1• The Supervisor’s Job
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the use of computer-controlled industrial robots to accomplish tasks, has created new problems. Many employees grumble and lo-.e work efficiency when required to work with robots. As in the past, employees resist automation that promises to take away jobs. Resistance to robots is often more intense because workers resent a machine with humanlike properties. Watching a robot perform your old job can be a blow to your self-esteem.
An argument in favor of automation is that robots make an important contribution. They help lower production costs, thus saving jobs. Also, they perform dirty and unsafe jobs that humans should not be performing. Factory automation (FA) is an ever-increasing part of the factory environment. Nevertheless, production supervisors often have to deal with negative employee attitudes toward robots.
Office automation (OA) is currently creating more supervisory problems than factory automation. The major problem created by OA is adverse reactions to prolonged work in front of computers. Negative psychological and physical reactions are commonplace. Psychological problems center around an intense dislike for spending so much time at a machine rather than interacting with people. Negative physical reactions to prolonged exposure to video display terminals (VDTs) include headaches, backaches, eyestrain. dizziness, and fatigue. These symptoms lead to a higher than average absenteeism rate for office computer workers.⁹
First-level managers in an automated office thus face a dilemma. Computerized workstations have been installed primarily to increase office productivity and to improve quality. Many of these gains are achieved, yet the supervisor must deal with the substantial job stress created by office automation. Suggestions for coping with employee problems of this kind are presented in Chapter 16, Managing Ineffective Performers.
Increased Number of Difficult-to-Supervise Jobs. “How do you like your new job?” asked the mail clerk’s friend. She replied, “Fabulous. I buzz around the building all day pushing my little mail cart. Nobody is looking over my shoulder. I can stop for coffee or a soft drink any time I want. I almost never see my boss.” This freedom loving mail clerk is not alone. An increasing number of jobs in our complex technological society are difficult to supervise because the job holder is not physically confined to
one department.
The most difficult-to-supervise jobs of all are telecommuters, workers who perform their jobs at home. Also referred to as teleworkers, these
⁹One of many articles documenting this problem is Robert C. Miljus and Brian W. Sholly, “How Safe Are Video Display Terminals,” Personnel Journal, March 1985, pp.36-37.
