Not as Easy as 1,2,3 Essay

People, Work & Organizations- MGMT20124 Assessment 1- Report Case Study Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3 Contents Contents2 Executive Summary4 1- Introduction5 1. 1 Background to the report5 1. 2 Scope5 1. 3 Aims 6 2- Discussion7 2. 1 Organizational Justice7 2. 2 Perception errors 8 2. 3 Stress8 2. 4 Exit-Voice- loyalty ­-Neglect model8 2. 5 Team work 9 2. 6 Motivation9 3- Literature review10 3. 1 Organizational Justice10 3. 2 Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory12 3. 3 Expectancy theory14 4- Solutions and suggestions18 4. 1 Organisational Justice 18 4. 2 Stress 19 4. 3 Improving feedback process21 5- Conclusion22 References24 Executive Summary There are three purposes for this report. It attempts to indentify the problems in the case study Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3. Accordingly, it discusses about six main problems in ABC consulting firm that have negative impact on the organization effectiveness and the productivity of the objectives. These problems are; ABC consulting organization failed in implemented the organizational justice. Next one is the perception errors of Janet, the client manager and human resource director. The third problem is George was forced in the stress situation and George’s dissatisfaction about job and work behaviors which caused to the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect actions is the problem number four. The fifth is teamwork environment, processes and the last problem is ABC consulting failed to implement the motivation procedures in motivating its staffs. In addition, it also mentions about the theories which related to each problem. The second aim of this report is to explain the literature review of some theories that are related to the case study’s problems and solutions. Particularly, the organization motivation justice theory, Maslow’s hierarchy needs theory and the expectancy theory. Lastly, this report intends to discuss about the solutions and suggestions in relation to the case’s problems such as, develop consistent organizational justice system, the methods to relief stress, and implement probably feedback processes system. 1- Introduction 1. 1 Background to the report In recent years, organizational behaviors are very significant in every company which can have positive or negative impact on individuals, groups and structures within an organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organization’s effectiveness. It is because there are many issues need to be considered if an organization wants to be successful in managing people, and maximize their ability and capacity. Hence, each organization needs to create a consistent system that can motivate its staffs and also try to satisfy their needs in order to improve the productivity of the objectives. One of the motivate systems is organizational justice system which provides the fairness or distributive, procedural and interactional justice in the firm. Furthermore, there are many theories discuss about the methods that can be satisfied the employees’ needs such as; Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory and expectancy motivation theory etc. For example, Khin (2010) states that many Malaysian companies’ perspectives about the affect of organizational justice on employees’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention. They implemented the questionnaires around 300 employees about the distributive and procedural justice in a small to medium firms and the result showed that individuals were satisfy with their jobs, had more committed to the organizations and the organizational justice also provided appropriate working environment that can potentially heaps benefits like cost associated to employees retentions, influencing positive behaviors among employees, and thus achieve effectiveness and high productivity in the organization. 1. 2 Scope The case study Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3 focuses on several problems in ABC consulting firm. George was a new consultant staff in ABC firm who was employed by ABC because he impressed ABC’s human resource director and Janet, the client manger in the interview time. They said George was exactly sort of people they are looking for and promise him will get onto bonus system after three months probation. George was assigned in a project team with Daniel, the project manager and Janet, his duty is writing the report. However, nobody guided him how to write the report or told him about the role expectations; hence he could not complete his ideas in the report probably at the first meeting between him, Daniel and Janet. George’s manager disappointed about his report, they said â€Å"we thought you were a little more extroverted†. George was stress and tried to work more hours and put more efforts but had not satisfied his manager when he emailed his report two nights before it was due. Yet, Janet ripped his report to shreds, and told him she needs something more useful. It caused George felt down and lost his motivation, he came to work late, left early and took longer break than usual. He wanted to stay in ABC because of the bonus which his manger and human resource director promise him that everyone can get it after three months. Nevertheless, at the review meeting Janet and human resource director told him that he could not get onto the bonus system because he has not performed at they expected. Consequently, George sent out job applications in that night. 