Sunday, October 30, 2011

Individual


Why to Focus on Individuals?


Individuals are important units of any organization. If we understand the behavior of individuals, we can predict
the outcomes; it will become easy to manage the behaviors of individuals in desirable directions. We have to look at three individual variables—biographical characteristics, ability, and learning. Biographical characteristics are readily available to managers. Generally, they include data that are contained in an employee’s personal file. The most important conclusions are that, age seems to have no relationship to productivity; older workers and those with longer tenure are less likely to resign; and married employees have fewer absences, less turnover, and report higher job satisfaction than do unmarried employees. But what value can this information have for managers? The obvious answer is that it can help in making choices among job applicants.



Ability directly influences an employee’s level of performance and satisfaction through the ability-job fit. Given management’s desire to get a compatible fit, what can be done?


First, an effective selection process will improve the fit. A job analysis will provide information about jobs currently being done and the abilities that individuals need to perform the jobs
adequately. Applicants can then be tested, interviewed, and evaluated on the degree to which they possess the necessary abilities.
Second, promotion and transfer decisions affecting individuals already in the organization’s employ should reflect the abilities of candidates. With new employees, care should be taken to assess critical abilities that incumbents will need in the job and to match these requirements with the organization’s human resources.
Third, the fit can be improved by fine-tuning the job to better match an incumbent’s abilities. Often
modifications can be made in the job that while not having a significant impact on the job’s basic activities,
better adapts it to the specific talents of a given employee. Examples would be to change some of the equipment used or to reorganize tasks within a group of employees.

A final alternative is to provide training for employees. This is applicable to both new workers and present job incumbents. Training can keep the abilities of incumbents current or provide new skills as times and conditions change.

Any observable change in behavior is prima facie evidence that learning has taken place. What we want to do, of course, is ascertain if learning concepts provide us with any insights that would allow us to explain and predict behavior. Positive reinforcement is a powerful tool for modifying behavior. By identifying and rewarding performance-enhancing behaviors, management increases the likelihood that they will be repeated. Our knowledge about learning further suggests that reinforcement is a more effective tool than punishment. Although punishment eliminates undesired behavior more quickly than negative reinforcement does, but punished behavior tends to be only temporarily suppressed rather than permanently changed. Punishment may produce unpleasant side effects such as lower morale and higher absenteeism or turnover. In addition, the recipients of punishment tend to become resentful of the punisher. Managers, therefore, are advised to use reinforcement rather than punishment.
Finally, managers should expect that employees would look to them as models. Managers who are constantly late to work, or take two hours for lunch, or help themselves to company office supplies for personal use should expect employees to read the message they are sending and model their behavior accordingly. Individual differences do not dictate people’s behavior. Instead, they limit a person’s behavioral range, making some behavior easier than others.




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