Business Mgt Forums
I need a 150-word reply to each of the following two forum assignments:
Forum #1
Hello class, this is the day that the Lord has made. Please provide a one minute assessment of emotional intelligence and share with me how it will help you moving forward? I wait to hear from you
Forum Response #2[1]
Job design is a type of work system that aims to allow employees to negotiate the way in which they perform their job tasks. Job design is intended to make particular job tasks more enjoyable. As the reading this week suggests, traditional job design was a top-down approach meaning that leaders and managers would dictate the design of the task (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 225). This method has significantly shifted, and many organizations are not taking a bottom-up approach. The bottom-up approach suggests that the design of tasks be driven by employees. When employees are in control of their tasks, buy-in, and increased productivity have been observed in many organizations.
The current design of my job consists of a variation of top-down and bottom-up approaches. By working in the water industry for a private water utility, our strategies tend to lean towards long-range infrastructure planning and programs. These programs are intended to address the needs proactively surrounds failing infrastructure. In aggressive utilities, the focus on operational resiliency tends to follow the industry standards for advanced system maintenance. There are some factors involved with maintaining a multi-billion dollar infrastructure system and many groups such as planning, economic development, capital improvement and engineering must address and develop sustainable programs. At my level, our group is responsible for creating, implementation, measuring and modifying programs designed to address aging infrastructure. A few of the programs that we have implemented include an aggressive water meter testing and replacement program needed to ensure water meters are accurately registering consumption. Another program is the repair and replacement of fire hydrants. The useful life of a fire hydrant is 50 years with proper maintenance and with a utility that has over 12,000 fire hydrants, we must ensure that the maintenance needs are taken care of as well as the replacement needs. This is where employees who are involved in executing the tasks get a say. Managers such as myself have created the strategic programs needed to accomplish the long-range infrastructure programs and employees have successfully created the reasonable expectancies to accomplish program tasks. In an idiosyncratic way, both groups have come together to address the issue and develop a solution. Is is impossible to effectively manage what you are ineffectively measuring so we have collectively developed productivity measurements and expectations that align with program goals. By creating a component of measurement, we were able to increase individual accountability, reduce injuries and perform at a high level.
One aspect that I would change to make my job inherently more motivating is cut down on the number of meetings that could have otherwise been completed over a series of emails. In this day in age, we still have people at work in leadership roles who refuse to adapt to technology and are not held accountable for using technology for efficiency. The feedback and reward system that we have in place is incredible. Each employee can formally discuss their job performance with their supervisor once per month. We review individual performance against the average actuals of the team. This approach is beneficial since issues are corrected in a short amount of time.
The process theories as described in this week's reading that is closely followed in my organization are Adam's Equity Theory of Motivation and Vroom's Expectancy Theory. Adam's Equality Theory states that employees are motivated by fairness and justice in social exchanges (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 213). These are qualities that my group lives by since we aim for transparency through effective communication and interaction. Vroom's Expectancy Theory states that people are "Motivated to behave in ways that produce desired combinations of expected outcomes" (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 218). We pride ourselves of the accomplishments that our employees contribute to the organization. All of my supervisors have a servant leadership mentality, and they all understand that their success is directly related to the performance of their subordinates.
The content theories that are relevant to our organization is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's' Two Factor Theory. Maslow's theory identifies the growth and deficiency needs associated with the work environment("The content theories of motivation," n.d.). These requirements are essential to the social, safety, self-actualization and physiological needs of employees. As managers and leaders, we must address each of these key areas to ensure the needs of our employees are understood. Herzbergs' Two Factor Theory states that several factors lead to employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. These factors include recognition, advancement, supervision, salary and working conditions ("The content theories of motivation," n.d.). Managers and leaders must address these content factors while juggling the daily whirlwind of requirements.
References
Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (Eds.). (2013). Motivating employees through job design. Organizational Behavior (10 ed., pp. 225-235). Retrieved from GCU Library
The content theories of motivation. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sielearning.tafensw.edu.au/MBA/9791F/BusinessServices/LO/1207_020138_605F_02_wi/1207_020138_605F_0204_wi.htm
[1] Original Forum Question was: "What is the current design of your job? Assume that the opportunity arose for you to utilize the idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) in redesigning your job. What would you do to make your job inherently more motivating? How would you design the feedback and reward systems in the new job? Be sure to include comments on two content theories and two process theories and highlight the significance of each theory."