Managing Employee Behavior: Challenges And Approaches

The importance of managing employee behavior

Discuss about the Organizational Culture And Behavior.

For any organization to operate effectively, it has to manage its human resources in an efficient manner. In today’s competitive business environment, it is important for every organization that their employees give their best efforts and have a dedicated approach towards their customer satisfaction. This can be the main differentiator between two similar organizations. Globalization has led to constant innovation and improvement among organizations to retain their customer base and achieve growth. No market, big or small, is difficult reach for any organization. Thus, it is important for companies to maintain their competitive edge in order to stay relevant. The key to achieve a superior performance is employee satisfaction and motivation. If the employees of an organization are motivated enough, they can bring a stellar change in the work culture. On the other hand, no organization can afford to ignore their employee’s concerns and shortcomings as it can have a serious impact on their work culture as well as their overall performance. Thus, employees have a major role to play in any organization, and so they are animportant asset for any business

In order to achieve better performance, it is essential that the employees’ behavior is managed effectively. An employee’s conduct plays an important role in determining the image of a company (Ahmed & Shafiq, 2014, p.23). The behavior of an employee towards his colleagues is equally important in order to maintain general decorum and fruitful conversations in the office (Juneja, n.d.). If the office culture is positive and cordial, it can lead to better handling of customers as well. Employee behavior is also crucial to achieveteam performances. If all the employees in a specific team are supportive of each other and have a positive approach, it can help to achieve better teamwork. This in turn leads to successful and profitable operations for an organization. No company can accept bad behavior of employees, especially towards their customers. Managing employee behavior attains importance for the managers as a result.

Every individual has his own set of problems and limitations. These situations shape any person’s overall attitude, be it his workspace or in other arena. Managing every employee’s behavior is a crucial task given the variances. One employee may have a different set of issues than the other. Yet one person can have different limitations or capabilities than the others. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a team of employees is no simple task. It does not follow a set procedure for a manager to manage his employees. This has to be a case-by-casebasis, and it is a constant process. The management should focus on their employees to detect signs of fatigue/misgivings about their job. Early detection and solution is the best way to manage any problems that may have aroused otherwise (Chinn, 2017). This is a major challenge for any HR manager. The manager himself is under constant pressure to keep his team together. Any misadventure by one of his employees can damage the repute of a manager, and even the organization. The recent issues relating to work place ethics and market dominating policies unsettled even the likes of UBER, where the company had to do damage control in order to maintain its image and come out of a crisis. Yet some other big organizations may face minor issues, which need to be handled carefully and promptly. A single bad gesture by an employee can cause unfriendly media attention and bring disrepute to a company (Trevino & Nelson, 2016, p.12). Especially attitude towards women employees are keenly watched in international media. Any issue of harassment or racism is sure to invite quick judgments from public. This is largely due to the lightning fast pace of information reaching consumers. Companies need to adopt emerging technologies and practices in order to stay competitive. New technologies may pose a challenge to the elder employees, who may be otherwise efficient and hardworking. These employees need to be taken care of in order to avoid workplace embarrassment. Some employees can have difficulty in adapting to new systems and may get anxious about their job as a result. There are many other unforeseen challenges a manager may face while dealing with employee behavior. This makes it an unpredictable job. The remedy to an earlier problem may not be effective to a future problem. A manager is expected to be innovative in dealing with his employees’ problems so that he can manage them properly. This kind of management can also lead to managers losing their focus midway, as they have to find new ways and means to achieve their goals. Thus managing employee behavior is a challenging task.

