Reference no: EM133198709 , Length: Word count: 1 Page

Assignment Task 1: Peter Drucker, Interview for Wired by Peter Schwartz, published in 1993

According to Peter Drucker, how does one analyze and organize knowledge work and how does this relate to his ideas of productivity? (200-250 words will be fine)

Reply#1 (150-200words will be fine)

After reading the article provided, Drucker has summarized two important things in his interview regarding to knowledge workers and their productivity. The first essential questions to be asked of a knowledge worker is that "what should this person be doing?"  If a knowledge worker get this question wrong, he/she might be just wasting his/her time on all the work he/she is doing. This question gives a broad guidance on what a knowledge worker should work on. You have to be on the right direction to get to the final destination. Otherwise, no matter how long or how much effort you spend on the wrong road still won't take you to your destination. The second key ingredient for higher productivity of knowledge worker is to be result-focused. Once a knowledge worker understands what should he/she should be doing, and determine what outcome he/she is looking for, then how to do it is the key. In order to get the ideal result in a highly productive manner, there are other factors involved such as available time frame, human resources, required materials, fiance,and internal/external pressure etc(Sinnaps). In short, for a knowledge worker to work productively, he/she should be doing the right task and aim to deliver the result fast and effectively as his/her goal.

Reference:

Key factors affecting productivity in the workplace: Sinnaps. (n.d.).

Assignment Task 2:

Dear Dr. Terry,

I agree with your above comment that by setting clear expectations employer turnover rates won't be as high. The cost of bringing on a new employee far surpasses retaining an already trained, motivated and familiar to the company employee.

What surprises me is the new 'ghosting' phenomenon, where Robert Half discovered that there was a rise of 10-20% of employees ghosting their employers in 2018. Like the dating term, that means they just decided not to show up to their place of employment (?!). Also, the strong US economy allows employees to have that option and to be more open to job-hopping which is not the case in other countries.

Forbes Fatemi analyzes three ways that could help forward-thinking companies prevent employee turnover:

1) By embracing a learning culture and focusing on professional development opportunities employees would stay motivated within a company

2) Terminating any repetitive, monotonous work which can be automated, allowing employees to highlight their skill set and feel challenged

3) Find a friend in artificial intelligence

Drucker had stated that 'if you can't measure it, you can't improve it.' Companies should be more investing in analyzing the underlying factors in the employee churn and 'predicting' which employees are most likely to stay given various measurements.

Reference

Fatemi, F. (2019). 3 Steps to Prevent Employee Turnover, Forbes