Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the Workplace

Susan Littlefield

Organizational Behavior Business 610

Robert Tielman

December 4, 2011

Diversity in the Workplace

When one looks to change diversity in the workplace one has to look at the positive aspects of having a diverse work environment where workers can learn about each other’s differences and learn new ways to achieve goals both personal and professional. “In Business Advantages of Diversity in the Workplace”, the author Michael Lee speaks to the fact of the importance of focusing on the positive aspects of how to bring diversity to the workplace that by, “Integrating workers from culturally diverse backgrounds into their workforce companies will become much stronger,”(Lee, 2011). Positive aspects that he discusses include the following increased creativity & productivity, new attitudes & processes and new solutions for solving different problems can affect the company in a positive way by learning about workplace diversity (Lee, 2011). Also looking to the proactive approach of defining how to initiate workplace diversity Rose Mary Wentling wrote in her research paper called, “Diversity Initiatives in the Workplace: Work in Progress at the University of Illinois” and she lists many aspects that can be used to transition a diversity program. New strategies for training through education and effective diversity tools –which means education for all workers, building teamwork with diverse a workforce and making the environment a happy one all these factors will have both a personal and professional impact on the company and its values (Wentling, 2011).

New Initiatives

            Lee speaks to the fact sometimes that we forget how lucky we are to have people who have different backgrounds than us because they will bring new ideas showing what concepts are important to them (Lee, 2011). The more ideas that one group has means that the stronger the end result will be, when in a group meeting someone may suggest a really great idea that another group of people would have never thought about. Having a team meeting will help to remind people that everyone is human and not a machine and that even though they are a team and may sit in different areas and speak to different people throughout the day that this is a great check-in time to discuss news. Diversity meetings should be scheduled weekly or monthly and then people will come to look forward to them and they would know that this is a safe place to voice ideas about improving diversity. Including food is always a plus, people will be happy to come to a meeting even though at first their thoughts are on getting fed the underlying factor will be this is time for the team. Having a leader who can go through the important parts of the diversity training will make the time be productive and sometimes having more than one person speak to the group will more advantageous.  The more comfortable people feel the more they will speak up in a group.

Introducing Training

            Diversity training should happen for sincere reasons, although some companies do it because it is social, legal or the “In thing,” we should look at the overall benefits that will help to bring workers who may feel left out such as women, people of color, those who have disabilities, older workers or gays and lesbians (Wentling, 2011). Some of the concepts that Wentling suggested include training and education programs to all workers and not just top management, mentoring minority employees- without judgment and offering compensation for a job well done that is not discriminatory (Wentling, 2011). People enjoy getting different types of rewards for doing their work for example pizza parties, an extra hour off at lunch or even a paid day off will be an incentive for and employee to work harder because some people want to know what is in it for them. Some people become lazy in their way of thinking just because something is the way it is does not mean that it can never change and through changing points of view people will know that they have control over what happens.

Future Trends

It is hard to change how a society thinks or what values a company will take on to get to the bottom-line, that sounds like such a ugly word because the people factor is not what is considered and that is why it is so important to study organizational behavior. If there were an easy way for a light switch to come off in people’s heads to help them with awareness, a move to spiritually, concern for each other and not just what is in it for me then people would actually be happy at work. Lee suggests that by adding diversity training to companies these following things will be achieved, professional goals, productivity will exceed past results, profits will be increased, and new approaches will be implemented, stronger teams will be built and companies who do promote diversity will be looked at as social leaders (Lee, 2011). These are all positives outcomes but do business people have time or want to make the effort to do this additional training? Some may think it is a waste of time, but the companies who are aware of the results and the payoffs will be more likely to spend time and take the initiative especially if the human factor is a plus for taking on a diversity program.

References

Lee, M. (2011, Decemeber 4). n business advantages of diversity in the workplace. Retrieved

           from http://www.ethnoconnect.com/pdf/article09.pdf

                                                                                                                    

Wentling, R. (2011, Decemeber 4). Diversity initiatives in the workplace: Work in progress at the university of illinois . Retrieved from Diversity Initiatives in the Workplace

Self-Concept Theory

Susan Littlefield

Self-Concept Theory

610

Organizational Behavior

Week Three Written Assignment

12//12/2011

Self-Concept Theory

Self Concept Theory is based off of a person’s motivation which means that he or she will unconsciously be analyzing what their ideal self is, what their self perception is (whether it is accurate or not) how they feel about themselves and what the social group around that person thinks of them (Schmidt, 2011). Traits are quality’s that a person has that are most noticeable by others, a person will most likely know what their traits are if they are good, but the co-workers will be more aware of the negatives. People can be labeled by their traits, go-getter, computer nerd, out-going, office-gossiper, and sometimes people can have conversations at work by just going off the traits and people who are in the group will automatically think of the person without mentioning that person’s name. Competencies are the skills we posses that we know without a doubt that we can do, sometimes people on their resumes will put down more than enough that people begin to wonder did he or she really do all those things? Values are what people hold close them in their subconscious and he or she will react to different situations using their values to help solve problems, so what is important to someone may not be as high on the list as others.

            People behave at work however they would like to but some people will follow the in- crowd so that person will be well-liked and that will help them meet the company standards as well as forming a good relationship with his or her boss. These types of social groups can be formed and people involved in them may benefit from this special type of relationship down the road and because he or she is friends with others of different groups and there is more than one person to go to for help. At one job this author had moral was very low because we knew our company was closing and we only had ninety days to prepare for it, we had a powerful union called the Communications Workers of America Local 1298 (CWA) and many people were involved from different social groups. “Even if I have to be on the phone all day, whatever it takes, we're going to have to do it," said Bill Henderson, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1298 (Associated Press, 2008). Unfortunately it did not happen for us, but it is interesting to note that when Obama was having his inauguration we were notified to look for Mr. Henderson and sure enough he was standing right behind the new President.

