Organizational Behavior Final Project

Organizational Behavior Issues

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Organizational Behavior Issues

Organizational behavior is defined as the study of how different individuals interact when brought together as a group be it within the workplace or elsewhere. It is determined by several factors especially when in the workplace. It is a very important aspect for any company since it determines the total productivity of the team having in mind the individual needs of the employees. The employees’ behavior enables the managers and the management team to identify effective barriers to their company’s development and how best they can achieve their goals .

Organizational retention and motivation is a very key aspect for any company that seeks to thrive. This is because; all humans in general need some form of motivation in one way or another to get better at what they set their minds to do. There are several factors that determine retention in any organization. This depends both on the company and on the individual themselves. There are several retention strategies that have been set in place from time immemorial. These include salary and benefits to begin with. In all organizations, the most important aspect in retention is a good salary and the benefits that come with it. It is pretty obvious that when the salary is commensurate to the work done, then the employee will feel more motivated and work to their very best .

Also, they will lack a reason to want to make them leave for better pastures elsewhere. It has previously been said that money is not everything. This is where the aspect of the benefits then come in. These can be in form of house allowances, health insurance covers, mortgage payments, transport allowances among several others. These come as an advantage to the employees that work in a given organization. We find that companies that inculcate several benefits together with the routine monthly salaries get far much employee retention as compared to those that have limited allowances and benefits. This is therefore a very important aspect that should always be kept in place .

Another key factor in retention is the aspect of compensation. Most of the time because of one reason or the other, a diligent employee might find themselves working extra hours so as to meet a specific target either laid down by the company of by themselves. These may go into long hours in the night or even weekends. A company that compensates its employees on such eventualities will have better outcomes in terms of productivity and satisfaction at the workplace. Other facilities also compensate the employees when the employees are sent out on field assignments that occasionally might be tasking and draining.

Other factors directly affecting retention include always factoring in the needs and the desires of the employees in decisions which their input might not adversely affect the company’s outcome. This makes them feel trusted and therefore increases their loyalty and commitment to the company. It makes them feel wanted and thus they are keener to stay within that organization. Studies have recently been done to determine the most effective strategies in achieving employee retention within an organization. The findings that were noted include to begin with, recognition of individual skill.

In as much as employees work as a team to achieve an ultimate goal in their line of duty, each and every one of them has their specific skill which they bring out once in a while and also makes them more effective than the rest. Individual recognition of the different skills at the workplace enables each person to be put at their specific line of skill which then increases productivity and increases their satisfaction in the long run. This positively affects retention since the employees feel that they are of great use with their best skill at hand.

The next factor very important in employee retention is the creation of a conducive working and learning environment. If employees have an efficient working system that has all the required necessities for efficient working then more employees will be willing to be employed and retained in the facility. An efficient and conducive environment means that the workplace has all the required equipment, is remotely comfortable for even the most basic employee with stipulated regulations and restrictions to inhibit employee- employee interference. This ensures that all the employees do not infringe on the rights of others and that personal space is respected .

Another very important factor is the creation of a continuous learning environment. For learning to progress and improvements to be made, one has to increase their pool of knowledge. This can be achieved in several ways including continuous evaluations, trainings and even further studies. Each one of these can be achieved separately to the benefit of the employee. If one wishes to further their studies they should be given the chance to do so without having to lose their jobs in the process. Arrangements can be made such that they can attend evening classes if possible and occasionally, paid leaves in the durations that they have exams. This allows employees to go back for masters or even higher diplomas depending on their desire. In the long run, this increases the productivity of the facility both through the higher education attained by the employee and the company as well .

On the other hand, continuous trainings can be achieved at the confines of the workplace. These can be slotted in the morning hours or even over the breaks that are provided for within the company. This improves on the content that the employees have and goes a long way in ensuring that the knowledge that they have already acquired is not forgotten in any way. This therefore encourages the employees and makes them stay for longer because they feel that their bank of knowledge is well catered for and the continuous learning keeps them in check.

Employee motivation is another key factor that has to be put in place for retention to be achieved. Motivated employees work better and thus stay for longer. This is because they feel appreciated and worthy. There are two sides of employee motivation, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is whereby the employee is given an environment that makes the employee self-driven to achieve their own satisfaction. This is mainly achieved by making the work environment conducive .

Organizational motivation in any company has been seen to be achieved through following through one of several theories that have been seen to produce the best outcomes. There are four main theories that have been noted to lead to effective motivation. These include, to begin with, there are needs oriented theories, and this one mainly relies on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In this, motivation is mainly achieved through ensuring that the needs of a given employee are met in every way possible .

