Enhancing Employee Learning and Organizational Capacity

This reflective journal discusses organizational wellness, focusing on disrespectful workplaces and their impact on psychological safety. The study highlights the importance of understanding justice categories (distributive, interactional, and procedural) to prevent misbehavior and promote a positive work environment. Additionally, the report explores the role of values in conflict resolution, including shared, personal, cultural, and organizational values, as well as terminal and instrumental values. Furthermore, it notes gaps in literature regarding the application of Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the context of organizational wellness.

Running Head: Organisational Wellness 1
Organisational Wellness
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Introduction:
Prior to the discussion that would comprise of major section of the report, the
following reflective journal has to describe the validation for selecting organizational
wellness as its major scope of emphasis. I selected organizational wellness as the topic for
reflective journal and intended to draw on major academic sources which are associated with
the subject. In the beginning of the course, I had only a vague impression of the learning
objectives. However, my emphasis was gradually deviated towards progressive learning and
over the course of many weeks of learning I was able to apprehend the important concepts
pertaining to resolution of issues related to organizational wellness. Furthermore, the
reflective journal enabled me to review the lecture materials and derive adequate inferences
depicting organizational learning.
The other notable aspects which could be ascertained in the reflective journal
provided below would include an explicit depiction of patterns that have emerged from the
theoretical developments observed in context of organizational wellness (Barnard, 2013). The
reflective journal facilitates a cognizable impression of the interrelationship between ideas
and concepts in the readings alongside the variability of outcomes according to the difference
in perspectives for anticipating organizational wellness. The profound themes which would
be observed in the following reflective journal refer to employee empowerment,
development, growth and employee recognition, role of organizational culture in affecting
workplace wellness and implications of respectful cultures in promoting organizational
wellness (Blake, 2016).
Critical Reflection
My critical reflection on the lecture materials pertaining to employee empowerment
and employee engagement would be accounted as promising additions to the reflective
journal. The concerns of employee empowerment and employee engagement have to be
considered as imperative requirements to promote organizational wellness (Cha, 2015). The
objective of reflection on literature is largely aligned with the comparison of theory with
common organizational practices and determining the disparities thereby implying legible
recommendations for functional outcomes.
The concerns of employee empowerment have been generically defined as the
motivation of employees to assume personal responsibility for their professional tasks and
objectives as well as improvement of approaches intended to accomplish the organizational

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goals. From a critical perspective, I could be able to discern from this definition of employee
empowerment that providing opportunities to employees for engaging comprehensively with
their responsibilities and consistent professional development could be accountable for
fostering organizational wellness. Employee empowerment has been associated explicitly
with four major dimensions of empowerment such as meaning, self-determination,
competence and impact (Coates & Howe, 2015).
The individual dimensions of empowerment are intended to reform organizational
behaviour with the help of reforms in employee perception of the workplace context. The
self-determination aspect of empowerment refers to the perception of discretion and freedom
by employees in their work environment. However, the theory can be contradicted on the
grounds of unreasonable utilization of discretion and freedom assigned to employees and the
impact of varying levels of self-determination among different levels of employees. The
meaning dimension of employee empowerment has also been reviewed comprehensively in
the teaching material provided to us during the course.
Meaning is perceived by employees as a facilitator of empowerment on the grounds
of perceiving significance of their work. If employees perceive that their work is important
for them as well as the society then they are more likely to observe their recognition (Coetzee
& Van Zyl, 2014). Competence dimension of empowerment has also been described as a
determinant of organizational wellness since it helps the employees to perceive their self-
efficacy. Furthermore, employees are more likely to be empowered on the basis of the
outcomes of their actions and their impact on the success of the enterprise. However, the
perception of competence could lead to stagnancy of professional development in certain
cases while the impact dimension of empowerment could lead to critical insufficiencies such
as over confidence among employees (Dawad & Hoque, 2016).
The concerned literature sources provided in the lecture also emphasized on the
reasons for which empowerment is needed which can be validated on the grounds of
commitment of empowered employees to an enterprise. Empowered employees are more
likely to describe higher levels of engagement which could lead to the prolific outcomes
derived from activities of engaged employees with thorough utilization of capabilities as well
as their complete potential. Another notable highlight that could be perceived in context of
employee empowerment is observed in the form of the outcomes on employee characteristics
which were found out to become more responsible, involved and proactive in organizational

