Performance management

Performance management

Performance management is a procedure where the direct and efficient management of individuals and teams help to attain increased levels of the company’s performance. Cardy (2011) points out that performance management is far more than reporting on performance, they should also provide feedback. Cardy defines it as functioning with a team or employees to enhance future performances.

Performance management is important in an organisation, that is why we measure it, to check on employees commitment and motivation as this is like to increase the activity of employees. There are many benefits of measuring performance of employees. One of the benefits is that the goal will be clear-cut and the togetherness of the company may be better. This is because an individuals goal will be similar the an organisations and therefore, most employees can work together. This in turn can lead to increased communication skills. There are many ways to measure performance such as number of products made or number of complaints dealt with.

My appraisal

Performance appraisals frequently record an assessment of an individuals performance and growth that individuals may need. An appraisal is a chance to see how employees are getting on and to see what they have accomplished. Randhawa (2007) claims that an performance appraisal is evaluation of an employees performance in order to make future decisions on them. The reasons for appraisals are that it can enhance current performance which can increase motivation. It also makes clear what is expected from the aim of the job and if employees need training or if they have the potential for promotion.

There can be many problems with appraisals. If criticism is taken the one way or it is not constructive, it will not be an effective appraisal and the motivation of the employee may deteriorate. Work productivity might be less. There can also be many other problems such as reward, reward may not be as hoped and so the employee again may lose motivation to work. The manager may also lack interest in appraisal and may not be prepared, in turn, infrequent feedback will be provided. Hegar (2008) also mentions some problems such the problems of being bias.

An appraisal I have had a work is when I had work experience at John Lewis. They called me in with the manager of the section I was working at, and my employer. It was a one to one basis, they gave me feedback and discussed how I was doing, my performance and if I had any issues with the job. They went through a performance record and told me what the colleagues thought of me.

In my opinion, the appraisal was effective. This is because I felt that I had done my job well and I got recognised for it. They also asked if I wanted a job at John Lewis, these factors motivated me to work hard as I felt was wanted in the company. They gave me positive feedback and listened to whatever I had to say. I also think it was effective because they shared every ones views that I was working with on me. So there was nothing hidden, even if I had criticism, it would be constructive criticism.

They did not set me any goals since I was only on working experience, however, the little jobs I had, they thought I don ea good job. They would make sure I know which driven me to work harder. Overall, I thought it was an effective appraisal.

Skills to be a mentor

A mentor is an individual who helps advise and supports other employees. A mentor usually has a lot of experience in which they use to help the employee develop. They will encourage an employee to work hard and achieve its maximum potential so that their performance will improve. Avis (2010) depicts mentoring as a long term learning curve which is used to support individuals who have not reached their maximum potential yet.

Reading an article from the Times, I believe there are many skills and abilities required to be a mentor. The skills are not as difficult as one may think. These are skills are skills just as listening. In order to be a good mentor, they must listen to the individual, main eye contact with them so the individual feels they can go to someone for advice. Mentors must be supportive, so they can help an employee grow and develop. One of the most vital factors in my opinion of a mentor is being a good communicator and having some experience. This is because they can share the knowledge they have with the employee, so the employee knows what they have to go through in order to improve their performance and grow. Relationship is also an important factor. This is because having a good relationship with your employee develops the element of trust.

My mentor

At A levels, each student was given a mentor. I was very pleased with the teacher I got, this is because not jut through A levels, but also through school, the teacher guided me and encouraged me to work hard. At A level we would have a meeting every week to discuss how Ii am getting on. We would also discuss results and coursework due in, as well as personal life if needed. I would be explained what I should do in order to try to succeed, not just academically, bit also through sport. Discussing how I can improve in areas and encouraging me to be motivated as it gave me a sense of belief that I could do well and therefore, it motivated me to work hard.

However, my parents have been the biggest mentor in my life. This is because they support me whatever I choose to do and always try to push me the best I can be without putting too much pressure on me. This cold be in hobbies such as golf or piano or academically in school. They have guided me through my life, even when I have hard decisions to make. They would help advise me and are my biggest inspirations.

This blog has been comforting; this is because I got to look back at my school times. I believe performance appraisal is important in a working environment; recognition is needed in my opinion for good work in order to keep motivation high. I have learnt a lot from this topic, how appraisals can be effective and problems that can arise with appraisals. Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed this topic.

Bibliography

Hegar, K.W. (2008) Modern Human Relations at Work. Mason, OH: South-western Cengage Learning.

Avis J, Fisher, R. and Thompson, R. (2010) Teaching in Lifelong Learning. Berkshire : Open university press.

Randhawa, G. (2007) Human Resource Management. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors Ltd.

Cardy, R.L and Leonard, B. (2011) Performance Management: Concepts, Skills, and Exercises. 2nd ed. New York: M.E sharpe Inc.

