Coping with Organizational life: Emotions and Stress
Stress
Stress is a body reaction that disturbs the mental and physical equilibrium (Pettinger, 2002). Due to the cut throat competition in the globalized world, the workforce continuously face myriad stressful condition that can be have negative implication on the ourselves the environment around us.
Results of Stress
Based on the aforementioned description, stress has a multitude of negative implications, which includes desk rage, disturbed health condition, and task performance. In workplaces the group of individuals work together to achieve a larger goal. If there is not a high level of coordination and cooperation amongst employees, the organizations will not be able to achieve goal. This coordination and cooperation arises from a condition of mutual respect. Stress is potentially a sheer negative thing when it comes to producing an environment of mutual respect. There are myriad instances, when the stress results in desk rage. Even if the person is not intentionally willing to develop this negative attitude, this can result in a number of potential problems. The overall culture of the company or the respective department can be disturbed and the kind of coordination is lost.
Stress can also result in restriction in the task performance. The ability of a person to perform his or her task properly heavily depends on his or her level of motivation. The motivation guided by intrinsic or non-intrinsic factors allows the individual to fulfill the goals on time. Stress can be a major hurdle in the achievement of such goals as it can divert the attention of employees to other things. The other important result of stress is on health. Stress has a direct impact on the health of an individual and continuous exposure to it can result in long-term health challenges. The major problem associated with stress is a called metabolic syndrome, which results in cardiovascular diseases and diabetics.
Stress Management
At many instances, avoiding stress can be difficult but there are certain ways through which it can be managed. One of the major reasons behind the development of stress is associated with bad time management. Creating a balance between personal and professional life is of immense significance. Due to sheer competition in the corporate world, various employees go out of the way to prove their skills and even they compromise their personal life for the professional one. This result in a stressful situation and instead of performing well, the employees tend to perform badly; therefore, effective time management is of immense importance (Gregson, 2000).
The corporate culture at many times creates a stiff competition wave that the employees are always in a racing mode and during the crisis time, they do not have close social network to support them. It is mandatory for people to develop a network of close friends and family members that can help individuals to cope up with stressful situations. One of the most important ways of stress management is associated with taking healthier diet and being physically fit. A stressful situation is common amongst those individuals who do not follow a proper diet as stress associated with the physical mechanism of the body.
It is scientifically proven that a person who does not take a proper at least five hours sleep develop a number of negative conditions like lack of concentration, heart diseases, lack of sex drive, and more. All the aforementioned actions synergize to minimize the impact of stress on the body.
Motivation in Organization
Motivation
In simple terms, motivation is a desire to do anything. In organizational context, motivation is the key that helps create an environment of positive competition. Motivation is of immense significance for an organization if it wants the people to strive for the goals that the organization has set for the employees (Topchik, 2001). If these employees are not emotionally inclined towards those goals, no matter how much the organization pays, the employees will not be pushed towards doing something.
Motivation takes its roots from intrinsic rewards and non-intrinsic rewards. Suppose a person lands in your organization when he is not able to find an appropriate job after graduation. If he is underpaid, he might accept the offer because now he does not have any option, but you cannot expect long-term loyalty from him. The basic salary is one of the major driving forces that create a perception in the mind of the employee that the organization considers him important.
While a monthly salary is not only the factor to reinforce a position behavior, but various kind of performance rewards are also necessary for the organization. While intrinsic rewards are important, but it must be complemented by non-intrinsic rewards like work appreciation, learning opportunity, and an environment of respect. A person not only works in an organization for monetary rewards, but the non-intrinsic rewards are one of the most important factors for the personal motivation of the employee.
Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist, who developed the hierarchy of needs to know what factors play vital role in the motivation of people. In the context of business entities, the organizations must understand that these needs are of immense importance while charting out the organizational plan. No matter, how much respect the individual receives in the organizational setting, if his or her salary package is not the one on which he or she can survive, the person will not be a loyal part of the team. This understanding is developed through the thorough understanding of the hierarchy of needs (Fineman & Gabriel, 1996).
The hierarchy is divided into five distinct categories. When one category of needs is fulfilled, the individual then goes to the next category of needs. The first category in this case includes physiological factors. This is one of the basic set of things that the human being requires for their basic primary survival. Some of these needs include food, clothing, and shelter. The other category of needs include the safety needs. After the individual fulfills his basic needs, he now looks after for the things that can enhance safety and security. After this set of needs is satisfied, the person looks for need of being loved and being associated with people. He/she now needs a social group from whom he/she can associate himself/herself. After the person gets a kind of social standing, he now hunts for the things that enhance his social esteem in the society. After the basic needs are met, the other kinds of categories can work parallel and if a person gets all what he wants then he reaches a position of self-actualization.