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processes. On the critical side, I can argue that the initiatives of an organization for employee
empowerment could result in negative outcomes such as inappropriate utilization of acquired
capabilities and training by the employee for favourable employment opportunities (Del
Gottardo & Patera, 2016).
The concerns of improving responsibility and engagement of employees through
empowerment could be subject to ambiguities since the efforts on behalf of the employees
could vary according to the changes in antecedents of employee empowerment. Therefore an
organization’s wellness could be substantially affected by the implications of employee
empowerment which implies the identification of approaches to ensure engagement through
empowerment. Literature has depicted profound references towards the classification of
empowerment into two categories which include structural empowerment and psychological
empowerment.
The structural empowerment aspect is comprehensively associated with the emphasis
on perceiving the different job characteristics. The psychological empowerment aspects are
largely related to the approaches of employees for interpretation and reaction to structural
employee empowerment conditions. Structural empowerment has been defined as the
capability for mobilization of human resources and material resources to accomplish specific
organizational objectives according to the lecture studies (Docherty, 2013).
It is liable for providing employees with opportunities to access resources,
information, opportunities for learning and growth as well as support. However, structural
empowerment could be largely critiqued on the grounds of its application in terms of
allocating authority to employees and structural empowerment could invite the implications
for large scale changes in the organizational structure especially those which follow a vertical
organizational structure. I was also able to draw reasonable inferences into the aspects of
psychological empowerment which comprises of three distinct dimensions of verbal,
behavioural and outcome related involvement.
Verbal empowerment allows employees to present their involvement in the decision
making process through communicating their opinions flexibly (Douvaras & Ukpere, 2014).
Behavioural empowerment is realized through the recognition of employee competence to
manage the job, resolve issues and acquire novel skills. The outcome related empowerment
could be assured through the ability of individuals to reform the approaches for
accomplishing the precedent objectives as well as increase productivity. However, I could be

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able to draw some critical insights into the probable outcomes of psychological
empowerment.
The application of psychological empowerment could not derive necessarily positive
outcomes related to empowerment since the underlying motivation for different employees
are distinct which create confusions for the management regarding the estimation of standard
outcomes from employee empowerment (Gcwabe, 2015). The lecture material also
emphasized on the significance of the antecedents of employee empowerment which are
included as determinants for strategies required for employee empowerment. The four
antecedents have been identified as task and social resources, empowering leadership, work
changes and personal resources.
Task related resources are primarily vested in job autonomy while social resources are
observed in the provision of a workplace environment characterized with support and a
cooperative climate. The impact of empowering leadership is also observed as a major
antecedent of realizing employee empowerment since the approaches of empowering leaders
are characterized by the delegation of authority by leaders to individual employees that are
capable of decision making and taking actions without any direct intervention or supervision.
Many organizations are not able to realize employee empowerment due to the lack of
emphasis on the management of organizational change that would be an inevitable
consequence of employee empowerment (Harry, 2015).
Organizational change has been often associated with profound conflicts with the
existing organizational structure and could be a major influence on the existing level of
organizational wellness. Therefore, it is necessary for organizations to perceive appropriate
frameworks in order to prevent any potential damages from conflicts. Planning and
implementation of changes should comprise of taking the opinions of different employees
into account, mutual support, abundance of staff for addressing relevant objectives and
integrate confidence on the process of change. Finally, the emphasis on personal resources
should also be affirmed as a major antecedent related to employee empowerment and serves
as a promising contributor to organizational wellness.
Personal resources of an organization refer to the employees or human resources of
the enterprise which should be subject to promising investments in order to realize profound
improvement in skills and competences of employees (Kassiem, 2015). I also realized that

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the assumptions of strategies for employee empowerment should be reviewed in this
reflective journal.
The distinct strategies comprise of references towards assessment and evaluation of
employee engagement through engagement audits and workshops on engagement or
redesigning job and workplace, improving empowering leadership or workplace training in
efficacy beliefs. However, I was able to perceive that the research in the domain of employee
empowerment and engagement has led to the proliferation of models that could link the
perspectives of organization, employees as well as the outcomes of the empowerment.
Furthermore, it is essential to relate the aspects of employee empowerment with other themes
obtained as learning outcomes from the lectures related to organizational wellness as follows.
Employee Recognition
Apart from the concerns of employee empowerment in context of organizational
wellness, I was also able to discern from the lecture notes and readings that employee
recognition is also a credible theme in context of organizational wellness. It is imperative to
understand the most significant individual differences, design elements and contextual factors
which promote the growth of employees and their wellbeing for inducing a healthy
workplace.
It is also imperative to understand the profound presence of employee recognition
program characteristics, effects and counter effects of employee recognition programs from
the readings to draw critical reflection. I was able to reemphasize on the scope of acquiring
sustainable competitive advantage through development of human capital. It is essential to
notice that the skill set of employees could be perceived as a major determinant of success or
failure of an organization (King, 2016). Employee development is also accounted as a
favourable initiative for promoting employee growth especially in terms of existing and
potential job performance which is often realized through formal and informal learning
activities.
The prospects of employee development should also be observed in the facilities of
classroom training, computer based training, on-job training as well as mentoring which
could be applied according to the context of requirement. I was also able to reflect on the
learning outcomes in the lectures to present a critical impression of the benefits drawn from
employee development (Vundla, 2013). The benefits of employee development as perceived

