Classical Sociology: Exploring Workplace Dynamics and Society's Role

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This essay delves into the application of classical sociology principles within the context of workplace environments and societal structures. The student, an administrative assistant at the Swedish Public Employment Service, uses their daily experiences to illustrate concepts such as work-life balance, emotional labor, and social identity. The essay explores how workplace dynamics influence individual well-being and productivity, emphasizing the importance of a healthy work environment and effective communication. It references relevant literature on emotional labor and workplace factors, highlighting the significance of social interaction, individual identity, and the impact of societal structures on the workplace. The student reflects on their personal experiences, including the significance of social identity and the importance of a supportive work environment, and the role of the Swedish Public Employment Service in providing employment services. The essay concludes by emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual work experiences and the broader societal context.
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Running head: CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
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1CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
Introduction
Society, although it’s a seven letter word, it comprises of all the human beings sharing
a similar ideology and cooperating with each other to achieve their quotidian goals. We
cannot live in isolation; we need someone to share our views, cultures, customs, etc. leading
to the formation of a society. Similarly, our workplace shares a society which not only
includes the living beings but also the technologies which helps in making our lives easier
(Den Dulk and Groeneveld 2013). One can never work in a toxic environment as the place
where we work leaves a great impact on both our mind and health. We have a healthy
workplace when people can share their views, communicate with one another properly,
increasing their productivity to achieve a common milestone. Hence, in order to thrive we
need people with similar perspective, ethics, principles to coordinate with one another
establishing a successful society for mankind. The life we lead every day, the deeds we do,
the thoughts we perceive are greatly influenced by the society we live in Our world can only
prosper if we lead our lives based on a healthy Social Infrastructure and contribute to the
development of the Society. In this assignment I would like to illustrate my every day life as
administrative assistant in Swedish Public Employment Service where I have been working
for the past few years.
Discussion
An Average individual spends most of his time in his workplace associated to the
work he is bestowed to. Hence, a work life balance is very important for our survival. One
can only work effectively and learn new things if he is provided with a satisfactory work
environment (Deery et al. 2018). It is very important for an employee to be aware of the job
assigned to him and the organization he is working in. Emails and Meetings organized by the
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2CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
Organization helps in maintaining a clarity regarding the various changes happening
around him related to his work and the organization. We are expected to continually enrich
our skills and upgrade ourselves to be successful in achieving our goals. Every Organization
takes measures in order to encourage their employee by organizing regular workshops and
training sessions, so that they can learn and enrich their knowledge and also implement the
same in their work. We live in a competitive world, where we face difficult challenges every
day. Hence, it is very important to note that an individual is appreciated for his contribution
in being an asset to the organization (Haar et al. 2014). Recreational activities, Award
ceremonies, and presents given by the employer on the special days like birthdays,
retirements, etc. indeed makes an individual feel acknowledged and delighted. To maintain a
pleasant work life balance, it is very important to have a well-defined working hour with
proper breaks in between so that we can refresh our self and work more diligently. Usually
we witness a normal working day stretches for eight hours, depending on the amount of the
work the person is expected to complete. At times the organizations provide every employee
with the list of holidays at the beginning of the year so that the employee can plan his
holidays accordingly and manage in providing sufficient time with their family and friends
(Deery and Jago 2015). An important aspect of a desirable work life balance is achieved if we
can maintain an equilibrium in our personal as well as professional life.
Everyday, at any given workplace, it is found that different individuals working
differently. Now, this difference among the individuals' ability to produce different levels of
efficiency everyday, is what helps to make the workplace find growth in a society. Similarly,
the difference of efficiencies among the different workplaces at any given society helps the
particular society to find growth in the world (Isaksson 2018). We know that different
societies comprise the world. Everyday different society finds different levels of growth.
Hence, for the world to maintain its equilibrium, it is very essential to maintain the balance
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3CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
between different societies, by achieving a point of social interaction. The social interaction
among the individuals in a society not only promotes the sustenance of the society, but also, it
helps to maintain the work-life balance of the individuals. Hence, the structure of the
societies, that are comprised of its individuals, that interact within themselves, maintaining
their work-life balance is what regulates the world everyday.
