The problem of routine work: Western and Eastern perspectives

Routine work includes both repetitive activities in manufacturing and monotonous work in service systems. The familiar psychological consequences of routine work are mental fatigue, boredom, apathy, and alienation, which lead to diminished motivation, creativity, and job satisfaction. Behavioural effects are absenteeism, carelessness and negligence, which diminish the intended efficiencies to be had from the separation of functions in routinised work systems. The Western approach to solving the problems of routine work is to modify the job or job context or to select employees around individual characteristics that affect proneness to boredom. The Eastern approach, here represented by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Vedic perspective on management, brings new light to an old problem. This approach is to develop the consciousness of the individual, which increases psychophysiological flexibility, heightens alertness, creativity, and intelligence, and enhances self-actualisation, making fulfilment a state of being rather than an outcome of activity.