1. 3 Aims The purpose of this report are threefold, these include: Identify the issues in ABC consulting firm which have negative affect to organizational behaviors. Particularly, the six main problems are; ABC consulting organization failed in implemented the organizational justice. Next one is the perception errors of Janet, the client manager and human resource director. The third problem is George was forced in the stress situation. Another issue is George’s dissatisfaction about job and work behaviors which caused to the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect actions. The fifth is teamwork environment, processes and the last problem is ABC consulting failed to implement the motivation procedures in motivating its staffs. The literature review, explain the theories which are related to the case study’s problems in order to the motivation and satisfy employees’ needs. There are three important theories include; organizational motivation justice, Maslow’s hierarchy needs theory, and expectancy theory. Finally, the author provides some solutions and suggestions for the problems in ABC consulting firm such as, develop consistent organizational justice system, the methods to relief stress, and implement probably feedback processes system. 2- Discussion The case study NOT AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3 is facing with some significant problems in the organizational behavior that could have negative affect to employees’ performances, motivation, counterproductive behavior, and organizational citizenship etc. Yet, there are several issues in this case study but the author is focusing on six particular problems in ABC Consulting organization described as follows: 2. 1 Organizational Justice The first issue in ABC consulting company is the organizational justice. Organizational justice is the study of the concerns about fairness in the workplace which includes the distribution of resources has to do with distributive justice, and the fairness of decision-making procedures has to do with procedural justice (Greenberg 1990). Furthermore, Perceptions of distributive justice is one of the reasons employees want to withdraw from the organization (Cohen-Charash ; Spector 2001). In fact, ABC consulting had failed to maintain the fairness in the workplace which included: the procedural justice, George is the new staff in ABC consulting but he did not get any instruction or support to do the first client report. Besides, the distributive justice, the human resource director said that George will be eligible to get onto the bonus system as same as everyone in the company after three months’ probation but at the end of the probation period George could not get onto this bonus system. Consequences, the failure of fairness in workplace resulted George wanted to leave ABC consulting company, he was sending out the job applications. 2. 2 Perception errors The next problem in ABC consulting company is the perception errors of human resource director and Janet who is George area manager and this error can be explained in the Halo Effect theory. The â€Å"Halo Effect† is a type of perceptual error where people perception of one personality trait influences how they view a person’s entire personality (Pollock 2012). The case study pointed out clearly that the human resource director and George’s area manager Janet said he was the exactly sort of person they are looking for because of the impression of George in the interview time, but they seemed to disappointed about George after the first meeting as Janet told him â€Å"We thought you were a little more extroverted†. The perception error of Janet and human resource director has leaded to unproductive of task and George’s dissatisfaction about his job. 2. 3 Stress Another problem is George was forced in a stress situation. Stress is something or situations that are perceived as challenging or threatening to the wellbeing of an individual. These conditions may lead to poor work performance, less work productivity (Colligan et al. 2006). George definitely is facing with the stress due to Janet’s commented on him â€Å"George sensed from Janet’s commented that she was disappointed†. Hence, he had to work from 7. 00 Am to 7. 00 Pm in the office and often do extra work at home. Yet, there were not useful points of his report even in the second time, Janet said she hope George has something useful to present on Monday after she read his report. 2. 4 Exit-Voice- loyalty ­-Neglect model The fourth issue is George’s dissatisfaction about job and work behaviours which caused to the exit-voice-loyalty-neglect actions and this type of actions can be identified in exit-voice-loyalty-neglect (EVLN) model. EVLN is a template that identifies ways that employees respond to dissatisfaction job (Hirschman 1970). Obviously, George was not satisfied with his job. Firstly, George had emailed the report again to his manger but she had been ripped to shreds. Thus, he felt anger, resentment and was not willing to do anything more on the project unless instructed to. Additionally, he had some reflected actions to his job dissatisfaction, Such as; he wanted exit from ABC consulting firm, â€Å"he was sending out job applications† after the company rejected him to get onto the bonus system. This action showed that George had a low loyalty in ABC consulting organisation â€Å"low loyalty produced exit with job dissatisfaction†. He also engaged in counterproductive behaviours (voice), George said he would only do absolute minimum, nothing more and he did not want to continue in dazzling anyone in the organisation. In last, he had reduced work effort, paid less attention to quality and increased absenteeism and lateness (neglect). It can be illustrated that he came to work late, left earlier, and took longer break than usual. 