In my previous employment, I was attached to ABC Company to handle payroll function under its Finance team. This was a ten years established, medium size Malaysia based company that focused in distributing professional beauty products to certified beauty salons and pharmacies, and has few subsidiaries under its umbrella.
The management team, which comprised of two Sales Directors and one Operation Manager, administered all areas of management without any formal Human Resource structure since its establishment. On the other hand, the Chairman strived for a working culture built upon the values of out-perform, respect and integrity, leave a mark, never ever stop improving, and team spirit with personal accountability. He aspired to create a happy, challenging and rewarding environment for every employee.
In order to accomplish his vision, the Chairman hired a Leadership and Talent Development Manager to lead the newly established Leadership and Talent Development (LTD) function (which covers leader development, talent development and also Human Resource function). I had been working with the company for about four months when I was offered to be transferred to LTD team. The management team wanted to restructure the company and decided to align payroll function under LTD. I accepted the transfer without hesitation as I came from Human Resource background. Later on, a new team member was hired to complete the LTD team.
The journey for LTD team to establish human resources foundation was not a smooth sailing path, as the company experienced frequent employees' turnover and problems relating to low employees' morale, lack of motivation and team cohesiveness.
Due to lack of Human Resource structure at first place, there were lack of proper manpower planning, problems in managing employees' performance, lack of proper rewards system and also career development path. Employees felt unappreciated and not being properly rewarded for their work efforts and increasing workload pressure. They also did not see much career development prospects in the company. All these factors contributed towards the frequent employees' turnover.
The company also suffered from lack of open communication whereby decisions were always made at the management level without participation from the employees. Employees did not have any venue to voice their suggestions, thoughts, feedback and grouses. This in turn caused the employees to feel the lack of support from the management.
With the lack of interaction, the existence of teamwork was limited resulting in lack of cooperation among teams and subsidiaries. This was especially evident among the employees based at headquarter (Company ABC) and at branches level (XYZ Company, one of its subsidiaries with business focus in professional women wellness spas with branches located throughout Malaysia).
TASK 2.1: IMPACT OF EVENTS ON ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS (499 WORDS)
An attitude is a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in your environment (Wood et al. 2010, p. 54). Attitudes manifest in various forms in the workplace. Wiesner (2010, p. 34) comments that one of the most important form of attitude is job satisfaction, which indicates the degree to which individuals feel positively or negatively about their jobs.
Perception is the process through which people receive and interpret information from the environment (Schermerhorn et al. 2011, p. 84). According to Schermerhorn et al. (2011, p. 85), people's perceptions are influenced by their attitudes, values, past experiences, needs or motives, and personality.
The attitudes and perceptions of employees in the scenario can be traced to various roots. Employees felt that they were not being compensated adequately compared to their work efforts. In the midst of increasing work responsibility, employees did not received adequate support from the management due to inapproachability on the part of the management. Besides, there were lack of opportunities for further career advancement and limited social interaction resulted in poor team-working. All these tied to the facets of job satisfaction measured by the Job Descriptive Index (O'Connor, Peters & Gordon 1978, p. 18) namely one's work, pay, promotion, supervision and co-workers (Wang & Russell 2005, p. 711). Job satisfaction was found to have an effect on organisational commitment, which influenced turnover intentions (Koh & Boo 2004, p. 678; Lok & Crawford 2001, p. 595). As employees were dissatisfied with their work, they were less committed which associated with turnover.
In this scenario, the management may have perceived the whole situation differently from the employees caused by perceptual distortions (Schermerhorn et al. 2011, p. 90). The management could assume the needs of their employees and their own to correspond, by assigning more work responsibility to employees as they perceived that employees would enjoy the additional responsibility as they do, without taking into account the best jobs to fit their need, i.e. the 'projection' perceptual distortions. 'Halo effects' could be other perceptual distortions, whereby the management could assume employees with poor performance to be lazy and irresponsible (and vice-versa), without taking into consideration the support provided at work.
Attribution theory can be used to explain the differences in perception by explaining others' behaviour in terms of either internal or external causes, related to fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias (Wiesner 2010, p. 35). The attributions of the management and employees are expected to be different. The employees tend to attribute their job dissatisfaction to the management disregard of employees psychological contract, while the management incline to attribute the employees' frequent turnover to factors beyond the company's control. Furthermore, the management and the employees perceived the breach of psychological contract differently. The management could perceived that the company had the legal rights to change the employment relationship, while the employees could perceived that company has failed to keep all of the obligations comprising the employees' psychological contract (Lester et al. 2002, pp. 51-53).