Everyone learned everything through word of mouth because many meetings were being held and when the union leaders came back to their desks the rumors would fly from person to person. People were very tense at work and the managers really kept things quiet so there was a level of distrust especially with people who were going to union meetings, which at times was just about everyone. While on the phones we learned that there was a major layoff that gave people two week notices and it was based on their hire date and that date was a week after I started. So everybody the week after me was let go they had two weeks’ notice, my manager was out of town so I was told I was safe only after someone from the union who started the same day as me said so. The problem here I would like to address is what happens when really bad news comes to a large group of people who are very upset about losing their jobs?

This situation was tough to be in because many people had a low-level of competencies and because they were a little strange or unusual they were able to provide information to the customers with anonymity and be somewhat successful at their jobs. Charles Schmidt Jr. from the University of Rhode Island from the Labor Research Center in his article on Motivation Overview speaks to the fact that these people are in the low-weak category (Schmidt, 2011). People who have a low self efficacy are going to feel most threatened by this news; this group of people may not be able to handle this because he or she does not believe that their skills are transferable to another job. At my company people could ask for help and get special favors that might not be able given at other companies, so people we knew were not going to make it through this event because our company overlooked certain things. People could come to work with tattoos, purple hair, looking like they just rolled out of bed, and most people would not think anything of it because those traits matched the person. Most people did not fit that group and we had a causal work environment so we could wear jeans and we did not have to dress up only when we had special visitors like people from Department of State.

People began to do really stupid things because they were mad about losing their job and one person took his anger out on the customers because he would hang up on them during the call. Scott was someone who was not liked by others because he was a known trouble maker; he had so many seat changes because he could not get along or leave his co-workers alone. He did not know really how bad he was but we all knew what his traits were, loud-mouth, gossip monger, instigator, and he always talked about his mother who he lived (he must have been in mid-40’s). I am setting the stage for something big that occurred people turned on each other which brought the stress level up and trust level down so when Scott got walked out of the building we were all shocked. He lost everything right before we lost our jobs someone who he picked on wanted to get even with him and that person told our manager that Scott was hanging up on callers. Before knowing about losing our jobs he would have never behaved this way because he was always at the top of the list when it came to getting intrinsic awards.

The managers decided to offer vacation time to people who had worked there the longest and we had a lot of people out so the people who were left at the call center really had to hustle on the phones there was little or no break in-between calls, so that brought the stress level up even more and people would fight with each other and it was just awful at the end because people who already liked to spread gossip got worse and the best solution for me was to stay out it. I even had to move to another cubicle because people were so negative and one woman would start all the talk and then it was a cannonball people were mad that our contract had not been renewed. It is hard to say what I would have done back then if I was a manager I would have had more team meetings to discuss what will happen after the company closes. People who were once at the self-actualization level where they felt proud, helped others and had a basic solid foundation on which they lived, we dropped down two or three levels down on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Chapman, 2011). Some people who had not made it that high on the level were pretty much stuck because they had little resources to help them bounce back from this awful situation.  

Because of the layoff and the company closing we added to the unemployment population in New Hampshire probably over 500 people because in total there were 2 layoffs and then the company closed. Someone on unemployment can stay on it for more than two years in NH. I did a lot of temporary work and which I really enjoyed but they were short-term assignments. The first full-time position I was offered was at John Hancock and because I aced school I figured I could learn anything, I feel that right now I am meeting my safety needs, that sometimes I can go all the up the Hierarchy and then come back down based on my day. Most of the time I am at the Self-Actualization level when I talk about things in class but it not always easy to stay there. My Safety Needs are met because I have a great home to live in with my cat; my dad gives me money when I ask for it but the area I need to work on is Belongingness and Love Need. Getting a job is important to me and I have had to apply for special services that I never thought I would have to, like food stamps, free medicine, discounts on my utilities and heat and that makes feel like I am at the Safety Needs level.

References

Associated Press. (2008, December 3). Dover call center to close eliminating 300 jobs. Retrieved

from http://www.wmur.com/money/18196755/detail.html

Chapman, A. (2011, Decemeber 7). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from

http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm

Schmidt, C. (2011, Decemeber 12). Work motivation overview. Retrieved from http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/scholl/webnotes/Motivation.htm

Organizational Behavior

Susan Littlefield

Learning Organizations

Business 610

Organizational Behavior

Week 6 Final Paper

January 16, 2012

 

Abstract

Peter Senge who wrote the transformational book called “The Fifth Discipline,” about learning organizations which focuses on five aspects called systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning. He has been a visionary in the business community according to Mark Smith, “His areas of special interest are said to focus on decentralizing the role of leadership in organizations so as to enhance the capacity of all people to work productively toward common goals” (Smith, 2001). He is the founding chair of the Society for Organizational Leaders and a lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has written many other books about how to become a learning organization, “SoL is part of a “global community of corporations, researchers, and consultants” dedicated to discovering, integrating, and implementing “theories and practices for the interdependent development of people and their institutions” (Smith, 2001).

