Learning Goal: I’m working on a writing multi-part question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
First peer:
I have worked in two very different businesses. In both the thoughts and actions lined up but changed over time. First, was preschool teaching and administration. The sense of community was easily recognizable and interacted with on a daily basis. The overall vision of providing quality care and education to all children was what most people actually wan ted when they applied. And in the onset of their tenure, essentially all employees behaved accordingly by planning and interacting and being mindful of the environment. However, as time went on you could tell who had a genuine passion for children and families and who had a small-scale passion that was put to the limits with daily interactions. These people would slowly start to change their beliefs toward a more opinionated, and often negative, view of how to parent and how kids should behave. Then their actions would change. Most, though, would continue to embrace their passion and explore new ways to teach. Currently, I encounter many people who are motivated by money. In the trucking industry there is usually not a higher motivation than that. And these people are typically looking for the maximum income for minimum work. That is not said as a negative. It is what many people and companies strive for; we just call it efficiency or optimization. So, the actions are as such. Where the preschool workers adjusted their work to meet their passion, truck drivers tend to adjust their actions and speed to accommodate their monetary compensation.
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Second peer:
Recall at least two organizations you worked for and analyze the relationship between how employees think (espoused organizational culture and beliefs) and how they behave (actions). Describe what you believe to be the cultural roots of those disparities. I’ve worked as a government contractor for my entire career, both in large organizations and small. Regardless of the organization, I’ve found a lot of similarities in the people I’ve worked with. A majority of people I’ve interviewed through the years talk about the importance of finding the work meaningful. And how important the quality of work life is in assessing their job satisfaction. In a surprisingly high number of cases (and seemingly increasing these days) staff are hired and within six months are asking for promotional opportunities or wanting to discuss merit increases. The type of work in the organizations I’ve worked in are directly involved in US (and global) national security and funded directly by the US Government (read: US taxpayers). So the ability to pay employees above the market or fast-track promotions is not prudent and can be unallowable per the Federal Acquisition Regulations. What I’ve found is that people that are motivated by self-interest and self-gain will focus on ways to achieve those objectives regardless of how rewarding or important the work is. While they will intimate that being a part of something bigger than themselves is a priority in their job desires, ultimately they fall back to looking out for themselves to the detriment of the team more times than not. As I’ve become a ‘seasoned’ manager now, I’m seeing it more with the younger generation. This type of employee (me-first) views loyalty, the significance of the work and putting in your time as old school management philosophy. And with record unemployment, these types of employees have the upper hand because their ability to find work elsewhere is nearly unlimited. The time and cost to onboard an employee and train for twelve months is significant. And if that employee after twelve months demands a raise and a promotion, it becomes a significant problem. Acquiescing and providing it is a cost impact and creates a negative ripple effect across the organization. Not providing it causes that employee to potentially become unproductive and possibly a malcontent, again causing a negative ripple effect across the organization.
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