2. 5 Team work The fifth problem, ABC consulting firm had problem in organising a teamwork environment and processes. Teamwork is the cooperative and coordinated effort on the part of two or more people who work together as a team or in the interest of a common cause, which is normally the tasks set by the company (Salas et al. 2008). Probably, Daniel the project manager and Janet the client manager know that George is new staff in the organisation but they were not helping George as a team member. They did not give instructions or even ask if George has got any problem with the report and only expected on George will finish the report more than what he has done. 2. 6 Motivation Finally, ABC consulting failed to implement the motivation procedures in motivating its staffs. Motivation is the forces within a person that impact on an individual’s direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behaviour (McShane et al. 2013). Particularly, ABC consulting firm was not successful in motivating George. First of all, they failed to identify the ability of George and the ability can make a difference in task performance and behaviour. They thought George was a bit more extroverted, that is why George could not complete the report well as they expected. The second is competencies of George; it includes knowledge, skills, personality, and self-concept, values etc. that results in superior performance. People can realise that ABC consulting firm did not implement well in matching George’s competencies with job’s task requirements and even though they did not provide any training for George, it caused an unproductive of George performance and organisational effectiveness. Moreover, the failure of ABC consulting firm in identifying the role perception to George that means they did not help George understand the job duties assigned to or expected of him. Thus, George could not finish his report as his manager wanted. 3- Literature review The problems in the case study Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3 related with few particular theories in the organisational behaviour which includes the organisational justice theories, motivational theories and expectancy theory of motivation. 3. 1 Organizational Justice The organisational justice contains the different theories that are distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice, and they all relate to the fairness in organisations. For example, fair payment, equal opportunities for promotion between employees, and personnel selection procedures etc†¦ Distributive justice is conceptualized as the fairness associated with decision outcomes and distribution of resources. An individuals react to actions and decisions of fairness made by organizations every day, and the distributing of outcomes or resources can be tangible (e. g. , pay) or intangible (e. g. , praise). Perceptions of distributive justice can motivate staffs when outcomes are considered to be equally applied (Adams 1965). On the other hand, procedural justice is defined as the fairness of the processes that lead to outcomes. When individuals feel the process involves characteristics such as consistency, accuracy, ethicality, and lack of bias then procedural justice is enhanced or they can have a voice in the process (Leventhal 1980). Additionally, interactional justice refers to the treatment that an individual receives the explanations or news with respect as decisions are made (Bies & Moag 1986). Colquitt (2001) also declares that interactional justice is divided into two components: interpersonal and informational justice. Interpersonal justice that means the respect and propriety in people behaviours, besides informational justice related to the fairness of the explanations given in terms of their timeliness, specificity, and truthfulness. Therefore, the fairness is very significant in every organisation because people attitudes and behaviours are affected by the fairness of the managers’ decisions that can impact job attitudes and work performances and behaviours. Furthermore, Perceptions of justice can also impact many key organizational outcomes such as motivation (Latham & Pinder 2005) and job satisfaction (Al-Zu’bi 2010). There are some common outcomes affected by organizational justice include trust, performance, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviours, counterproductive work behaviours, and absenteeism and so on. Firstly, trust can be built from the employee’s belief that since current organizational decisions are fair, future organizational decisions will be fair. In addition, a positive relationship between an employees and supervisors can lead to trust in the company (Karriker & Williams 2009). According to (Hubbell & Chory-Assad, 2005; Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001) procedural justice is the strongest related to trust in organisations. Secondly, work performance is also affected by organisational justice. Procedural justice affects performances as a result of its impact on employee