Group Dynamic and Work Teams
Social Loafing
When people work in groups, one of the major hurdles it faces is the social loafing effect. Social Loafing is the notion that individuals tend to exert less effort when they work in groups in comparison with people working individually. One of the major reasons for social loafing is the notion that when there is a collective accountability, people tend to put the responsibility on other members. For example, if a group of five project officers is working on a project to achieve a certain goal, there is a high probability that the individuals will perform lower than usual (Shapiro, 2005) is. If the same set of individuals is given separate tasks, the performance level can be increased.
The social loafing effect does not makes this notion that people should not work in group, but the idea behind it is a notion that there should be clear responsibility and goals. The leader should work in a way that it makes the individual efforts of the highly performing member sheer identifiable. If a certain candidate is able to identify himself/herself identifiable, this develops a level of completion, which dilutes the effect of social loafing. Another way of managing the social loafing effect is through making the tasks interesting and important. This gives a sense of importance to the team members and they tend to assume their high importance. To reinforce the high performance of employees, there should be a reward and punishment mechanism. The highly performing individual in the group should be given a reward, so the same behavior is reinforced. In the same manner, the low performing members should be given appropriate and immediate punishment to stop this negative behavior.
Successful Team Development
Successful team development is of much significance for the organizational success. It is an art that can be adopted according to the organizational context. One of the major techniques of team development is compensation according to the team performance. It is a basic human nature that we are reinforced by a reward. The human being tends to develop an attitude that if there is certain kind of reward attached to attaining a goal, the motivational factor automatically attaches to it. Another important factor that can help develop the team is done through the communication of the urgency of the team’s mission (Slater, 2010). A group of individuals is driven positively towards something if they are driven by something that is common amongst them. In the context of an organization, the groups are driven by a common mission. This common mission does not come into practice if the individuals do not develop a sense of urgency.
The successful team development also includes facilitating the team members so they understand the basic things, which are required to construct a good team-working environment. If basic skills set are not provided to the team members then there is a possibility that the group members may practice an unhealthy competition that can be a major threat to the team performance. The team should be trained in a way to perform effectively and efficiently. The major training required by the team members include training them so they learn the importance of being a team member and what should be the right behavior in dealing with various situations. It not only includes how the team should be managed but it also includes how the person should self-manage himself/herself, to become a significant part of the team.
Leadership in Organization
Great Person Theory
As per the Great Person Theory, all the great and famous people who had some authoritative positions to rule the world did not get any leadership skills trainings or did not obtained any leadership traits from anybody else.
The most eminent and famous notion is that leadership is an inborn quality. The great Man Theory depicts that leaders cannot be born, people have inborn leadership skills. As per the theory, there are certain leadership qualities, which a person possesses. These qualities and traits include good intuition skills, strong judgment skills, intelligence, courage, commanding personality, proactive than reaction and aggressiveness etc. persuasiveness and negotiation skills always assist a leader in communicating and convincing others (Shivers, 2006).
According to the theory, these skills are not teachable, rather than are inborn skills. The theory supported the fact that the leadership qualities are transmitted from generation to generation or from genes. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Mao Tse Tung etc. All the mentioned people had leadership qualities, which were not taught or learnt but inborn. Those people had leadership traits and these traits helped them in making a remarkable history. As per the theory, those prominent great people who made history were inherently endowed the leadership traits. These skills gave them power and authority to rule the world. The modern school of thought have limitations with this theory as if it is assumed that only those people who possess the leadership inborn qualities can hold a reputed position in the society then other people would not take different trainings to develop leadership skills in them. All the above-mentioned great people names depict that although they have inborn leadership skills but by quoting those examples here would not generalize to others as well. There are still many examples that can be seen in the modern world that people often lack some of the leadership skills but they work on them and develop those skills in them. There is no doubt in order to become successful and exemplary Great Man then one should have or develop leadership skills. These skills are actually success key for a person to holds power and authority in the society.
