Performance-enhancers are becoming more common in our everyday life, despite our efforts to ban them. This raises the questions, should we just accept these drugs and use them to our advantage? Or should we continue to resist these drugs and not take advantage of their performance-enhancing capabilities? When you start talking about organizations like the military, where Soldiers are ask to go beyond the normal physical and mental stress of a regular work day in a combat environment. Performance-enhancers could be a real advantage on the battle field.
When you are talking about a managers and employees performing without getting fatigue and having the added ability to perform at a higher level, then performance-enhancers becomes an advantage that can help an organization stay ahead of their competitors. These performance-enhancing drugs could be what are needed to reduce battle fatigue and reduce casualties on the battlefield. Also they could be what are needed to keep American organizations ahead of other organizations in the world.
Performance-enhancing drugs are nothing new the workplace.For years people have been using performance-enhancing drugs without giving it one thought, some people without even knowing that they are even using performance-enhancing drugs. I am talking about substances like vitamins and protein supplements which are never classified as performance enhancers despite their significant effects that they have on one’s performance. You could also add coffee and soda to this list because they contain caffeine, which is considered a performance enhancer by some athletic authorities. These examples of performance-enhancing drugs have been an acceptable business practice and for some a way of life.Imagine a coffee drinker without that morning “Cup of Joe”.
For some, the day doesn’t begin until they have had that first cup! And this has an effect on their overall performance. The phrase “Cup of Joe” goes back to the mid-1840s. Despite the folk etymology that the phrase derives from Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy who banned the serving of alcohol on ships in 1914, the phrase is known to predate his service. Today coffee might be the most popular drink in the world. It is said that 7 out 10 adult people drinks coffee three times or more a day.
But let’s take a look of the advantages and disadvantages of coffee and how it affects the workplace. First the advantages, coffee protect you from having type 2 diabetes. Coffee has natural sugar content that makes it more blood sugar friendly. It is advisable though that you put less processed sugar when preparing coffee drinks and consume in small quantities. Coffee has anti-oxidant contents.
It helps fight cancer especially colon cancer. As an active antioxidant producer, coffee can help reduce the risk of developing certain cancers. Coffee is good for the heart. It contains Tannin which promotes good cardiovascular health.
In contrary to known effects of coffee to the heart, coffee does not constitute highly on having cardiovascular diseases which medical practitioners had been described. Consuming a small amount of espresso coffee can benefit your heart and have no negative effect. Coffee is good for liver therapy as it can prevent the risk of having cirrhosis. Coffee can reduce asthmatic attacks. Coffee has caffeine which helps promotes good respiratory health. Coffee is a good anti-depressant drink. Drinking coffee can bring mental focus and relaxation. The fresh scent aroma of coffee can calm mood swings and making your brain always alert.
Besides the obvious health benefits that drinking coffee provide an organization when talking about saving an organization on health insurance if the organization pays healthcare for them. The opportunity to have more mentally focus employees and managers is a win-win for any organization. Now the disadvantage of coffee in the workplace; first, coffee is addictive! This is because of the caffeine. Too much consumption of caffeine can cause addiction. This means that some employees may feel that they can’t accomplish anything prior to them having their coffee. Second, it can cause depression and nervousness in employees.It may cause some employees heart damage.
Over consumption of coffee can cause panic in heart’s regular activity. It can also cause ulcers. Drinking coffee without taking any solid food can harm your stomach. All of these disadvantages can increase worker absenteeism and raise healthcare cost. As you analyze the pros and cons of coffee in the workplace, you can say that coffee can enhance the productivity of employees and managers.
You can also say that too much coffee can be harmful to employees and managers, and could increase the cost of healthcare and reduce productivity.Many scientists are predicting an increase cognition drug use in the workplace. With drugs like Adderall, which help a person concentrate better, to drugs like Provigil (Modafinil) which will increase alertness? “From assembly-line workers to surgeons, many different kinds of employee may benefit from enhancement and want access to it,” wrote Martha J.
Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, in a recent commentary in the science journal Nature. In the controversial essay, she and her co-authors, including Stanford Law School Professor Henry T.Greely, declared it’s time for people to overcome their squeamishness: “Mentally competent adults should be able to engage in cognitive enhancement using drugs. ” This might be well and dandy for adults, but what happens when affects our kids? Modafinil is one of the new neuroenhancing “smart drugs” now being taken by a growing number of students to combat fatigue. It was originally develop to treat excessive sleepiness caused by narcolepsy. It increases levels of dopamine levels in the brain, and the alertness and wakefulness of those taking them. These college students believe that Modafinil increases their enthusiasm for studying.
Many students feel that taking a pill is no different to having a cup of coffee. It is estimated that up to 25% of students at some campuses had taken neuroenhancing drugs in the past year. These same students are entering the workplace with the beliefs that the same practices they use in college will make them successful in the business world. They believe that performance enhancing drugs will enable them to do more work and be more efficient in the work they are doing.
This raises the question, is it an unfair advantage to take drugs that make your brain better? Is there anything wrong with it ethically?In a recent poll 59% of people surveyed believe that taking performance enhancing drugs to do their job more efficiently was not like taking performance enhancers for sports, and therefore it was okay. 41% of the people believe that it was cheating just the same. As a new group of project employees hit job markets and current employees look to remain competitive, employers need to be aware of current performance enhancing drugs trends. They need to inform, educate, and train current employees on the use and affects these performance enhancing have on the workplace.They need to inform everyone in the workplace about the specifics of the organization’s drug policies and ensure that employees have clear understanding of these policies.
They need motivate their employees to support the drug policies and drug programs established. This should help create a shared sense of responsibility for the success of a drug-free workplace policy and program. Everyone in the workplace is needed for a drug-free, safe, healthy, and productive workplace. In conclusion, employers are the key! They need to set the right tone and take the right approach to performance enhancing drugs in the workplace.The use of these drugs will only increase with time, as many people are looking for more of a competitive edge on the next person.
As they assign projects to managers and employees they consider the risk, i. e. the time needed to accomplish the objective, manpower needed, and skills of the manager(s) needed. A top-down approach maybe what is needed to combat performance enhancing drugs in the workplace. Performance enhancing drugs are here to stay, but it is how we use them or choose not to use them that will have the most effect on the workplace.
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