Introduction
A significant element of effective organizational management is the behavior of
individual company managers. A manager's behavior can have a very real and
lasting effect on his employees in either positive or negative ways.
Study of Organizational Behavior is very interesting and challenging. It is
related to individual groups and people working together. The organizational
behavior could be very effective if there is two way communications between
managers and employees. Managers can improve and do effective communication with
the help of managerial theories regarding behavior, motivation and leadership.
There are a number of different behavioral theories such as equity theory,
expectancy theory, theory X and theory Y and hierarchy of needs theory.
Positive Influences of Managers on Employees. Managers can influence their
employees’ behavior in following ways:
• Accurately match the employee’s skill set with the right job.
• Monitoring workload and refusing additional work when the team is under
pressure.
• Promote task rotation/job enrichment.
• Steering employees in a direction rather than imposing.
• Keeps teams informed of what is happening with the department and the
organization.
• Communicates clear goals and objectives.
• Regular meetings and two way communication.
• Operating a no blame culture and problem solving approach.
• Awareness of the employee’s pressures outside work.
• Dealing with conflict at an early stage and following up on actions.
• Do not discriminate among employees. Treat them equally.
• Allow as much decision-making authority or autonomy as possible in each
position or job.
• Encourages staff to develop and review development.
• Attach high value to each individual’s role or contribution.
• Provide sufficient training or resources for higher performance. Studies point
out that organizations which invest higher in employee training perform better
than the general market.
• A manager should be able to hold people accountable and responsible without
punishing measures.
Negative Influence of Managers on Employees:
• Morale. If the company does not handle change effectively, it can have a
detrimental effect on the morale of workers. Low employee morale has a negative
effect on productivity, which can cause a financial loss for the organization.
• High Employee Turnover:A high employee turnover rate implies that a company's
employees leave their jobs at a relatively higher rate. Employee turnover rates
can increase for a variety of reasons, and turnover includes both employees who
quit their jobs and those who are asked to leave. The main reason of employee
turnover is a “poor relationship with mangers”.
• Trust:A study was conducted by Harvard University titled “The high cost of
lost trust”. The study set out to discover what affects might occur when
employees believe there is disconnect between what their Managers say and what
their Managers do. StudySurveyed 6500 employees in 76 different hotels in US and
Canada. Majority of employees felt their managers said one thing and did
another. The study also states that if a Manager is being perceived as lacking
in integrity, he or she might also be lacking in other important managerial
qualities. Solid employee’s relationships are built on trust and understanding.
• Micro-Management:Micro-management is a management style where a manager
closely observes or controls the work of subordinates or employees.
Micromanagement is considered to be one of the "most widely condemned managerial
sins”. Micromanagers who continuously monitor their workers affect employee’s
productivity, creativity, trust, problem-solving and flexibility of workers.
• Poor Communication:Misunderstanding between managers and employees can lead to
low productivity and negative influence on employees’ behavior.The miss
understanding between mangers and employees’ can enhance the use of grape vine
communication in organization among employees’.
• Lack of Training and Information: Many managers lack to provide necessary
training and information that a certain employee needs to perform job. This can
cause stress for employees and inability to perform their specific tasks.
• Lack of Support and Failure: A lack of support for change management can cause
new policies and processes to fail. All employees and management must be on
board with the change process for success. The system will fail if employees do
not use the new system or policy andmanagement does not enforce the change.
Before a company begins the change process, it is vital that management and
staff support the decision and make a commitment to the new policy or process.
Examples:
Starbucks Corporation is an American global coffee company and coffeehouse chain
based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in
the world, with 20,891 stores in 62 countries. The company promotes the
enthusiastic development of its employees. Starbucks uses a model of
communication used generally by smaller group networks, all channel
communication. All channel communication allows employees to communicate
actively with managers. Starbucks has no problem of sharing important decisions
with employees and public. The corporations is successful because of the
managerial skills of CEO “Howard Schultz”
Dell Inc. is an American multinational computer technology company based in
Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells, repairs and supports
computers and related products and services. “Michael Dell” CEO of the company
exercises transformational leadership style he acts as a role model for his
employees. Michael Dell creates valuable and positive change in employee’s
behavior with end goal of developing them into leaders.Michael Dell transforms
and motivates employees through his idealized influence, intellectual
inspiration and individual consideration.
Conclusion:
I conclude that molding a behavior is difficult but not impossible. Managing
behavior is not a simple task. Human behavior changes dramatically over time
and, in different conditions and environment. Management should focus on the
factors that influence employee’s behavior in positive ways. Efforts should be
made to control those factors which influence employees’ behavior. Managers
should always reflect positive image. Management should ensure that negative
perception is not developed among employees. Employees having bad behavior are
not born rather they are made and they may become efficient if properly managed
and motivated. Smart managers always read behavior of their employees to take
cues for improvement.