Category Archives: Organizational Behavior

Management & Problem Solving

As someone that has been involved in Technical Support and Operations for the majority of my career, problem-solving is something that I’m very interested in! Now many believe that this is a skill that only applies to the actual support resource but in reality, it is something that applies throughout the chain from the customer all the way to the SLT.



Managers & supervisors are generally the first ones to get the ax when it comes time to trim budgets as it’s considered that they do not directly produce any specific goods or services. Their responsibility is to manage those who actually “do the work”. However, if you look at operational effectiveness it’s very much the manager’s job to look at the best and most effective way to optimize and complete a task. The phrase that most aptly applies here is that you can – 

“have it cheap, have it quick or have it good … pick two”. 

Managers are the “choosers” where they can work to build products and services faster using fewer resources or they can strive for an improvement in quality. They generally are not able to accomplish all three goals unless a radical shift in technology completely moves the overall paradigm.

When it comes to Operational Effectiveness, you can look at three primary areas where Managers work:

Technical

The focus here is the efficient use of resources and tools using technology to best achieve the goals of the organization.

Human

The focus is on the resources (people) doing the actual work. How are they best used and utilized? Another aspect of this is the care and wellbeing of those resources.

Process

The third leg of the triangle is the development of new processes, systems, and methods of operation. This can be through the utilization of technology or otherwise.

As managers progress up the “ladder” the amount of work they do at each level changes. Junior managers, for example, spend a lot more time with the technical and resource areas while more senior leaders are focused more on the process side. 

Regardless of the level that you are at, you should always expect your role to have some component of one of the three areas.

Organizational Behaviour vs Organizational Theory

Organizational Behaviour (OB) is a study of people. While this could be likened to the famous Pavlov and his experiments with dogs, in this case, the study is specifically around the attitudes and performance of people in organizations.


OB tries to analyze how the work performed contributes to the effectiveness of a business and it specifically looks at it in three different ways. From the point of view of the individual, the group or team and then the larger organization itself. At the individual level, OB focuses on what makes an employee tick and looks at things like motivation, leadership and employee attitudes to work. This analysis is very specific and focused on the employee level. From the point of view of the larger organization, organizational theory (OT) becomes the tool of choice and its focus is targeted more towards structure and design at the organizational level.

Both disciplines are heavily guided by psychology (how people interact and work together), anthropology (the culture of different people) and economics (why and how people are incentivized with respect to motivation). 

Management & OB

Management is generally defined as the process of planning, organizing and leading the people and processes within an organization. Traditionally managers were responsible for supervising and motivating subordinates, but newer styles of management focus more on allowing a manager to be someone that enables and coaches an employee to succeed. The old-fashioned style of repetitive, activity-based management is changing to a more proactive method. Management and its definition is something that changes from organization to organization – there is no “one guiding principle” that all managers follow as it evolves naturally from the environment.

There is a strong relationship between OB and management where OB tries to explain how and why people act in certain ways due to current prevailing theories. These theories are often focused on many of the day-to-day responsibilities that managers face. OB in this context is the theory that managers use to put practical applications into effect to benefit the organization that they work for.



Why Managers Need To Understand Organizational Behavior

Regardless of if you spell it Behavior or Behaviour, Managers need to understand what makes their teams “tick”. With the internet continually forcing businesses globally to become ever more innovative with little to no increase in resources or budgets, it’s essential that companies embrace this challenge if they want to survive.


Over the course of the coming months, I shall be covering a key discipline of management – namely Organizational Behavior & How it Impacts Team Management. For some of you, this might seem a departure from a blog focused on customer service and operations, but I believe that if you want to have a successful team, you need to understand how to lead and grow that resource.

With the growth of the “gig economy” and freelancing taking an ever-larger proportion of the employment pie, understanding how to manage and lead teams is even more important. Now, the simple 9-5 office worker drone is frequently replaced by remote staff either working from home or performing a job in another country. Leading teams separated not only by geography but possibly time zone and culture has challenges that are quite distinct and finding a happy medium is key. 

However, Organizational Behaviour (OB) is not only about the teams and management. Key criteria that I’ve spoken about often is the requirement of understanding the importance of Quality within the organization. This could be through the use of tools like Six Sigma and ITIL, but those also are just a “symptom”. It is important within the organization to realize that Quality matters and that it’s only by continually striving to improve can true success be achieved.

MOTIVATION AND THEORIES OF MOTIVATION


Motivating staff for the best performance possible is a matter of finding the right drivers that interest them and reinforcing those drivers while providing negative reinforcement on other, unwanted behaviors.  There are two main types of theories to motivate employees – the content theory (motivation is internally based on employee needs and wants) and process theory (external factors that can be used to influence employee behavior).

Two of the most famous content theories are Maslow’s hierarchy (as shown above) and Herzberg’s two-factor theory.  Maslow’s theory proposes that lower order (physiological) needs must be satisfied before higher order (psychological) needs can be considered.  Herzberg’s theory falls in between Maslow’s and other process theories and states that one set of factors causes motivation and satisfaction (content factors) and another set is responsible for dissatisfaction and low motivation (hygiene factors).

