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Student Journal

Chapter One Reflections

This Chapter raises important questions about organizational behaviour in general. Vital points exist in how the organization, the group and the individual interrelate and influence each other and thus cause changes in organizational behaviour. The manner in which this content is treated makes one wonder which direction of influence is most plausible in explaining the changes in organizational behaviour: is it top down or is it bottom-up? The evidence presented lends credence to the suggestion that the downward influence is much greater than the upward one (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010). The question, then, is that is this necessarily a good thing for the organization and if not, is there a way in which it can change? Looked at the other way, is this necessarily good for the individual and if not, how can the organization and the individual strike a balance through the groups?

The element of employee engagement is another area in this chapter that brings to mind a number of reflections. It has often been concluded that the engagement of employees benefits the organization in terms of the customer satisfaction, performance, profits, turnover and several other factors. The question is really first on the level of engagement that the employers and the organization ought to have in engaging the workers. Secondly, and even more importantly, it raises the question of what to do at each level to further engagement rather than concentrate at one level. In terms of hiring, leadership or job design, how should this engagement be structured? Perhaps a strategic solution in this regard would be to eliminate those who are not engaged as they foster negative organizational behaviour.

The chapter one video on the aging workforce also raises important questions on how the aging workers ought to be treated and their place when they lose their jobs or are laid off. This video has opened my eyes on why the elderly, a group I have often not thought hard and long about especially when it comes to job loss, and their survival post lay off. The pressure is on them to stay healthy and display interdependence with their spouses on whom many rely for survival (PBS NEWS HOUR, Feb 20, 2020).

Chapter Two

The issues of diversity at the workplace present interesting perspectives according to the organization of this chapter. I have to admit from the outset that I have often equated diversity with representation of the various minority groups within an organization without necessarily thinking about the organizational culture of inclusivity as being the core of diverse practice. While it is true that bringing in people of diverse backgrounds helps improve inclusivity, making this diversity and organizational culture would involve addressing a raft of systemic issues that help further discrimination at the workplace. These would be issues of pay gaps, promotions, sexual harassment and overall bias.

An important point to ponder over is whether such issues can effectively be addressed through an enactment of anti-discrimination laws or fostering a culture of fairness among employees. It is possible to eliminate discrimination through affirmative action, but is it really possible to create a culture of diversity and inclusion through these actions that do not include the workers of a given organization directly? In this regard then, the kinds of training like diversity training come in handy to entrench this culture (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010). A classic case in point is the diversity video that explains the rise of Xerox as an example in diversity issues as far as in the workforce composition and the leadership of the organization is concerned. More women and people of colour are part of the top management (PBS NEWS HOUR, Sep 25, 2014).

For those who argue against the institution of laws to address issues of discrimination at work, there is a good point they have. For one, these laws often conflict with the values and priorities of any organization. The cultural differences present a dilemma. Should they be acted upon and risk breaking some US workforce laws? It is also hard for those who fight for diversity to expect that people will easily overcome biases toward their own cultures and rise above these. Ethnocentrism is a feeling that one’s culture is superior to the other cultures, and overcoming this feeling is difficult. Besides affirmative action, the organization has to ensure that managers are more accountable to diversity programs, diversity programs are instituted and the unfair recruitment plans reviewed.

Chapter 3

One of the key things about understanding people at work is getting to know the kinds of people that are hired by an organization. In many cases, organizations want to hire those who are fit for the organization. What this often translates to, like in the Netflix example provided, is a culture where the top management hire people based on how much similar to them they are. They would also prefer those who express their own values. This practice is notably inconsistent with diversity practices because in such a case, those with opposing views, values and beliefs do not stand a chance. In addition, such practices may foster discrimination based on the sex, religion or races in favour of those in top management positions. The organization has to foster an environment in which the supreme values are those values that the organization itself believes in.

I then wonder whether the individual differences in values and beliefs could actually be a strength or weakness for the organization. One could argue both ways. With differences in values, conflicts between employees themselves or between the employees and the clash with values of the organization risk occurring. On the other hand, the differences in values can be a good source of diversity practices, enabling the organization to endear itself to a diverse range of clients and customers. It is important then that the individual values of a worker are considered and its role within the organizational culture defined.

