Objective:

This article builds an analogy between physical pain and its medication with analgesics and the pain/discomfort of workers and its treatment with organizational analgesics. This analogy revealed that workers experience pain and discomfort caused by working conditions associated with functionalist management and that those who are in charge of these organizations do not seek to solve the causes of the pain but rather alleviate it.

Methodology:

The research examined some practices installed in the business environment that constitute authentic organizational painkillers. Analgesics because their purpose is to reduce pain. The field-work involved three stages: exploration through 102 surveys; focusing through 16 interviews and deepening through a focus group with seven participants.

Key Findings

The research revealed four types of analgesics: self-responsibility, production of expectations, dissuasive messages and ideas, and the material world. The analysis allows us to see how these organizational painkillers operate, and the effects on the subjectivity of the workers.

Conclusions:

The research shows that instead of solving some problems that generate discomfort, suffering or psychological pain at work, some managers choose to administer analgesics to alleviate it.

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