Scenario 1
What theories of team behavior might assist GS in taking on his new role?
In the given scenario, GS has been given a team of 24 employees who all have been working in the office for more than 5 years. This shows that all the team members are completely familiar with the organizational culture and norms, and are also well adjusted to their job roles. Furthermore, GS’s active interest in promoting conformity and harmony is also well-liked by all the team members, which also indicate that everyone is on the same page. These factors indicate that the team does not need to go through the stages of forming, storming and norming as defined by the Bruce Tuckman in his Group Development Model. GS actually needs to further strengthen the team to make them perform best with increased responsibilities and decision-making delegation when the new customer service charter would be implemented. I believe that Belbin’s Team Role Theory would be ideal for GS within the given situation as it focuses on improving team performance by understanding the team roles and this is what the situation is all about. Belbin’s Team Role Theory is adequate as it will enable GS to categorically understanding the team role based on their interpersonal styles and observed behaviors. Belbin’s categorized team role in three major group subdivided into nine types of role (Katz et. al, 2016, p. 340).
According to Belbin, team roles could be Action Oriented, People Oriented and Thought Oriented. These groups are further divided into nine types of role i.e. Resource Investigator, Shaper, Monitor Evaluator, Team Worker, Specialist, Coordinator, Plant, Complete Finisher, and Implementer (three subdivisions for each group respectively) (Sitzmann & Bell, 2015, p. 102). GS can use Belbin model as a tool to develop and maintain balance within the team while managing the interpersonal differences, analyzing memberships, existing and imminent capabilities etc. By listing each member against the defined 9 team role, GS would be able to identify the actual role of each team member while also finding out that what team role are missing and how he should further develop and reinforce the team dynamics. Another team behavior model that can assist GS is John Adair’s Action-Centered Leadership based on functional leadership theory. This model is specifically useful for addressing leadership or managerial behavior that is anticipated to contribute to the team and organizational effectiveness. It particularly argues that a leader’s job is to see and provide whatever is required for developing cohesion and effectiveness of a team. Adair’s Model offers a framework based on three overlapping circle i.e. task, team, and individuals. This can help GS tp understand the behavior at different levels. Furthermore, Adair also put forward 8 key functions that are the core responsibilities of a leader, which include Task Definition, Planning, Briefing, Controlling, Evaluating Outcomes, Motivating, Organizing and Setting Examples. By undertaking these 8 functions, GS can effectively take on his role (Katz et. al, 2016, p. 340).
What practical steps might GS put in place to assist in the successful implementation of the new customer service charter?
Based on the John Adair’s Action-Centered Leadership, GS should take the following steps to successfully implement the new customer service charter;
Define the Task: Set up clear and SMART objectives related to the new customer service charter.
Plan: Find out the best possible ways, as well as, alternatives for achieving the task most productively while also looking up for a contingency plan in case of glitches.
Brief the Team: Endeavor to provide favorable team environment, foster synergy, and make the most of each team member by knowing them well in relation to their team roles (Postmes, 2015, p.195).
Control: Control and optimize team performance to get the maximum yield with the minimum resources.
Evaluate Results: Forecast and assess potential consequences and identify ways to improve team performance.
Motivate: Devise best suitable motivators such as incentives and rewards as well as stimulate internal motivators for each team member.
Organize: Organize through personal development, delegation and good time management.
Set Example: People perform best when they observe it from their leaders and reproduce what he does. Therefore, try to set practical examples for better results (Katz et.al, 2016, p. 328).
Scenario 2
Provide an explanation of why NF’s work performance might have become less than satisfactory.
There could be a number of reasons that are associated with the declining work performance of NF. The most evident reason is the introduction of new reward system. It is quite probable that the implementation of the new reward system has negatively influence NF and he does not feel gratified enough with the rewarding criteria of undertaking team’s performance and not assessing the members individually. Since NF has been one of the finest performer and sales representative of the business, a sudden deterioration in his work performance is understandably concerning. In addition to it, his absenteeism has also increased along with his trailing work performance as he has been found less cooperative and withdrawn from his work (Leeder, 2015, p.23). Taking all such factors into consideration, we can anticipate that either NF is actually unwell and his sickness is obstructing him to perform at his best, or he is encountering some substantial workplace issues such as inadequate group dynamics, lack of collaboration and team conflicts, violation of psychological contract etc. that are resulting in waning performance of NF. There are substantial chances that NF is stressed out with the factor that his performance would not be fairly evaluated by the new reward system and his prospective rewards would be affected by the performance of the other team members. It is also predictable that NF is encountering team building issues i.e. conflicts with other team members, difference in pace, difference in knowledge and understandability, multicultural differences etc. (Painter & Holmes, 2015, p.219).
