Most work places involve human interaction whether it is between co-workers or workers and the customers. How they interact with each will make a big difference in how productive the company will be. For many centuries experts have tried to harness the strength of human behavior and direct it towards the same goal. But through their studies a pattern has emerged people do not always act the same way in certain organizations as they do in others.
Since first man and woman were organized in a unified group in the Garden of Eden, there has been the need of one individual depending on another individual to help each other strive for the same out come and that is sustaining life. Every company has the same type of need to depend on the group as a whole to sustain the life of the company. What may challenge the organization and the leaders in that organization is the fact that everyone in the organization has their own opinions, views and purpose for them being part of that organization? If we follow the history of organizations from a man and a woman to a family we would see the ease of managing that type of group who lived and worked together in everything they did. But once we grew into complex societies we have complicated the way of managing these larger groups from different back-grounds.Living Organization
Though an organization is not a living thing it takes on the characteristics of living things by the people who depend on its existence, like when a group of people like a family, have the same feeling towards an organization that provides them with the same physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs as a family. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2000)
So as leaders and co-workers we need to understand the differences in the way each individual may see the work they are doing and how to work with others, because as different as the characteristics of individual families are so are the individuals coming from that same family are.
In a sense with the establishment of the work organization outside the home we have created a second home for the workers as they spend half their life at work. But yet we have gone through a period in industrial history where the work place was treated more as a slave quarters than a home.
As we advanced in our organizations we also have advanced in our thinking and management of these same organizations. Individuals in the work place like Taylor and Hawthorne tried to question how they could get more efficient work out of the employees and why some would be more efficient than others in the same job. They tried to apply scientific research to their questions by using studies like time-motion and changing the environment conditions in order to improve productivity.
So now that we understand the behavior of individuals in the work place effects the work itself we need to find out how to alter these behaviors to meet the needs of the organization. The first step is by those who lead and control the behavior environment in the work place. As a father or mothers are leaders of their children they want them to develop into productive people. As business speaker Danny Cox admitted in his experience as a manager, when his view of his employees changed from leading a herd of cattle to leading a group of people, he was able to create a more productive and happier working environment. (Cox, Hoover, 2002)
As time went on we also saw the importance of the work place in society and how society had a major influence on the behavior of the workers. Again there is a dependency between society and the work place as societies grew around businesses’ in the early years, and now that businesses are brought in to keep societies alive. Especially today as most businesses globalizes they are no longer just concerned with our own society but also the effect of other societies and their culture. Not only has there been a drastic change in the cultures that have affected the business world but also other demographics in the business world are continuing to change. From more women in the workforce and also more elderly people are forced into another career these all change the behavior in the work place and the problems that can occur with this diverse organization.
But as a stress in the new world of individuality emerges it is harder for groups to conform to the same norms in behavior. So a new worker may feel either he has to change his behavior to be part of the group or will feel isolated from the group with an unwillingness to change. Each individual has a different learning history of how to behave and the process to develop them behaviors takes time. (Wallace, Goldstein, 1997) Behavior is only one component that makes up the attitudes of a person along with the evaluative and cognitive components. So not only does a manager have to understand how the employees behave but also how they feel and what they believe in. These attitudes will show up in how they view the work they do and if they are satisfied in their job and how they will react at work.
So what happens when a worker is not satisfied with his or her job, and how does a manager help motivate this person to continue on in affective work ethics? What are the needs of the worker that will satisfy him enough to continue to excel and have the desire to succeed? The needs of people can be different as the character of people is different; to David McClelland there are three basic needs of a person, need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation. (Robins, Greenberg, Baron, George, Jones, 2004) The idea for a manager is to assess these needs in his workers and try to help him or her meet these needs by encouraging and guiding them. His person has ability and the opportunity to use that ability for a certain goal; some just need help exploring that ability and the confidence to apply it to the job site. Some people just need the opportunity to exceed and an environment that will look at their failures as a part of learning. Workers feel the need to be appreciated and not looked upon as just a machine that can be used for the companies benefit.