attitudes. Distributive justice affects performances when efficiency and productivity are involved (Cohen-Charash & Spector 2001). Thus, organisations need to improve the organisational justice in order to increase the productivities and performances. Karriker & Williams (2009) also states that improving justice perceptions can improve productivity and performance. Thirdly, Job satisfaction and organizational commitment, (Al-Zu’bi 2010) declared that the greater of employee’s perceptions of justice result in higher levels of job satisfaction and greater injustice perception will result in lower levels of job satisfaction. Moreover, DeConick 2010; Cohen-Charash & Spector (2001) argues that if employees feel the fairness in procedural justice within the organisation, it will result more commitment to the firm and vice versa. Fourthly, the organizational actions and decisions are perceived as more just, employees are more likely to engage in organisational citizenship behaviours (Karriker & Williams 2009). Fifthly, the Counterproductive work behaviours (CWBs), there are many reasons that explain why organizational justice can affect CWBs. For example, increased judgments of procedural injustice can lead to employees’ unwillingness to comply with an organization’s rules because the relationship between perceived procedural injustice and CWBs could be mediated by perceived normative conflict, the extent to which individuals feel conflict between the norms of their workgroup and the policy of the organization (Cohen-Charash & Spector 2001),. Finally, the Absenteeism and withdrawal of employees due to the perception of organisational justice, such as someone could not get onto a bonus or promotion is an example of a situation in which feelings of injustice may lead to absenteeism from work without reason. Furthermore, distributive justice perceptions are most strongly related to withdrawal in the company (Cohen-Charash & Spector 2001). In addition, there are several motivational theories in the organization which relates to many different aspects. Yet, the author is only focuses on the Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory and Expectancy theory of motivation because these theories have involved in the problems in ABC consulting firm. 3. 2 Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory Maslow’s needs hierarchy theory is a motivation theory of needs arranged in hierarchy, it use to motivate people of fulfil their needs from lower to higher. Maslow used the terms Physiological, Safety, Belongingness (Love), Esteem and Self-Actualization needs to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through (McShane et al. 2013). Physiological needs Physiological needs are the physical requirements for people survival in the workplace, if they are not satisfy with these needs, their body cannot function properly and will ultimately fail. Physiological needs of individuals are thought to be the most important; they should be met first in order to implement their tasks and function well in the organisations. For example, food, air, water, shelter, etc. Safety needs Every organisation needs to ensure that their employees are safe at work, with their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual’s safety needs take precedence and dominate behaviours. The safety and security needs comprise personal security, financial security, health and wellbeing security and Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts such as; working violence, natural disaster, job security, economic crisis, resources, morality, health etc. (Maslow 1954). Love and belongingness The company has fulfilled employees’ physiological and safety needs, they need to motivate their staffs with third level of human needs which is interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. According to Maslow (1943), people need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among their social groups including small groups (intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants), and large groups (sport teams, professional organisations, clubs). Belongingness and loved are very important because there are many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or belonging element, Hence organisations should satisfy this type of need in order to motivate its employees. Esteem Every individual needs to feel respected; it contains the need to have self-esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical people want to be accepted and valued by others. People are likely engaged in a profession or hobby to gain recognition and these activities give the individual a sense of contribution or value. Most people in the companies have a need for stable self-respect and self-esteem and these needs can be described in two versions. Maslow (1954) points out two versions of esteem needs: a â€Å"lower† version and a â€Å"higher† version. The need of respect from others people is lower version of esteem, such as a status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The need for self-respect is higher version, for example, the person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. Self-actualization This is the highest level of needs in order to motivate staffs of Maslow’s hierarchy needs theory. Maslow (1954) contends this level as the desire to accomplish everything that employees can, to become the most that people can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example the self-actualization