Reward and Development - Assignment Example

? Reward and Development By of Due Introduction As we have been rightly taught, the link between strategy and action is filled by organizational capabilities (Ulrich, 1990). The journey of an individual into the corporate world is one in which little can be achieved without experience. Seldom do we actually think about what the term experience in the corporate world means. Inexperience is very aptly associated with a novice or a fresh graduate in the corporate world, however the set of skills and most importantly the knowledge about the particular industry that a worker acquires within an industry is referred to as his experience in the field. This experience is also an outcome of learning from one’s peers, therefore we can safely state that experience passes on through generations. Building a Learning Organization One of the models identified for building a learning organization encompasses the organization, people, knowledge and technology as the four key pillars on which organizational learning is based (Serrat, 2009). This model states that people are required for the learning within an organization through the transfer of knowledge amongst them and through the implementation of innovative technology. Charles Darwin once said that the species most responsive to change is the one that is bound to thrive in a competitive world, and how right he was. Over the years the ever increasing progress in technology has pressed for the need to have skilled and knowledge workers, this has also been a key point of interest of training and development programs within and beyond organizations. There are several different theories of organizational development that have been proposed by theorists, let us take a look at a few of them: The Humanistic Approach In response to the limitations that accompanied the psychodynamic theories, the concerns raised by some renowned philosophers such as Abraham Maslow led to the development of the humanistic perspective. This perspective aimed to incorporate the aspects of human needs within the theoretical framework. A comparison of the humanistic perspective to the Economic-Based Model of the firm revealed few differences regarding the approach of the two models towards the people aspect of a firm. The most important difference lies in the fact that the Economic-Based Model assumed that human beings are motivated only by self-interest which leads to a very profit oriented organizational focus, as opposed to the Humanistic perspective which emphasizes on an organization that comprised of empowered employees who when working in the organization feel that they are adequately applying themselves in the work and are not treated as money minting machines. This difference in the two models makes the Humanistic Model more pro Organizational Learning and Development as opposed to the Economic-Based Model (Rosanas, 2009). This perspective is strongly knitted to the Human Relations Approach to organizational development, which emphasizes on the need of good working relationships amongst employees and good leadership which is pivotal for the progress of the organization (Approaches to Organization And Management, 2009). Performance Management Moreover, we have the classical perspective which is similar to performance management. In this approach the emphasis lays towards achieving the goals that have been set out by the organization, formal management hierarchy is maintained and employee empowerment is reduced compared to the humanistic perspective. The “Psychological Contract” is a subjective expectation and belief of the employees regarding how they see their relationship with their organization. This psychological contract determines the employees’ level of satisfaction within the organization and his/ her level of motivation (Coyle-Shapiro, 2002). This is not a written contract however; this tacit agreement has many powerful behavioural and attitudinal outcomes. Employees feel attached to their organizations and willing to serve them due to the Psychological Contract. Employee Engagement and Motivation Two theories focus on the level of employee engagement in an organization, one is the Content Theory which identifies certain stress factors and the reactions of employees under situations when faced with these stressors. The other theory is the Process Theory which states that the way in which a particular employee chooses to behave is entirely up to him/her. This behavior is chosen in accordance with the outcome the employee wishes to achieve. Apart from these factors, there are also motivational determinants. Performance is directly proportional to motivation and the motivation requirements of different employees are different. Some are intrinsically motivated and some are extrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation is generally short term and loses its effect if it is not reinforced time and again, where as intrinsic motivation is the more reliable long-term motivation (Ryan, 2000). The role of leadership is also one of prime importance in keeping employees motivated. Expectations Theory The Expectations Theory states that employees are motivated by clear expectations of the outcomes. Therefore here the leadership comes into play. Vroom’s version of the expectancy theory stated that effort, performance and motivation must all be liked in order for a person to perform. However, Maslow’s version focuses more on internal needs of the employees and how they are coupled with the effort they make in order to fulfil their expectations (Illuminations, 2008). From the theory above it is clear that with the passage of time, the aspects of learning and development are being incorporated in organizational structures. Reflection on My Development If I take a look at my journey in high school, I strongly feel it has been one of utmost learning where I myself have felt the changes incorporated in my personality. To start off with education, I obviously do feel that the prime purpose of an organization in the Academia Industry is to increase the knowledge base of the students and no doubt I have felt that change in myself from the time I joined High School to date. My