In How you can use imposter syndrome to your benefit, Mike Cannon Brookes raises pertinent questions on the differences that people have at work with respect to what he calls the “impostor syndrome”. Listening to the video, the impression is that everyone goes through incidences when they are unsure of what they are doing and well out of their depths (Cannon-Brookes, Dec 21, 2019). What one wonders though is whether the organization ought to be tolerant to these moments when the impostor syndrome persists and figure things out as things go along or attempt to make changes.

Chapter 4

The attitudes that people have at work have a huge bearing on their performance. The assertion that attitudes are more closely linked to intentions than to behaviour holds water. At one point in time, I needed a pay raise at work. The low pay had totally impeded my capability to work well for our company. I had then decided to leave when no pay was forthcoming. The only catch then was that there was no body that was then ready to hire me. It was a case of a willingness to go with nowhere to land. This made me think of attitudes in a different way. The attitudes we form have a direct bearing on our intentions more than they do our behaviour.

In the job where I have had the most positive attitudes, I have often realised that the attitude depends more on my personality and the agreeable nature of my situation. The person-environment has not really been a matter of concern to me in formation of attitudes when I really meant to work. My relationships with supervisors and co-workers have proved more important in the formation of attitudes. Above all, the perception and attitudes I possess have relied on the fairness at work. This raises the question on what is actually fair and just. Is fairness and justice only about the fair distribution of outcomes? Fairness goes much farther than that.

Employee turnover is something I have always had reservations for especially given the reasons that are provided for the turnover. While reasons provided for voluntary turnover are genuine and may be out of fear or desire for greener pastures, involuntary turnover has to be curtailed in one way or the other. When there is downsizing and people leave in fear being the next victims, should this also be categorized as voluntary turnover? When a company has mass turnover following what is perceived as overstaffing or lack of skills, then this has impacts on the attitudes of workers generally within the organization.

Chapter 5

The topic on the theories of motivation provides a number of insights on the role that motivation plays at work. It is important to admit from the outset that I have always believed that motivation at work is a matter of money, and that pay shapes the manner in which people are motivated in many ways. This does not mean that I have not witnessed people motivated by other reasons, or that I have never been motivated by factors other than money myself. I once had a friend who used to say that one of his many motivations for work and overtime duty was to get away from his nagging wife. This example illustrates why it is so difficult as an organization to simplify what people want and harness what motivates them. It is difficult to bring all these motivating factors together and integrate them into the organizational needs.

When it comes to reinforcement and how it can be used to change behaviour within an organization, the reinforcement interventions and what they achieve is always brought into focus. In some organizations, a number of members of the top management may not necessarily prioritize rewarding positive performance (Bauer & Erdogan, 2010). I have witnessed some who did bad things get rewarded maybe because their wrongdoing was perceived as being beneficial in a way to the organization. I once had a colleague who was known for complaining too much. He could be given money to prevent him from disagreeing with some organizational policies and individual decisions. This kind of reinforcement might have not necessarily been positive

My belief is that influencing desired behaviour goes way beyond positive or negative reinforcement. There has to be deliberate efforts by the top management to provide an example that other workers can emulate. This also instils confidence in them that the management chain too in the organization believe in the values they preach. Consequently, this has the potential of inspiring action and motivating the workers. There are employees, as the RSA ANIMATE (Apr 1 2010) video suggests, that would not necessarily be persuaded to continue with an action simply because it is rewarded or desist from a given act because it is punished.

Chapter 6

One of the emerging trends (at least as far as the pandemic is concerned) in the creation of a motivating environment at work is the design of working from home. For a time, business owners and even executives have experimented with this idea. For now though, the questions that surround working from home go beyond the comfort of raising the children in the process. A colleague who has been confined to working from home has recently complained to me that she sometimes suffers from the loneliness that is occasioned by being away from colleagues at work. This is besides the obvious challenges of interruptions that are constantly experienced by the ones who work from home.

If I were an employer for example, I would not be interested in quality performance at the expense of the satisfaction of my employees. A motivating environment would mean, I believe, that the provision of an environment that is satisfying to workers would inevitably cause them to deliver in line with the expectations of the organization. The question then is to what extent can the employer trust the worker with the task? In other words, to what level would supervision give independence a chance? My belief is that while people love independence, they would not mind supervision if its aim is to get them to be better rather than simply find where they are wrong. Goal setting would be a great way of having the workers motivated because when they have challenging goals set for them, then they more likely become creative to attain them.