The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number Part II

Part II

Preview Questions

What are some detractors of well-being in Atc? What is understood by the expression, "engaging work atmosphere"? How can Atcos produce in a service-oriented industry?

There are several tell tale signs that accurately predict the extent of the presence of detractors to well-being. An unusual circumstance or series of repetitive events happening in the workplace is an indication of the degree of conglomerate or collective well-being.  Have there been any unusual events at the workplace within the past year, such as a natural disaster, a suicide, an atco having a sudden and serious illness, an accident? How many runway incursions have occurred within the past 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, a year?
Is the level of absenteeism persistently high? How many atcos report for duty but who remark that they are demotivated and would rather not work (presenteeism)? The annals of organization reveal that persistent problems in the workplace is a strong indication of inefficient management. This implies that the methodology of administration is flawed due to the absence of suitable strategy.

Statue of Rodin's Thinker, Metro Line 13 Varenne Station, Paris

TIME TO THINK ABOUT EFFECTIVE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN ATC

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Compensating Wages versus Recognition and Appreciation

Preview Questions

What motivates controllers? How can wage inequalities be addressed? Why do we need to be informed about the psychoeconomic perspectives of Atc?

Oh how I have missed you all, dear readers! I am helping with an econometric analysis in Turkish national labor economics but you have been in my thoughts all the time. To help us get back on track, let us start by this simple question: Which one of the following emoticons describes your state of being or your general mood at work? Which one describes the atmosphere in the TWR, or the ACC, or the simulator or even the classroom? The first choice of emoticon is an indication of your well-being. Is it the same as the second choice of emoticon? What is one thing that will really increase your motivation to do Atc and will have you looking forward to going to work this evening, or tonight or even tomorrow? 

Which one describes your well-being and which one describes the work atmosphere?

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ATCOS & NEGATIVE ALTRUISM

Preview Questions

What is the role of negative altruism in Atc? 

In experimental economics, behavioral psychologists use games to test simulated issues of social interactions in the workplace, such as altruism and reciprocity. I hope to try these games on controllers at some future time. It is difficult to quantify behavior in a social context. Experimental economics  help us understand the ecology of working with each other and the psychoeconomic impact of the job upon individual preferences. In the context of Atc, altruistic behaviors are mainly cooperation, coworker support, free-riding or skating, overconfidence and risk perception; behaviors that atcos manifest as expressions of concern to varying degrees for the welfare of others.

In the last post, I noted that negative altruism in Atc acts as a motivational bias towards an atco's perception of well-being. How so? Well, just as how we have a literal market where we can go to get more food items, we also have a market at the workplace where we can increase or decrease our well-being. The vendors in this symbolic market are our fellow atcos that we work with.  Senior atcos are the most powerful vendors. Why is this so?

Senior Atcos exert the most social influence on the communal perception of the working environment like popular vendors in a market

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WHAT ARE OUR RESOURCES IN ATC?

Preview Questions

Do we need more resources in Atc? What are the controller's resources in Atc and the relation between well-being and these resources? What are psychological resources and how can they be useful in the workplace?

Have you ever wondered what are our resources in Atc? Think about it for a minute. Ask your colleagues at work.  According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary, resources can be: sources of supply and support; phenomena that enhance the quality of human life; sources of information or expertise; possibilities of relief or recovery; abilities to handle a situation. Do we have need of resources in Atc? As you contemplate this question, I invite you to take a look at the following video:

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MEASURING WELL-BEING

Preview Questions:

What myth has the media portrayed about controllers?How can surveys help us to find out about well-being?   What are the implications of globalization for Atc? How can controllers address the problem of the increased workload?

Hello everyone! I'm back! I'm still a little sleepy but it feels great to be back on the lilac page! First - thank you for the many page views. You have inspired me to keep writing. Second, those of you who are having problems with the survey please let me know. Third, I want to make it clear to the media that CONTROLLERS DO NOT GO TO WORK TO SLEEP so please stop portraying us as sleeping. I have been searching for cartoon photos to illustrate some psychological aspects of Atc and most of them send the subliminal message that our job is to sleep. How misleading! 

CONTROLLERS DO NOT GO TO WORK TO SLEEP

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Well-being in Air traffic control (Atc)

What is well-being? Is it health? Is it happiness? Both are correct. The textbook approach tells us that well-being is multidimensional because it is the interaction of different elements of health: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual as well as our environment and our culture. Is the workplace linked to our wellbeing? Yes, it is. What we want to know is how the linkages are made, what affects what. 

Think of well-being as a chain with links. Each link represents an element of health or environment or culture that interacts with another element and so on. The interaction of these links can be strong like a metallic chain or weak like paper decorations. We can call this the sum effect of our well-being which will either improve or diminish our happiness, outlook, social interaction and health.

How do you describe your well-being as an air traffic controller?

like a paper chain

like a metallic chain

courtesy: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

or like this?

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