Effective Training

It has been brought to my attention that we are having problems in the IT department (Information Technology). The HR Director has asked for my opinion concerning the unfortunate turn of this department. I am aware that the department was, not long ago, leading the company. There seems to have been a change in productivity since the past six months. I will address these issues and I will also offer my opinion concerning the causes of the downfall, but more importantly I will offer advice on the repair of the department.

The IT department has been experiencing hardware and software problems not being addressed in a timely manner and they are also experiencing problems with attendance. Also the number of cases that HR has dealt with has also increased. I believe that all of this chaos and lack of quality work should be attributed to the move into temporary buildings.

While I haven't thoroughly explored the temporary facility, I am aware of the aspects of social and organizational psychology. I am aware that what they are experiencing in the temporary building, fluctuation of temperature, noise from coworkers and from the construction of the new building, crowding, light-levels, the frustration-aggression response et cetera, will cause a negative response, such as not getting work handled in a timely manner and just simply not showing up for work because they don't want to face all of the dilemmas. (https://mycampus.aiu-online.com/MainFrame.aspx?ContentFrame=/Default.aspx)

According to (http://sln.fi.edu/brain/stress.htm), stress has a mental effect on people. Stress also impairs people physically. Yale conducted a study on monkeys to monitor the effects of noise stress on brain functions. They concluded that stress "impairs PFC cognitive function through its influence on dopamine, a key neurotransmitter that is involved in many brain disorders." Because stress and noise are linked closely together, "chronic low-level noise also negatively influences the brain and behavior, whether from the road or in the office, low-intensity noise has a subtle yet insidious effect on our health and well-being." (http://sln.fi.edu/brain/stress.htm#stressnoise)

Stress and noise are also responsible for "bad moods, lack of concentration, fatigue and poor work performance", which would explain the decline in the IT department. (http://www.uibk.ac.at/hyg_sm/sozialmedizin/documents/jasa/low_noise.pdf)

Considering, according to Dr. Alice H. Suter, an audiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, noise-related problems include "high blood pressure, ulcers, strokes, degradation of the immune system, impairment of learning" et cetera maybe the employees have been sick more frequently due to the work conditions and haven't been able to make it to work. (http://www.fi.edu/brain/stress.htm)

In order for the employees to deal with this new stress and work through their environmental changes we need to incorporate a few things