This thus ensures that they feel appreciated and are therefore motivated to work even harder in the cognition oriented theory, the employees’ expectation to be compensated must be met if they are to be motivated by this theory. In practice therefore, ensuring any compensation that the employee deserves is granted. Also, this uses the aspect of recognition of the skill and effort they incorporate into the organization. This compensation should be commensurate to the amount of work done or the total value that these individuals add to the organization.

In the behavior oriented theory, effective motivation is achieved mainly through conditioning. This incorporates the use of positive reinforcement and punishment. This means that positive behavior and effort goes rewarded and negative behavior receives punishment. The positive reinforcement works better however should only be reserved for the moments that they deserve. In as much as the punishment aspect doesn’t make it sound like a form of motivation, its main function is to prevent and curb negative behaviors .

This keeps the employees in check and prevents them from attaining unwanted behaviors. The final theory that has been discussed is the job oriented theory. In this theory, motivation is mainly achieved through enough satisfaction obtained from their work. Therefore, to achieve this, the employee has to be satisfied in their workplace. The working environment has to be conducive with all the basic requirements of a workplace in place. There have been arguments that state that in this theory, sufficient financial benefits together with a good working environment are just enough to motivate a specific group of individuals at the workplace.

All in all, to achieve the best, one has to assess the type of workforce they are dealing with, note whatever seems to motivate them and use the specific theory relevant to them to achieve their best outcomes. However, in the recent past, the theory regarded as the most useful one is the needs theory. However, this argument is not cast on stone since different employees respond differently to different acts. In this, needs are classified hierarchically from the most basic needs to the ones that may look insensible and baseless while in actual fact they are the cornerstone .

According to Maslow’s theory of needs, the basic needs that any employee wants to be fulfilled in all their endeavors is the physiological needs. In this, the needs of food clothing and shelter have always been the basic, however, there are other aspects to it including sex, bodily homeostasis, excretion and breathing. These at the very least have to be fulfilled if the employee is to be at least motivated. The next important need is the need for security. This incorporates several aspects including self-security, employment security, health security, property and family security. This in actual fact is the reason why people find it easier to apply for jobs that provide allowances in the form of health insurances, housing allowances. It also explains why most people avoid contracts. Because with these, one is never sure about the job security. The employment period often expires in a few months and one is never sure whether or not they will be retained in their workplace .

The third aspect that must be put in place for adequate employee motivation is the feeling of love and belonging. For most humans to function effectively, they have to have a loving back up system that acts as a pillar to them, thus the need for friendship, family and sexual intimacy. When one of these aspects is not functioning properly, then the individual may become disoriented and have a sense of loss. This can even lead to depression which then leads to lack of motivation by the individual. At the workplace, this can be achieved by employing and ensuring friendliness among the employees, such that even in the presence of introverts who find it hard to make friends, they can feel appreciated and have a sense of belonging at least at the workplace.

Next in the hierarchy is Esteem. This involves self-esteem, self-confidence, and respect both by others and to others. This enables the individual to feel worthy and thus increasing their productivity and motivation at the workplace. The final aspect is self-actualization. This incorporates creativity, spontaneous occurrences, problem solving, and lack of prejudice at the work place. With all these in place then the employees are bound to be effectively motivated to increase the total productivity at the workplace. The main reason why this has been discussed elaborately is because in most organizations, this is the mostly used theory to achieve employee motivation. But, different individuals respond differently and therefore needs should be individualized as per what is assessed to work best.

High attrition is a real factor to consider in every organization. There are those organizations that are known to have high attrition rates because of one reason or the other. For any organization to be successful, then one should ensure that the attrition rate is low by all means possible. There are several ways to achieve this. To begin with, effective communication at the workplace is very key. The employees should be advised to be open in all circumstances whether good or bad such that whatever isn’t right is set so as soon as possible. This prevents further conflict at the workplace and ensures that the right thing is done to the latter.

The other important aspect in limiting high attrition rate is conducting frequent interviews. In the event that an employee resigns, effort should be made to find out the real cause of their resignation. This should then be improved to prevent others in the same category from resigning. Also, effort should be made to gain the changes that they would like to be put in place to make the workplace better. These should then be modified and used as necessary to the remaining individuals thus improving the conditions for them.

