Apply Employee Engagement Theory to Identify and Discuss the Motivational Elements

Discuss about the Importance of Employee Engagement.

Employee engagement refers to the relationship of an employee and his or her work (Albert, John, Jean, Carolyn , 2006). It is all about how to reach organization objectives by creating favorable human resource conditions for every staff member including management and the executive, to switch on in their work to put effort in better performance in favor of best interest for the organization. The idea behind this theory is to make workers develop attitude of responsibility to care for the business as if they were the real owners of the company they work for (Richard Daft, 2008). It means that one is fully involved in the job and interested in it so that it attracts the attention of an individual inspiring him or her to do her level best.

The old organizational environment of XYZ Company under the leadership of Fiona’s father was very conducive for all workers. From the case studied in the textbook it is clear that there was full employee satisfaction and the engagement of consultant to the training was at its peak. Tim Redkin, Fiona’s dad had introduced several motivational elements In XYZ company that gave his employees the morale to carry on and be fully engaged in the job. These elements include free upward communication, lack to use structured policies and procedures, recreational activities, performance appraisal and fair treatment to all employees.

During Tim’s leadership communication between him, Fiona and all workers had no limitations. His office, Fiona’s and the workplace were located in the same floor enhancing free interaction between leadership and sub-ordinates. Tim’s office was open to everybody and all suggestion/opinions were welcome to his office. Under the leadership of Fiona, the management offices were relocated to the ground and the juniors did not talk to her one on one. Relationship between workers and leadership were narrowed.

Lack of using structured policies and procedures in the organization brought various advantages. Tim felt that organizational structures would hamper his decision making power. He therefore made his decisions according to his personal relationship with members of staff. These increased staff satisfaction and comfort in the work place. They worked with commitment hence tremendous customer satisfaction leading to high yields of the company. Fiona introduced departments and written policies under her new leadership. The heads of departments worked to please Fiona but not to achieve set goals of XYZ.  Most of the policies were cruel to the employees as some were even inapplicable to most of them. It ruined the cooperation and commitment of the training consultants as some felt superior and hence require better treatment than their juniors require.

The Training Consultants’ Behaviors Using Organizational Justice and Equity Theory of Motivation

There were recreational activities such as yoga sessions, which improved the wellbeing of workers. Such activities are important because they give an employee the opportunity to think about something more refreshing than thinking about work all the time. It avoids boredom and stress in the workplace (Albert, John, Jean, Carolyn , 2006). This also helps bring employees together encouraging close relations and teamwork. In the new working environment, Tim’s daughter scrapped these sessions as she viewed them as waste of time. Some employees also did not get time for yoga due to over workloads. 

Originally, Fiona and her father appraised people. Well performing employees got incentives such as performance bonuses, additional holiday leave and above average merit increases. Incentives were removed in the leadership of Fiona. In every working environment, incentives are very important motivational tools. It increase the performance and commitment of workers to their jobs.

People are no longer equally treated, as it was the case during leadership of Mr. Tim. Emerging of superiors and juniors in the company attracted inequality hence unfair treatment to the juniors. That is why within a short period 50% has quit the company.

Organizational justice refers to employee’s awareness of their organization’s actions, habits and decisions and how they influence on the job attitudes and behaviors. On the other hand, equity theory of motivation is driven by the idea that fairness is the key motivation to individuals (Albert, John, Jean, Carolyn , 2006). Under new management of Miss Fiona, training consultants develop different perception on their working environment as there are many negative changes affecting their behavior. The harmony of workers developed by Tim for years is crumbling down due to poor management and inequality in XYZ Company. Employees’ behavior in XYZ has changed all over sudden since some have become equal.