Furthermore, the phenomenon of Psychological Contract should also be kept in mind as it tends to significantly affect an individual’s performance. Psychological Contract (PC) basically represents the unwritten and informal impending commitment, mutual beliefs, and perceptions of employees and the employer (Walsh, 2015, p.175). PC is all about the mutual expectation and prospects of employee, as well as, employer beyond their formal contract of employment. PC is highly referred to responsible for constructive job engagement and promising employee behavior and reciprocity towards the organization. In the case of NF, violation of PC also tends to have a significant affect on his performance and can broadly end up with reduced job engagement, job involvement, and employee productivity (Kumar & Yakhlef, 2016, p.114). Therefore, the major factors found to be associated with NF’s less than satisfactory job performance involve the implementation of the new rewards systems, violation or disappointment with the psychological contract, or inappropriate group dynamics. Therefore, it is suggested to deeply consider all these factors to craft a rigorous solution.
Suggest a solution to the problem.
While considering new reward system, violation of the psychological contract and weak group dynamics are the potential reasons behind NF’s declining performance, low job involvement, and higher absenteeism. Therefore, it is principally suggested that immediate boss or supervisor should primarily arrange a one-to-one meeting with NF. The meeting should be kept approachable yet concerning and should be objected at finding out the exact reason behind NF’s withdrawn behavior and fading job performance. For instance, if NF is actually going through some sickness, he should be advised and offered to take few days leave to take some rest in order to recover. On the other hand, NF and his team should be given an opportunity to provide their feedback about the new rewards system and how they link their individual and team efforts with their goals and associated reward (Walsh, 2015, p.173). This should help to find out his views and potential diffidence, hesitancy and his reservations regarding it. Apart from that, the violation of PC should be substantially brought into the consideration. This is essential because whenever an employee feels any violation of PC, the outcome like reduced job engagement, job involvement, and employee productivity are quite probable. Similarly in case of NF, the introduction of new rewards system played a crucial role which possibly makes NF feel that his expectations and commitment associated with this job and organization, as well as, with his own performance would not accomplish under this system. NF’s alone or the team should be offered an occupational counseling session to make improvements related to their individual, team and organizational goals with the new reward system (Kimura et.al, p.417). Furthermore, they should elaborate that their individual performance could be the resultant of better team performance. Moreover, to motivate NF, the whole team should be given offers such as the best team performer would be given additional monetary rewards and recognition or the person would be selected as the team leader so he would have greater authority to administer the team accordingly (Painter & Holmes, 2015, p.219).
Scenario 3
Do you treat BD’s explanation of their absence as reasonable and allow them to return to work? Or do you treat BD’s explanation as unreasonable and treat their absence as an act of termination on their part? 4. Explain your reasoning.
I would treat BD’s explanation to be unreasonable for the fact that although BD has contacted the PT’s HR within the defined period of time, his motive for being absent i.e. being under and extended alcoholic episode is found to be irrational. From the given situation, it is analyzed that the explanation that is provided by BD is not sufficient enough to allow him to resume his employment as it reflects his non-serious, amateur, and unprofessional attitude towards employment (Kimura et.al, 2010, p.413). Although being an extraordinary performer in the organization, BD’s explanation does not fall within that criteria that is defined by the organization within the provision of ‘abandonment of employment’ to place him in the safe zone. Firstly, the accident that took place was the resultant of BD’s fault, which consequentially damaged the vehicles, as well as, BD remained safe and uninjured in the situation. These conditions made it mandatory for BD to resume his job normally as he has no reason to be absent from work. Even after, if he feels depressed, he could have discussed the problem with his manager and could have taken few days off to overcome the situation. He failed to do what he was obliged to do and instead he preferred overdoing alcohol that made him lose his mindfulness. This brings about us to a decree that BD’s attitude towards the situation was dishonorable and unprofessional, which directs straightforwardly towards termination of his employment (Greenberg, 2015, p.55). Although, BD fortunately make it up to timely inform HR, his justification for being absent from work i.e. being profoundly boozy to overcome the financial ordeal resulted from the accident is not a professional and logical explanation for being absent from the employment. Therefore, his absence from the employment can be fairly treated as an act of termination (Stewart, 2015, p.294).
References
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