To create this environment a manager needs to get all employees involved in the tasks that are going on and not just the ones nobody else wants to do. In the military as a squad leader you would pass on your responsibility to make decisions and solving problems to the subordinates in the squad. This would make them feel more of an important part of the accomplishment of the mission. Besides you are developing them as a member of the team and there own leadership skills which only makes your job as a manager easy and more productive. You are not only supposed to affect another person as just a part of the labor force but also as a part of the human force.
As a leader in the military I learned it was important to keep an open mind to ideas from everyone in the team, to use the ideas of anyone at times to see if it is a good idea and will help improve part of the work process. You have a mixture of workers from all types of backgrounds and knowledge which will have its benefits in all types of situations. The idea is to develop everyone to stretch their mind and knowledge to solve problems and constant attempt to improve the work place and the work they are doing.
But also with involvement comes reward for the efforts of that involvement, the great thing about allowing others to succeed is rewarding for them reaching that goal. All of the work force should be recognized for their part of making the company prosper and moving the right direction. The most important thing one can do is make the group as a whole feel it is making the difference in the work place and is appreciated for their effort. A company should feel it is rewarding its employees in a way that it affects the workers life needs inside the work place and outside also. The family environment where the needs of the family members are addressed and the company and employee work together to resolve any problems there are. The closer the relationship between the employees and the management the easier the jobs will be for both parties.
It is obvious to me that things outside the work place will affect things inside the work place, which is why the leader needs to know the people he leads. The idea for the leader is to reduce the amount of unforeseen obstacles that can arise to hurt the organization meet its goals. If you can catch a infection before it spreads you will reduce the chance of major injury or it affecting another part of the body. The work group is the same way a leader wants to catch the problem before it develops in to a bigger problem. Total Leadership
A leader who can be helpful to an employee outside the job as much inside the job will be looked as a trusted friend by all employees and will establish a more solid relationship. If the workers see you as more concerned than just a quota or your own job security they will likely be more open and honest with you in all aspects. The way you influence your workers to use good judgment and outside the work place will be helpful to more than the company it will be beneficial to all of society. Also you may start the biggest influence in any work force and that is of looking beyond your self to help some one else. This basic concept should be the backbone of any organization and is the thing that will keep a company going in the worst of times.
Within the organization there are smaller work groups that are the stability of the company which holds up the organizational goals pointing them in the right direction. Just as flag pole is planted in the ground can not stand by itself but needs a solid base to hold it up pointing it to the sky. With the large number of employees that are gathered together for a company it is hard to control the efficient work of such a large group. So we separate the larger group into smaller groups that can be managed more easily and can be more efficient in their work. The team concept has been a vital aspect of many organizations since the beginning of socialized groups. In the history of military organizations it has been a life saving concept that has re-shaped the structure of the armies from the past. Over time we learned that a large group can easily be defeated by a smaller more organized group with the right leadership. There is no I in Influence.
If you follow the history of the characteristics of groups there is an intertwining thread of similarity with one to the other. We as people learn what to do and what not to do by the experiences of other groups, but that does not mean we change right away some groups take longer than others to make these changes. Groups usually from because of the same interests of the members of the group have with each other. These interests can be a variety of reasons including political, economical, social, religious, or simply for survival. The attraction to a group is as diverse as the different groups them, some are attracted to fulfill a social need and some are forced into it by a life need. A group can influence an individual another group of people or can take over the whole society itself. Groups can not always have a positive effect on the others outside it or who have joined it, groups not only have been able to come together to solve problems but also have been able to destroy nations.
The uncertainty of the future can be one of the biggest factors for anyone to try to affiliate themselves with others to feel more comfortable with the situation. (Wallace, Goldstein, 1997) We have people joining financial groups because of the future plans of retirement which is not always certain with the person’s current conditions. People join religious groups trying to prolong their life by believing the same things others do, and some join political groups so they can alter the future of a nation by hopping on the coat-tail of a man or woman who has the same ideas as themselves. Top of the Heap
Some times people try to reach a certain status symbol by joining a certain group they try to be seen as something more by their affiliation with a group of individuals. Within the group as outside the group there is a certain hierarchy that is established by appointment or just by influence. To some it is not enough to be part of the group but if they can be the top dog in the pack is the symbol they want to wear. Again with the unpredictability of some humans there is the chance that the one who rises to the top of the leadership pile can cause imbalance and collapse the structure. As history has unfolded we see many who have taken on the status of Emperor in his quest to dominate not only his own country but every other country.
