Impact of Events on Attitudes and Perceptions - Assignment Example

Task 1: My Scenario (508 words) I will reflect on a time in my career as a manager in the coca cola company, having with over 500 employees, the company is located in Kenya. My main role within this organization was that of planning, leading, controlling and organizing the firm. Giving advice to customers and employees was also my obligation (Gary et al 2008, p.129). The incident that occurred was that of an employee fighting another over being stepped on, the two had thus run the organization to a near standstill. Standard behaviours and problems within any typical organization will be; drug abuse, absenteeism when it is excessive and/or theft (Gary et al 2008 p. 101). When I was confronted with eccentric employee behaviour, I would at times swiftly react on the behaviours peculiarity rather than dealing with the consequences of such utter behaviour to my organisation and the stakeholders. With such incidents evaluation can be carried out fairly and intelligently. Extent of the incidents impact to the organization will be categorized depending on; the extent to which the incident in question may have created any disruption to the organizations workflow damage that may have been caused to equipment and/or products due to the incident in question injury to customer and/or employee due to a result of the incident the employee's acceptability to their conduct in light of their training and/or professional norms etc (Baumeister et al 2004, p. 12-17) According to Barnlund (2008) in her book communication theory, it is possible to categorise, (with regard to the criteria's above), incidents according to their magnitude; some will tend to be moderate while others are very minor on the other hand there will be a category of very serious incidents. A good example is when one considers the fifth criteria (the employee's acceptability to their conduct in light of their training and/or professional norms), an instance of a minor violation can be that of a cashier using mild profane language that is non-threatening to a customer within the earshot of the other fellow customers. An example of a moderate violation on the other hand could be illustrated by a lawyer owning a very large law firm and who becomes agitated and thus raising his voice at his client/s. serious violation may be when a lecturer calls his/her student a communist and throws something at him/her. The method I loved most when dealing with such incidents was that of gathering as much information regarding the incident as I could, my sources would be my junior workers with hard implicating evidence proving the incident did actually occur and is not just a frame up on the employee in question (Cunningham & Eberle 1990 p. 57). The next step was usually that of examining the incident in regard to the criteria mentioned above. I would then give instructions of how the examination might be performed by the supervisors of the organization or a disciplinary committee. In some incidents, one or two of the criteria above would be relevant to the incident in question, but in other incidents several of the criteria may/could apply. By thus examining the incident in a very systematic fashion against the set criteria, chances of over underestimating or underestimating its magnitudes are thus reduced (Oldham, 1975 p. 159-170). Task 2.1 Impact of Events on Attitudes and Perceptions (515 words) There was a time in the organization that an employee had gone into a rage over another employee stepping on his foot and this almost leading a complete halt in the normal operations of the organization in that a fight had erupted leading to the employees cheering on the two fighting workers. This went on for approximately five minutes before the company’s security had intervened to try and calm the situation. The incident had thus lead to damage to equipment that was being used by one of the employees who had thrown it at his workmate at a rage. The incident in question having lead to a halt of the organization, would be clients were not served in the five minute period and some time after since there was still tension within the building. Thus lost time and money to the company was a major drawback to the company with regard to the incident (Cunningham et al 1990 p. 57). The incident had also created a safety hazard when one of the fighting employees had thrown his working equipment at his fellow workmate at a nasty rage. Luckily no serious injuries to workers and/or customers were reported during the incident. After the incident I called in the two culprits involved in the incident and through close interrogation, I was able to see the cause of the incident; one of the workers had stepped on the other’s foot and then the other in a range had attacked him throwing the equipment he had held in his hand at him. On close scrutiny of the parties involved, I was able to dig up a very similar incident that had previously occurred and the organization had not heard of it since it was dully concealed by the parties’ involved and fellow workers. I thus saw it wise in referring the two workers involved to our company’s psychiatrist who was then able to get to the actual root of the problem, according to him, the two