Social Work in Industrial Sector

Social Work in Industrial Sector
Dr. Ranjana Sehgal, ISSW
Scope of Social Work in Industry:
If we accept that business and industry are not merely profit oriented institutions but have social obligations as well, then social work does have plenty of scope in industry, as it can help it to achieve its social goals. Today, it is not only the production or sale of goods and services that is the managements concern, but the social climate inside the organization, the work structure and the mental health of the employees is of equal concern. Industrial social work can go a long way in improving the social climate and quality of human relations in an organization.
Human relations propose in general that productivity should be achieved by means of building and maintaining employee dignity and satisfaction rather than at the cost of these values. In social work, human dignity is always upheld and man is helped to integrate and adapt to his social environment.
There is plenty of scope for social work practice in industry. This is because the larger the organization, the more complex are the problems faced by human beings. In small organizations, employees have direct access to the managers and so many of their problems get sorted out early. In larger organizations, there is no such opportunity for the employees, as everything has to go through proper channels and, thus, they have access only to the supervisors and junior managers, who are not decision makers. Relationships between employees and management are more formalized and availability of the management to the employees is reduced. Paternalistic attitudes towards employees
and authoritarian kind of approach seem more prevalent in organizations. A social worker can help the employees to overcome their problems and continue to function as productive workers. According to M.M. Desai, the professionally trained social worker can develop his/ her programmes at the following levels:

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Compiler: Fateme Mohammady
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Published on the specialized media of Iranians social work
www.iraniansocialworkers.ir