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from readings and literature sources include directions towards enhancement of job
satisfaction, motivation for learning, self-efficacy and improve the participation of employees
in future development activities as well as willingness for assumption of new roles (Limone
& Pace, 2016). However, it would be implausible to determine the feasibility of the outcomes
without considering the factors that are responsible for employee development and growth.
My reflection on the available literature pertaining to employee recognition suggested the
impact of the factors such as organization, role of learner and the learning environment on the
development and growth of employee.
The role of learner is based on the general mental ability and the relevant differences
that lead to issues with organizational wellness. The role of learner is often defined with the
abilities for reasoning, planning, problem solving, abstract thinking as well as quick learning.
Therefore I would like to communicate that the distinct skill sets and mental abilities of
different people belonging to different professional areas could be at conflict thereby
implying the insufficiency of the role of learner in employee recognition (Mafunisa, 2014).
The organization also has a considerable role in influencing the recognition of employees
thereby contributing to organizational wellness.
The support facilitated by the manager, organization as well as the job should be
assumed as profound characteristics of organization’s role in promoting the development and
growth of employees. However, I would like to present a critical insight into the significance
of organization in employee development since the provision of training programs and
revision of policies could be subject to the capabilities of the organization in terms of
financial and material resources. Therefore it is not possible for organizations to realize their
comprehensive involvement in the development and growth of employees which indicates
contrast with the teachings of the lecture.
The learning environment has also been identified as a notable factor which
influences the outcomes of employee development and growth initiatives. The learning
environment is capable of boosting the self confidence of learning through promoting beliefs
regarding accomplishment of positive outcomes from participation. The essential
characteristics which have been associated with a positive learning environment could be
identified in leadership support, feedback, rewards, organizational support and resources.
However, I would like to emphasize critically on the varying development and growth
outcomes alongside the investment required for employee empowerment. It would be

Organisational Wellness 8
alternatively advisable to consider the singular prospects of employee empowerment which
would be provide parallel improvements in terms of employee development and growth. I
was also able to recognize employee recognition as a profound theme in the lectures
pertaining to organizational wellness (Mahabuke, 2016).
Employee recognition has a profound effect on the improvement of productivity,
profit margin, customer retention, and return on equity and employee retention. The different
categories of employee recognition programs are necessary for depicting the aspects which
influence the organizational wellness. Generally employee recognition programs are
profoundly characterized by classification on the basis of personal milestones or contextual
performance and generally involve the provision of monetary and non-monetary rewards.
Some of the commonly observed characteristics of employee recognition programs which I
was able to observe in the lecture refer to emphasis on economic or social rewards,
association with performance in certain event or behaviour, formal as well as informal nature
and provision of individual as well as group recipients (Makgato, 2016).
The role of employee recognition on the improvement of organizational wellness can
be apprehended duly from the dimensions of job satisfaction, stress, exchange relationships
and perceived organizational support have been noticed comprehensively in the readings and
could be interlinked to the scope of employee empowerment. Employee empowerment could
be accounted as a complementing element for realising employee recognition as the
motivation of employees to improve their training progressively would be directed towards
accomplishing recognition to a certain extent. Job satisfaction could be ascertained clearly
from the job characteristics model comprising of references to skill variety, task identity,
feedback and autonomy which could be perceived as correlated entities as found in the case
of employee empowerment.
From a critical point of view, I would state that while employee recognition has
substantially beneficial outcomes the negative consequences could not be undermined at any
cost (McGoldrick, 2014). Some negative impacts could be drawn in the form of discouraging
of other employees due to confusion over the criteria for rewards. I would also like to
emphasize on the uncertainty over the returns from investments in employee recognition
programs as well as the requirement of social or monetary rewards in varying scenarios.
However, I could go on to make an assumption from the interlinking between theories related
to employee empowerment and employee recognition in context of organizational wellness

