will examine working practices and how these need to alter in contemporary society to begin changing the relationship with family life and contemporary demands which are in society. Defining Traditional Work Structures The traditional work structure is one which was based on single individuals in the household being solely respon sible for the income and approaches toward family life. The male figure was primarily responsible for going into the work field and remaining for an average of eight hours per day. This would bring enough income into the home for the family. The wife was primarily responsible for caring for children and assisting with the ideologies in terms of caring for household needs. This traditional balance was followed with time frames which were based on individuals leaving and coming to the home at specific times to make it more convenient for the family structure and to ensure that there was a sense of balance within the household. The conventional role was expected to assist with the basic needs with monetary alternatives for the family while allowing every individual to combine with the traditional work structures required (Mizell, 2007: 48). The traditional viewpoints of work structures were based on the industrial age and factory work which was required through various corporations. Th is began to change in the late 1970s with the movement into the information age and the growth of corporations into global entities. This continued with new technologies and alternative structures that began to alter the demands and needs for work as well as family life. The combination of work structures also led to changes with the family expectations as economic demands began to grow. This was specific to needing more than one income in the household to raise a family and to assist with the growing prices within the community. This combined with social alterations, such as the breaking of gender boundaries in which women also became interested in working in the community. The development that was associated with this then led to a different meaning of work and how it contributed to the livelihood of the household. This was further combined with the life roles which one held and the movement into family navigation and supportive family systems. This development then led into a dif ferent approach to the demands, work structure and interface between work and family life (Schultheiss, 2006: 334). Contemporary Changes to Working Life The changes which have been made around contemporary work life are not only based on the evolution of working demands and expectations. There are also specific applications to the family life and the expectations within the global economy. In traditional structures, there was a limit to when individuals worked and expectations which one had while working. However, the contemporary movements have led to flexible working schedules and demands to have open schedules based on 24/7 openings. Flexibility, multitasking, high – commitment to teams and expectations with the activities which are available are some of the many strategies