Learning Organizations

Introduction

            When thinking about all the possibilities for company structure we are left with the feeling of being overwhelmed by our choices, people in charge of organizations are pressed for time and commitment, sometimes short-term goals are seen instead on long-term ones and for the employees that can be hard because some workers may be more interested in learning instead of just doing a job. Learning organizations can help foster those desires to learn more because as John Baldoni states in his article “Leader as Learner”, learning organization is a commitment to helping individuals and teams grow collectively and systemically so that they become smarter, wiser, and more competitive-individually and collectively” (Baldoni, 1998). That sounds like the type of environment I would like to be in because learning helps an individual grow, and when a company puts time into training an employee of that company they are looking for long-term results, and sometimes I believe that the company’s I have worked for have only had short-term goals and only cared about production rates. Peter Senge wrote a book called the “Fifth Discipline,” which has sold more than one million copies since its publication, in 1997 Harvard Business Review identified it as one of the seminal management books of the past 75 years (Smith, 2001). The aspects of a learning organization are systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision and team learning another area to consider is transformational leadership and that is when followers are transformed by leaders by creating changes in their goals, values and belief and aspirations and that is exactly what a learning organization does (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 359).

Learning Organizations

            “A learning organization is one that proactively creates, acquires and transfers knowledge and that changes its behavior on the basis of the new knowledge and insights” (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 416). There are three components that occur in a learning organization: new ideas are a prerequisite for learning, hiring new talent and devoting significant resources and time to training and development of its employees, this is seen as a long-term goal which is key to a learning organization it is different from other types of organizations that look to short-term goals (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 416). Second the new knowledge must be transferred to the whole company, “if one area of the company discovers a better way of doing things, or happens upon an interesting piece of research that works, it would be helpful to the entire organization if everyone in the company could share in the new ideas” (Baldoni, 1998).  This is when the transformation has taken place and people can see from their efforts that the, “behavior came as a result from the new knowledge,” and the awareness of this change can remind them of what they used to do as opposed to what they do now (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 416). A learning organization is always a work in progress which is repeated over and over again with new ideas, concepts and lessons that are learned which in turn are passed throughout the company and not just a small group of workers. The new behaviors are used to achieve corporate goals and what happens is this continual learning system will excite new behaviors that will make the company more successful, positive energy is catchy, just like when someone smiles and the other person returns a smile back, this environment fosters an excitement for learning, achievement and intellectual growth (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 416).

 Systems Thinking

Lisa Abbot wrote an article about “The Fifth Discipline,” which gives a nice summary of what each of the five disciplines mean, “Systems thinking is the changing the way we think in order to see the underlying structures of things, the relationships among players and forces and the dynamic complexity of the many problems we face” (Abbott, 1990). The reason why I like her definition is because when I read a couple of different articles written by men (Smith and Baldoni) they both have definitions of systems thinking that are not very straight forward and come off as more complex and Abbot cuts right to the point. Smith states that, “it is the discipline that integrates the others, fusing them into a coherent body of theory and practice and systems theory’s ability to comprehend and address the whole, and to examine the interrelationship between the parts provides, for Peter Senge, both the incentive and the means to integrate the disciplines” (Smith, 2001). This sounds more complicated than it really is because systems thinking is about changing the way people in the organization do things and how it relates to people in the organization so that they can solve any problem that comes up in a new way. Baldoni states, “System thinking is an approach that emphasizes the individual relationship to the group and to the organization as means of creating feedback to address organizational issues” (Baldoni, 1998). This one is easier to understand over Smith’s because he basically spells out that, “creating feedback to address organizational issues is important and having a “double loop” learning process will enables the company to “map route causes and then find a new way to treat them”(Baldoni, 1998). He also noted that it is important to have progress because the organization will be able to see what has been “learned along the way” and it is always good to have a frame of reference and recognize the difference between new and old ways of thinking (Baldoni, 1998).

Personal Mastery

            This is when we clarify our personal vision and with self awareness we can do so with and open and objective mindset. Lisa Abbott suggests, “Good leaders learn to live and work with the tension created by the distance between their goals and aspirations and the current reality” (Abbott, 1990). This is the time when people in the organization ask themselves questions on an individual level for example, what can I do to further empower myself, how can I express myself more, how can I prepare myself, how can I resolve this, what is really happening here (Ayer, 2012)? Those are all questions that we can ask ourselves which puts us in the driver’s seat so that we are the ones in control of how we respond to a situation that is occurring in the workplace. The list is really a little bit longer than what I have shown here and it is from my chiropractor Dr. Deb Ayer who practices Network Spinal Analysis her technique is all about transformation, energy work, breathe and movement and the environment is full of both healing and support. It is great because practice members learn through their own transformations and then organically bring what he or she has learned out to the world and it is done on a subtle basis so people who are unfamiliar with Network are attracted to those who are and they really do not know why. Mark Smith states, “people with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode where they never “arrive”, which means their journey never ends,” and these type of people like me can learn from the past and take the good with the bad, it is mostly about being present and being aware of your environment (Smith, 2001).

Mental Models

Means becoming conscious of our individual and collective mindset or worldview and

Lisa Abbott also suggests,” good leaders learn to consider other perspectives through inquiry and reflection” (Abbott, 1990). This means that through our own stories we have learned that we have a certain mindset that we bring with us wherever we go and Smith explains that, “we have deeply ingrained assumptions generalizations, or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action” (Smith, 2001). Our memories are stored in our bodies so that when a similar action takes place we will call up the information that we had learned before and if we are not aware of how we handled the situation in the past we may react to something in the present the same way. For example, I used to not be able to stand up for myself and now I have no problem telling someone how I feel or what I am thinking about and it generally surprises people who have not seen me in a number of years. I have spent the last seven years going to Wellspring receiving Network care and I have had a personal journey of transformation, so it happens naturally and I have a supportive group of friends that believe the same things I do. In this time of transformation my friends have changed to people who like sports, going to the gym, cycling and I have gained a special group of friends who are supportive of energy work like acupuncture and healing from within. My friends now have a whole different mindset than the ones I had five years ago when I worked at AT&T, which closed in 2009 due to losing a government contract with Department of State.