workers were frustrated in their jobs and were also having very serious marital issues back at home and had thus been carrying their psychological burdens to the company (Edward et al 1985 p.85). The incident did violate the law but it was up to the two parties involved to know whether they would be suing each other, but for the company, it was dully agreed that the two employees would pay for the damaged equipment through an agreed monthly fee that would last for three months. The incident did have a very negative impact on the fellow employees who thought of the issue of charging both workers for the damaged equipment as unjust since it was only one of the employees who had actually caused damage to the equipment, on the other hand, I thought it wise to charge them both so that they would thus correct their behaviour. Having in mind that one employee was being very irrational in thought and thus correcting his behaviour was thus tricky. Managerial authority was very much undermined since the employees had cheered on the two fighters instead of solving the incident in a rational human way (Montana et al 2008 p. 24). Task 2.2 Two Relevant Motivational Theories relating to the incident (513 words) Theory one: Motivational Theory - Intrinsic Motivation Montana et al (2008). In his journal, Management, asserts that as the words suggest, intrinsic Motivation is the driving force within the individual unlike extrinsic Motivations that are driven by forces within our environments. Intrinsic Motivations drive people to do things just for the fun of it, meaning that Intrinsic Motivation is way stronger than Extrinsic Motivation but external motivations will easily displace Intrinsic Motivations. A good example is that of human hobbies that are in most cases due to Intrinsic Motivations within the individual, this means that people will have a very great passion for their hobbies but this is not the case when the workplace scenario comes into scene, the employees will have a much lower passion with their work than they will with their hobbies (Albert 1971 p. 71). In the incident mentioned above, the employees have both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations within them and around them, this is clearly seen when the company’s psychiatrist finds the underlying causes of the employees rude and violent behaviour. The lack of satisfaction in their current jobs is a case of the organization lacking motivators for their employees and thus they end up not performing well in their jobs (Montana et al 2008 p. 40-3). Any organization should have motivating factors that will help drive their employees and thus increasing production and customer satisfaction. Motivators could be in forms of bonuses; changing the working programmes to be in such a way that the more input of an employee, then the more the employees will earn (Davis, 1993 p. 29). Theory two: the Trans theoretical Model of Change Individuals will all go through changes in their life when they feel that they should take action of their lives. Individuals will thus be unaware of their problem, they may not be thinking of their problem or they will not be in a position to change their habits, this is what is termed as a pre-contemplation. The incident mentioned above involves an employee not having a clue to their problem and if he does actually know his problem, he does not take or think of taking action (Berko, 2010 p. 13). The employee should thus prepare himself emotionally through his intention to act on his/her problem and thus taking the intended plan of action. This model will be very much applicable for problems like addictions where the person will not be willing to change his/her life (Berko, 2010 p. 33). The incident mentioned above shows a disgruntled employee who not only has a problem with his temper but also with his family life. Keeping in mind that if one was to keep going back and forth, this would lead others being treated to drop out and thus end up in their initial predicaments. But continued support to the addict will help rid off the occurrence of a similar incident in future and an end to the treatment and eventual transition to a new life (Shannon, et al 1949 p.19). When using this model with the intention of helping such an individual, it is prudent for the would be helper to clearly think of there present location and the plan to the next step in their lives and not just falling straight into the action of change (Berko, 2010 p. 61). Group Dynamics and Teamwork (450 words) Group dynamics entails the study of groups and can also be termed as group processes since they influence and interact each other in a daily occurrence. The groups will thus develop given numbers of dynamic processes that will thus separate the individuals from the random crowds. The processes may/will include roles, norms, relations, a need to belong, development, effects on individual’s behaviour and social influence (Shannon, et al 1949 p.99). Several reasons exist as to why people will join groups; social status, security, affiliations, self esteem, goal achievement and power are some of the reasons as to why people will readily join a group. Groups will then be categorised into two broad categories; formal teams and vertical teams (Montana et