TASK 2.2: TWO RELEVANT MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES AND IMPACT OF EVENTS ON MOTIVATION OF EMPLOYEES (495 WORDS)
The following are the discussion of two motivational theories relevant to the scenario:
First Theory: Content Theory - Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory (246 words)
Herzberg's two-factor theory (also known as motivator-hygiene theory) indentifies hygiene factors in job context as the source of job dissatisfaction and motivator factors in job content as the source of job satisfaction (Schermerhorn et al. 2011, p. 114).
When hygiene factors deteriorate below employees' acceptable level or missing, job dissatisfaction sets in. In the scenario, hygiene factors that can be identified are company policy and administration centred on top-down approach, poor quality of supervision from the management, inadequate pay and poor interpersonal relationships with lack of communication between supervisor-subordinates and peers.
In contrast, motivators are those elements in work itself which satisfied employees' needs for self-actualization, namely achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth. The presence of motivators will lead to higher satisfaction, motivation and productivity. However, in ABC Company, employees experienced low job satisfaction due to absence of motivators such as recognition of achievement and opportunity for career advancement and development.
The management need to manage both hygiene and motivator factors to capitalize on job satisfaction and play down job dissatisfaction. Improving hygiene factors will eliminate job dissatisfaction, but will not improve job satisfaction; whereas enhancing motivators can translate into self-regulation and accountability (Nigel & Geoffrey 2005, p. 934).
Despite the criticisms of Herzberg's theory as being method-bound (Wood et al. 2010, p. 93), the theory does have value, as the distinction between hygiene and motivator factors still have utility nearly 50 years after it was first developed (Nigel & Geoffrey 2005, p. 929).
Second Theory: Process Theory - Vroom's Expectancy Theory (236 words)
Vroom's expectancy theory posits that motivation (M), expectancy (E), instrumentality (I) and valence (V) are related to one another by the equation M = E x I x V (Wood et al. 2010, p. 98). In other words, people will perform what they can perform when they want to perform it.
Building on Vroom's equation, employees felt that it was impossible to achieve the given performance level due to lack of support, rewards system and performance management system (E), therefore they were not convince that high level of performance will lead to rewards possibilities (I), and thus they placed little value on the work outcome (V).
Motivation can be regarded as the driving force within an individual toward a particular behaviour or action (M). Vroom's theory placed emphasis on the importance of motivation to understand the thought processes of people which lead to particular action or behaviour. The management should apply principles related to expectancy theory by creating motivational work environment that encourage employees to value work performance in meeting the company's objectives, as pathway to achieve their desired outcomes and/or rewards.
Vroom's theory is not without critics as it is culture-bound with assumptions that employees have strong feelings of personal control (McShane and Von Glinow 2005, p. 151). Nevertheless, the theory has generally developed results that signify it is currently the clearest and most accurate explanation of individual motivation (Robbins in Lee 2007, p. 788).
TASK 2.3: GROUP DYNAMICS AND TEAMWORK (493 WORDS)
A group is a collection of two or more people who work with one another regularly to achieve one or more common goals (Wood et al. 2010, p. 202). In the scenario, a formal group structure can be identified as the composition was functional with full time departmental teams (Wiesner 2010, p. 81).
Decisions making process were restricted at management level, which may cause 'groupthink' effects to set in, when members of a highly cohesive group apply self-censorship thoughts that deviate from the team consensus (Erdem 2003, p. 230). The management members had pressures to conform and rationalize decisions collectively which may often leads to ineffective decisions.
Group cohesiveness is described as the resultant forces which are acting on the members to stay in a group (Festinger in Pillai & Williams 2004, p. 146). Earlier research has shown that leaders who show consideration for their followers cause them to become more attached to the group (Korsgaard et al in Pillai & Williams 2004, p. 146). This important element seems to be missing among the employees resulting from lack of deliberation from the management.
It is important for the management to ensure that groups work together cooperatively or competitively for the benefits of the company. Shin and Park (2009, p. 12) notes that group cohesiveness had a positive interaction effect with competency on performance at the group level with individual's competency as moderating variable.