needs are morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving etc. Maslow also states that to understand this level of need, individuals must not only gain the previous needs, but they have to master them. In general, the lower-order of needs (physiological, safety, and love) and the higher-order (self-esteem and self-actualization) of needs are classified in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not universal and may different due to the cultures, individual differences and availability of resources in the region or geopolitical entity and country. On the other hand, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs fails to demonstrate and expand upon the differences between the intellectual and social needs of those raised in individualistic societies and collectivist societies. 3. 3 Expectancy theory Expectancy theory is a motivation theory based on the idea that people believe there are relationships between the efforts they put forth at work, the performances they achieve from those efforts, and the rewards they receive from their efforts and performances. In other words, people will be motivated if they believe that more effort will result to good performance and good performance will get the desired rewards (Fred 2011). According to Vroom (1964), (Chen ; Miller 1994) the expectancy theory contains three components as follows: Expectancy: Expectancy could be explained as the belief that strong or more effort will lead to better performances. This can be described by the thinking of if individuals work harder, they will make the outcomes better. However, in order to get better results individuals also need to have the correct resources available, the skills that are match with the job at hand, and having the necessary support to accomplish the job correctly. Instrumentality: Instrumentality can be described as the thought that if people perform well, then those people will get the value outcomes. Nevertheless, trust and respect for managers who make decisions on individuals deserve to receive what rewards, and see the transparency in the processes of who gets what rewards is something that help instrumentality is having a clear understanding of the relationship between performances and the outcomes. Valence: Valence means â€Å"value† and refers to beliefs about desired outcomes. There are individuals differences in the level of value associated with any specific outcomes. For instance, the bonus may not motivate employees if some one is motivated by increased status, promotion. Valence can be thought of as the pressure or significance that a individual puts on an expected outcomes. Vroom (1964) alleges that the force of motivation in an employee can be calculated using the formula: Motivation = Valence*Expectancy*Instrumentality Application of Expectancy Theory in the Workplace Organizational Applications: Expectancy Leaders need to have an ability to understand expectancy as related to the E-P linkage because it is very useful in the organisations. There are five different components for a manager to keep in mind concerning this linkage. First, a leader needs to design some challenging tasks for employees because unchallenging tasks can make employees feel boredom, frustration and marginal performance. Challenging objectives allow for self-confidence, education, ability development, training, skills and experience, among other things (Isaac et al. 2001). The next component is a leader must consider their staffs’ competencies because individuals differ on experience, knowledge, training, skill, and educational level etc. objectives need to be assigned based on the individual’s level of abilities, if people feel they are not capable to finish the works assigned, the E-P linkage will be weak. A good leader needs to provide the necessary skills to the followers in order for them to be successful (Vroom 1964). Third, managers have to recognize that its employees differ greatly regarding their levels of self-esteem in regards to completing a task. Fourth, leaders need to determine and specify which are possible or impossible outcomes constitute acceptable performances. The leaders and its staffs both need to communicate and reach a mutual agreement on the behaviour that represents a successful outcome for each of them. Fifth, leaders need to recognize that expenditure of effort for many followers leads to satisfaction on the job (Brown & Peterson 1994). Most of employees want to feel useful, competent, involved and productive. The workplace provides a vehicle to fulfil these needs. A manager that is aware of these different aspects of people perceptions, as they relate to expectancy, can effectively understand and facilitate the E-P linkage for each of their employees (Isaac et al. 2001). Managing these elements effectively can help a leader to strengthen the expectancy of each of their followers. The strengths and Weaknesses of Expectancy Theory Strengths Expectations are influenced by incentives and rewards, with clearly goals set, this will trigger a motivational process that can improve performances. According to Vroom (1964) an individual’s motivational force can be equated to the level of expectancy multiplied by the instrumentality multiplied by the valance. If any one of these factors is scored as a zero, then the motivational score will also be zero (Penn State World Campus 2011). This can easily be seen in situations where a people believe the amount