Shared Vision

            “The practice of shared vision involves the skills of unearthing shared “pictures of the future” that foster genuine commitment and enrolment rather than compliance. In mastering this discipline, leaders learn the counter-productiveness of trying to dictate a vision, no matter how heartfelt” (Smith, 2001). “A shared vision is the collaborative shaping of an idea for the future that includes the participation of an individual, if the vision is to guide the organization, it must be shared and members have to make it their own” (Baldoni, 1998). Lisa Abbott’s definition of building a shared vision, “is the practice of continually engaging people in articulating personal visions for the future and building a common sense of purpose and vision” (Abbott, 1990). This reminds me of the times when I have been in training and I was given literature that included a vision statement that I looked at for about less than thirty seconds and said, “Yeah right”. There is a big difference in having a vision statement to fit into the corporate culture and it is another thing to have a model “where people can excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to” (Smith, 2001). I would like to work in a learning environment because it will fit me on so many levels, I have gotten bored at many of the jobs I have had but did so I could pay the bills. Some of the positions I have taken since the layoff in 2009 have been through temp services but could have gone longer if I was just the regular Joe or Jane who did not want to grow, but instead follow a dull routine. I had friends tell me I am too dynamic for one of the jobs I held at Long Term Care Partners on the email team, we ran out of work and I sat on the end so when I pulled out a book to read one of the managers asked me what I was doing?  She told me, “To ask for more work” and when I did another supervisor in charge of the department thought I did not like my work, he did not even come and talk to me and I was the one let go because things were slow. The vision for temps was only short-term and nobody really expected that they would hire all of us after the enrollment period had ended, it was just not the right fit for me.

Team Learning

            “Learning skills of dialogue and discussion in order to generate collective learning and produce results that are greater than the contributions of individuals” (Abbott, 1990). Baldoni states, “That team learning is the approach members of a team use to come together and align themselves with the goals of the organization. As with other group activities, it's a "team skill" that can be nurtured through honest and open dialogue” (Baldoni, 1998). Working as a team to reach goals is important and learning different communication techniques will help all members of the organization work better together.

The Road Less Traveled

            Having a healthy organization is something that Morgan Scott Peck wrote about in his book, “The Road Less Traveled” he was a physician (past tense he passed away in 2005) who talked about healthy organizations and the irony is he died of Parkinson’s disease as well as pancreatic and liver duct cancer at the age of 69 (Mac Millan Interactive Communications, 2012).  He believes, “that a healthy organization has a sense of community, if information flows smoothly and people are emotionally present then that alone allows us to care for one another” (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 393).

Workplace Health Check Off List

In the article written by Stephanie Mines, PH.D called “The Alive Workplace: Restoring Vitality, Love and Trust to the Organizational Environment,” she focused on three aspects needed to achieve a healthy workplace which is physical health, emotional and physical environment and she asked many interesting question that we really do not think about when we are on the job (Mines, 2012). Do the health benefits provided by the company truly serve the employees? Given the stress that is inevitable at work how does the organizational structure provide for recovery? It is interesting because when an employee receives a benefits package we have to accept whatever is given unless there are multiple medical packages to choose from. She also suggests that for recovery massage, a gym where exercise or yoga can be done? Is there a place to relax like a quiet room? Two questions that ask about the work environment are, do employees feel comfortable in the spaces in which they work in and is good lighting provided? She asks question that human resource managers should take into consideration, but it would be a truly unique company that takes the time to look at small matters such as lighting and work environment because companies do not want to spend extra money. On the emotional level she asks, “what does the company provide to cultivate camaraderie, participation, and a sense of community’? What happens when an employee is going through a hard time, such as a divorce or a loss, depression or anxiety? These are very interesting questions to ask and as I go through my program with a specialization in human resources I will have lots and lots of notebooks filled with great articles because sometimes I have to print them up and use them for later.

Conclusion

            Peter Senge believes, “that organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together” (Smith, 2001). I would love to work for a learning organization because I enjoy reading and being able to see words in front of me rather than having an actual in person training a class. If company’s allowed its employees to read and learn about different topics in general or something that interests that person, like how to build better communications skills that would benefit the employee and the company. Training class can be exciting, but they may also be expensive and time consuming if I obtain a position in Human Resources I would suggest that the company check out Ashford because there is already a set curriculum. I believe that company’s should offer a reimbursement program so the employee who wants to better themselves will have the opportunity to do so without the stress of having to pay for their education. A learning organization can be exciting because when employees learn how to do something better it is shared throughout the company so others will benefit from that knowledge. When someone shares their success stories or discovers a new way to do things the company benefits from the creativity, the profits will be higher and other companies who do the same thing know that something is going on with their competition. People in this economy want to be treated with respect, have an opportunity for growth with their company, want to come to someplace they can call their home during the day and be around people who are supportive of them. One way to do this is by expanding the educational opportunities that employees have and allowing them to have the time to work on those projects within the learning process that is needed. Learning cannot be rushed it is a process that builds, because everybody learns in a different way and training adults the same way leaves out factors such as experience, speed of learning (learning curve) or past experiences that someone may have had which was either positive or negative. It is important to be aware of employees needs and sometimes just having a simple conversation with him or her will allow the manager to see the areas of growth that need to be worked on and what the employees vision goal for themselves are.