Recruitment

RECRUITMENT

Recruitment is the process of hiring potential employees or candidates for a particular job. They could be hiring employees for many reasons such as a shortage of staff. Gatewood (2010) defines recruitment as a companies activities that cause a number of individuals to apply for a position. There are many ways of recruiting, such as through job centres, job advertising and even recommendations.


www.fish4jobs.co.uk
Fish4jobs is an online recruitment site that targets the Uk market. There own website tells us that there are 17188 new jobs listed and 37,005 new members this month. There are many reasons why online recruitment sites have increasing over the years. One reason is because of technology, a job space can be put on a site very speedily and so applicants can apply quickly. Job seekers will also have a much longer time to look for a job and there may be more people looking on the website than going into a store asking for an application. It is also very easy to put your CV on online recruitment sites and this will be for employers to see.

Fish4jobs layout is very clear in my opinion as they have a lot of sections where they can choose where to find a job. For example, there are jobs such as accountancy, sales, management and many more on the webpage. This also shows that fish4jobs is well structured. The layout is also clear because you can easily locate jobs in your areas and there is a search bar to look for jobs suited to you. It has headings such as “browse jobs” which makes it much easier to find a particular job in an area for you. The colour of the website is orange, so it is very bright which can attract job seekers. It also gives you statistics on the webpage which is shown above.

www.monster.co.uk
Monster is slightly different compared fish4jobs. First of all the colour is purple compared to fish4jobs orange. There is a search bar for monster, where you can type in the job title and location. Monster also uses social network sites to stay connected with the latest jobs, uploading a CV is also simple with monster as it is on the front page. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both websites.

E-recruitment campaign

E-recruitment is a procedure of using the internet in order to find a job for an individual. There can be job advertisements on the website which can attract a number of candidates. Armstrong (2012) defines online recruitment as using the internet to promote job vacancies and provide information about jobs.

An e-recruitment campaign that I found interesting is one form Cadburys Schweppes. In 2008, Cadburys Schweppes wanted to employ 20 graduates. Whilst recruiting graduates, they have created an new idea which is to have a new online chatroom so candidates have a opportunity to interact with the company’s graduates. Berry (2007) believes that with the advancement of technology, graduates should be comfortable with social networking sites for information and communication. This got me interested because I believe social networking is becoming a big part of peoples lives, not just for graduates, but for everyone. When I read this, I thought it was a great idea that social networks can be used in the recruitment process. Contacting past graduates will also get an idea for the candidates and I believe social networking sites are the best way to do that.

Another online recruit campaign that caught my eye from Cadburys Schweppes is an online testing one. This campaign also caught my eye because of the testing they are doing on graduates in order to improve efficiency and speed of the recruitment process. I believe that this is a good idea as well as the last campaign, as it give an idea of who is suitable for the job. The article highlights that it can be used to make a shortlist. I believe this is an intriguing way to search for the best candidate for the job and think it will distinguish who is suitable for it. Links are shown in the bibliography.

www.shldirect.com
After visiting www.shldirect.com and completing some of the aptitude tests, I feel there are benefits and disadvantages to this test. I would be keen for similar tests as a recruitment tool because it gives me a chance to prepare for it. This is because there are likely to be similar questions provided on the internet and therefore, will have a chance to see what kind of questions could come up. I would also be keen on the test because it may tell me that the job is not suited for me even if I pass it. For example, there might be questions that are related to the job which are too challenging for my liking, therefore I may not want to take this job on. If my numerical skills was not very good, and the job was linked a lot with numbers, I may feel the job is not for me and therefore, there would be no point of an interview. So therefore, up to a point, I feel keen that aptitude tests should be a recruitment tool.

However, I don't believe aptitude tests should be there for many reasons. One reason is that if I feel I have done poor on one of the tests such as the verbal testing, I may have lost motivation before the interview. Also, questionnaires such as personality can be misleading; this is because I feel that my personality can sometimes depend on what situation I am in. For example, a question that came up on the personality questionnaire is are you a person that is talkative? So aptitude tests can also be misleading and therefore, I would also not be keen in having them as a recruitment tool.

Recruitment was a topic that I have learnt a lot from, for example I never knew so many tests that can be involved in the recruitment process. I believe recruitment is a difficult process as getting the candidate is a complex task. Even though there are many ways of recruitment, there are pros and cons to all of them.

Bibliography

Armstrong, M. (2012) Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 12th ed. London: Kogan page.

Berry, M. (2007) [online]. personneltoday. Available from: 

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2007/11/07/43161/cadbury-schweppes-launches-uk-graduate-recruitment-campaign-with-a-new-online-chatroom.html [Accessed: 7 November 2007].

