(Organizational Behavior)

Individual Assignment (Sample)

Ch. 6

Chapter 6

Idea 1: Job Design (Empowerment)

As a manager, it will be important for me to delegate tasks for a project in a way that makes the most of the employees I am working with. In order for them to work to their fullest potential and feel that their work is meaningful, I will need to consider designing each of their jobs uniquely. One way I can do this is through job enrichment. By giving my employees more autonomy and giving them more responsibility, I will hopefully be able to create a feeling of empowerment within them. As a result, I believe that this will increase their intrinsic motivation, as their increased responsibility and autonomy will make them believe that their work is important. This will allow me to improve my employees' motivation without incentives and hopefully make them enjoy and appreciate their job more. Keeping them happy and motivated is my managerial goal in designing the job uniquely for each employee.

Idea 2: SMART Goals

In order to assure that my employees can continue to be motivated, I will encourage them to make SMART goals, whether that be in a team setting or individually. These goals will be essential in making sure that continued motivation is attainable. By having employees create a smart goal (both for themselves and for their team members), they will be able to have something to provide adequate driving force and direction for their work. As a manager, I will need to make sure that the goals made follow the SMART guidelines. Each employee will have a goal that is specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, and time-bound so that the goal is as effective as possible in motivating them. I think it would also be beneficial to encourage them to share these goals with their coworkers. This will create accountability for these goals and will increase the likelihood of them following through with the goals.

Idea 3: Performance Reviews (Feedback)

Performance reviews (feedback) will be extremely important for me to do as a manager. It will let my employees know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong, as well as outline ways that they can improve. However, if I get to know my employees well, which I hope to do, I will need to be aware of the bias that might present itself in these reviews. When reviewing an employee, I will need to make sure that my feelings don't get in the way of the review. As stated in the textbook, it would be helpful for me to monitor employee performance through something like a journal or spreadsheet so that I can truly address the history of their performance. Similarly, I will need to make sure that I am not too lenient with the reviews if someone is truly performing poorly. If I am managing an employee who is not doing their job well, this will need to be properly reflected in their performance review. Lastly, as we have mentioned before, I need to be aware of any potential stereotype bias that might present itself. I should be relying on employee performance alone, as this is the sole purpose of the appraisal. Generalizations will not help me, as they're not accurate. I will need to avoid them entirely so that they do not cause any harm.