References

Abbott, L. (1990). The fifth discipline, peter senge 1990 review. Retrieved from

            http://www.kftc.org/our-work/leadership-development/the-fifth-discipline.pdf

Ayer, D. (2012, January 16). Handout on transformational thought. Retrieved from

            http://wellspringdover.com/

Baldoni, J. (1998). [Web log message]. Retrieved from

            http://www.lc21.com/directions/thoughts3.html

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills &

            Best Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

Mac Millan Interactive Communications. (2012, January 16). [Web log message]. Retrieved

            from http://www.mscottpeck.com/html/biography.html

Mines, S. (2012, January 16). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.tara-approach.org/articles/authentic_workplace.pdf

Smith, M. (2001). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm

Discuss the 11 Reasons Employees Resist Change

Discuss the 11 Reasons Employees Resist Change.I found an interesting article online written by Peter Baron Stark and he only list 10 reasons why employees resist change and his list contains a few things that are different from our textbook. Sometimes I think that the articles written by real people are more interesting and easy to understand so I will tell you what I found and then add a little of our textbook in. Fear of failure is right up at the top of his list, makes sense people do not want to try something new and fail, but sometimes do you think people set themselves up to fail if they take this type of attitude? If you are fearful of something then when faced with that type of situation you will be fearful when it comes up again, our bodies hold past feelings and we unconsciously react to situations based on past experiences. “All the experiences we have had in life are felt by the body and the body forms itself in response to those experiences” (Ferlic, 2009). Through awareness we can know that our past experiences such as feeling nervous around a boss or co-worker comes from how we dealt with that same feeling in the past, it is important to be able to say, “Hey this is the present and not the past”.

Next is creature of habit, how many people do you know if you move their stapler or something on their desk they freak out if it is in a different spot? Or if someone does not have their coffee in the morning it is a good idea to stay away from that person until they have had their first cup. Or what happens if all of a sudden the coffee brand in the cafeteria at work changes even though it might taste better it is a little unsettling for those people who have a consistent coffee schedule with a consistent taste for a particular brand. Just so you know I am not a coffee drinker but I thought it was a good example that most people can relate to, I have sympathy for those who have to go through a change like that.

No obvious need, why in the world do we have to do this? Some people are fearful and do not look at the big picture, they fail to recognize the positive impact of the change on the organization as a whole and see the process as being disruptive and unnecessary (Barron Stark, 2012).

Loss of control, some people feel powerless when changes occur and therefore resist the change on an emotional level and mentally check out based on this fear, Dr. Neil Neimark refers to this fear as the fight or flight response (Neimark, 2012). He states, “When our fight or flight system is activated, we tend to perceive everything in our environment as a possible threat to our survival” (Neimark, 2012). Neimark also remarks that, “Our fear is exaggerated. Our thinking is distorted. We see everything through the filter of possible danger. We narrow our focus to those things that can harm us. Fear becomes the lens through which we see the world" (Neimark, 2012). It is interesting to relate how psychology can unknowingly show up in our daily routines and it does play an important role at work, who wants to be powerless?

Concern about a support system, we all want to know someone has our back or that there is a set support system in place when things go wrong or when big changes are taking place and no one wants feel like someone out in the middle of the ocean without a paddle or a phone. Peter Barron Stark states that, “They may worry about working for a new supervisor, with new employees or on unfamiliar projects because they fear that if they try and fail, there will be no one there to support them” (Barron Stark, 2012). It is sad but true when we are at work we have to make decisions based on fear because we feel like we have no other choice or that we need to condescend to what is being asked of us.

Being closed minded and unwillingness to learn are the next two reasons why people resist change, when my company closed in 2009, we were given money to go back to school or were offered classes in a few different fields to help get us back on our feet, they rolled out this program before we were let go and we were given time to take computer classes at work. Some people took advantage of this extra training which continued after the company had closed and people could take classes at a local college which was funded through an agreement with AT&T and the CWA union, which is a very strong organization set up to help employees in need. One person on my team was given the same opportunity as the rest of us but when I asked her about going to school she told me, “I don’t want to learn anymore, I am not interested, I am too old,” I was really surprised because she was a hot ticket and really fast on her feet in team meetings but she put up a wall that blocked out anything having to learn something new.

Three other reasons why people are fearful of change is because they wonder how will this affect them and what will be the personal impact on them, fear of the unknown, and fear that the new way might not be better. How many people were so scared about coming to school online, looking at a syllabus that was a mile long and worrying about if I will have enough time to do my assignments? Once we got used to what was expected it just became the norm, so we will know what to expect from our next class and just so you know all teachers have different expectations of APA. We just have to adjust to those types of changes, I have had some really great teachers here at Ashford and when I got the call from Nicole in the grad office I felt like it was perfect timing, so I signed up and here I am!

Some of the things that people fear about change that our books list are an individual’s resistance toward change, climate of mistrust, fear of failure, peer pressure, personality conflicts, lack of tack and poor timing, non reinforcing reward systems and so on (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 411-412). Fear is something we all deal with and we get to chose how we deal with it, do we face it right on or do we use avoidance because it is easier than dealing with it?

Ferlic, K. (2009). A creativity perspective on body memories: a releasing your

        unlimited creativity discussion topic. Retrieved from

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills &

            Best Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

Neimark, N. (2012, January 12). The fight flight response. Retrieved from

Barron Stark, P. (2012, January 12). Why employees resist change. Retrieved from

        http://www.peterstark.com/why-employees-resist-change/

Discuss Kotter’s Eight Steps for Leading Organizational Change

Discuss Kotter’s Eight Steps for Leading Organizational Change.