Overworked consultants started being angry and calling in sick. They spent less time preparing training packages that suited clients’ needs and used older training packages. This behavior could be avoided if Fiona and her H.O.D’s had taken performance appraisal seriously. Since superiors do not do the technical work, their intended workload is transferred to juniors (DuBrin, 2013). In such situations employees ask themselves this question; with regard to my input in this organization, do I get similar rewards as those who are offering the same in as I do (Greenberg, 2002)? When inequities becomes more employee will do the following:

• Become resistant
• Try to develop ways to reduce the input of others
• Become less active to reduce their inputs
• Quit the job
• Ask for more from the company
• Involve in other projects other the job(Richard Daft, 2008)

This is simply what is happening in XYZ leaving Fiona in a dilemma not knowing what to say to his father who had dedicated his life in building the company. Equity theory shows that how employees view the issue of equity matters a lot (Robbins and Judge, 2012). Ignore to this kills employees’ morale and this might harm the organization’s bottom line. Employees are very concerned by the daily decisions made by employers (McShane and Von Glinow, 2015). They judge these decisions as fair or unfair. These judgment influences personal behaviors, which lead to workplace deviance if the decisions deemed unfair (Koontz, 2010). Organizational justice is closely related to fairness/equity. It is impossible for one to work without the other. Leadership of an organizational should keep close watch and act accordingly.

Personal and Interpersonal Skills and Knowledge to Manage Oneself and Organizational Context

Personal skills can be described as abilities possessed by an individual in tackling specific tasks. Skills such as communicating and interacting with others can be referred to as interpersonal. They are important in places work for carrying out duties. Personal skills if well applied can help improve the productivity of an organization. It calls for dedication and application of human expertise to achieve strategic goals (Miner, 2015). On the other hand, interpersonal skills are vital tools since a single individual cannot handle matters of the entire company. Interaction and team building must be enforced in XYZ to rebuild it back.

Personal skills can be described as abilities possessed by an individual in tackling specific tasks. Skills such as communicating and interacting with others can be referred to as interpersonal. They are important in places work for carrying out duties. Personal skills if well applied can help improve the productivity of an organization. It calls for dedication and application of human expertise to achieve strategic goals (Miner, 2015). On the other hand, interpersonal skills are vital tools since a single individual cannot handle matters of the entire company. Interaction and team building must be enforced in XYZ to rebuild it back.

Main organizational problems in XYZ are use of wrong organization structure, non-effective communication and lack to apply teamwork. Organizational behavior is the study on how people interact within groups (Nicklin and Spector, 2016). These is used to create effective business and working environment. This has proven scientific management of employees. OB can be applied to solve problems concerning this case there are a few recommendations Fiona to take from. Keeping in mind that change is inevitable it is okay for Fiona to introduce change. Introduced change should be for better future of XYZ. Organizational structure is critical to an organizational as every employee is placed in the right department according to their expertise (Greenberg, 2002).

Departments were introduced to relieve Fiona his mandate in the company. She should take charge in supervising the head of departments making sure that they are fairly treating the juniors allocating them manageable tasks. Improving communication methods in the organizations. There should be free and fearless communication both upward and downwards. This facilitates fare and quality decision-making (McKenna, 2000). Views of the training consults should be on the consideration table since they are the ones dealing one on one with the clients. Use of incentives gives workers the motivation they require to do and handle their tasks effectively.

References

Albert J. Mills, J. B. J. C. H. M. C. F., 2006. Organizational Behaviour in a Global Context. toronto: University of Toronto Press.

DuBrin, A.J., 2013. Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective. Elsevier.

Greenberg, J., 2002. Advances in Organizational Justice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Koontz, H., 2010. Essentials of Management. Ney Work: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

McKenna, E. F., 2000. Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour: A Student’s Handbook. illustrated ed. Hove: Psychology Press.

McShane, S.L. and Von Glinow, M.A., 2015. Organizational Behavior 7/e.

Miner, J.B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Routledge.

Nicklin, J.M. and Spector, P.E., 2016. Point/Counterpoint introduction: The future of theory in organizational behavior research. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 

Richard Daft, D. M., 2008. Understanding Management. 6, illustrated ed. Boston: Cengage Learning,.

Robbins, S.P. and Judge, T., 2012. Essentials of organizational behavior. Boston: Pearson.

isational problems and application of OB theories to resolving them