journey in High School has made me realize the importance of knowledge and by knowledge I do not only mean knowledge in a particular field rather I mean an overall knowledge about current affairs, history and latest happenings in the various corporate arenas. The association which one develops with friends while studying together for two whole years also forms an important part of a person’s personality. Friends can be the best critics and true friends can help a person improve for the better. In the various group projects that I have completed as part of my curriculum have required me to perform various roles. These roles have broadly incorporated that of a leader and that of a team member. I strongly believe that one very important aspect of the learning within High School is that of group dynamics. When we will enter professional careers, we will be faced with a multitude of situations in which we will have to work in groups with all sorts of people, those we like and those we do not really get along with. Similarly, many a times, while leading a team on a group project I had to resolve a dispute between team members arising due to a difference of opinion over some point related to the project. Doing that without hurting the sentiments of those involved is what I have learnt over time, and I give the credit of that to my learning and interactions at High School. Moreover in situations where I was working under a leader, I learnt how to take directions, follow deadlines and work with the group towards achieving our ultimate objective of getting a good grade on our project along with maximizing our learning. All this I believe is a very strong part of our development process as students. One more important academic related aspect that I have learnt is that an individual needs to be self-motivated in order to learn. There is only a certain amount of information that a teacher can communicate to the students in the limited duration of the class, there for the real quest of knowledge is what an individual ought to discover and needs to make an effort, utilize the teachers’ counselling hours and the internet, libraries and various other sources of information available to us in order to maximize our knowledge and make the most out of our years at High school. This is an advice which I would give to mu juniors as well. Apart from the academics, I feel a lot of personal development is accompanied by the extra-curricular activities offered at our High School. I am a very active sportsman and I believe that when a team works really hard over a span of 6 – 10 months, with a coach and everyone puts in his/ her 100 percent towards winning an important game, the pressure levels are unimaginable. My experience in sports has led me to be very reliable under pressure; however this was not the case from the onset. I always used to choke under pressure in a match of such importance. The worst part was that during practice sessions I used to be one of the best players, therefore I knew that I had to overcome this. There are two theories on why employees choke when working under pressure, the Distraction Theory states that when under pressure the available working memory decreases, which leads to low performance. On the contrary the Explicit Monitoring Theory states that pressure leads to an increased focus on skilled tasks, this disrupts the flow in which procedural tasks have to be performed (Worthy, 2009). Thankfully over the years, with extensive practice and the efforts of my coach I now am able to shine under pressure. This I consider to be a very strong achievement of myself because as I have been told time and again that the professional journey in the corporate world is all about how well one can handle pressure. Apart from the strengths that I have acquired, there are also some important weaknesses that my High School journey has helped me identify. As an example I would like to mention that I find it hard to manage my time and therefore following deadlines becomes a slight issue for me. Usually on work projects when we are pressed against time I find it hard to prioritize my work. This I was able to identify as my weakness soon after I joined High School, my friends also were prompt in identifying this as a weakness of mine. I have been trying to work on this and am improving gradually, I am hopeful that when I will be nearing the end of my High School, time management will not seem to be a challenge, because as I have connected everything to my professional career, I do understand that time management is also essential in the corporate world. I also feel that when I am under pressure I tend to lose my temper on petty issues at times, since I sometimes feel that my predicament is very taxing. Due to this I sometimes make those close to me upset. My teachers at school have also been very helpful in this regard, they have been very understanding and often I can go up to them and ask for their help in this regard. From the above account of myself, I feel that my High School journey has been one of immense learning and that I believe our High School promotes learning and development in the educational sector. Works Cited Approaches to Organization And Management. (2009). Retrieved May 22, 2011, from Catalogue Pearsoned: Coyle-Shapiro, J. A.-M. (2002). A Psychological Contract Perspective on Organizational Citizenship Behaviour. Journal of Organizational Behaviour , Volume 23, pp 927 - 946. Illuminations. (2008, 4th Quarter, Issuse # 36 ). Expectancy Theory: Motivate Your Team by Linking Effort with Outcome. The Certified Accountant , pp. 47-48. Rosanas, J. M. (2009). A Humanistic Approach to Organizations and to Organizational Decision Making. Barcelona, Spain: IESE Business School, University of Navarra. Ryan, R. M. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology , Volume 25, pp 54–67. Serrat, O. (2009). Building a Learning Organization. Metro Manila, Philippines: Asian Development Bank. Ulrich, D. (1990). Delivering Results. Boston: Harvard Business School. Worthy, D. A. (2009). Choking and Excelling Under Pressure In Experienced Classifiers. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics , 71 (4), 924-935. Read More