Successful Leader Characteristics
The inborn leadership traits are solely responsible for making wholesome leader who not just influence their followers but also become successful in their respective fields. The leadership traits, which inborn leaders possess, assist to have an authoritative position and reputed status in the society. A good leader is one who has strong and precise communication skills, which may help in dealing with the unfavorable events. Leaders are the institution themselves who have strong influencing power which lead others to achieve ultimate goal. Leaders have strong decision-making power and self-confidence that help in taking proactive decisions in the unforeseen events or unpredictable events. Apart from that, the patience and cognitive ability are other skills, which assist a person for bearing the unfavorable incidents and take intellective decisions. Their confidence, courage, dare to take the risks supported them to lead others and hold an authoritative positions. Leaders believe in innovation and creativity rather than coping notions. In order to influence others, the most important skill is ample knowledge of the business. Leader has urged to fly high by aiming high and high energy towards achieving their ultimate goals. Leader is an initiator, he/she is the one who does not fear to take risks but take initiatives in all the challenging tasks. Honesty and integrity are the key elements, which a leader possesses. People trust their leaders just because of these skills. Leader is the most reliable person to whom any other person trusts and openly shares their good or bad incidence. Adaptability and flexibility are two key skills that help in dealing with the situation and taking decisions as per the situations (Kirkpatrick & Edwin, 1991).
Organizational Culture, Creativity, and Innovation
Developing Creative Work Environments
It is eminent for any organization to flourish and gain lucrative returns only if a comfortable and creative environment has been built up. This environment helps in motivating employees but also creating an atmosphere that assist others to work for their lives just to attain organizational goal. Employee motivation is considered as the building block for any organization that assists in achieving the targeted goals. If employee were not satisfied then organization would not last for long. Employee satisfaction can be achieved if organization is able to develop a creative working environment. For doing that there are numerous factors that build up a creative working environment. These factors include:
Provide autonomy
Provide exposure to other creative people
Allow ideas to cross-pollinate
Make jobs intrinsically interesting
Set own creative goals
Support creativity at high organizational levels
Have fun!
Promote diversity
Provide Autonomy
Provision of autonomy in the workplace depicts how much an employee has freedom to execute the required job task. The traditional organizational structures do not much follow this concept; those organizations had less employee autonomy at the lower organizational hierarchical and higher autonomy at the higher management. Employees were strictly directing what needs to do and what not to. The results attained from such working environment were not favorable. In such organizations, the routine work and notions were followed and the two concepts were totally missed out i.e., innovation and creativity. Contemporary organizations are now more implementing on this concept and employees are given freedom to share and implement unique as well as creative ideas, which ultimately formulate creative working environment. This environment not just enhances employees’ skills but also increase employees involvement and satisfaction with the organization (Steers, Lyman & Gregory, 1996).
Provide exposure to other creative people
It is said that organizations must put right people in the right place. Employers have to identify creative and out of the box-thinking employees and provide them full exposure so that their skills are more enhanced.
Allow ideas to cross-pollinate
Organizations where notions are mutually shared and discussed formulate a creative working place. Companies must provide an open environment where employees fearlessly share their ideas and steps towards the betterment of organization.
Make jobs intrinsically interesting
Employees must be motivated by providing intrinsic rewards to them. Intrinsic rewards depict as praising and encouraging employees for the performance done by them. Recognition and praising them among staff members would increase their self-confidence and they actuate more towards bringing up more creative and innovative notions within the workplace (Yukl, 1994).
Set own creative goals
Employees must have their own creative goals, which they must align with organizational ultimate goal.
Support creativity at high organizational levels
The higher organizational levels must be prone towards creativity and innovation. Organizations are more actuated towards implementing creative and innovative strategies in the workplace only when their top management firmly believes by themselves on this concept.
Have fun!
The fun element must be taken full care of while working in the organization. Employees never think out of the box if they are not provided an open, comfortable and full of fun working environment.
Promote diversity
Companies can bring creatively in the working place by inducting employees belong to different cross cultures. Employees belonging to different cultures and countries can bring innovative ideas in the business (Giuliani, Kurson, 2002).
References
Fineman, S., & Gabriel, Y. (1996). Experiencing organizations. London: Sage Publications.
Giuliani, R., & Kurson, K. (2002). Leadership. New York: Hyperion.
Gregson, S. (2000). Stress management. Mankato, Minn.: LifeMatters.
Kirkpatrick, Shelley A., and Edwin A. Locke. (1991) "Leadership: Do Traits Matter?" Academy of Management Executive 5: 48–60.
Pettinger, R. (2002). Stress management. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Pub.
Shapiro, D. (2005). Managing multinational teams global perspectives. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Shivers-Blackwell, S. (2006). The Influence of Perceptions of Organizational Structure & Culture on Leadership Role Requirements: The Moderating Impact of Locus of Control & Self-Monitoring. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies (Baker College), 12(4), 27-49.
Slater, R. (2010). Team management secrets. London: Collins.
Steers, Richard M., Lyman W. Porter, and Gregory A. Bigley. (1996) Motivation and Leadership at Work. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Topchik, G. (2001). Managing workplace negativity. New York: AMACOM.
Yukl, Gary. (1994) Leadership in Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
