Organizational Behavior at the Workplace - Assignment Example

Organizational Behavior at the Workplace Baron and Greenberg (2008) defines organizational behavior as a field of study that examines the influence that structures, individuals, groups have on behavior within a firm with an aim of applying such knowledge towards enhancing the effectiveness of the organization. All business entities share a common goal: success. Setting of goals, aligning and tracking the same goals through actions and results are vital to greater business execution (Geert, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010:35-45) state that most firms realize dramatic increase in employee and business performance when they effectively set individual employee goals and link them to the organizations overall strategy. Having an experience of over 40 years, I had the ability to manage work place diversity because in the marketing section I met a lot of people with different backgrounds. Since employees act as the image of the firm, by properly treating the customers it also promoted the image of Holden Company. Holden’s employees clearly comprehended their individual goals and objectives and how they relate to the greater goals of the company, were found to be naturally engaged in their work. Most firms have to the realization that achievements are associated with their ability to manage, track and communicate goals and aims-informing their employees and connecting reward system with group and individual performance in order to keep them engaged in their work. Since I am also an Australian, I was able to note that the process of setting goals and objectives, aligning them with the corporate aims and tracking them made the Holden Company to easily focus on strategy and greater execution of business. Rewards good performance through a system of merit pay on a monthly basis Therefore, there is always a direct relationship between financial and non financial rewards with respect to motivation and employee satisfaction (Bruce & Pepitone, 1999:104-108). This includes both the younger employees like Mike and older employees like me. Motivation is what makes people to have that drive to do something thus the driving force of human behavior. Motivation within an individual accounts for the direction, level, and persistence of the effort expended at work. The level refers to the intensity of effort put forward by a person. Direction represents the individual’s choice when faced with several alternatives. Persistence is determined by how long an individual will stick with a given action. As a result it initiates, guides and maintain the goal oriented behaviors hence motivation it is what drives one to take a cause of action (Laubly, 2005). The human relation view by Elton Mayo (1880-1949) concluded that the strongest force of motivation behind the behavior of most young employees at the place of work was the nurturing and preservation of social relationships with their colleagues. They wanted to feel that they are valued and important, recognition of the work they do such as the award of certificate, to be controlled sensibly, accepting any objections, encouraging self regulation on some routine tasks (Ather, Khan & Hoque, 2011:80). Therefore, most of the young employees like Mike are the ones who value most certification as compared to the older employees. Part B The balance between work and life ensures one has time for working, time to play, and time to make life a little bit satisfying. Contrary to Mike who besides being 30 years old with two kids to support does not have a job, my 15 years experience in Holden Company goes beyond the exchange of money and time. The quality and amount of leisure time is crucial for peoples’ wellbeing and can bring additional mental and physical benefits. This is attained through flex time, work hours, leaves, child care, vacations, programs to assist employees, and telecommuting. The work-life balance is achieved by having flexible options and creating time to do other things apart from work. Firstly, through flexitime arrangements, which consist of, a wide category of options focusing on the element of time such as compressed workweeks, alternative work schedules, and voluntary part-time hours. These provide the worker with opportunities to take care of various personal duties. Secondly, telecommunicating involves the doing of regular work from home. This helps employees to save time and costs in travel and other personal expenses. In addition, employees can adjust their schedules to fit in their personal needs, and employers can reduce on operating costs (Ashkanasy, 2013). During my 15 year stay at Holden Company, I was able to find out that offering a proper work life balance to employees is a form of competitive advantage. This is because work is not a basic need but a form of personal satisfaction. Therefore, there is a serious growing concern on the work-life balance for employers, managers, and business owners to find avenues to assist their workers have a job and a life; thereafter, reaping rewards in terms of employee retention, recruitment, morale, and productivity. Considering that Mike is a little bit younger and has kids, he needs to have time with them irrespective of not working. Numerous factors usually come into play whenever people interact in firms. This forms the basis for employee behavior because it plays a core role improving the performance of the organization, organizational development, as well as group and individual performance. Every organization has its set of employee behavior problems that it encounters in the achievements of its goals and objectives. This is attributed to the fact that employee behave differently in the business environment which is very dynamic and competitive (French, 2011). Employees are sources of capital to the firm and are required to adopt a behavior that is in alignment with the organization’s goals and objectives. At the work place employees need to behave sensibly not to gain respect and appreciation from others, but maintain a healthy work culture. All employees are required to adhere to the rules and regulations at the work place. Employees behave differently due to demographic differences such as age, gender and racial background; competency differences such as cognitive abilities, emotional competence and physical abilities; personality differences such as extroverts or introverts, conscientiousness, openness to experience, dogmatism, totalitarianism, and lack of control (Laubly, 2005). Employees behave differently because each of them has his/her distinct personality. Some of staff members may behave differently in the organization because of their family background and upbringing. A person who has brought in a conservative family is likely also to be an introvert and the social interactions will also be minimal as compared to a person who has been brought up in a liberal family. The managers need to understand the personality of each employee. This would enable them to determine their characteristic trait and competences. The varied levels of confidence can also be a contributing factor to the reason why employees behave differently at the work place (Ashkanasy, 2013). Another factor that is associated with different work place behavior is lack of motivation. When an employee feels he/she is not being appreciated and trusted at the work place, most of them tend to change their behavior and attitude towards the management, other employees and the organization in total. Since employees are directly motivated by both financial and non-financial rewards, any change that affects the reward system also affects the employee performance and motivation at work thus a resultant change in behavior. A recent study by the Hay Group found out that employees listed career development, work climate, respect and recognition and other financial issues as major reasons for change in work place behavior resulting leaving a job especially for the older employees like me (Geert, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010). Other than rewards, other factors of motivation include self concept, maturity and experience, self efficacy, task attributes, leadership styles, communication, and personality. Self concept is an underlying force that typically motivates behavior, thereby, giving it direction, energy and sustains it. It is usually derived from the family, social identity, education, and experience as well as reference groups. As stated by Taylor and Hansen (2009:1215) argues that one may not behave in the same manner is as a result of motivational challenges. Besides, other challenges that may influence the behavior of employee include: age and labor shortages and workforce mobility. An employee can behave differently if he/she gains the trust of the management. The depending on the self efficacy of the employee the managers can delegate power to the employee as a way of motivating greater responsibility in balancing the achievement of both organizational and personal goals. The greatest challenge is changing an individual employee behavior. However, Taylor and Hansen (2009:1219-1226) note that successful change initiatives are ones that engage both the organization and employee. The individual employees should ‘own’ the change personally. Secondly, is rebuilding the framework and processes that guided employee behavior. The change should be realigned to direct the employee in certain direction. Thirdly, offering support to the employees by training and coaching them on what they lack personally, such as soft skills. Finally, is having regular evaluation of employee behavior. Reference List Ashkanasy, N. (2013). Organizational Behaviour. Journal of Organizational Behavior , 34 (8), 1-45. Ather, S.M., Khan, M.A. and Hoque, N. (2011).Motivation as Conceptualized in Traditional and Islamic Management. Humanomics, 27(2), 121 – 137 Baron, R., & Greenberg, J. (2008). Behavior in organizations . New Jersey: Pearson Education. Bruce, A., & Pepitone, J. (1999). Motivating Employees. Hampshire: McGraw Hill Professional. French, R. (2011). Organizational Behaviour. Sidney: Prentice Hall. Geert, H., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov., M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw Hill. Laubly, S. J. (2005). Motivating Employees. New York: American Society for Training and Development. Taylor, S., & Hansen, H. (2009). Finding form: looking at the field of organizational aesthetics. Journal of Management Studies , 42 (6), 1211-1231. Read More