Managing Organizational Behavior: Talktime Inc - Essay Example

I recently joined Talktime Inc. as a senior human resource manager. Talktime has been in business for the past 20 years and provides telecommunication services both nationally and internationally. Over the years it has grown far and wide with more than 50,000 employees working in different branches across the nation and globally. Talktime has a tall organization structure where there are many hierarchical levels and narrow spans of control. The managers are given responsibility for a small number of employees and there are too many managers in the organization. Since there are many hierarchical levels, there's vertical specialization dominant in the organization. This depicts formal authority and establishes how critical decisions are to be made. As the company has grown over the years, it has added a lot of staff to its teams and majority of them are hired on a permanent basis. This has added to the cost for the organization because of the additional training cost and remuneration of the new employees. Besides that, the permanent employees that have been with the company for many years do not like changes and are extremely resistant if any new change is brought about. This has become extremely detrimental for the company. Talktime also has rigid rules and procedures that have to be followed under all circumstances and deviations from the usual is not encouraged. There is no delegation whatsoever and every action has to be taken with the permission of the boss and the employees are not given the authority to do any thing at their own discretion. The tall structure of the organization also fosters a great degree of centralization where all the power and authority lies with the top management; this has brought about inefficiency and slow decision making. As Talktime is a telecom company, it has to keep abreast with the latest technological advances to be innovative and provide the best to its customers. However in recent years, it has been lagging behind in this department because the top management has huge job responsibilities and it is difficult for them to keep up technologically and make timely decisions. Talktime's organizational structure has brought about an individualistic culture where employees are only concerned with themselves and lack of communication causes a lot of friction and conflict in groups and teams. Employees are usually required to do mundane routine tasks and not empowered to initiate something on their own. There's also workforce diversity that causes jealousy and conflict among them. The reward system is also very rigid; very rarely is an employee rewarded in the form of a bonus or the like for a job well done; they are just paid their monthly salaries. This has made employees extremely de-motivated and frustrated and they feel threatened by any co-worker performing better than them and getting positive feedback from the manager. Conflict often arises when teamwork is essential and difference of opinion surface. This conflict results in poor performance and hampers the growth of the organization as a whole. The departments are inter-related and often two departments are working simultaneously or one department is dependant on the other, to begin work. The goals of each department are different and conflict occurs when the best solution for one department is harming the other department. Other than that, the resources of the organization are also limited and when two departments require the same resources, conflict occurs when one department feels that its needs are more important than the other. All this leads to constant quarreling, anger and bad performance overall. This is the reason why Talktime's performance has been suffering over the recent years and negative word has spread about it in the industry. As a human resource manager, the first thing that needs to done is to restructure the organization. The tall structure has been pre-dominant for many years and it is time now to bring about a change. It will be replaced by a flat structure where there are fewer hierarchical levels and wide spans of control. This will help in streamline decision-making and decisions will be made faster. Talktime will be able to become proactive and deal with internal and external environment in a more effective manner. The information will flow freely among departments and not every decision will need to be referred to the top management; managers in every department will be able to take responsibility and work as they see right. This will encourage the entire workforce to work as a team rather than indulge in outperforming the other departments and establishing separate goals and objectives not in line with the overall goals of the organization. The company will also need to offer golden handshake to its older employees who are at their retirement age and hire fresh young blood. This will give the company a zest for achieving new things and doing better than the competition in the industry as the young blood will be full of new ideas and not resistant to changes. The policy of hiring permanent employees will also change and more and more employees will be hired on a contractual basis so that the company can keep the employees that are performing well and not renew the contracts of those who are not working well. This will encourage the employees to do their best and not become lethargic, otherwise they will face the consequences. As there will be fewer hierarchical levels, the organization will become decentralized. The power and authority will be delegated at lower levels. The employees will be empowered to make decisions on their own, will be encouraged to come up with new ideas and brainstorming sessions will be conducted in meetings where every suggestion will be valued no matter where it is coming from. This will inculcate a sense of ownership among the employees and they will see the organization as their own and work towards doing whatever will be best for the company. The reward system will also change and both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards will be given to outstanding performers. Bonuses, cash rewards etc will be distributed to employees doing a great job; this will encourage others to do their best and get aptly rewarded. Even a positive reinforcement like compliments, a pat on the back, greetings etc will go a long way in establishing the fact that the employees are valued in the company and their effort is highly appreciated. All in all, the above steps taken will help Talktime in becoming a market leader in the telecom industry in a few years. The company where employees are valued is always successful as they are the engine that keeps the company going. If they are not satisfied, the results won't be forthcoming and the company will suffer for many years to come and its profits, reputation and goodwill will be affected. Hence it is always essential to put employees first. References: Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn. Managing Organizational Behavior. Fifth Edition. Kathryn M Bartol and David C. Martin. Management. Third Edition. Read More