Gatewood R, Field, H and Barrick, M. (2010) Human Resource Selection. th ed. ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

http://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/cadbury-schweppes-sweetens-recruitment-with-online-testing-from-psl

www.shldirect.com

www.monster.co.uk

www.fish4jobs.co.uk

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Flexible Working

Flexible working

Flexible working is an arrangement made with the employer and employee so that the worker has a more varied schedule that they have to work, this is so they can have certain amount of free time, and therefore they have more time to do other hobbies. The location of work will also be accustomed to the worker so that it suits them better.  Kurtz (2011) defines flexible working as benefits that allow employees to adjust their working hours or place of work according to their needs.

Types of flexibility and their advantages

There are many type of flexible working. One type of flexible working is part time working. Part time working is probably the most common type of flexible working. It means that the worker is contracted to work less than the standard number of hours. Pride (2011) describes part time work as a permanent job in which individuals work fewer hours than the regular work week. There are advantages to both employers and employees. For employees, there advantages such as the freedom to balance work and other commitments. It can also add recruitment and retention of staff by offering family-friendly working practices. Part-time work can also helpful for teenagers, who can gain experience whilst studying. It can also be more satisfying that a full time job, this is because long hours may not satisfy an employee after working many years. They made feel tired and feel that the job is tedious, and therefore, there may me a loss of motivation.

Advantages to employers are that it is a cost-efficient style to keep costs low as full time is not always needed. Part-time jobs can also increase the workers without increasing wages to every employee. Other pros to employers can also include the retention of trained staff. Productivity will also be higher because work-life balance encourages employees to work harder.

Another type of flexible working is job sharing. Job sharing is one full-time job that is split between two workers who agree the hours between them. They receive wages based on how many hours they work. Job sharing usually means that the workers days are like part time schedules, with just half a day or alternative days. Yeung (2003) explains job sharing as a form of permanent part-time work in which two people share the responsibilities and hours, as well as the pay and benefits of one full time job. Advantages of employers include retention of important workers who can not work full time and so the other option is to leave. There will also be a wider range of skills and abilities as there is more help, so problems are solved easier and there is a broader capability of their workforce. There may be a potential reduction in absenteeism, as workers can fill in the space.

There can also be advantages to employees. These advantages are that there will be less stress because they are working less hours and can rely on others if needed. There is also greater control of working life balance because of the fewer hours. This means that again time can be spent with other commitments such as with families or hobbies. Employees will then feel more refreshed and therefore, can be more motivated and hard working.

The last type of flexible work explained is zero-hour contracts.. This is where employees only work if they are needed. Work is not secured for them as they might not be called upon; however, if they are called upon, they are expected to accept the job. French (2011) clarifies zero-hour contracts as an arrangement where the employee is not guaranteed any work at all but in some way is required to be available as and when an employer needs that person. There are certain advantages to this type of flexible work. These are to employers, if you are short of workers, you can bring in extra labour when it is needed and having a few contract workers mean you will always be able to get a worker in. Costs will also be reduced because you only need to pay workers if work is carried out.

 There are also some benefits to employees which are extra income being brought in occasionally. Because they may have considerably low hours, stress will not be an issue and so commitments and hobbies will increase. Their morale will be better and therefore work productivity is likely to be higher. If it is a student taking a zero hour contract, it will most likely be suited to them because of studies.

However, even though there many benefits of flexible working, there are also disadvantages. Some of these disadvantages are that work life balance will be hard to find. Especially in home working, it may be harder to concentrate at home and there is no one to ask for help. Isolation can be a problem in flexible working because work colleagues will not be seen much. Exploitation might occur and line managers have a bigger work load. This is because may have to reorganise work as staff may be unpredictable with their work time. Line managers must also be a communicator, however, if a employee is not always at work, it will be harder to communicate with them.

Three companies 

A company that uses flexible working is B &Q. B & Q allow lasting employees to request flexible working so they can carry on with other hobbies. They offer types of flexible working such as part time. They have certain commitments to make for B & Q to make a great work place and one of the commitments is to guarantee that working practices are negotiable to change working hours so staff can balance work and leisure.  The website says that they do not only offer flexible working but they have achieved an award with the most flexible working policy.

Another company that offers flexible working is British Airways. They believe that balancing work and family life is very significant as it can benefit them and their employees. It has become a “part of the way they work” says Kim. It can benefit the company because of the reduction of costs; they offer types of flexible methods such as part time and job sharing.

BT also has different types of flexible working. These types are home working. They use home working for many reasons, one of the main reasons is that there has been a change in technology; it is now easier to work through home office. With programmes such as Skype and with the internet easy accessible, they can retrieve information and send information from home. Therefore they do not need offices for employees.

Flexible working has been a topic that has been pleasant; this is because I have learnt many types of flexible working which I can relate to in my life as I may need a type flexible job one day. I know the advantages and disadvantages and recognise some companies that use them. I believe flexible work is important in everyone’s life with the notion of work life balance being key in order to keep motivated. 