Process theories of motivation are primarily split up into Expectancy and Equity theories.  Expectancy theory focuses on the relationship between effort, performance, and rewards and as the name states, rests on expectations, instrumentality, and valence.  Equity theory is very much a match to the name – with equity theory, the employee is basically comparing themselves against others and depending upon that comparison choosing to be motivated or demotivated.


Behavior modification (BMod) specifies the crucial role of the environment in shaping behavior and states that behavior is a function of its consequences.  With BMod positive and negative reinforcement strengthen behavior, and punishment and extinction weaken behavior.  Reinforcers can be either fixed or variable and the delivery can be either at a fixed interval or at some defined ratio. Partial reinforcement schedules have powerful effects on behavior.  By changing the ratio‘s of reinforcement, positive behaviors can be strengthened.  This is known as behavioral shaping and is a very powerful tool.

STRESS AND WELLBEING

Stress on the job is an unfortunate fact of life and probably something that is here to stay until the inevitable robot uprising (probably another cause for stress to be honest) but controlling our reactions to the stress we experience on the job is a crucial component of work–life satisfaction. Some common strategies for reducing stress are as follows:
  1. Exercise – notwithstanding the obvious weight loss and health implications, moderate, regular exercise is strongly correlated with personal well-being (peace of mind), rising levels of ‘good’ cholesterol and falling levels of bad cholesterol and reduction in other health risk factors.  Exercise also helps to reduce stress and can mitigate intermittent explosive disorder (IED) symptoms as discussed in further detail here.
  2. Relaxation – while exercise gets the heart pumping, relaxation in contrast does the exact opposite, but it too has a positive effect on stress reduction and overall well being.  There have been many studies conducted that positively demonstrate this behavior – in Western culture, the relaxation response is triggered through prayer, whereas in Eastern culture it is activated by meditation.  One fact to be considered though – one easy way of reducing stress is through the avoidance of and distancing of stressful situations in the first place – while not the easiest thing to do at work, its definitely something to be considered!
  3. Diet – A simple but basic concept that is popular with computer programmers is called GIGO.  This acronym stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out and it really speaks to the role of diet in stress management.  We are what we eat. Diet plays a significant, indirect role in stress management. While you might only correlate fatty foods with weight gain, the body too has stress symptoms that are triggered when “bad” foods are introduced.  These symptoms are shown by elevating bad cholesterol, lowering good cholesterol and dumping large quantities of glycogen (basic sugar) and sodium into the blood stream.  Unfortunately like everything else in life, the best strategy with diet is moderation.
  4. Guilt & shame. The key thing to establish here is that they are NOT the same thing!  Everyone makes mistakes in their life and guilt is a useful emotion when we resolve to make amends, however you are who you are and should never feel ashamed of that fact.  People who experience guilt will alleviate it by becoming more empathetic and working harder to resolve conflicts. Individuals who feel shame isolate themselves (I’m a bad person), become depressed (I’m worthless) and alienate others (It’s their fault).
  5. Build up your stress resistance. Like most things in life, “practice makes perfect” and while continuous and ongoing stress is not good for you – small doses can actually make you a better and more effective employee.The key principle is learning to handle more stress while you resolve to experience less of it. 

Wellness and Job Stress Management

Corporate stress-management programmes have two main goals and while an employee might think their objectives are 100% benevolent  the fact is that both goals are focused on getting the most that they possibly can from their employee. 
  1. Improve overall job satisfaction and employee performance
  2. Improve the overall effectiveness of the company

Some common features of stress management programs are:


  • Theory and information about stress, its physical effects and the psychological and behavioral problems caused.
  • Tools and resources to allow an employee to determine their level of stress and have an ongoing way of measuring it.
  • Details of some relaxation and coping techniques as discussed earlier and  if a specific stressor has been identified – more specific information on how to deal with that also.

Theory Y organizations (as discussed in further detail here and here) tend to make these commitments for more positive reasons – namely the knowledge that investing in their employees pays significant future dividends from a loyalty and commitment perspective in the future.  Theory Y organizations generally exhibit 3 key preconditions for success:


  1. Rewarding performance vs. “facetime”
  2. Focusing on living and working by values
  3. Respect for the individual

A Fact of Life

One of the biggest stressors in today’s world is the threat of redundancy and job loss.  Unfortunately a significant driving factor in job loss, is the trend to outsource jobs (service and manufacturing) to developing countries.  Dealing with employees – the survivors – in industries experiencing downsizing is never easy or fun. Some of the facts of life now are:
  • Domestic competition isn’t – with access to the Internet and global markets, its now extremely easy for even the smallest entrepreneur to offer their products or services in any size market.  Larger organizations are also taking advantage of these trends.
  • Big companies are getting bigger – mergers and acquisitions are a continuous and ongoing trend and most often, the managers and employees who work for the loser become the next ones to be unemployed: ‘To the winner go the spoils!’ Unfortunately while not an ideal growth choice, it is often the only way for some companies to grow in saturated markets.
  • Contractors and Temporary staff – Theory X companies especially practice this strategy and employee many contract and temporary staff due to the lower costs to the business.  Loyalty in temporary staff is not a driving factor and unfortunately due to the economic situations, there is never a lack of resources to fill the role!  Additional pressure is applied in public companies for this very same reason as the outsourcing of non-core business functions (even through the loss of skilled staff) raises profits by lowering costs.