The problem with this is that just like every other obsession power can become an uncontrollable drug that will eventually drive some mad for it. Fathers became tribal leaders, tribal leaders became kings, kings became emperors, and emperors became presidents or dictators. Ambitious leaders can be good or bad for the group itself, just like in the real world the business world has had its own progression in leadership and seen the eras of influential leaders that have not always been good for the people.
In Egypt a king was not just supposed to be a revered leader but also a divine god to be worshiped and admired. In this established form of government considered theocracy was not intended to give people what they need but to control the needs of people. (Perry, Peden, Von Laue, 1999) So not only do we see an influence among the members of a group but also the influence of leadership within a group. The same means of control through a king, dictator or cult leader has been passed on from generation to generation. Just as any member of a team can look out for themselves so can the leader of that team or organization. An aggressive enthusiastic leader can be a plus as long as he or she is not trying to rocket him or herself to the top and leaving everybody else in the smoke trail. Sharing the Status
In any type of group you have those on the top and those who are happy at the bottom with less of responsibility and less of a work load. As there are those who are aggressive in their work ethics trying to go beyond the normal expectation, so are those who less than enthusiastic in giving a helping hand. Some believe that the idea is to go by with the less amount of effort to achieve a goal or accomplishment of a task. Some times a society will create its own social norms which go against the basic concept of the creation of that society. As studies have shown our own country which was founded on the concept of creating a group of citizens not governed by individualistic rulers but by the consensus of the good of the people is now considered at the top of other countries for individual performance over group performance.
Everybody in the U.S. has the image of a work group along the highway in some area of the country where the majority of the workers are watching the minority of the workers do the job. It seems part of the society norm to hire a larger amount of workers to accomplish the task with not all the workers putting effort in the accomplishment of that task. So in our society a leader may have to overcome these interceded ideas in the mind of the workers to a more team effort philosophy. Not only do we have to advance ourselves in technology at the work place but we also have to move forward in the human factor of our organization. Though the team concept has been around for many centuries it has not been emphasized in every organization. A fear of control of responsibility has been a question for some, because with the team comes more responsibility in the team members to self-manage themselves.
It is well known that work is part of life and should not be avoided but promoted, establishing a culture where you are responsible for your own actions or lack of actions in the work place is vital for the organizations leaders. Every need is fulfilled by some kind of effort by someone and the idea of providing for oneself and the others is basic knowledge that has been the basis for our society. The environment that workers are put in has a great influence on their work ethics, and how they view their purpose in the organization. If they feel that their individual work effects the company as a whole and are succeeding as the company succeeds they will be more willing to be responsive to the companies needs. Coping with Conflict
At times when you bring together many different people from many different backgrounds and influences you end up with conflict of ideas. The biggest challenge for the leadership of this company is to not necessarily stifle the conflict all together, but to control it to turn it in to progress. Many opportunities have arisen over one employee questioning the goals of the company or a certain task within the company’s process. A leader needs to encourage individual thinking in constant improvement in the company and its day to day operations. Conflict is nothing more than experience being filtered through a test study of application in the work place. A variety of goals, ethics, values, and views meet head to head to dominate and influence the others to possibly accept change. Calculating the Conflict
The leader of the team or group or the group or team itself needs to take all the factors of the conflict to be worth the time and effort to pursue the conflict or resolve it promptly. The leader or group needs to not necessarily squash the climate of being able to question any part of the work process, but it needs to come to an effective conclusion from the conflict. Individual differences are going to happen in any organization and with the advancements in the working industry we have learned that the differences can be used to improve the work environment and not necessarily hinder the work environment. The important thing is to not allow differences to cause a stressful work environment which can hurt the positive culture you have created. As we earn more about conflict we tend to understand the importance of the strong team shared responsibility. For if we put it all on one leader’s shoulders to resolve all conflicts we cause that leader to reach a burn out point. But if spread the responsibility out amongst the whole group we will have a better chance to use the conflict to better the group with out sacrificing an individuals emotions. The Focus Factor
The idea within the conflict corps is the focus of the conflict, for it is a fact of human nature that what you focus on will be what you move towards. If a person does not agree with something in their mind first chances are they will not move towards that.(Lieberman, 2000) I learned from my experience in the military that it is a big challenge to influence someone to do something that in their mind seems unachievable or dangerous to their own existence. Going through jump school was a big step for some because you had to overcome the unnatural act of flying for human being. To some stepping out of something like an airplane which sole purpose was designed to give man flight had a hard time making sense in the brain that controls taking that step. To some they did not want to be the first to jump because you would have to stand at the open door of the plane looking down 1500 feet in the air to the ground that in your mind is where you should be standing. While others wanted to be the first to be able to see that which they were going to do and to overcome the fear by facing it. Which ever you were you had your individual goals, ethics, values, and views to make act and face the same opportunity in the way you did. Now some went eagerly to the challenge and some had to be given a little push to meet the challenge, but in the end the whole group was trying to reach the same accomplishment.