al 2008 p. 24). Within the Coca-Cola Company, the workers all work independently off each other and thus the group dynamics in the company is that of formal groups in that the company is divided into fully functional departments within its system. This had lead to the staff at the company not being able to teamwork since the employees all reported to different departments which isolated decision making within the organization to the different departments in the company. The result had been the silence of the employees and thus the incident happening in the first place and not being reported to the company’s authorities until the second time (Gary et al 2008 p.20). The Coca-Cola Company can thus try and put in place ranges of forums that will be help employees put forth their disputes, opinions, suggestions etc. this is to help the company get varied and independent feedback from junior staff, thus the case of irregular staff meeting will be reduced greatly. The company had it been having a secure communication flow within it, the incident would have been stopped within minutes of occurrence and the issue of employees cheering on the workers would not have occurred since it blew the company’s image to the customers (Barnlund, 2008 p. 25). The other point to note is the lack of teamwork within the company premises; this was evident when the two employees fought as none of their fellow workers had any interest in separating them and putting an end to the incident in question. The lack of teamwork had lead to isolations within the organization as the employees felt that meetings were only a ritual for those at the top and a meeting between a junior and a senior was only when the junior was in trouble. It would be good to know that some objectives that are for the different types of existing teams are largely involved with problem solving, virtual teams etc thus it is a must for the teams to be established as they will help satisfy the employees problems and aspirations. Lack of team working cultures within the company had lead to lack of innovativeness within the company (Koch et al 2006 p. 2). Task 3: Recommendations: (2 pages) With regard to my discussion above my recommendations pertaining the incident would be as follows; Managing Perceptions and Attitudes Rationale Peer assistance networks within the organizational structure. Within the coca cola company, there lacks an appropriate human resource person and the solution will be to make one available to the company and it is s/he who will then lead the peer assistance network for their employees (Deci, et al 1985 p 21). Incorporation of reward programmes into their system. Attitudes and potential behaviour are closely linked and it is thus p to the company to closely monitor their employees’ attitudes since they are a direct reflection of potential future behaviour. Take the case of the Incident where the employee threw equipment at his workmate, such an attitude of dislike to the other person may be an indication to the company of the individuals potentially dangerous behaviour in future and thus a need to streamline him/her and if the culprit does not want to change for the best, get rid of them (Knoster, et al 2000 p. 8). Use of Feedback For the company to succeed, it has to bear in mind the six factors; The company should only focus on specific behaviour that may ruin the reputation of the company’s image to the public. When feedback is used, it should as much as possible not be personal, goal oriented, timing should be perfectly set, the employee should understand the feedback given (Schein, 2000 pp. 20). Leadership coaching My role as manager was not to its fullest potential achieved in that I at times did not use feedback and/if used was very untimely and inconsistent to my employees (Koch et al 2006 p. 20). Actions that may help to improve motivation of the employees in the company Rationale Use of DBP (Directional Business Plan) Main problem within the Coca-Cola company with regard to motivational deficiency is lack of direction, the company if it sets an achievable plan can be able to change this and my proposal would be that they use DBS (Berko, et al 2010 p. 9-12). Incorporation of motivation theories Intrinsic Motivation will make sure that the employees have job satisfaction within the company Trans theoretical Model of Change on the other hand will ensure that individuals who will go through changes in their lives will feel that they should take action to their lives and thus not wait for others to change their lives for them (Peck, 1997 p. 9-10). Provision of incentives to workers To some employees, recognition will mean everything to them and thus in such a scenario, the company would treat the employee with a title and thus appreciating their efforts and performance. Incentives not only provide security to the employees, they also ensure that the employees do their best within the organization and this will in the long run lead to better sales for the company. Incentives are all about rewards to the employees in question (Revans, et al. 1999 p. 99). Actions that will help in improving Group Dynamics Rationale Communication flow to be improved within the company. The Coca-Cola Company can thus try and put in place ranges of forums that