Literature on everyday living at workplace
According to the article by Wagner, Barnes and Scott (2014), employees in the
current generation tend to carry their workplace emotional labour to their home which
furthermore affects their personal life. The article highlights on the majority of the research
study on emotional labour that focused on the outcomes and at the workplace. The authors in
the article examined the influence and the effects of the day to day life on the stress outcomes
experienced by the employees at their house. This include emotional exhaustion, family and
work conflicts and chances of insomnia. The literature on the instances of emotional labour
has tends to distinguish among primary ways towards the confirmation of the display rues of
the employees.
Importance of factors at workplace and every day living
Workplace can be defined by many terms, the individual’s individuality and
comprehension of the same varies from person to person. But it is a sole duty of the employer
to provide the best working environment for their employees. Many factors come into play
when we are judging this scenario, mainly the factors that affect the working of the individual
at the workplace and also their daily live (Sheikh et al. 2018).
Natural Setting or the working environment. The setting from each miniscule point changes
how happy and willing an employee is going to be while working there. if the atmosphere
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4CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
and people there the lighting seating etc is up to standards of the individual then the same
feels a resemblance of satisfaction while working.
The interaction, sociality and socialization can conjunct into one type, i.e., the feeling
that comes from interaction to people in the workspace and their social behaviour offline and
online (Wadhwa and Shetty 2017). The more they can freely interaction the more they will
feel connected and comfortable which will result in their happiness and efficiency in work.
Every person is different with their different tastes and way of living and individual
thoughts. Because of this the choices that they make are different and they are also attracted
towards different things and like different stuff. This is the identity of the person, this is who
they are and how they behave. Each and every person has two identity that they forge from
the moment they are born (Starmer, Frintner and Freed 2016). One of them is the Social-
Identity and one is Self-Identity. Social identity is the portrayal of oneself to other people
within their circle of friends and colleagues and strangers while self-identity is the real one
which is what that person is to themselves, raw and unmodified (Bulger 2014). The social
identity is set differently for the individual towards different groups, for example, they
behave very close to their self-identity with the people the individual is most comfortable
with, ie, friends and family but changes for strangers and/or their work colleagues.
The social identity also helps the individual to forge connections thus is pretty
important for them. While the self-identity is inner thoughts and thus has no implications on
the real life of the individual. Every individual no matter how simple they might seem doesn't
wholely reveal who they to anyone not even their own family (Stokes and Wood 2016). Thus,
the social identity is very important and could make or break the individual's career.
Reflection – My personal ideas
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5CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
My everyday life starts at 8AM when I wake up the thing that we all take for granted
is the reality that we are alive today and have a fit body. We often fail to realize that our body
is going to degrade with each passing day. We so easily ignore the fact that death is inevitable
and it can happen anytime. As I wake up every day and go to take a shower, I ponder of the
fact that someone else, another individual who stays in the same apartment as me wakes up
before me and gets to work turning the water on and heating the same, I am very thankful for
their everyday efforts otherwise my schedule would have been a complete mess. When we
were little, my sister and I used to make bank selling lemonade and avocados on our
street. Little entrepreneurs that we were, we were actually participating in the "informal
marketplace.” These kinds of jobs can be great when you're a kid, but I'm grateful to now be
employed in the Swedish Public Employment Service where I enjoy protections such as
health insurance, a steady pay check, and legal protections .
Coming to the part of the life at my employment service at Swedish Public
Employment Service, my job role includes various types of administrative and clerical duties.
I got the job just after my graduation since the regular selling of lemonade with my sister was
not working efficiently. I wanted my sister to dedicate all her time to studies while me
supporting the entire family. Organized under the ministry of employment, the Swedish
governmental agency mainly deals with the responsibility towards the public employment
services in the country together with the implementation of the labour and the policies of the
market. The main aim of the agency I am employed is to provide active support to the
companies in the process of recruitment with the use of vacancy databases. My every day job
role in the employment service includes providing effective support to the employee and the
managers and assisting them for their needs and the management of the general activities of
the administration of the company. Some of the noted responsibilities of mine on a daily basis
includes handling of the administrative requests and the queries from the senior managers,
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6CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
organization and the scheduling of the appointments with the admin software and planning
towards the meeting and taking the detail of the minutes of the meeting. I furthermore engage
myself in making meeting and travel arrangements, preparation of the reports, maintenance of
the appropriate systems. With some of the good oral and written communication, I use
software like MS Excel and MS Office equipments for ensuring efficient and smooth office
work.