Bibliography

Anon. (2012) B&Q [online]. B&Q. Available from: http://www.diy.com [Accessed: 2012].

Anon. (2012) Diversity strategy [online]. British airways. Available from:

 http://www.britishairways.com/travel/crdivstrategy/public/en_gb [Accessed: 2012].

Ray French, Rayner, C and Rees, G. (2011) Organizational Behaviour. 2nd ed. West Sussex: John Wileys & Sons, Ltd.

Pride W.M. Hughes, Robert, J and Kapoor J.R (2011) Business. 11th ed.

Yeung, R. (2003) The Ultimate Career Success Workbook: Tests & Exercises to Assess Your Skills & Potential. London: Kogan Page Limited.

http://globalservices.bt.com/LeafAction.do?Record=Flexible_Working_Services_solutions_uk_en-

gb&fromPage=Furl

http://www.insight.bt.com/Topics/Flexible-working/

Motivation - Improving staff motivation

Improving Staff Performance

Content and Process theories


Motivation has two theories, one theory is called content theory, and one is called process theory. Content theory is based on factors that are related to what motivates an individual. It expects individuals to have a set of needs in which they carry out. Content theories is what drives an individual to be motivated, the four content theories of motivation are Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Alderfer's ERG, Herzberg's two factor and McClelland's achievement motivation theory. Lussier (2011) defines content theories as theories that concentrate on identifying and understanding employee needs.

Process theory is how it motivates the individual. It takes into account how the individual behaves in order to be motivated. It assumes that they choose their own goals, and choose how to get them by a process of calculation. The major process theories of motivation are the expectancy or Vroom theory, equity theory, goal-setting theory. Daft (2009) describes process theories as a bunch of theories which explain how employees choose behaviours with which to meet their needs.

The goal-setting theory is where goals are the most vital factor in order to keep an individual motivated and the most vital factor to how an employee acts. Goal-setting theory underlines that more challenging goals, but not impossible goals lead to better performance than easier goals, as long as the individual is interested in. This may be because easy goals can be achieved effortlessly and therefore more activity is needed. Specific goals also can lead to higher performances, this is because casual goals can mean the individual will be less motivated to work towards the goal. Feedback can also be necessary in order for the individual to accomplish and reach the goal as the knowledge of results can enhance the persons feeling and therefore, motivation will be higher. Commitment also plays a big role in the goal setting theory. An individual will need to be committed and dedicated to the achievement of the goal and have an unwillingness to discard the objective. Kurtz (2011) also highlights that people will be motivated to the degree to which they accept specific, challenging goals.

Apple

Apple is a multinational company that is famous for its products and services. It is also well known for many other reasons, such as ways in which to motivate employees. One way in which they motivate employees is simply through an motivational talk. Steve Jobs was the co-founder of apple, Jobs had very inspirational talks that helped motivate people, Jobs (n.d) had a quote saying “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.” This shows that apples quality should be the best they can make it, and for this to happen, motivation is needed. Other ways to motivate employees is to offer and provide many products. Apple offers many benefits. These are benefits such as giving employee discounts and supplying them with their own Imac. Other benefits include health and life insurance, financial education seminars, tuition assistance, paid vacations and holidays, onsite fitness centre and many more that will be suited to the employee. This is so they can reward them and help improve the employees quality of life so that they feel valued. People can be more motivated feeling valued as they will feel pleased knowing that they are making a difference and that they belong to a company. Apart from all the benefits package employees get, apple also has competitive pay. They have a quote on the website saying “Take care of our customers, and we’ll take care of you” so this is a motivation factor to work hard as if customers are happier, the pay may be higher. Work life balance is also important at Apple as there is flexibility so you can spend time with family and other commitments. They offer home working, which can make employees feel less pressurised, which means their can be more motivation to work.

Apple can be linked to many process theories. It can be linked to the goal setting theory for many reasons. Many companies main goals are to do well financially, however, apple also sets goals in the environment. According to the website, one of their goals is to cut down and remove environmentally harmful substances. This links to the goal setting theory because their aim is need to meet that goal, and in order to complete their aim, motivation is needed. The goal will also be challenging, as many countries still use this harmful substances so it will be hard to reduce using it. Apple also has goals they have achieved, such as having “record breaking goal attainments in various other countries” There have been many difficult challenges apple have faced in creating new products for consumers to buy, there goal setting has to be challenging and high because of the competitors they face, therefore, this makes their motivation high. However the most difficult challenge they are most likely to have is the death of Steve Jobs Jobs had everything needed for the apple job, imagination, motivation and inspiration. Many ask if apple will live up to the challenge after the death of Steve Jobs, their goals will have to be set high and in order to accomplish that, motivation is needed.