The third suggestion to overcome high attrition is setting up a satisfactory working environment. This is in terms of setting up comfortable furniture and seats for those that work while seated for an entire day, comfortable working regalia for those that spend the entire day standing, adequate and acceptable restrooms and even kitchen where possible. Creation of such a pleasant environment is enough to keep an employee from leaving since they feel comfortable enough in their present workplace. Nothing easily triggers them to want to leave .

One of the most important factors to consider in prevention of high attrition is the possession of the right managerial skills. Recent studies have shown that there is a type of manager that people easily work with and thus interact with therefore improving productivity in the company. This is the type of manager who incorporates mainly theory Y in his system of management. He possesses adequate servant skills and believes in incorporating the ideas of the rest of the team in his decision making. This makes the employee feel wanted and treasured and therefore their love for what they do is increased since they are well appreciated. This type of manager has both respect for himself and respect for others. They respect their employees in the same manner they do their seniors. Thus, for the employees, working for the makes the employee feel fulfilled by their own self hence making them more self-driven .

There are several suggestions to overcome low motivation. However, the best way to counter this is by placing each and every employee’s functions and duties according to what they love the most and what makes them feel most satisfied in their workplace. If each individual is placed according to their passions then they will always be motivated to work in that specific domain. In addition, granting employees autonomy in decision making and duties at lower levels of the organization, enables employees to feel valued and increases their motivation to work in the organization. Periodical rewards to employees in terms of recognition, payment for hours worked outside the official working hours and promotion enables employees to feel motivated and to work harder. This also promotes self-actualization among the employees and increases the productivity and quality of work in a business organization .

Other ways in which an organization can ensure employee motivation in a business organization includes direct involvement of employees in decision making. This is possible through engaging employees in decision making through seeking their opinions and their view on matters that the company needs to make decisions. In addition, a business organization needs to ensure fairness and equality of employees. The company should comply with the occupational safety and health requirements as required by regulations governing labor. This ensures that the welfare of employees is well taken care of and employees are comfortable. This enhances productivity and ensures employee motivation .

Beliefs, attitudes and perceptions all have a great impact on how all these issues that have been discussed will turn out. To begin with, for this plan to achieve the best of its kind, then majority if not all of the employees have to incorporate a positive attitude towards it. They have to be willing to at least try out some aspects such as respect for one another and being friendly to one another at least at the workplace. Also, this plan will only work if the managerial team incorporates all the aspects that have been discussed above. A good manager must not always have an authoritative approach to handling the employees. They must be willing to have a discussion like forum where every involved party can speak out their ideas .

Perceptions also have to change. Following the discussion of this proposal in a gathering of sorts with the employees present, the employees’ perceptions have to be positive and they have to believe that this plan will work out for the best. This is because it has been noted that even if everything perfect is put in place, they can’t work out unless people believe that it will work out for the best. Other determinants of the success of this proposal include the transgenerational approach to management, incorporation of the different genders within the decision making, having in mind that different cultures and beliefs also have an effect on how the employees will take up the contents of this discussion .

Different generations have different features and do their things differently. Therefore in as much as changes may be made, one has to factor in this aspect to ensure that the changes are not met with resistance. Gender is also a very key aspect in this discussion and this gender aspect has to be incorporated with a keen eye so that the employees do not feel like they have a bias because of their gender .

As a consultant in this field, it is my humble opinion that this proposal gets to the employees all over the organization, from the top all the way to the bottom of the hierarchy. By so doing, everyone will be abreast to any new changes that may come about and even learn better on how to improve their relations at the workplace. Therefore, several training forums should be held in a span of approximately three months to ensure that these issues are discussed slowly but with high retention of the content .

At the end of every training session, there will be a small form of assessment to determine if the discussion was well understood. Also, there will be a feedback session from the team to help the managerial team and i to depict the areas that were poorly done and decide on what can be done to make it better in one way or the other .

The changes will be implemented in phases in durations following the three months of training. Very key aspects will be printed out and placed in select public locations that people can read while in the hall way or in the offices. There will be several suggestion boxes within the unit to encourage feedback from the employees on what they find very hard to implement and what they think should be done about them. This shall then be worked on to ensure that all their needs are met and everyone is at the same position .

Implementation of the proposed retention and motivation plan is mainly a function of the managerial team. Therefore this team has to go through the above discussion and follow up on every discussed point to the latter. The team should at least follow through every point and try to incorporate it in the day to day lives. For instance, from now henceforth, the exit interview should be a must do for every employee that writes a resignation letter to the company .