Apart from the above stated characteristics related to the job role I fulfil everyday,
some of the major responsibilities as a administrator assistant that I do are answering and
directing the phone calls, organize and schedule appointments, planning of the meetings and
assisting in the effective preparation of the regular scheduled reports. Besides this, I maintain
the contact list, submit and reconcile the expense reports, provide some of the general support
to the visitors and liaise with the senior administrative manager and the floor assistant
towards the handling of the request and the queries from the manager authority.
Conclusion
World, at large, consists of different societies thriving together, to establish a healthy
environment that mutually benefits every living individual being part of the respective
societies. Work is an integral part of every individual’s life. Any society, at any given time,
sustains on the basis of how well the work-life balance of the individuals are maintained. In
an ideal situation, it would be considered that every individual is capable of maintaining the
same level of work-life balance, and hence, all the society of the world would be able to
deliver same level of productivity. However, this is impossible in reality. In everyday life,
different individual provide different kind of productivity, and hence, different societies
evolve differently everyday. This creates a difference between the evolution of the societies
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everyday. This difference, however, opens up the scope of competition among the societies,
which in turn leads to the growth of a better world.
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8CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGY
References
Bulger, C., 2014. Work-life balance. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being
Research, pp.7231-7232.
Deery, M. and Jago, L., 2015. Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention
strategies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), pp.453-
472.
Deery, M., Jago, L., Harris, C. and Liburd, J., 2018. 9 Work-Life Balance for Sustainable
Tourism Development. In Collaboration for Sustainable Tourism Development (pp. 151-
167). Goodfellow Publishers Ltd.
Den Dulk, L. and Groeneveld, S., 2013. Work–life balance support in the public sector in
Europe. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 33(4), pp.384-405.
Gangwisch, J.E., 2014. Work-life balance.
Haar, J.M., Russo, M., Suñe, A. and Ollier-Malaterre, A., 2014. Outcomes of work–life
balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures.
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 85(3), pp.361-373.
Isaksson, J.J., 2018. Work-life balance in the knowledge intensive field-Implications of the
use of electronic devices in the 24/7 economy.
McDowall, A., Kinman, G. and Grant, C., 2015. A workshop on developing work-life
balance competence: The importance of context. Work-Life Balance Working Group
Newsletter, p.32.
Requena, F., 2003. Social capital, satisfaction and quality of life in the workplace. Social
indicators research, 61(3), pp.331-360.
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Shanafelt, T.D., Raymond, M., Kosty, M., Satele, D., Horn, L., Pippen, J., Chu, Q., Chew, H.,
Clark, W.B., Hanley, A.E. and Sloan, J., 2014. Satisfaction with work-life balance and the
career and retirement plans of US oncologists. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 32(11), p.1127.
Sheikh, M.A., Ashiq, A., Mehar, M.R., Hasan, A. and Khalid, M., 2018. Impact of Work and
Home Demands on Work Life Balance: Mediating Role of Work Family Conflicts.
Starmer, A.J., Frintner, M.P. and Freed, G.L., 2016. Work–life balance, burnout, and
satisfaction of early career pediatricians. Pediatrics, p.e20153183.
Stokes, L. and Wood, S.J., 2016. Employer support for work–life balance in recession:
Findings for Britain from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey.
Wadhwa, S. and Shetty, K., 2017. Work Life Balance Policy and its Impact on Employee
Engagement. Asian Journal of Management, 8(4), pp.1064-1074.
Wagner, D.T., Barnes, C.M. and Scott, B.A., 2014. Driving it home: How workplace
emotional labor harms employee home life. Personnel Psychology, 67(2), pp.487-516.
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