of effort put on tasks will not result in the expected rewards, in situations where the level of performances will not yield the desired outcomes or that the rewards will not have the desired value as expected, the individual’s motivational level will be zero (Penn State World Campus 2011). On the other hand, when all the components of the equation are high, the motivational force will also be high (Penn State World Campus 2011). In general, by utilizing expectancy theory, companies must understand the importance of demonstrating appreciation for their employees’ works, and as a result, their employees will perform stronger, and show more loyalty towards the organizations. Weaknesses The weaknesses of between-subject design can be seen in the distinct of each person places on the effort, performance and value of rewards, because this design is quantitative, the comparisons between people are hard to measure. In addition, the applications of the theory in the organisations, in some companies’ the rewards some employees receive might not be seen as attractive as many people change their idea of desired rewards. What may have been a good incentive at one point in time may no longer hold its value to that individual anymore (Penn State World Campus 2011). Expectancy theory is only focusing on the extrinsic motivational factors and the conscious decisions employees make about their performances. Many managers and staffs are not motivated solely by extrinsic factors, such as a pay check, bonus, or public recognition. Consequences, the concept of instrumentality is found to be ambiguous and difficult to operationalise (Wabba ; House 1974). Therefore, it is hard for leaders in an organization to really understand what motivates their employees before attempting to utilize the expectancy theory model. 4- Solutions and suggestions 4. 1 Organisational Justice The case study Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3 has shown that ABC consulting firm has the problem with the fairness in the organisation. Hence, in order to improve and protect the fairness in ABC firm, the organisation should design procedures so they can be consistently, clearly applied to all employees and work groups. For example, have a structured performance review process so all workers are reviewed using consistent criteria. Furthermore, they must develop a policy about organisational justice system which includes procedural justice, distributive justice and interactional justice; like ABC firm needs to provide training and give instruction about the tasks for all new staffs, or provide tests of applicants’ knowledge, skills and experiences. Moreover, on the procedural fairness of recruitment processes, the manager and human director should not promise anything till the new staffs have finished their tasks. The state of Queensland (2012) also alleges that appoints or promotes workers based on performance, using valid and reliable selection and recruitment methods. Because if they promise something to the new employees and they could not receive it later, they will feel disappointed. It causes employees want to leave the organisation and it costs company more to do other recruitments; like George who had sent out job applications after he was refused to get onto the bonus system as his manager and human resource director promised him in the interview. Additionally, in order to maintain the relational fairness the manager needs to treat workers with respect, dignity and politeness at all times. George manager, Janet who should comment and response on his work more polite and respectful, Janet said â€Å"we thought you were a little more extroverted† and â€Å"the report had been ripped to shreds†. Besides, managers have to ensure that management structures across the organisation and reporting lines within work team are clear. This will help workers know who they are accountable to and where they can go for help with work problems, and Ensure workers have an up to date role or position description, which includes the role purpose, reporting relationships and the key duties expected of them. 4. 2 Stress George was so stressed and he could not concentrate on anything, there was simply too much to do, and he had not much time left to implement his report. Particularly, George was stress due to the way his manager Janet treated him, unclear expectations, urgent deadlines etc. Hence, In order to develop an effective stress management program in ABC consulting firm, first way is individual intervention. This starts off by monitoring the stressors in the individual, observes what are the reasons of the stress, next is attacking that stressor and try to develop the methods to alleviate them in any way. Developing social support is vital in individual intervention, being with others to help individual cope has proven to be a very effective way to avoid stress (BMJ group 2013). In addition, according to Lehrer et al. (2007) there are several ways the organization can change that employers and managers can make in order to reduce workplace stress, presented below. Develop work, health and safety program Provide training, ensuring all employees are understand Show that every employee are valued and useful Provide chances for career development Establish a zero-tolerance policy for harassment Clearly identify individual employees’ roles and duties Consult staffs about scheduling and work rules Make management actions consistent with organ