will be help employees put forth their disputes, opinions, suggestions etc. this is to help the company get varied and independent feedback from junior staff, thus the case of irregular staff meeting will be reduced greatly. If the company had a secure communication flow within it, the incident would have been stopped within minutes of occurrence and the issue of employees cheering on the workers would not have occurred since it blew the company’s image to the customers. This was evidenced when the two employees fought (Yalom 2005 p.100). Teamwork within the company Lack of teamwork within the company premises was clearly evident when the two employees fought while none of their fellow workers had any interest in separating them and putting an end to the incident in question. Steinmetz, (1983 p.23). Nice Guys Finishing Last, Boulder asserts that lack of teamwork may lead to isolations within organizations as the employees feel that meetings are only a ritual for those at the top and a meeting between a junior and a senior was only when the junior was in trouble. The company should join together the different departments to help in teamwork building and thus strengthening of the company (Yalom 2005, p. 194-196). Task 4: Reflection (567 words) In my discussion mentioned above, I have clearly seen the essence of communication, motivation and motivational theories within any set company/organization. Communication may be in form of; Body Movements, emphasis given to words, the Physical differences between the sender and the receiver and the Facial expressions of both the receiver and senders. Communication will help in; improving communication within the company and thus effective feedback. On the other hand communication will have its consequences depending on whether it was successful or not, success being that there was information that was dully conveyed to the intended recipients while the other instance will be when there is no communication accomplished and it may be caused by several factors either from the environment or from the source of the message, these factors are also referred to as noise within communication (Peck, 1997 p.95-103). Peck, (1997 p. 95-103) in the book, The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace, asserts that the environment may be a source of noise, for instance a message transmitted through a faulty address system has an irritation to the eardrum and thus noise and not communication (Barnlund, 2008 p. 90). The source of the information or the receiver may also have noise in themselves brought out in several ways; a deaf or blind person will not properly interpret the information if it is done by a person who is not aware of their disability. People interoperate meanings differently, for instance among the youth 'LOL' is easily understood to teens while it doesn’t make sense to the older generation. Thus one can say that for any organisation to survive in the competitive world today, their communication structure has to be well defined and if not, the organisation will forever be in problems since even their employees can't air their views. The other problem with ineffective communication within an organisation is the misinterpretation of information leading to gossip and eventual collapse of the organisation (Baumeister, et al 2004 p. 10). Intrinsic Motivation will make sure that the employees have job satisfaction within the company. Trans theoretical Model of Change on the other hand will ensure that individuals who will go through changes in their lives will feel that they should take action to their lives and thus not wait for others to change their lives for them (Mehrabian 1967, p.248-52). The Coca-Cola Company can thus try and put in place ranges of forums that will be help employees put forth their disputes, opinions, suggestions etc. this is to help the company get varied and independent feedback from junior staff, thus the case of irregular staff meeting will be reduced greatly. If the company had a secure communication flow within it, the incident would have been stopped within minutes of occurrence and the issue of employees cheering on the workers would not have occurred since it blew the company’s image to the customers. According to Yalom, (2005, p.194-196,), in his book, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, the Lack of teamwork within the company premises was clearly evident when the two employees fought while none of their fellow workers had any interest in separating them and putting an end to the incident in question. The lack of teamwork had lead to isolations within the organization as the employees felt that meetings were only a ritual for those at the top and a meeting between a junior and a senior was only when the junior was in trouble. References Baumeister, R. et al (2004). Handbook of self-regulation, New York: Guilford Press. Barnlund, D. C. (2008). A transactional model of communication, Communication theory, New Jersey: Transaction. Cunningham, et al (1990). A Guide to Job Enrichment and Redesign, Personnel, Newstrom: Newstrom press services. J. & Davis, K. (1993). Organization Behavior: Human Behavior at work. New York: McGraw-Hill. Deci, Edward et al (1985). 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