Reality Shock Is a Fact

Reality shock is a fact of human life in many different areas. This is particularly true in the world of professional work. A student just emerging from college may have certain expectations of the working world. The first of these may be that an abundance of work is available from companies that cannot wait to provide employment. And indeed, this may have been so for previous generations, where the freshly trained MBA student could expect to find work easily and quickly. This expectation is however quickly shattered when the graduate in fact begins to look for work. In the current economic climate, it is much more difficult to find work than previously.

Another reality shock may be the compensation at which a graduate is expected to do a certain amount of work. Once again, a certain expectation is created by a market that may have been previously prosperous, but which is suffering in difficult times. New employees may then be shocked at the diminished salaries that are available for the type of work that they will be doing.

The final type of reality shock for new employees is the amount of work and expertise that are expected of them once they are employed. At first, the new job may seem exciting and challenging. However, when the employee becomes used to the type of work expected, he or she may become disenchanted and feel bored, stressed, or overworked.

Another type of reality shock in this regard may be the initial work situation. The employee may feel overwhelmed by a number of duties that he or she was not prepared for during college. Indeed, only a small area of any subject can be covered at college. True experience and expertise come only during the years of actual hands-on work. This may be unexpected once the world of work is entered.

2. Adaptive Culture

Today more than every before in the business world it has become essential to be able to adapt on both the individual and collective level. Adaptability means survival, much like it does in nature. For a business to be adaptable, its workforce must concomitantly be able to adapt to change in the marketplace and customer demand. A company is only as strong as the ability of all its employees to meet its customers' expectations. This is particularly so when a company needs to make changes to its operations in order to accommodate a changing market.

Change creates worker stress for a number of reasons. It could for example create insecurity, as workers are not sure whether their jobs will survive the change, particularly in the current economic climate. Indeed, the economic climate has forced many companies to downsize, and any type of change may be construed as an attempt to follow suit. Secondly, change automatically creates uncertainty, as human beings tend to react badly to any removal from their "comfort" zone. In order to ensure employee adaptability, the most important thing that companies can do is to keep communication channels open.