Organizational Behavior - Improving Communication and Information Flow in Organizations - Research Paper Example

Organizational Behavior Question One: Improving communication and information flow in organizations The first turnaround activity will be the installation of “Question Box”. The organization will supplement suggestion boxes with the question box to encourage employees seek clarifications on how the organizational processes affect their work life and general environment. Other than looking into the suggestions the question box will provide opportunities for employees to asking questions and requesting information. Virtual question boxes will be introduced for similar reasons. The next recommendation includes establishing programs for ‘Ask me and Tell me” interactions (Barnes & Taska, 2012, page 121). Other than waiting for the workers to seek out clarifications, information, the management will approach them in a direct manner for purposes of asking about their informational needs. For instance, most meetings within the organization end with meeting leaders asking for questions and requests. I encourage that management and supervisors move such questions to the start of all meetings. The switch tells workers that their concerns and questions are important as compared to impending meeting agenda. It is critical to developing opportunities in which more informal time is presented to employees while interacting with the management. Employees often hesitate from interrupting the busy bosses for asking small things including the information needs. Managers providing opportunities within Casual work conversations help employees feel comfortable and needed with the elements of sharing the information needs. Lastly, the approach improves the quality of the meetings. The general suggestions from running better meetings are acquired. Staff relations are involved in the planning of meetings and advancing maximum efficiency (Grandey, Diefendorff & Rupp, 2013, page 121). The organizer meeting will be sending out agendas as well as supporting materials prior the meeting. Assigning time limits in the discussion items on the agenda will avoid lengthy deviations within meeting purposes. It is relevant to ensure that there is certainty in establishing rules for managing meetings within the organization without side conversations. Question Two: Fair evaluation of performance Fair performance evaluation of employees involves a range of considerations. To achieve honest and fair assessments of employees, it is important to keep them up to par with the organizational expectations. Judging employees with respect to unclear or outdated criteria is unfair. Further, job priorities and descriptions are subject to change across time. Employees should do outstanding jobs on the basis of what the operations should do in the years aligned without judging current job requirements. For the avoidance of confusion, wasted time, and demoralization, it is important to maintain updated job descriptions while providing copies to employees (Barnes & Taska, 2012, page 321). Many managers and supervisors make mistakes in viewing employee evaluations through times of listing things that such employees do wrong. While elements of underperformance require instant remedy, it is important to balance the comments through noting employees areas progress and strengths. This gives employees fair assessment for their performance while providing guidance on how improving in the future. The elements need to use elements of concern with employees while maintaining balanced and professional tone without speaking down to employees. Employee evaluations have a high likelihood of being one-sided if they focus on areas that offer singular perspectives to the employees. Employees want and need regular feedback from the management. Other than saving all for the formal evaluations it is beneficial to set aside time to talk with employees on a monthly or weekly basis(Grandey, Diefendorff & Rupp, 2013, page 251). Employees view appraisals as periods for management talking at them instead of opportunities for real dialog. This gives employees opportunities for responding to evaluations while exposing and eliminating potential problems. The goal is to remain courteous and professional in letting employees appreciate interest in their views. Question three: narcissists in jobs Narcissists brim with self-confidence and are prepared to undertake difficult decisions. These are some of the qualities that they are likely to express at workplaces. However, the self-serving nature translates to the practice of inadequacy among the leaders. Narcissists have an impulsive and grandiose tendency of not working well with other people. Therefore, the relevance of management arriving at sound decisions and avoiding hiring narcissists is made possible. Narcissistic managers have different sources of narcissistic power. Inanimate sources include status symbols like gadgets, office views or cars while animate sources include attention and flattery from subordinates and colleagues. Teammates find daily offers for support with swift turning of enabling permanent supply sources without care in maintaining proper boundaries (Nler & Öz, 2011, page 67). Narcissistic managers seek to protect the supply networks while preventing objective decision-making. The managers evaluate the long-term strategies based on their potential to gain personal attention. Narcissism reveals a positive relationship through bullying. Narcissists have established that preference of