Night Shift Working: Key to Economic Growth? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Night shifts have been termed as one of the driving factors towards the economic growth of businesses. Since the inception of the industrial revolution, night shift working schedules have gradually been implemented to help meet the demands of economic growth. One of the major characteristics of the night shift is highly associated with working at odd times, when others have withdrawn to have a long night rest, for an early and fresh morning startup. Therefore, most of the individuals working at night are subjected to a natural bored and slow physical reaction towards their work.

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According to d'Ettorre et al., (2018), night shifts are classified as defying the mother nature's schedule and regulation of the human cycle and work. Nature defines that night is a suitable moment for humans to rest for a new head start the following day. However, night shift, tend to defy the regulations of mother nature, trying to subject humans in a different schedule that, they are not used to, as part of their routine life. However, due to the capital demand and quest for profits, over human comfort, most of the organization, tend to turn a blind eye when it comes to subjecting humans against mother nature, without considering the violation of biblical worldview, that regulates the exploitation and misuse of the creators planning.

Drawing examples from the biblical perspectives on the order of creation, night shifts tend to work against the biblical teachings. As Rodwell and Fernando, (2016) observed during the creation story in the book of Genesis, The Almighty creator separated night and day, making a distinctive boundary regarding when a man should work, and the relaxing time. However, as the world is becoming more industrialized, it is hard to distinguish between night and day, as workers prepare to change from ne shift to the other, without considering the biblical effects depicted in the quest to fulfil the human desire.

The biblical teachings on the ten commandments regarding keeping the Sabbath day holy seems to be less effective, especially to many employers, as workers in the night shift are subjected to work. As Evans, (2019) outlined, workers, are pushed to work by the lucrative enticement in terms of overtime while working on the Sabbath night. In Exodus 20: 8-11 King James Version (KJV), the third commandment outlines that, "Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day holy". The biblical teachings regarding the ten commandments seem to be swept under the carpet by most of the employers, without considering the warning or wrath of the almighty. "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:" (Evans, 2019). However, irrespective of the violation of most of the employers subjecting the workers to work in the night shift for profit gains, there are a series of challenges experienced by the employees in the night shift.

Challenges

The integration of night shift has served the world of enterprise profitably without considering the reparations from those involved. One of the major concerns and issues facing the employees undertaking the night shift is involved with the interference of the natural sleep rhythms. As Deshmukh and Song (2018) observed, sleep is essential for overall body health. However, working at night tends to go against the natural human program, where, the body is forced to be awake at the right time to have rest. Therefore, some of the body parts, tend to slow down, and offer little productivity, as there are stretched to the limit. For instance, the human brain is one of the elements that require a decent amount of sleep. However, lack of enough sleep may not result in any visible effects with time, but rather slow the overall body performance with time.

Therefore, workers scheduled to work on night shifts, are prone to a higher degree of stress, due to lack of enough sleep, and a shift in the sleeping patterns. As d'Ettorre et al., (2018), outlined, industrial production records a higher number of accidents at night, with nearly 85% of the reported cases being severe, compared to those recorded during the day shift.

Night shift workers have recorded a higher degree of depression, which has impacted most of the employee's mental health. Numerous studies elucidate that, the risk of depression and mood disorder escalates, as one is scheduled to work in night shift. Additionally, this concept is more server, especially to the single parent, scheduled to work at night.

Effective Management Techniques for Hiring

While managers are required to show fairness in the recruitment of the candidates and offering opportunities for all qualified candidates, it is essential to restructure and observe different elements. Recruitment for night shift employees requires a slight heightening of the rules and regulations to help recruit suitable candidates. One of the major considerations that managers should focus during the hiring process is the physical composition of the candidates. Physically fit candidates, without special needs should be scheduled for the night shift, while those with any disabilities scheduled for day shifts. Therefore, the essence of omitting physically challenged candidates in the night shift helps reduce the psychological torture, they might be experiencing from the unfamiliar, and challenging working environment.