Conclusion

Overall, motivation has been an striking topic. I have learnt many new theories that relate to motivation and some theories that I can link to myself. I have found out that motivation counts on the individual. The goal setting theory is important because it also relies on the individual, being motivated can also depend how much the individual wants to complete a goal and how much they are committed. The expectancy theory is also requires an individuals behaviour as this is influenced by personal and environmental factors. The expectancy theory there is high motivation of effort from an individual because of how badly an individual wants a reward, it is expected that they will perform well with the anticipation of a reward at the end. Dubrin (2008) points out that the expectancy theory is the belief that people will have effort, if they think that effort will lead to a better performance and in turn a reward.


Bibliography

DuBrin, A.J. (2008) Essentials of Management. 8th ed. Mason, OH: South-western cengage learning.

Jobs, S. (2011) Steve Jobs’ Most Inspiring Quotes of All Time [online]. dailykimch. Available from: http://dailykimchi.com/buzz/steve-jobs-most-inspiring-quotes-of-all-time/ [Accessed: 6 October 2011].

Boone E.L, Kurtz D.L. (2011) Contemporary Business. 14th ed.

Lussier, R.N. (2011) Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications, Skill Development. 5th ed. Boulevard: South-western cengage learning.

Daft R.L, Lane, Patricia. (2009) Management. 9th ed. Mason, OH: South-western cengage learning.

http://www.apple.com/environment/

Selection

Selection 

Selection is the process whereby the best candidate is chosen for a job. The selection process involves gathering information about the candidate and evaluating them to see if they are the right person for the job. Assessing the person in a selection process can be very time consuming, however, it can also be very short. There are many selections methods to find the best person for the job. Anderson (2011) highlights that the selection process is a thoughtful process if you are to choose the right candidate.

Selection methods

A selection method an organisation uses is interviews. An interview is usually the last process of selection before they offer them a job or not. According to Armstrong (2010) interviews are the most familiar method of selection and goes on to define it as a face to face discussion. There are many advantages and disadvantages of interviews. Some advantages are that they can be helpful to acquire elaborate information about individual feelings and opinions. Interviews are usually on a one to one basis and therefore interviewees may not have to be influenced by others in the group. This could allow a better response and can investigate there personality easier.

There can be many disadvantages too interviews as we as advantages. Some disadvantages are that it can be time consuming as preparation is needed before an interview. For example, there will need to be a suitable waiting area and suitable arrangements for candidates. They will also have to go through the candidates CV and prepare the questions for that person. Also, a one on one interview may not show how that candidate will work in a different environment around others. One more disadvantage is that the interviewee may be uncomfortable with the interviewer which made lead to the wrong information.

Another method of selection is assessment centres. Assessment centres typically use a combination of methods to assess the candidate. There are usually not just an individual being assessed by an observer, but a group. Assessment centres can evaluate communication and many other skills. Needle (2010) describes assessment centres as a device with a few candidates going through a variety of selection methods.  There are many advantages to assessment centres such as reduced business costs by identifying individuals for hiring quicker as a faster decision can be made. Other advantages include fairness because everyone who performs the same exercise has an equal opportunity to exhibit their skills and abilities; they are also more objective than an interview, as this can count on the interviewees perception.

The disadvantages are that it may require more assessors to be there in order to make a decision. It is also very time consuming to go through groups of candidates, especially if they have to do role plays. Role plays may put off candidates as they may not feel comfortable doing them and therefore there skill and abilities may not be shown fully. Taylor (2002) points out that the problem with assessment centres is that they do not take into account personality traits.

The last example of a selection method will be testing. There can be may different types of tests such as an intelligence test or personality test. There can be advantages to this because it can be very cheap as there may not need as many observers. It can also tell you if they are smart enough for the job if it is a more complex job. The candidate will also not be influenced in communicating with others as tests are less based on appearance.

However, there are also negatives to tests. This is because it individuals could answer a personality test in a different way and to there could be a fake response. The questions may also be unanswered if a candidate feels that it is not necessary to answer that question because it is personal. Tests can also have a disadvantage because it does not tell you how the candidate will work around others; they may be uncomfortable around other people and in a different environment but the test may not tell you that.

My interview

In my interview for work experience at John Lewis, it was based on a one on one interview but two other people were also there. I believe it was an effective interview because it did have what the selection process wants, as it gathered information about me and give me information about the job. They had suitable preparations such as having a suitable waiting area for me and made me feel comfortable for me when I came in. I also did not feel pressured by the presence of the questions or by the presence of the two others. Even though I felt that the interview was effective, I believe they could have made it more effective by doing another method such as a team building exercise.  This is because I do not feel that in that interview, my personality came out completely. So that was the only downfall of the interview, but in general, I felt the interview went well and was effective.