The focus on the accomplishment of jumping out of the airplane was the same for all those in the plane, but the individual needs to meet that accomplishment were different. But that is when leadership comes into play, for if those who needed to be influenced in trusting in the actions necessary to meet their accomplishment are given examples of others who have accomplished it. Then you are taking the individuals mind off of what they see as unachievable and replacing it with knowledge of how it is achievable. Some have never achieved because they have never had their needs of achieving met and have always been focused on failure. This is where the support of the team can be vital to show the individual that they care about the well-being of each employee not matter at what stage the employee is in within the group. Sharing the Stress
Not only does a team or group need to share in the rewards of the good times within the company, they also need to stick together during the hard times the company may go through. Just like the culture of a family trying to cope with the difficulties of life so the team or group within a company has to create that dependability on each other to make it through the difficult times. The team itself will have the resources and knowledge in order to focus on the problem and come up with a solution. The good thing about any trial one may face chances are he or she will not be going through it by themselves, someone will be sharing the stress with them or have a share of the same stress at one time. Total control of all of life is unrealistic so to think that you will never face an unfortunate experience is unlikely. But since modern day companies are aware of this there is an exceeding push to find ways to relieve stress in the workplace. From on site exercise facilities to organizational support the culture of most companies is changing to keeping the employees close to work but also close to relaxation. (Robins, Greenberg, Baron, George, Jones, 2004)Facilitating the Family
Since the business world was based off the family environment it makes sense that we should return to it to better the culture of the workplace. The workplace has taken the employees away from their family for two long which has caused the society to suffer tremendously in the strength of the culture. So it makes sense that the workplace should help to strengthen the family culture by keeping the employee at home as much as possible. Flexible work schedules and job sharing are used by many companies to help employees cope with conflicts between the work and personal work environment. (Robins, Greenberg, Baron, George, Jones, 2004)
So the human factor has proved itself the most important asset in the workplace it is the thing that started the idea of the business field and it is the thing that keeps sustaining the business field. What ever view you have as a consumer, employee, manager, or owner it still involves people for the company to exist and continue to exist. The more a company grows to see the need for the humans in their organization and the more they see the needs of the employees the stronger they will grow. For as a plant needs the earth around it to grow the land itself needs the plants to stick together and not erode away when the storms come. Technology can only solve some of our problems but humans can continue to work to solve all of organizations problems. A human can have the feelings that make the difference that a machine cannot in the attitude and environment of the company. Humans can practice the ethics and values that overcome any conflict or prejudice. References
Cox, D., Hoover, J. (2002). Leadership When the Heat’s On (2nd ed.) New York, N.Y.: McGraw -Hill.
Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L. (2000). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lieberman, D.J. (2000). Get Anyone To Do Anything: Never Feel Powerless Again-With Psychological Secrets to Control and Influence Every Situation. New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press.
Perry, M., Peden, J.R., Von Laue, T.H. (1999). Sources of the Western Tradition: Vol.1.From Ancient Times to the Enlightenment (4th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Robbins, S.P., Greenberg, J., Baron, R.A., George, J.M., Jones, G.R. (2004) Human Behavior in Organizations. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.
Wallace, P.M., Goldstein, J.H. (1997). Psychology: An Introduction to (4th ed.). New York, N.Y.McGraw-Hill.