indirect bullying tactics including withholding information affects the performance of others. Other deteriorating characteristics include spreading gossip and the constant reminder that others make mistakes. It also involves ordering them to work under the set competency levels. There is an excessive level of monitoring on other people’s work without exercising direct tactics (Barnes & Taska, 2012, page 76). This includes persistently criticizing, making threats, shouting, and making false allegations. Organizational research reveals that narcissists within workplaces are motivated towards bullying and are left with exercising satisfaction feelings after bullying incidents. Question Five: Mobbing bullying incivility Mobbing is defined as bullying on steroids. This is a horrifying trend in which bullies enlist co-workers in collusion with relentless psychological terror campaigns against helpless targets. Innuendo and gossip spread through closed doors prior the target becomes aware of the happenings. Loyal co-workers can be enlisted in providing personal information while substantiating the damaging rumors. In most cases, persons instigating mobbing exercises are emotionally immature and face threats from the targets (Lerner, 2008, page 43). People having personality disorders employ tactics such as “splitting” for pitting members of teams against one another to exact vengeance for perceived insult or slight by targets. Further, bullying is one of the systematic interpersonal destruction campaigns that jeopardize a person’s health, career and the job they once loved. Bullying does not constitute physical and homicidal violence forms because it is abusive and violence causing emotional harm. Bullying is not against the law as harassment is. The unwarranted behavior is related to issues of disability, religion or belief, sex, age, pregnancy and maternity, civil and marriage partnership, gender reassignment, sexual orientation and race (Thomas, 2012, page 98). Employers have the responsibility of preventing harassment and bullying and are liable for all harassment their employees suffer. Anti- harassment and bullying policies help in preventing such problems. Firms have produced booklets for their employees to involve advice for setting up policies and recognition of bullying and harassment (Pattakos, 2004, page 56). On the contrary, workplace incivility is defined as the low-intensity behavior that deviates from ambiguous intent of causing harm to targets. Uncivil behaviors can be characteristically classified as rudeness and discourteous display of disregard for colleagues. Authors hypothesize that the incivility spiral within workplaces is made worse through asymmetric global interaction. Workplace bullying offers an overlap of various with workplace incivility that encompasses intensely and repeated disregard and rudeness acts (Grandey, Diefendorff & Rupp, 2013, page 98). Negative spirals for the increment in incivility among organizational members results in bullying while the isolated incivility acts are not a conceptual bullying concept despite apparent similarities in the form and content. For bullying, the scope of harm becomes less ambiguous while unequal balances of power (formal or informal) are salient. The target of the bullying acts felt vulnerable, unable and threatened to defend their selves against negative recurrent actions (Kruger & Dunning, 1999, page 1134). Question nine: Increasing employee morale One of the ways of increasing employee morale is through giving them reason and purpose to believe. Employees are integral parts of an organization, and they should know it. From the interview stage, potential candidates should share and understand the organizational vision through doing as the organization requires. The vision motivates and inspires teams through embracing junior members and coming back in full circle and effective facilitation of the company’s growth. As a manager, I will also show that I care (Barnes & Taska, 2012, page 76). This involves recognizing each employee’s birthday and sending gifts for weddings and new babies. I will be more involved within the employees’ lives while letting them feel valued and loved both as employees and as family members as well as human beings. I will recognize all good and propose improvements for shortfalls. When people do things in the right manner, I will tell and recognize their efforts. Recognizing the individuals in teams allows for receiving good feedback from clients. It is important for workers to feel that their efforts are recognized and that such efforts perpetuate desires of going above and beyond the concerns of clients. This will set me apart as an improved approach to management in the organization. I will promote ethical practices from within. When employees perceive that there is provision of advancing careers in the organization, they will be highly motivated. Finding out the kinds of what talents and skills that different members of a team possess will enable the establishment of ways of developing the skills for the future and application in business. When there are stellar team members, I will invest in training needed to uplift the company’s growth. Relationships between management and employees will be fractured a long periods of upheaval (Thomas, 2012, page 87). The situation will improve through consultative meetings, and comprehensive feedback campaigns. The company will use a proactive approach that focuses on listening to employees while recording their concerns in the open. As a leader, I