Essay on Office Space: Critique on Human Resource Management

The Office Space movie is a comic cry about the current situations in the office life. The office is structured in the form of cubicles where the supervisors can monitor the employees as they work in the offices. The office has a number supervisor who looks at the progress of each of the worker. The supervisors are too many to be monitoring the work done by the few employees. There is the overlap of the jobs. If a worker makes a mistake in the process of performing his duty, he receives many questions from the supervisors at different intervals. This is because a supervisor may not be aware that the other supervisor had seen the issue and addressed it. For example, very many managers and supervisors on the use of cover sheets remind Peter. The employees were angry at their jobs in the movie. However, despite the comical aspect of the movie, it addresses and raises critical aspects of human resource management as expounded on in this paper.

The film shows how the employees can hate their job and perform poorly when they work in an environment in which they are uncomfortable. From the films title, the employees have their potential confined to a small space hence limiting their ability within the organization. The movie thus derives its title from the aspect of lacking space within the working environment. The Human Resource department has failed fully in their job of ensuring that the employees are happy and motivated. The very many supervisors cause a boring time for the workers. Answering to very many bosses causes confusion and discomfort to the employees. For instance, few supervisors should be assigned a particular department. No supervisor should go to another persons field. A high number of supervisors correspondingly increase the rate of confusion in the office. The supervisors come up with different designs of the cubicle walls such that the employees are relocated severally.

The managers and the consultants used the wrong motivational techniques. They motivated the employees when they showed that they were angry. For example, Peter was promoted when he came to the workplace dressed in a code that was not accepted by the firm. Additionally, he demolished the wall of the cubicle so that he could have a good view through the window. The actions that were demonstrated by Peter should not have led to his promotion since they did not display professionalism. Thus, the motivation in the company was far below standard.

The consultants were happy when the employees were being dismissed. The state of the firm had been in a very bad. No employee wished to work productively in the company. No change could be implemented in the firm that could lead to the better productivity of the employees. They had already been bored within the environment. The consultants felt that new employees were needed who could adapt to the situation at the work place. However, it was not the employees who had the problem but the situation at the office. New employees can only work productively with the firm for just some time, but eventually, they will also feel that they do not enjoy working in the offices.

There is a necessity to change several issues in the office. First, the firm needs a new Human Resource Manager who will have adequate knowledge on the strategies that needs enactment to motivate the worker. Employees work better when they are given the mode of dressing they wish provided it is presentable and respectable. It beats logic for the employees in a technology firm that is involved in the programming to wear uniforms. Peter shows that the employees are not comfortable with the dressing code for violating it. He parks his van at Lumberghs place to show how angry he was with him.

Additionally, the Human Resource Manager should authorize the demolishment of the cubicles, which acted as cells to the employees. The employees were very lonely, and they had to depend on their radios. In addition, the supervisors needed to be reduced as it would save the money that was used to pay them. The firm only needs two supervisors who will ensure that there is no collision of their duties. Another vital element of the office as depicted in the movie is the aspect of personal boundary. Employees need their territory to enable them to exercise free movement and expression.

The productivity of the employees depends on the relationship that they have with their bosses. The poor relationship can lead to low productivity. In Office Space, there was little cooperation between the junior employees and the superior ones. The bad relation led to the introduction of a virus to the software of the bank system, which reduced the money with time. This was after the two employees were terminated from working in the firm. However, Peter can be seen as a person who has a guilty conscience because he presented himself claiming that he had caused the problem that is affecting the finance record.

Moreover, the lack of good human resource services makes the employees angry most of the times. For example, after Michael and Samir were retrenched, the three employees left their work place to the field with an old printer that did not function and smashed it as a sign of unhappiness. In conclusion, it is clear that there are many challenges in a firm that do not consider nor address the welfare of the employees.