I am interested in learning about how organizations can take positive steps to transform their work environment by tackling this transformation using Kotter’s Eight Step Plan. I was looking for different articles online to use as sources and to give examples of the steps and the first listing was his website called Kotter International, I really like when I can see an example rather than just a list like our book sometimes provides.

Step 1- Establish a sense of urgency: According to Kotter’s website 50% companies skip this step and they will start to make mistakes right in the beginning (Kotter, 2012). So can you image coming up with a big plan and then wondering where you went wrong because your company forgot or overlooked the fact that people are stuck in their ways and that making a big change involves creating excitement over the fact that people will need to step out of their comfort zones (Kotter, 2012). Kotter also comments on the fact that the approach that is most likely to fail is the purely intellectual one because of the fact that it is, “All head and no heart” (Kotter, 2012). I like the way he thinks because most people when talking about business organizations do not say, “Aim for the heart,” but right there on his website it explains that this is fundamental connecting with people on this level feels amazing but I have never experienced it in a work environment (Kotter, 2012).

Step 2- Create a guiding coalition: This should consist of both managers and leaders who work well together as a team and power position, expertise, credibility, and strong leadership capabilities are what will build a strong coalition (Kotter, 2012).

Step 3- Developing a change vision: It is important to clarify how the future will be different from the past, it may involve details and more detailed decisions which motivates people to take steps in the right direction even though it may be painful (Kotter, 2012). A vision message helps to motivate people to make changes very quickly and six keys to helping in that process are is it imaginable, desirable, and feasible, focused, flexible and easily communicated so changes can me made right away (Kotter, 2012)? This method that he talks about allows managers to be aware that change takes time based on past experience, trust levels, interest in job there are many factors that will allow a person to respond quicker than others to this new process.

Step 4-Commuincating the vision buy- It is important and if the company wants to make changes they must come up with a vision that their workers can believe in. The vision statement should be simple; something that is catchy and leaders must show the employees that what they say is what they are doing. When people get a memo with a new mission statement, how many people go yeah right, like that is really going to happen? The company is going to have to be pretty proactive in order to make a transformation that last, has anybody experienced something like this at their work?

Step 5- Empowering people and removing barriers the four ways to look at this aspect is to see what needs to be changed on all basic levels such as structure, skills, system and supervisors (Kotter, 2012).  We have all had supervisors that have been labeled trouble and that word usually comes from them earning it through their actions, ideas or thoughts that they have expressed at one time or another and people around them felt the negative air around them so “trouble” stuck. Kotter believes that these managers have dozens of interrelated habits that inhibits change in their management style and he suggests that others be aware of this to speak to this person on a human level that will not undermine the whole effort or this person’s authority (Kotter, 2012).

Step 6- Creating short term wins: The wins must be related to the change, should happen within 8 to 18 months, feedback that boosts morale is needed and short-term wins have a way of building momentum that turns neutral people into supporters, and reluctant supporters into active helpers (Kotter, 2012).

Step 7- Never letting up: Means looking at the long-term goals, adding more projects and bringing in new people to help create the change, empowering employees on projects, keeping a sense of high urgency feeling and showing that the new way is working will help enforce the changes that are happening within the company (Kotter, 2012).

Step 8- Make it stick: Cultural change will become the norm and it will come first and not last, must prove that the new way is better than the old, success must be documented and communicated and offering promotions and rewards will help people who have really done a great job with accepting and implementing the change (Kotter, 2012).

To me this process of change will weed out the bad managers the closed minded people because when the organization is going through a period of drastic changes people are let go who do not fit into this new mind set. When I was younger one of my managers told me, “Managers are always the first to go,” and that is because when changes are being made the people who are in charge must be on the same page with the company’s new program. I think of examples when there had been mergers or stores that have closed that I worked for when I was younger corporate was always changing and trying to implement new ideas and sometimes those idea lead to burning out good managers in the process. In those cases transformational leadership was probably something nobody heard of because it was 15 years ago that I worked in retail and there may have been a handful of managers that were brave enough to have speak of important ways to make changes but most of those efforts were on an individual or department level not organization wide. Transformational leaders can produce significant organizational change and results because this form of leadership fosters higher level of trust, commitment and loyalty from followers than does transactional leadership (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 358).

Does anybody work for an organization who promotes transformational ideas and leaders? Working for a company with values such as this sounds great but how does one go about finding a place to work in this economy like this?

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills &

            Best Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

Kotter, J. (2012, January 11). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.kotterinternational.com/kotterprinciples/changesteps

Four Generic Organizational Effectiveness Criteria

Describe the Four Generic Organizational Effectiveness Criteria, and also explain what the Contingency Approach to organizational design involves. Discuss Burns and Stalker's findings regarding mechanistic and organic organizations.

The Four Generic Organizational Effectiveness criteria are goal accomplishment, resources acquisition, internal process and strategic constituency, these approaches work based on the situation and do not work for all situations and a combination will be most effective when determining how to make a company most effective (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 391). Goal accomplishment means that a goal was set for a specific amount of time for it to be accomplished such as a sales goal. When I worked in retail we had charts that showed us everything you could ever think of sales, returns, how much was sold in an hour and our managers gave us goals to exceed those figures that had already occurred. The district manager would stop at the stores and have a “visit” to help us figure out what products needed to be ordered, what products we needed to phase out and be sent to a different store where it was proven to sell better. Stores could compete with each other based off of these charts and we did not have to contact the other stores because all of the information was available to us every day on our computers or through faxes from corporate.