 

How I think the selection process can be improved

I think the selection process can be improved in certain ways. Even though my university interview went well, I feel the interview could have been different. I believe the one on one interview is very effective but improvements I would make, not to just a university interview, but the majority of interviews, would be to make the selection process longer. I believe they should go through phases such as personality tests and group work. This is so that each candidate can show their ability as some may be stronger in a one on one interview, and some may be stronger in a role play. Also, it will expose them if they are weaker on a method. You can then tell overall, who performed the best and take a choice from there. I also feel that when there is a short list of candidates going for the job, they could all try the job first to see who performs better and who is more comfortable in that environment. So I think job simulation should be involved more and for selection processes for universities, maybe the candidates work should also be seen as well as just tests. As some students may not be able to execute exams as well under pressure.

Bibliography

Armstrong, M. (2010) Armstrong's Essential Human Resource Management Practice: A Guide to People Management. London: Kogan Page Limited.

Anderson D, Williams, T.A  and Sweeney, D. (2011) Fundamentals of Business Statistics. 6th ed.

Harries, M. (2012) John Lewis [online]. CashZilla. Available from: http://cashzilla.co.uk/2012/03/07/john-lewis-employee-bonus-blow/ [Accessed: 7 March 2012].

Needle, D. (2010) Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment. 5th ed. Hampshire: Cengage Learning.

Taylor, S. (2002) People Resourcing. 2nd ed. London: Cromwell Press.

Conflict

What is conflict?

 Conflict is a disagreement between two individuals or parties about a certain thing, it can happen for many reasons. It could be that they view an opinion differently or that there objectives are dissimilar. It can simply be just because of peoples personalities. Hughes (2007) defines conflict as individuals that want to shape the vision and the operations in one way, whilst others may have different ideas. An organisation will want to minimise conflict as much as possible, this is because the environment will have to be friendly in order to produce the best work possible. A way to do this would be procedures such as equal pay. If there is conflict at work, stress and other affects may become a problem. An example of conflict is a time where firemens had a strike because they though pay was too low. This caused disturbance in most parts of London.

Conflicts in my group and strategies to deal with them

Playing badminton with my friends for a local team brought up many conflicts. This is because of many reasons. These were reasons such as the commitment of playing in the matches and the standard of play. The match consists of four players in each team; however, three of us questioned the commitment of one player. It seemed that the person was not interested which led to a loss of results for the club. This frustrated us which also led to conflict on the court. There were a few arguments on the court. After speaking to the coach the player was dropped for the next match. This is a good example of coercive power in the theory 'sources of power' as the coach was able to punish the player for his performance. It can also be an example of the expert power. This is because the coach has the skills and experience to know what is right to for the team and so he had the responsibility of taking action against the player. There was also conflict at one time where choosing the captain was a problem. Three of us felt that the captain should be the best player on the team, and the person who is the most commanding. However, the captain was picked due to their time spent at the club. Results may not have gone our way because the person did not seem to be a natural leader and take control of situations.

French and Raven’s different ‘sources of power’

 French and raven said that there were five sources of power. Coercive power is the belief that a person such as a manager who has authority, has the capability of punishment if someone does not fulfil a certain target. Singh (2010) describes coercive power as leaders being able to take charge of punishment. For example, an employee may not meet the deadline for a piece of work set. Therefore the manager has authority to apply punishment. The punishment can vary, they could be suspended without pay or even demoted. Another example would be in a football team, where a player may disobey the orders of there manager. Consequently they may be suspended for there next match.  

Reward power is based on managers giving rewards to employees for different reasons such as accomplishing a target. . Benoliel (2011) points out that reward power is derived from a persons capability to reward people in a variety of different resources such as money or promotion.  Some rewards may be holidays, promotions and bonuses. An organisational example of reward power is John Lewis. Where they can provide their employees with promotion and pay rise. Their most notable reward is there where they reward staff with bonuses if the company has a good financial year and do their job well.

Expert power is based on experience and knowledge that an individual possesses, and therefore can influence others with their expertise. When you demonstrate expertise, people tend to trust you and respect what you say. As a subject matter expert, your ideas will have more value, and others will look to you for leadership in that area.  An example is Marks and Spencer. This organisation has managerial training schemes for people. Managers are used to share there experience and knowledge to help influence a trainee manager.

The next power is legitimate power. This power is based on the person with authority, such as the manager. This person will have the authority to apply orders in which the person with lower power has to follow. Mullins (2008) says that legitimate power is based on the leader with the most influence and control.  For example, if a manager sets a task for an employee to do, it is there job to complete the task. An example that follows this power is in the military. A soldier of senior rank, has more power than others and therefore has absolute control over the soldiers under his order.

