Reframing organizations
Organizations and people need each other in order to achieve their goals of success. Human resource assumptions, therefore, should be questioned and set aside if need be. False assumptions often lie as the foundation of almost every failure, thus the need for their analysis and scrutiny before being considered valid. Human resource professional should be aware of the assumptions made in the organization and their basis.
When the fit between individual and the system is poor, one or both suffer. Fit is a function of interconnected ideas, for instance, how the organization responds to the desires of individual workers; how job enables expression of skills by employees; and how work fulfills the life style and financial needs of workers. If the interconnection is not fit enough, meaning the workers are exploited, or they exploit the organization, both are destroyed (Bolman and Deal, 2008). For example in my company, the front desk secretary is not competent in her job; she has incredibly high temper and attends to visitors at her own convenience. This is bound to land her into trouble sooner or later, but again, the company loses a lot of clients because of her attitude. Therefore, a good fit will benefit both the company and workers.
The assumption stating that, organizations exist to serve the human needs rather than the converse, is false in the case of my company. It is only logical that an organization and workers satisfy each other through fulfilling each other’s goals. The company is to flourish and attract more customers, make substantial profit margins and grow nationally. The workers, on the other hand, need finances to help improve their life styles. The two entities need each other and cannot operate singly (Bolman & Deal, 2008). Therefore, the assumption stating that people and organizations need each other;and that organizations need ideas, skills and talent while the people need finances opportunities and careers, is particularly true.
There is also an assumption in my company, that the best organizations often have the best people and that these people make the place be at its best. Essential to note is that people have quite varying talents and skills (Haberman, 2011). Therefore, best organizations often possess best facilities and systems, and not necessarily the best individuals. Taking a leadership position in an organization often brings out the best in worker, is another assumption. This may be or may not be true since people are different. Some workers are so straight that they will take the leadership chance and make the organization a better place for every worker. However, some people take the opportunity as leaders to become selfish and harsh to the workers answering to them.
It is vital for human resource professionals to work towards improving their department. This is possible through getting rid of unreasonable assumptions and keeping the necessary ones that are helpful to both the workers and organization (Sutton, 2009).
References
Bolman, L. G. and Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing Organization: Artistry, Choice and Leadership, Jossey-Bass
Haberman, M. (2011). An Important HR Skill: Question Your Assumptions. Retrieved 6 February
2013, from
Sutton, B. (2009).Challenging Ingrained Assumptions in HR: My Remarks at the Singapore Human Capital Summit, Work Matters. Retrieved 6 February 2013, from
