CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1.            Background of the study

The Organization of a workstation and the efficiency of the post holder is simply   putting all the materials and equipment you want to use for the execution of a task in their right position. The workstation of a worker needs to be well organized since that is where he spends three quarter of his day or carry out his long day work. For this reason, the post of work has been categorized under two zones.

The normal zone which is made up of category one involving the movement of fingers, categories two the movement of fingers and wrist, category three the movement of fingers wrist and forearms. The maximum zone which is made up of category four comprising the movement of fingers, forearms and arms. Category five is made up of the movement of fingers, wrist, forearms, arms and body.

An organization will not only achieve its goals because of the different workers it has and the different offices but will achieve its goals when the different posts of works are well organized.   For every organization to achieve its objectives there is the need to put the employees in a good working condition and to organize the post of work so as to minimize cost, time fatigue and to improve on the quality of work done with minimum stress and fatigue. If the post of work can be well arranged, the work can be done efficiently thereby increasing productivity.  Arranging the post of work is the act of putting things in the rightful position taking into consideration the materials and equipment which is frequently used, those that are less frequently used and those that need large space. The importance of a correct post of work in a specialized room cannot be overemphasized as it is in this room that the specialist has to carry out his functions. Knowing the importance of an employee in an organization and the problems faced when the work station is not well organized, I was inspired to carry out research on the topic “analysis and conception of a work station for employees’ performance”.

In the course of this chapter, we shall be looking at the background of the study, the problem statement will be examined, research questions will be stated, the objective of the study, hypothesis will be tasted, significance of the study, scope of the study, definition of key terms and organization of work.

The office worker, expects certain motivation from the organization into which he or she is employed which can be in the form of achievement motivation, incentive motivation, competence and learning motivation like when the working environment is not conducive, it leads to health problems like back, neck and shoulder pain. Since most employees’ career involves desk jobs, workstation for employees should be a chief concern. It’s also worth considering the very real effect that chronic diseases and unhealthy habits have among employees that will impact their work performance, productivity and wellness. Fortunately, employers can help prevent their staff from developing chronic conditions by addressing these issues. One way to do this is to set up a healthy workstation for the company’s employees. Ergonomics got its start in the United States during World War 11, when scientists designed advanced new systems without fully considering the people who would be using them. It gradually became clear that systems and products would have been designed to take into account many human and environmental factors if they are to be used safely and effectively. This awareness of people’s physical requirements resulted in the discipline of ergonomics. It is in view of this background that the researcher worked with the view of analyzing the workstation for employees in the Santa council so as to improve on their performance.

1.2.       Statement of the problem

In most organizations, the issue of proper arrangement of the station of work has posed a lot of inefficiency in both employees and employers. Noble (2009) states that more attention should be paid in identifying and dealing with working environment because when employees have negative perception to their environment, they sometimes suffer from chronic stress. In the same light Opperman (2002) states that, a work station means those processes, systems, structures, tools or conditions in the workplace that impact favorably or unfavorably individual performance. The workstation also includes, policies, rules, culture, resources, working relationship, work location, internal and external environmental factors, all of which influences the way that employees perform their job functions. The problems identified during my internship which made me undergo this research work is based on the physical work station which mostly affects employees’ performance. The equipment and materials needed for effective work are there, but sometimes neglected due to the lack of knowledge on how to go about it, noise which causes discomfort depending on the task they are given is another issue. Through this study, the employee will get to know how its workstation impacts greatly on the employees’ level of motivation and performance. A well-designed office signals the values and objectives of the organization and the use of design in office interior communicates an organization value and identity. It has also been realized that the post holders themselves are not competent that is why they cannot arrange their post of work properly thus, the workers always have fatigue, they are stressed up before the day runs out and this leads to errors on administrative work which damages the image of the organization. After haven noticed these problems threatening employees’ performance, the researcher decided to find out what effects does workstation have on employees’ performance and thus settled on a title to guide my investigation which is Analysis and Conception of a Workstation for employees’ performance (the case of Santa council).

1.3.       Objective of the study

General objective

The general objective is to examine the relationship between post of work and efficiency of workers in organizations.

Specific objectives

1. To assess the use of job aid towards employees’ performance
2. To analyze the physical working environment on employees’ performance.
3. To conceive a well-defined work station that could enhance employee performance.

1.4.       Research questions

General research question

1. What influence does the organization of a workstation have on employee’s performance?

Specific research questions

2. How can job aid enhance employees’ performance?
3. What is the physical work environment that add towards employees’ performance?
4. How should a conducive work station look like?