The final power used to French and Ravens theory is referent power. This power is based on the attractiveness of someone's characteristics. They may be very likeable and so people respect that person and so they can influence others. People may be able to regard them as a role model and therefore want to follow them. Robbins (2003) claims that referent power is based on identification with a person who has desirable resources of personal traits. An example of referent power is celebrities. Celebrities have referent power, this is because they are famous and therefore, people want to be a replica of them, so they have a lot of influence on others.

An article from recent news stories on work related stress

 Work related stress is the unpleasant reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them. There are many problems that work related stress can cause. Some of them are that Stress reduces employee well being and excessive/sustained work pressure can lead to stress and that Stress is one of the most important reasons for sickness from work and stress related absence is rising.

The article I read is from the guardian, it tells us that work related stress can be a dangerous threat to many public sector workers, and that it is a common cause of absence and sickness. The main cause of this is because the amount of work people have to accomplish, and the pressure to meet targets. Hicks (2012) explains the effects of work related stress that people can get tired because of burn out. The article also gives us some statistics from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, and it shows ‘Public sector workers take an average 9.1 days sick leave a year compared to 5.7 days in the private sector.’ However, according to this article, their are ways in which line managers can support employees that are stressed. One way to do this for teenagers, is to guide them at an early age, this can make them more experienced later on in the job role. If line managers can see that an employee is suffering from emotional demands, but can not do anything about it, they need to help others find support for them. Such as an "occupational health or an employee assistance programme." It also advises more training for line managers if they can not spot emotional distress easily.

This links to the lecture because they both indicate that work related stress is a major threat to employees and others. They both show that is a very important issue with statistics to prove it. The lecture notes say that "One in five workers report feeling extremely stressed at work, this equates to 5 million in the UK." Both article and lecture notes also talk about key effects of work related stress, with the lecture notes talking about stress affecting home life.

In this blog and lecture, I have learnt and experienced many new ideas about conflict. Firstly, I knew what conflict was, but did not know so many harmful effects conflict caused. In my opinion, conflict is a major problem to people, it can change results and productivity, as my badminton team has shown. Conflict is very important in society and I believe it should be minimised as much as possible; learning about French and Ravens sources of power has also been interesting as I can link it back to my own experiences.

Bibliography

Benoliel, M. (2011) Negotiation Excellence: Successful Deal Making. London: World Scientific Publishing Co Ltd.

Hicks, B. (2012) What public managers can do to support stressed staff [online]. theguardian. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/2012/mar/15/support-stressed-public-sector-staff [Accessed: 15 March 2012].

Mullins, L.J. (2008) Essentials of Organisational Behaviour. 2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Philip Hughes, Black, A and Kaldor, P. (2007) Building Stronger Communities. Sydney : University of New South Wales Press Ltd

Robbins, S. (2003) Organisational Behaviour: Global and Southern African Perspectives. 9th ed. Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa.

Singh, K. (2010) Organizational Behaviour: Text And Cases. London: Pearson Education Limited.

Warren, R.W.a.S. (n.d.) Conflict 101 [online]. directionservice. Available from: http://www.directionservice.org/cadre/section2.cfm.

Motivation

What motivation is relevant to me?

Motivation is desire and drive to strive for something someone wants. An example in an organisation is usually bonuses. However, it does not have to be monetary factors that effect motivation. It can simply be a working environment. For students, it may be grades. Motivation tells us why people act in a particular way and why people do what they do. Mullins (2008) describes motivation as why people behave in a certain way and the direction and persistence of action.

The motivation theory I have chosen related to me is McClellands achievement theory. This theory points out that there are three categories that motivates people. These three motives are achievement, affiliation and power. The first motive is achievement, this is where someone has the desire to achieve and succeed. Typically, the person with this motivated need will set long term goals that are testing for them. They have to be a challenge for them, so they get a sense of achievement after they have accomplished it. According to Montana (2008) achievement motivation is largely a theory for entrepreneurs because of the goal setting and challenging tasks.

Affiliation is the need for human interaction and relationships with other people. This type of person may need to have friends and these characteristics in order to achieve, so a specific environmental area will be a interactive one. There is a clear advantage to this aspect, this is that they are likely to be a good team player.

The last idea of McClellands theory is power. This idea is to have a big influence on people and be effective. There will also be a desired need to be a leader, therefore this last motive is most likely to be linked with managers. Not just an organisation, but even in a football team where the manager drives on there players. Law (2011) highlights that people who need power, are most likely to be people who want to rise to the top of the organisation.