The role of employee behavior in achieving team performance

As diverse as it can get, managing employees and their workplace culture can be approached in a structured manner. The end goal of every HR manager is to ensure workplace satisfaction and productivity. These two important aspects determine a company’s success. Thus, managers need to stay focused on their immediate goal and manage their employees accordingly. To start with, the management need to hire employees with the right attitude .If a company has the right mix of employees; it becomes easier for the management to ensure competitive performance (Malik & Rowley, 2015, p.228). If the recruitment team is not focused on the attitude or behavior of the people they hire, it can affect their workplace culture .While dealing with newcomers at a company, the management has to identify their limits as to where they can or cannot help their employees. Sometimes an employee may be facing genuine issues at workplace, like inconvenient pickup spots or timing, which can be immediately addressed. Yet some others may be unable to cope with work pressure and are lagging behind their colleagues. The management has to ensure that they draw a line as to where they can adjust according to employee and where they need to be stern towards them (Nesse, 2017). This is important to ensure there is no laxity at work place and the management in not considered as being too lenient.

Another approach that the management can have is by having a good workplace environment and frequent casual conversations with their employees in order to make them feel comfortable at work (Frey, 2013). Sometimes these gestures go a long way in reducing anxiety and stress, especially among fresh recruits at large organizations.The leaders of an organization can also set an example for others to follow. By maintaining their own conduct in office, they can motivate others for whom they are setting the standards (Danely, 2005). If the management itself is lax in maintaining office decorum, they cannot expect their employees to remain professional as well. The leadership of any organization also has responsibilities towards maintaining the dignity of their women employees and ensures fair and equal opportunities towards them. Any sign of harassment or coercion has to be discouraged in order to avoid damaging the reputation of the company as well as harming their women employees. This can be achieved by providing guidelines to the employees and general do’s and don’ts while dealing with female colleagues (Srivastava & Srivastava, n.d.)Another important factor that can help in achieving ethical behavior is by communicating the kind of attitude a leader expects from his employees in a direct manner. This helps in removing confusion among the employees. If the management provides subtle hints or indirect cues, it may not be enough for the employees to pick up. If the employees are communicated about their workplace requirements from day one, they will be more focused on doing their job, rather than being nervous about their conduct (Rohman, 2015). If the employees know exactly what is expected of them, then the task becomes that much easier to do.

Employees are a crucial part of any organization and they should be given due importance and recognition for their effort. For a leader to build a successful company and maintain a dedicated team of employees, it is important to understand them and cultivate a sense of responsibility towards their company. Ethical behavior can only be expected if an employee is given recognition among his colleagues. The management needs to be stern as well as accommodating according to the situation at hand. A balanced approach is needed by leaders in an organization in order to ensure positive work culture and ethical behavior from their employees. Large organizations, which have a very strong position in their segment, can be reduced in their strength in very short time if their employees defect to other companies. And the management’s job is to ensure that talented employees stay and contribute to the company in the best possible manner.

References

Ahmed, M. & Shafiq, S., 2014. The Impact of Organizational Culture on Organizational. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, [Document]. p.23.

Chinn, D., 2017. Ethical Employee Behavior in the Workplace. [Online] Available at: https://bizfluent.com/info-8314154-ethical-employee-behavior-workplace.html [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Danely, J.V., 2005. Ethical Behavior for Today’s Workplace. PACRAO, p.6.

Frey, K.L., 2013. Financier Worldwide. [Online] Available at: https://www.financierworldwide.com/encouraging-ethical-behaviour-in-multinational-corporations/#.WwOPhe6FPIU [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Juneja, P., n.d. Management Study Guide. [Online] Available at: https://www.managementstudyguide.com/managing-employee-behaviour-problems.htm [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Malik, A. & Rowley, C., 2015. Business Models and People Management in the Indian IT Industry. Routledge.

Nesse, B., 2017. Managing Ethics in the Workplace. [Online] Available at: https://online.alvernia.edu/ethics-in-the-workplace/ [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Rohman, J., 2015. Great Place To Work. [Online] Available at: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/15-practice-areas-critical-to-achieving-a-great-workplace [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Srivastava, J.S. & Srivastava, A., n.d. Ethics and Values in Dealing with Issues of Women at Work. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 1, p.2.

Trevino, L.K. & Nelson, K.A., 2016. Straight Talk about Managing Business Ethics. In L. Johnson, ed. Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk about How to Do It Right. John Wiley & Sons. p.12.