acknowledge that employee issues will be motivated towards making improvements. Vital importance includes publicizing employee feedback as an encouragement and necessary involvement of the organizational values and their ideas. Question seven: perfect employee A perfect employee is action-oriented and hence the need to hire workers with an ability of taking action and chances. Even as the probability includes failure, such employees often develop success solutions while molding confidence and generating new ideas. The stagnant employees do not make money for the company. However, action-oriented employees are very resourceful (Nler & Öz, 2011, page 87). The other feature of the employees is that they are intelligent. Intelligence breeds a strong foundation towards success. Even as most variables remain flexible in hiring, the scope of intelligence is one of the elements involved in spending abundance and proofing work in micromanagement and dealership with more heightened stress levels. The employees are ambitious and can help the company in case they want to advance in their careers. Ambition makes companies innovative while spawning creative ideas coupled with generation of openness and candor among employees. Perfect employees display an element of autonomy. Employers will hire employees who can get jobs done in the absence of extensive hand-holding. While the company owner and management focus on performance, there are insights to the tasks that are to be taken care when delegating activities to individuals who are hired (Grandey, Diefendorff & Rupp, 2013, page 87). Perfect employees display a vivid leadership. The manager can see the individual as one of the significant parts of the company while leading the future of employees among firms. Leadership starts with an element of self-confidence while molding positive reinforcement, as well as repetitive success. The content of cultural fitness displays the ongoing focus to work with the individual daily. The employees focus on enjoying the work alongside the individual. During the recruiting process, personality makes the difference between employees who do not stay long and fail to deliver produce against all-stars who significantly increase the competitive advantage. A perfect employee is upbeat, and employees are coming into work energetic and fresh daily out-produce the workers with negative thoughts and may easily cause burn-out when encountering defeat. Optimistic and upbeat employees develop working environments that are unique through spawning new ideas and promoting enjoyable people involvement. A perfect employee is confident and produces results through encouraging employees to face challenges that people normally shy from. Best-performing companies have high levels of confidence in the employee’s abilities in providing superior products and service. This belief develops cultures of client confidence and improvement. References Barnes, A., Taska, L., 2012. Rethinking Misbehavior and Resistance in Organizations. London: Emerald Group Publishing. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=bVmOKqlsP_kC&pg=PA232&lpg=PA232&dq=Barnes,+A.,+Taska,+L.,+2012.+Rethinking+Misbehavior+and+Resistance+in+Organizations.+London:+Emerald+Group+Publishing&source=bl&ots=ayqrgWMWEc&sig=yiFwwTOGJow90r5N3wY_jzfnkQk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2_AMVYWJO6TV7QbCqoDICA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Barnes%2C%20A.%2C%20Taska%2C%20L.%2C%202012.%20Rethinking%20Misbehavior%20and%20Resistance%20in%20Organizations.%20London%3A%20Emerald%20Group%20Publishing&f=false Grandey, A., Diefendorff, J., Rupp, D. E. 2013. Emotional Labor in the 21st Century: Diverse Perspectives on Emotion Regulation at Work. New York: Taylor & Francis. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from http://spl.stanford.edu/pdfs/2013/Gross%20in%20Grandey.pdf Kruger, J., & Dunning, D., 1999. Unskilled and Unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing ones own Incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments" by Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 77, No. 6. 121-1134. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10626367 Lerner, R. 2008. The Object of my Affection is in my Reflection, Coping with Narcissists. New York: Health Communications, Inc. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from http://www.jerwood-no.org.uk/pdf/Dunning%20Kruger.pdf Nler, E. Z., Öz, E. Ü. 2011. The Effect of Emotional Labor on Work Outcomes. London: LAP Lambert Acad. Publ. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from https://www.lap-publishing.com/catalog/search?page=361&search_query=Smokeless+tobacco+and+coronary+heart+disease Pattakos, A. 2004. Prisoners of Our thoughts. New York: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from http://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Prisoners_of_Our_Thoughts.html?id=22l-0MQznocC&redir_esc=y Thomas, K. M. 2012. Diversity Resistance in Organizations Thomas, K. M. 2012. Diversity Resistance in Organizations. New York: Psychology Press. Accessed on 20th March 2015 from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ni0dBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=Thomas,+K.+M.+2012.+Diversity+Resistance+in+Organizations&source=bl&ots=GtHcSRFmx2&sig=NmPSPHQPGK_bb_yBAc19Lej9HUk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SfEMVaSVIM3Q7Aa1sIGwDQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Thomas%2C%20K.%20M.%202012.%20Diversity%20Resistance%20in%20Organizations&f=false Read More