I have chosen this theory because I believe it relates to me the most and I need these three categories in order to be motivated. I believe I need achievement in order to be motivated because I need goals in my life in order try and be successful. I like the idea of difficult challenges and ambitious goals because I have a capacity for hard work. Affiliation is also needed in my life to be constantly be motivated, this is because I think that friends make me feel comfortable and content. The feeling that you can contact others put me in a better mood which makes it feel easier to be motivated. Another reason why McClelland’s theory is relevant to me is because of the last factor, power. In some situations, I believe I need power to keep me motivated, this is because in sports such as badminton, I like to feel that I am a big influence in the team and that I am effective for the team. Otherwise my confidence will not be as high as therefore, motivation is lost.

Motivation for my degree course, why I am here? What has motivated you to get here and what will motivate you for the next 2 – 3 years?

 I have a numerous number of reasons why I am currently at university. One of the reasons why I am here is because of the social side of university and the experience of it. I wanted to meet new people and friends and experience living on my own to be more independent. Learning about business has also brought me here, as I have been interested in the subject through out my life, especially with my parents being heavily related to business in their careers. However, the main reason is my future. I want a degree to show I am educated and I want to be successful in life with a well payed job. These are my main accomplishments. This is what will keep me motivated for the next two to three years and what has driven me on to come to university. I am sure I will feel a great sense of achievement if I get my degree and when I have a well payed job so this is what I am striving for. This can be linked to McClellands achievement theory. I believe I need affiliation needs for motivation to both come to university and to work hard for the next couple of years. This is because working to get to university was very challenging. Having a close relationship back at home helped me to achieve getting to university because of the comfortable interactive environment I was in with them, and the fact that most of them was also going to attend university. This spurred me on. To finish this course, I will also need the motivation need, achievement. This motive is required to finish the course because I need to feel I am working for the degree. If I was working hard for no reason, I do not believe I will be motivated. The degree is a goal that will be a challenge, but it is what I am striving for.

 A time when I was de-motivated. Why I felt like this? How did I get more motivated?

A time where I was de-motivated is mainly during A levels and when I first came to university I was slightly de-motivated. This is because the results for my A levels was poor even though I felt I worked extremely hard throughout the two years. But I also felt I would not get into a university and therefore my aims were not going to be met. Buckinghamshire New University was not my first choice and most of my friends went to there first choice, so this saddened me a little too. However, I was not de-motivated all throughout A levels, as there were signs I could potentially achieve in some exams. I can link this back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Hezrberg's theory. Maslow's Hierarchy of needs says that we must fulfil each need in order, starting with the first need to be motivated. This deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. It has five stages to this theory. These are shown in the diagram. Pride (2011) defines this theory as a series of human requirements in the order of their importance. I can link this back to my de-motivation because even though I had physiological, safety and social needs. I did not have esteem or self actualization needs. This is because after I put in so much effort, but still failing to achieve the results I wanted, I lost self esteem and confidence, and therefore I could not move up the hierarchy. In this theory, you often move up and down the pyramid. At one point, I believe I was at self esteem and self actualization sector because of a couple encouraging results.

 Another theory I can link to being de-motivated is Herzberg's two factor theory. This is because Hertzberg two factor motivation theory consists of two categories which both analyse what makes you content or disgruntled at work. These two factors are hygiene and motivation factors. Nelson (2009) explains Hygiene factors as the working conditions related to dissatisfaction caused by discomfort, and the motivation factors as the working conditions related satisfaction of the need of psychological growth. I can again relate this theory to how I was de-motivated during a levels and after it. This is because there were certain hygiene and motivation factors that made me de-motivated. For example, a motivation factors is achievement, after getting my A level results, there was not really a sense of achievement as I did not do as well as I expected. For the hygiene factor, status was a little issue. This is because my university was not highly ranked in the table compared to others and therefore, I felt my status was lower than others.

After settling into university, I am back on track to accomplish my main goals, which is to get into a university and have a degree with a well paid job. I do not think I could have changed much during A levels because I believe I worked extremely hard and tried everything to succeed. To get me more motivated, I just moved on. I knew I could not change my results and so I just worked hard at the university that accepted me and made it as enjoyable as I can. I can link this to Aldefer's ERG because existence needs is required to keep me motivated because I need to feel secure, with shelter to go home too, and food to keep me going. Growth is also needed to keep me motivated as I need to feel that I am developing.

In conclusion to this blog, I found this topic intriguing. This is because I learnt a lot about what I need in order to keep motivated and how different theories can link with each other. I can also see how each theory can reflect on other peoples life, and that different motivation theories will suit different people, as they may have completely different goals.

Bibliography

Charnov, B.H and Montana, P.J. (2008) Management. 4th ed. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc.

Law, J. (2011) Business: The Ultimate Resource. 3rd ed.

Mullins, L.J. (2008) Essentials of Organisational Behaviour. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Quick, J.C and  Nelson, D.L. (2011) Organizational Behavior: Science, the Real World, and You. 7th ed. OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Pride, W.M, Hughes, R.J and Kapoo, J.R. (2011) Business. 11th ed.