The groups in the company were also not functioning effectively owing to lack of communication with each other. The various groups that comprise an organisation depend on communication to achieve common goals (Wiesner 2010, p. 124). The lack of feedback among employees and the management, close-mindedness within the management and selective perception were some of the communication barriers found in ABC Company.
In addition, communication seems to flow only in downward direction from the management to the employees. To improve communication, communications also need to flow in upward, lateral and diagonal channels. In his study, Giesberg (2001, p. 2439) suggested that a lack of effective employer-employees exchange of communication is the primary cause for corporate sabotage in the event of major corporate change. This reflects the importance of good communication in any organization.
The concept of teamwork did not exist in ABC Company. A team could be defined as a small group of people with complementary skills committed to a common purpose and set of performance goals (Robbins et al. in Wiesner 2010, p. 94). The value and the power of the synergy of teamwork are unchallenged as teams have the collective strength that will achieve targets and influence motivation and morale (Rabey 2003, p. 158).
The lack of interaction and team culture contributed to low team cohesiveness and effectiveness. The management themselves should be committed to the team concept to amplify the team spirit in the company. An effective team attains high levels of member satisfaction, productivity and most importantly, great pride in the job and also the company.
TASK 3: RECOMMENDATIONS (2 PAGES)
Building from the discussion above, listed in the table of the following two pages are some recommendations on actions which could be taken to manage or improve the:
Attitudes and perceptions of the employees;
Motivation of the employees; and
Group dynamics/functioning in the scenario.
Managing Attitudes and Perceptions
Justification
Employee Attitude Survey
Employees' views are vital in any company as their attitude, involvement and commitment have significant influence on performance and the continuing success of ABC Company. Research indicates that employee attitude surveys can be a powerful tool to demonstrate to employees that management desires their input for integration into the decision making process (Knapp &Mujtaba 2010, p. 2). The survey is utilized to inform management about the feelings of their employees (Schneider et al. 1996, p. 696).
Focus Group Discussion
A focus group discussion is defined as a group of people brought together to participate in the discussion of an area of interest, with the aims to provide an environment which in which all members of the group can discuss the area of investigation with each other in an open and friendly manner (Boddy 2005, p. 251). This is a highly suitable research method for exploratory investigation, for instance the concept of firm-employee relationship strength (Calder, Morgan and McDonald in Herington, Scott &Johnson 2005, p. 262). Through the use of focus group, it can provide the management with employees' perspective about ABC Company as a whole, seeing that congruency of team members and commonality in experiences are likely to get everyone on the same page to reveal their true feelings about the company and the management.
Johari Window
Johari Window is popular model for understanding how co-workers can increase their mutual understanding by encouraging disclosure and feedback to increase the open area and reduce the blind, hidden, and unknown areas of oneself (McShane and Von Glinow 2005, p. 92). By knowing oneself better, it will improve one's perceptions and enable one to regulate one's behaviour more effectively when working with others. This model applies on both employees and the management of ABC Company.
Leadership Development
Some of the management team members of ABC Company may be lacking in the attributes of interpersonal and leadership skills, despite possessing strong technical expertise in their area of work. This implies that it is important to develop leadership for organizational sustainability. Leadership coaching as part of leadership development can help leaders to develop essential soft skills such as empathy, self-awareness and self regulation and help them to manage relationships better. Thach (2002, p. 212) supported the positive impact of coaching in terms of developing leaders in her study. Groupthink effects can also be lessened through management development programs, leadership education and team building processes.
Improving Motivation
Justification
Applying Herzberg's Two Factor Theory
(Content Theory)
The management of ABC Company needs to improve hygiene factors to eliminate job dissatisfaction by addressing job context factors. For examples, proper performance appraisal system should be implemented and tied to appropriate rewards strategy, improving interpersonal relationships among management-employees and co-workers, and measuring employees' engagement/motivation with tools like Employee Attitude Survey and Focus Group Discussion. Motivator factors must also be incorporated into employees' jobs by addressing job content aspects. For illustration, more opportunities for career advancement should be made available, and recognition should be given to deserving employees in due time. Job characteristics model can also be applied to create more meaningful work for the employees, increase sense of personal responsibility for results and know their performance effectiveness through feedback (Robbins &Judge 2011, p. 277).