Organisational Wellness 9
that recognition and empowerment could have a formidable influence on the promotion of
employee engagement thereby ensuring organizational wellness.
Dimensions Of Employee Empowerment
The dimensions of employee empowerment and the factors for promoting employee
recognition as promising sources for realizing organizational wellness could be collated with
the implications of culture and communication in similar contexts (van Zyl, et al., 2016). I
was able to recognize the comprehensive review of literature to find that organizational
wellness is based on the convergence of the organizational health ideologies and personal
health ideologies and is largely dependent on feedback. My response to the reading’s
references towards the significance of psychological health at workplaces was favourable as I
perceived the characteristics of psychologically healthy workplaces.
Psychologically healthy workplaces act as feasible substrates for promoting employee
empowerment thereby allowing them flexible opportunities to ensure recognition. I was never
able to perceive the significance of models such as the Total Worker Health Framework and
the WHO policies which promote healthy workplaces (Miles, 2013).
The foremost aspect of a psychologically healthy workplace is the prominence of
communication as an integral element. Furthermore, the impact of organizational culture is
largely described in literature with limited concerns over the alignment of organizational
culture to communication objectives and organizational objectives differently. The impact of
organizational culture on structure and policies could be assumed as a critical gap in realizing
appropriate changes in communication framework to deal with the challenges of
organizational wellness.
The emphasis of the organizations on the health domain has become a major input for
the determination of policies and procedures that govern organizational operations. However,
it is essential to perceive the effect of other intangible factors associated with employee
empowerment alongside the concerns for implementing the reforms in organizational culture
in unison with the existing cultural framework. I was able to observe that communication was
largely based on the aspect of sense making in order to accomplish the objectives of instating
a formidable organizational culture (Moore, et al., 2017). The formal emphasis on
communication as a tool for developing a healthy workplace can be verified from the
interlinking of communication with employee empowerment as well the impact of

Organisational Wellness
10
communication in improving the prospects for employee recognition. Communication is
largely characterized with the opportunities for employees to align managerial actions
comprising of reforms in procedures, informal communication and policy changes.
Furthermore, communication could be accounted as a prolific contributor to promotion of
exchange relationship that would otherwise assist employees in creating a social construct
which would help them to understand and perceive the significance and purpose of the
organizational changes.
From a critical perspective, it can be apprehended that communication could imply
the inclusion of non-verbal managerial actions, verbalisation and behaviour as well as the
development of prioritization of employee interests. I was never expecting the impact of these
factors on the development of communication efficiency in organizations (Moss, 2017). The
impact of communication on the reduction of change could be apprehended as a major
highlight of the preservation of organizational wellness.
My observations from the lecture studies and readings provided notable insights into
the distinct phases involved in development of healthy workplace which can be interlinked to
the scope of employee empowerment (Nair, Kumar & Ramalu, 2015). Therefore my response
to the reading and lecture studies provides a comprehensive impression of the individual
stages and characteristics of healthy workplaces alongside a promising review of the distinct
stages involved in creation of a healthy workplace through implementing organization-level
solutions, intervention methods, communication and efforts for developing awareness
(Vanderstraeten, 2014).
Implications for Organizational Wellness
The particular implications for organizational wellness in terms of employee
empowerment, employee recognition, culture and communication have been identified as the
major themes related to organizational wellness in this reflective journal. I have also reflected
on the lecture material and readings relevant to creation of a respectful workplace and the
implementation of respect as a professional resource involved with Job Demands-Resources
Model.
The concerns of social identity have been found to be major determinants of
psychological safety of individuals at workplace (Nel, 2016). The implications of respect in
the workplace could further be identified from the applications of JD-R model which

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11
suggested the exhaustion of physical and mental resources on the basis of higher job
demands. The requirements of co-workers and supervisors to work in coordination for
providing sources for demands and resources could also be noted as one of the highlights that
validates the influence of contextual environment on the improvement of employee morale.
Respectful workplaces are profoundly noted for depicting individual highlights such as
psychological safety, promotion of employee learning and contributing to organizational
capacity.
The readings also depicted profound references to the characteristics of disrespectful
workplaces which accounted for a critical insight into the possibilities for defining
organizational standards to encounter the occurrence of disrespectful incidents leading to loss
of psychological safety which is a formidable resource for an enterprise (Nicholson, 2017).
The concerns of infringement of a professional’s respect at the workplace could be
apprehended from the distinct categories of distributive justice, interactional justice and
procedural justice. I would like to communicate that the establishment of distinct categories
of punishment related to justice for misbehaviour in an organizational context could be
contradicted by employees on the grounds of bias.
On the other hand, I realize I never made the assumptions that values could be integral
for the resolution of conflicts related to respect and misbehaviour. The distinct types of
values which are found in context of organizational management refer to shared values,
personal values, cultural values and organizational values. I was also able to observe the
classification of values according to Rokeach Value Survey which include terminal and
instrumental values.
Furthermore, other theorists such as Kriger and Hanson provided implications
towards the classification into necessary underlying values and supporting activities.
However, the lack of correlation of other models of motivation could be classified as a
formidable critical insight derived from my inferences (Sikhwai, 2015). For example, the
application of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in context of the different categories of values
could be observed as a major gap of literature.

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Conclusion:
The report illustrated a reflective journal on the topic of organizational wellness with
a critical review of teaching material from four different lectures and suggested readings in
the individual weeks.
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