ORAGINAZATION BEHAVIOR

Organization Behaviour

Organization Behaviour

Q1.

Depending on the position you hold within your company, the most difficult part of your job is neither producing a quality product nor getting an order out the door in a timely manner; it is most likely your role as a boss. Whether you are an owner, president, general manager or plant manager, you have made a commitment to the people who work for you. You are the one responsible for their training, well-being on the job and, of course, their livelihood. Also, as most bosses would concede, you probably want your employees to do well. Aside from the purely altruistic reasons many of you may have, the truth is, when they do well, you will also. (Chrislip, 1994, 22-40)

The trick is, how do you enable them to do well? It should be simple: find out what motivates them. But as you may have already discovered, finding out what motivates people is easier said than done. (Chrislip, 1994, 22-40) For most challenges that arise as part of being a manager, there are concrete methods, processes and tools you can employ to overcome them. However, there is no universal panacea for dealing with people. They are not a commodity. Hence, what motivates one, may not work so well with another. (Chrislip, 1994, 22-40)

When the word motivation is mentioned, most people automatically think in terms of dollars. Admittedly, money can be a source of motivation. However, studies have shown that money only motivates people for a very short window of time. There are ways to be a good supervisor without touching your bottom line. (Chrislip, 2001, 35-37)

It is an over-stressed axiom, but a motivated employee is a valued employee. I've seen many environments where this message hasn't quite sunk in. Employees feel valued when they are included in decisions and made to feel like an integral part of an organization. In this month's issue, A Journey to Change tells how Flour City Packaging includes its employees in every purchasing decision. In fact, it is the lineworkers who research the machinery and visit plants to see prospective purchases in action. Only after gathering this information do they present the details to management for a final decision. Some owners have also involved their employees in various profit sharing programs, a different means to achieve the same end. (Chrislip, 2002, 21-33)

Another way to convey to employees that they are valued is to tell them outright. When employees do something well, the worst thing you can do is to simply assume they realize they have done so. A few simple words of praise can go a long way.

However, for some of you it may be a challenge to get employees to the point where they are truly doing a job that is worthy of praise. While you can never be solely responsible for another's actions, be aware that at least some of a worker's poor job performance may fall on your shoulders. For instance, perhaps an employee does not understand what is expected ...