Resource acquisition is inputs rather than outputs and these are things that are necessary for production such as materials, labor, money, managers and technical expertise (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 393). Next is internal process, that means how healthy is the company, how is the information past to employees, how loyal are workers, do they trust managers and others in the company and is there a high level of job satisfaction or not (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 393)? Our book tells us about in interesting book called, "The Road Less Traveled", I am thinking about getting this book because when I checked out websites that listed the book I felt inspired by what I read. I have found that through spiritual growth that people can have communication with each other freely and without judgment it feels really great because no matter what I say I will not have to worry about what the other person may think and I just know that they are a good listener. In Peck’s book he talks about having a sense of community and being able to do just that, “It is a place where people are emotionally present with one another, and aren’t afraid to talk about fears and disappointments because it allows us to care for one another (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 393). I believe that people really do not get to establish these types of relationships at work because of lay-offs, companies closing, economy woes and some people have to do temp work just to have a basic income to pay bills. People who connect with others on this level may find this support through church, being involved in group sports, people who share an interest in fitness and spirituality tend to have these types of relationships and trust is easily built through already made communities.  

Lastly strategic constituency which is a group of individuals who have a stake in the company, this person will benefit from the success or failure of the company, stakeholders can be people who own a great deal of stock in a company. People who are on board directors group definitly have a stake in how a company produces especially if it effects their position in the company and their personal bank of funds, money can drive people’s actions in either a positive or negative way. Companies who provide services, for example I temped at a place that was a relief center for people who have been impacted by natural disasters and the customers relied on Servpro to help them take care of the water in their homes. They had a small call center that they used staffing agencies to support, it was a real mess, I worked there two days and then the next day I had my car accident. I would put the information the customer gave me into the computer and then I would communicate with the person who was sending out crews to specific high needs areas that needed attention right away. Communication was a mess there on all levels and people who worked there did not know anything about the business we were just told to get on the phones and return calls to people who had called in. People could not return to their homes in some cases so there was the problems related to the natural disaster, the communication between the dispatchers and their crews and then the internal communication between people at the home base with just about anybody in general was muddled because there was not set plan for how to handle the situation. I did a good job on the phones but they did not like the fact that I put the information into the computer instead of on a piece of paper that I would hand in at the end of the day. It was a really strange situation.

Contingency Approach to organizational design means the approach is most effective when it fits the demands of the situation (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 386).  Burns and Stalker's findings regarding mechanistic and organic organizations they discovered that there are two very different types of approaches to running an organization. Mechanistic organizations like McDonalds are rigid bureaucracies with strict rules, narrowly defined tasks and top-down communication (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 386).  There is no room for creativity when making a hamburger and the customer appreciates the fact that there hamburger will always be the same and to workers that is just the way it is done. If someone has an idea on a new product it is a safe bet that he or she would have to address that idea to someone on a corporate level who will do market research to determine if it is a good idea. Then that idea may be test marketed with further market research and focus groups that will give good feedback on what they think about the product, so the worker who wants to slap on the hot sauce to see how people would like a snappy burger will probably get in big trouble for doing so.

Dr. Edward Hess wrote an article called, “Wholesome Organic Profits: The Six Keys to Growing Your Company the Old-Fashioned Way, it was easy to understand and when looking up the word organic you are more than likely to find some articles about food, this one was not. He did a research study in which he looked at twenty-two high-performance organic growth companies which included some very well known names Best Buy, Harley-Davidson and Tiffany & Co are three that I recognized. He explains that because of a simple structure that an employee understands where the company is going, what their role is and how their job fits into the big picture (Hess, 2012). When companies have an organic organizational style people have a sense of ownership and entrepreneurial sense that they have control over their destiny, which is pretty cool considering many companies do not give their workers a sense of empowerment (Hess, 2012). The workers are also rewarded and held accountable for their success or failures and I think in this type of work environment even mistakes would be seen as a learning experience, not a first class trip out the door. A great organic leader will have the following qualities or characteristics, humble, passionate and focused operators, must have excellent communication skills and be able to relate to the workers on an emotional level with employees and customers to show that everyone has a fair shake in organization (Hess, 2012).

I could see myself working in an organic environment and since I am looking for a job I will start researching organic organizations that are near me, wish me luck but it may take awhile there are more trees than jobs in New Hampshire.

  

Hess, E. (2012, January 7). Wholesome organic profits. Retrieved from http://humanresources.about.com/od/managementandleadership/a/growth_2.htm

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills &

            Best Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

New-Style Old-Style

Describe new-style and old-style organizations, and list three keys to managing geographically dispersed employees in virtual organizations.

New-Style or old-style, which do you vote for? New-style means learning is important for employee’s not just managers and the depth of learning can take place on a higher level not just work related but emotionally, physically and for some companies a spiritual or transformation level. The whole person is important and not the fact that the person shows up and is ready to work, but a whole another work dynamic is in place so people actually have fun at their jobs and that meaning comes from the work that person does. Product customer service oriented as opposed to old-style functional, team-oriented rather than focus just on the individual, skills oriented instead of job oriented and information can be found in many different ways especially since we have quick access to the web. We can look up what is going to be on TV, who is going to be running for President and find information on all types of business related topics from someone who has had the same experience as what we are learning. I was watching TV last night and I was amazed to hear that Mitt Romney is living in the town of Wolfeboro where I went to school when I was growing up, I knew there was a lot of money in that town but I had no idea it would draw someone who was going to be running for President. 

