What is the Scope of Social Work in Industry?

Social work does have plenty of scope in industry, as it can help it to attain its social goals. Nowadays, it is not only the construction or trade of produce and services that is the managements apprehension, but the social atmosphere within the organization, the job structure and the mental health of the worker’s of equal concern.

Individual relations suggest in common that productivity should be achieved by means of building and maintaining employee self-esteem and satisfaction rather than at the cost of these values. In social work, human self-respect is always upheld and man is helped to integrate and adapt to his social environment. A social worker can help the employees to rise above their problems and continue to function as productive workers.

The professionally trained social worker can develop his/her programmer at the following levels:

Preventive and Developmental: Informal education programs.

• Promoting the use of health and medical programs.
• Developing recreational programs.

Curative:

Curative programs are meant at handling problem situations faced by the individual worker by helping him to make maximum use of his own potentials and the resources offered by the industry and the community. Counseling to the individual employees and their families can be given for problems, such as alcoholism, absenteeism etc. The counseling services can be coupled with tangible help by the way of:

• Securing medical help within or outside industry.
• Planning the family budgets.
• Helping employee family members in obtaining funds.
• Seeking employment for worker’s dependents.
• Referring the works dependents to welfare agencies in the community like marriage counseling bureaus, child guidance clinic etc.

Social work involvement in industrial sector can be at micro and macro level. At micro level, the social worker can provide treatment to the worker and his family, employer and union members.

At the macro level, it can be organizational intervention where the social worker can provide individual and group consultation to supervisors and managers at all level regarding, understanding of human behaviour. Organizing and planning of the services at the defensive, developmental and curative levels requires a basic study of the organization.

It is through an open and sensitive approach, rather than a prearranged proposal that the instinctive social worker can positively incorporate the social work objectives with the management objectives.

Scope of social work in industry would depend upon:

• The mind-set of the management.
• The quality of the kindness of wage between needs of business and the scope to which these needs can be addressed by social work.
• Cost effectiveness of the services provided.