"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go." So sang the charmingly quirky dwarfs in Disney's Snow White. In many ways they stood for the hopes of mid-century Americans: Hold down a secure job, produce your share of goods or products, do what the boss says, go with the program, and earn enough to support a comfortable lifestyle for yourself and your family. Things haven't really changed all that much--or have they? Only a few of us are currently involved in any type of manual labor or production. In fact, more than 80% of the workforce is in a service position according to most of the information we receive in our Human Resource office. In the past 100 years, the tools of the trade have changed dramatically. We've gone from plows to assembly lines to computers as the primary drivers of our livelihood. What about "off to work we go"? All indicators point to an ever-increasing rise in telecommuting, home offices, and part-time and just-in-time or temporary workers, spurred on in large part by the increasingly transnational nature of corporations. So this place called work is rapidly becoming any place at all. Changes like this are happening in all aspects of the workplace and can be attributed too much of the stress that employees are feeling today. I have noticed that many employees are complaining that the high stress of their jobs is causing employee burnout at a very young age, but all of this change is not as catastrophic as it may seem. There are many positive effects to be garnished from the inevitable changes in the workplace. This paper is going to look a four of these positive results from change. 1. Changes allow for freedom on new ideas. 2. Changes meet the Generation X's needs for a constant variation in the workplace. 3. Employees work better with a little stress (Fight or Flight). 4. Done right, involving employees in change can create a feeling of ownership. Changes allow for freedom on new ideas. Without changes in the workp...
