Blame Game at Work - Assignment Example

At the same time, they wanted a departmental reward whereby their departments would be praised for the attainment of the overall aim that the hotel wanted to achieve.

The managers initially thought that there was going to be a solution to the problem they were facing by making the employees wear their nametags. In the assumption of the managers, the nametags would make the employees look sharp and professional. As the hotel wanted to raise its status, such a universal practice would help them attain the coveted status. They also thought that the nametags would help them identify employees whose efforts were not helping the company so these could be punished.

As the ultimate goal of the managers was to engage in a departmental blame game, the motivation of the employees not to wear the nametags came from the fact that they wanted to be scapegoats. As much as the managers were finding ways to blame the employee, the employees were also finding ways to stop this from happening. The employees were also worried that there was no telepathy between the employees and the managers that would make it possible for them to get assistance from the managers.

To find the real problem, several Power of Pause practices were used. In the first place, there was an opportunity given to the staff to explain their point. This was a very important practice to avoid the assumptions being used to determine what the problem was. What is more, there was a very healthy interaction that was free from blames and excessive complaints. Even where the points of the staff were not clear, they were allowed to express themselves well.

The employees were willing to talk about their fears because they thought that expressing their opinions would help solve the problem. What is more, the employees were scared that the propaganda agenda in place could actually have an impact on them and thus the need to stop it from working.

From the story, it is very clear that the culture of blame game only works in a manner that a tombstone functions. On the outside, what is seen is different from what is beneath. It is always important that managers will dig deep into problems rather than look at the surface. If this is not done, the need to get real solutions to problems will never come.

Managers are there for their employees and so should always learn to open up to them. This is the main lesson that has been learned from the story. At every point in time, the managers need to know that employees are concerned about the welfare of the company as much as the managers are. But once the employees will not be given the chance to contribute to solutions, it will be difficult to get the best from them.