The three keys to managing geographically dispersed employees are sharing knowledge, building trust and maintaining connectedness (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).  I went online and found a power point by the authors of our textbook and I believe for me at least that when I see things in a different way I get the meaning more and it is really worth checking out if you still have questions to work on. Kinicki and Kreitner also suggest a few other things that are helpful which include hire people carefully, no matter where the person lives working remotely from home is more common now and communications skills is a must, conduct regular audits, use technology as a tool and not a weapon and lastly to achieve a workable balance between online and live training (Kinicki & Kreitner PowerPoint, 2012).

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills &

            Best Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2012, January 12). Chapter 15 PowerPoint. Retrieved

          from classes.bus.oregonstate.edu/summer-06/ba352/../Chapter 15.ppt

Five Dominate Listening Styles

Review the Five Dominate Listening Styles and 10 Keys to Effective Listening.

The five dominate listening styles are appreciative, empathic, comprehensive, discerning and evaluative. Which style do you use the most? Or does it depend on the situation?

An appreciative listener listens in a relaxed manner for pleasure, entertainment or inspiration (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 309). Yesterday, I was watching Dr. Oz and I have not seen the show for a long time and it was a rainy day so because the topic interested me I watched in appreciative listening style. The topic was on what types of healthy foods to eat and there were several women from two families that competed in a Family Feud style game and it was interesting to see that both families where on the healthy track and by listening to Dr. Oz’s light and humorous and educational manner I felt inspired and entertained.

An empathic listener is one that listens with their heart and an open mind, people who are empathic listeners can appreciate what the other person is saying without trying to dominate the conversation. Richard Salem wrote an article called, "The Benefits of Empathic Listening Skills", he states that it “Builds trust, reduces tension, encourages deeper conversations, and creates a safe environment for people to speak in"(Salem, 2003). People who use this style do not interrupt the other person; ask open-ended questions, use sensitivity and emotions, and reflect on what the other person is saying before responding to what the other person had just told them (Salem, 2003).  Do you recall a time when you used empathic listening skills with a friend or at work?

A comprehensive listener will make sense of a message first organizing specific thoughts and actions and then integrates this information by focusing on relationships among ideas (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 309).  Ed Tate wrote an interesting article on the five types of listening styles called, “Speak Into the Listening that People are Hearing: The Five Ways People Listen & How to Connect Deeply with Others”, and he explains why comprehensive listeners use that style. They use the information given so it will make sense to them; they like to make labels because this gives the comprehensive listener structure so that they will understand and be able to learn what is being spoken in a logical way (Tate, 2000). Do you think that comprehensive learners are able to store more information and understand it faster because they associate labels with ideas?

The discerning listener according to our textbook attempts to understand the main message and likes to take notes and prefers logical presentations (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 310). The person who uses this type of listening style likes at ask a lot of questions, figure out what the big picture is and they will gather information and focus on the main point (Tate, 2000). I picture this person to be very out-going and inquisitive because to ask a lot of questions during a meeting and interrupt the flow they have to be pretty confident that they will be listened to and not seen as over the top. When I had team meeting there were always a couple of people that spoke up and whether you agreed with them or not they always asked interesting questions that got the group thinking about an idea, that if the person kept quiet would have gone unknown by the rest of the group. Can you think of a time when someone used the discerning listener style during a meeting?

Finally the last listening style is evaluative where the person listens analytically and continually formulates arguments and challenge what is being said and they tend to accept or reject messages based on their personal beliefs and they ask a lot of questions and become disruptive (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 310). According to Ed Tate he believes that the evaluative listener wants to solve the problem and that their symbol is the wrench because that person wants to take action or make a move on a decision they may be skeptical so they will ask questions (Tate, 2000). Although their thoughts are a little different what information on this listening style did you find to back either one up?

The ten keys to effective listening are capitalize on the speed of the thought, this listener will stay with the speaker and will summarize what the person is saying and read between the lines (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 311). Listen for ideas, what will motivate my co-workers and I to get excited about the idea that is being expressed. When I watch the Biggest Loser I used to watch and see what types of workouts Bob and Jillian had them do and I noticed the behaviors that changed with the contestants the longer they stayed on the ranch. Now they have new trainers and the focus is also on what types of food one should eat and the message goes out to the audience not just the people who are on the show. I have started buying frozen vegetables because the trainers kept talking about the nutritional value of them and how easy they were to make. I still have a bag of organic rice in my refrigerator that I have had for so long but because I listened to a one minute blurb from Bob I have changed my eating habits to include vegetables daily. This goes back to the first thought on capitalizing on the speed of the message, a one minute blurb advertising for Green Giant helped me to easily add in vegetable that I avoided because they took too long to prepare.

Some of the other listening keys are find an area of interest, judge content and not delivery, hold your fire, and work at listening, resist distractions that will disconnect us from the message being spoken, hear what is being said, challenge yourself and treat complex presentations as an exercise for the mind, and use handouts, overheads and other visual aids (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009 p 311). Whenever I had been in a meeting and someone has listed statics to show importance for something I have a tendency to disconnect from what the person is saying because I do not believe that giving out a number is reflective of the truth. Where did they gather their information, who gathered it, what type of environment was this done in? So when people throw out a number I tend to feel annoyed that this is the type of style their presentation is starting off with, numbers can change meaning over time.
  

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills &

Best Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Salem, R. (2003, July 1). The benefits of empathic listening. Retrieved from http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/empathic-listening

Tate, E. (2000). Speak into the listening that people are hearing: The five ways people listen & how to connect deeply with others. Retrieved from http://www.edtate.com/blog/2011/03/speak-into-the-listening-that-people-are-hearing-the-five-ways-people-listen-how-to-connect-deeply-with-others/