Week Two Team A Reflection
In week one of class, our objectives were to; Evaluate individual characteristics of employees, analyze the impact of individual employee characteristics on organizational performance, and to determine management methods based on individual employee characteristics. Our week two objectives added to the knowledge we gained in week one, they were to; determine strategies to motivate employees, and to create effective organizational communication. After discussing what we learned, our team found that overall we agreed with one another, though we sometimes had different perspectives. As a group we all thought that much of what we learned could be applicable to both our professional and personal lives. Understanding peoples characteristics is invaluable because both our personal and professional lives can get hectic, and having an understanding about peoples differences, and how that effects their motivation and perception helps in making life easier. This knowledge allows us to determine how to best approach a person or situation that a person or group of people is involved be the focus work related, or not.
Specifically pertaining to work, understanding employee characteristics is invaluable toward creating a balanced work environment. Before making any conclusions about how an employee is performing, it is necessary to understand if they had the characteristics and qualities required to perform as required by the position. As a manager it is important to be able to recognize if someone does or does not have these qualities, and use them in the best interest of the company. If someone does not like their position, they will under-perform in their duties, this should be recognized before someone is placed, pre-employment. Motivation was a large focus during the past two weeks as well; motivational rewards for employees can help them seem more eager and determined to complete a job correctly and timely as well. Along with management implementing tools to motivate current employees, it is also necessary that the company be focused on hiring new employees that are already motivated to come into the position. After an employee that is motivated is hired, a company can build upon their motivation, and lay the ground for them to succeed. This starts with the interview process and learning about the potential employees life goals, and matching their goals with company initiatives that are already in place to help them succeed.
While we thought that understanding employee behavior and understanding motivation were the most important and interesting topics of these two weeks, we also discussed employees that are motivated, but are unable to achieve their personal goals. These employees may have goals that are unrealistic, or their goals are such that the company has no interest in or little ability to help in achieving. Employees that are in this position need to take extra steps on their own to ensure their goals are met. An employer may be unaware, and the situation could be brought to light, or the employee may need to unfortunately move on in order to achieve their goals.
As a team we felt that these two weeks were invaluable to us. We will be able to apply this knowledge at work and in our personal lives as well. Some of the objectives seem obvious, however they are topics which are often overlooked, forgotten or tucked away due to over use. These two weeks have been enlightening and have brought new information to us, as well as re-kindled our awareness of information that we already knew but have not used in some time.