Employee's habit is another major factor that managers should be aware of during the recruitment process. Employees with habits of wireless drinking, should not be scheduled for the night shift since it might not only affect them but also affect other workers during the shift. According to Huene et al., (2019), workers with an excessive drug abuse history working at night might utilize the opportunity to cause problems, and even increase psychological frustration to others within the same department. Therefore, managers should take a closer eye during the recruitment process.

Firing

The firing of employees remains to be one of the emotional moments, as a worker has to adjust and prepare to live another life, without his coworkers. Some of the workers foster a strong bond between them, making their colleagues feel like family members. Therefore, the firing process remains to be emotional not only for the fired worker but also for other members in the department. Therefore, managers should take a considerate step, while firing a worker, especially those working in the night shift.

The increased number of physical toucher and trauma may arise with immediate termination of the working. Managers should adopt a new and a different concept of issuing a termination later one or two months prior to the firing of the candidate. During this period, the candidate, facing the termination prepares both psychology and emotionally about the oncoming termination. Therefore, the preparation helps the workers and the affected employee, adjust to working without one of their members. Moreover, the terminated candidate gains a smooth and essential transition, reducing server emotional moments.

Motivating

One of the areas that managers should emphasis on the night shift workers to help them going should be focused on the need to motivate them financially. Night shift comes with many benefits to the corporate owners but exposes a series of challenges to the employees. Therefore, it is essential for the manager to strategically implement a structured and essential way of developing a suitable financial incentive, that compensates for both physical and psychological depression of the workers handling the night shifts.

Lastly, short working hours during the night shift may not be too essential and even possible for most of the organization, due to security reasons. Therefore, long breaks during work should be encouraged at work to reduce psychological burn. Therefore, this seeks to encourage the workers to cooperate and work effectively, without worrying so much about the psychological burn.

Training for the Night Shift

One of the most cumbersome moments for any employee is adjusting with both the work and his personal life. Night shift transitioning becomes one of the most difficult and challenging moments for most of the employee, irrespective of their duration in the company. Therefore, it becomes essential for the manages to develop an effective and coherent platform that helps in shifting the workers from day shits to the night shift. The managers should take greater considerations, of biblical teachings, especially teaching on work and the ten commandments take on working on the Sabbath day.

Managers should create a smooth transition of workers from day to the night shift, bearing in mind the challenges encountered during at night, which involves both mental and physical stress, hence reducing the productivity of workers. Therefore, workers should be trained accordingly to help reduce burnout during the night shift. Moreover, the increased rates of accidents recorded during the night shift should be the focus of most of the managers to help reduce the workers from becoming victims of the accidents.

On the contrary, managers should have a better understanding of the natural functioning of a human body, to help them create flexible night shifts that do not oppress the workers due to the increased pressure. In the bottom line, managers should be encouraged to learn and understand the weaknesses of the employees scheduled for the night shift, as a way of reducing burnout, and psychological effects.

References

Deshmukh, R., & Song, J. (2018). What are the Benefits and Challenges of Hiring Disabled Individuals? https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/student/190

d'Ettorre, G., Pellicani, V., Greco, M., Mazzotta, M., & Vullo, A. (2018). Assessing and managing shift work disorder in healthcare workers. La Medicina del lavoro, 109(2), 144-150. DOI: 10.23749/mdl.v109i2.6960

Evans, R. L. (2019). Exodus 20 (The Ten Commandments): The Evans Practical Bible Commentary. Abundant Truth Publishing. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qsKCDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Exodus+20+(The+Ten+Commandments):+The+Evans+Practical+Bible+Commentary.+Abundant+Truth+Publishing.&ots=vL9lHpG0LR&sig=LPOl_L7pAOY0k1kafhh0yZuzse0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Exodus%2020%20(The%20Ten%20Commandments)%3A%20The%20Evans%20Practical%20Bible%20Commentary.%20Abundant%20Truth%20Publishing.&f=false

Huene, E., Rausch, S., Vasiu, G., Lopez, H., & Valentz, M. S. N. (2019). Managing the Effects of Poor Sleep Quality in Nurses. Nursing Undergraduate Work. 11.https://digitalshowcase.oru.edu/nurs_undergrad_work/11

Rodwell, J., & Fernando, J. (2016). Managing work across shifts: not all shifts are equal. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 48(4), 397-405. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12220