Applying Vroom's Expectancy Theory
(Process Theory)
Expectancy Theory can be engaged by the management of ABC Company in helping to refocus employees' behaviours and company culture, based on identification of three factors namely: effort-performance expectancy (E-P), performance-outcome expectancy (P-O) and outcome-valence (V), (Fudge&Schlacter 1999, pp. 296-297). For examples, the management can increase E-P by providing necessary training to prepare employees with the required competencies to perform their job and providing sufficient resources and time to accomplish their work. To manage P-O, an effective performance based reward system should be in place and clearly communicated to employees. Lastly, to manage V, the management should understand that different employees have different needs and value different rewards, thus, the management can develop individualized reward systems.
Integrating content and process motivation theories
Drawing from the suggestions concerning the content theory (Herzberg) and process theory (Vroom), the two theories should be further integrated as proposed by Lawler and Porter (1968, p. 28). The two categories of theory can complement one another since the management can gain understanding on employees' motivation attributes through content theory, and integrate it with process theory by linking E-P, P-O and V. This point towards interdependence between content and process theories.
Applying Goal Setting Theory
Objectives of working toward a goal is a major source of motivation as goals affect performance through four mechanism i.e. goals serve as directive function, goals have an energizing function, goals affect persistence and goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discovery and/or use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies (Locke &Latham 2002, pp. 706-707). The management of ABC Company should apply goal setting theory as it clarifies the role perceptions of the employees by formalizing performance objectives. With clear and reasonable goals, employees will have better direction and able to channel their effort towards improving their work performance.
Improving Group Dynamics
Justification
Team Building
Team building is a popular intervention when the team experiences high membership turnover or members have lost focus of their respective roles and team objectives (McShane and Von Glinow 2005, p. 314). Besides traditional team building programs, outdoor activities -adventure based, outdoor centred and wilderness programmes- such as obstacle course challenges and paintball wars can foster calculated risk-taking in individuals and creative problem-solving, trust and teamwork within groups (Mazany, Francis &Sumich 1995, p. 53). The management of ABC Company can use team building activities to improve interpersonal relationships among employees and improve team dynamics.
Applying Team Effectiveness Model
Team effectiveness model is a relatively focused model in summarizing what makes teams effective into three general categories namely, contextual influences, team's composition and process variables ((Robbins &Judge 2011, pp. 352-353). The management of ABC Company can use the model as a guide to develop effective teams. For examples: under context factors, the management should ensure there is adequate employment and support/encouragement; under team composition factors, the management should take into account abilities of employees and their working preferences when selecting team members; under team processes factors, the management should ensure that every team had common purpose and specific goals to maintain their focus.
Improving team communications
The management of ABC Company need to maintain an open flow of communication across all channels. There are few macro-level communication strategies that can be adopted such as conducting regular employee opinion surveys to engage employees in certain decisions making process, and adopting management by walking around strategy to find out what is happening in the company (McShane and Von Glinow 2005, p. 342). These will help to lessen filtering because management listen to employees directly.
Table 1: Recommendations
TASK 4: REFLECTION THROUGH THE PROCESS OF REFLECTING, WRITING AND EVALUATING THE SCENARIO (299 WORDS)
Employees' attitudes are sign of their satisfaction and commitment towards their job and company. Therefore, it is critical for the management to pay attention and understand their employees' attitudes. This is because attitudes offer tell-tale-signs of potential problems which may influence behaviour at workplace. Employees tend to base their behaviour on what they see or believe it to be. In short, their behaviour is based on their perception of what reality is, rather than the reality itself. It is impossible to avoid the perception process; hence the management should make effort to reduce distortions and biases.
To increase motivation of employees, the management need to indentify the factors that motivate employees and re-evaluate their motivational practices. As every employee is different from one another, it is vital for the management to recognize individual differences and understand what is important to them. Although money is an indispensable reward which motivates employees, the management should not neglect the magnitude of intrinsic motivation. For some employees, they actually value challenging jobs, greater responsibilities, recognition of work effort, career advancement, etc.
The importance of high group cohesiveness and good team dynamics are vital ingredients of success in every organization. These are probably best reflected by old saying which goes, 'no man is an island' and 'united we stand, divided we fall'. Even though perfect communication is unattainable, improved interpersonal relationship among employees and increased in employees' satisfaction can be achieved by establishing good communication across all channels.
In summary, through reflecting, writing and evaluating the scenario, it enables me to analyze the impact that individuals and groups have within organization. It helps me to relate and apply the learning to my work function (I am working under Human Resources field) and hopefully be able to apply the knowledge in my course of work.
