Critical Reflective Blogs

Example from Topic 6

Reflection Assessing, influencing and Rewarding Performance (word count 701).

Workplace Experience

At my previous employer, I had the opportunity to step into a higher role, I went from being a

Graduate to an Advisor. I remember that this time was both an exciting and anxiety driven

time but I wanted to succeed in this placement. The promotion was a significant jump in

salary and for the first time, from a remuneration perspective, my years of study were paying

off. I was anxious about the opportunity as I had never worked at that level before and the

opportunity was not only short term but meant that essentially my graduate contract was torn

up. The job itself had an enormous scope and whilst I could be responsive, I felt it was at the

cost of quality work. I’d placed myself in a vulnerable situation for the experience however,

my manager needed the resource in the team.

I recall, on numerous occasions, requesting that I have one-on-one supervision with my

manager. This request was always denied. My manager would say that I have the opportunity

to speak with her at our fortnightly portfolio meetings. I felt anxious, I’d never worked at this

level before. Despite this distance, I always had to tell her where I was and submit a worked

hours forms that was monitored, weekly. I felt insecure and unmotivated, found another

opportunity and resigned.

Organisational Behaviour Concept/Theory

Two factor theory also known as hygiene-motivator theory is a 1950s theory developed by

Fredrick Hertzberg, an Organisational Behaviour Scholar. The theory proposes that the

characteristics of a job motivate employees and that hygiene factors such as salary, job

security and supervision merely prevent dissatisfaction, if adequate, rather than create

motivation (McShane, Olekalns, Newman and Martin, 2019). I feel that in my situation, the

hygiene factors of no supervision and job security were inadequate which made me

dissatisfied with my work.

In the context of assessing, influencing and rewarding performance, there must first be good

performance. Cairns (2013) states that there simple formula to performance and it is

motivation plus ability plus environment equals performance. I didn’t know if I was

exhibiting good performance.

Whilst critics have rejected motivator-hygiene theory a proposed that job characteristics

model in its place (McShane et al, 2019) In my view, two factor theory is a simplistic and

practical model that managers can use to assess, influence and reward performance as the

model focusses examines the relations of both extrinsic and intrinsic factors for achievement

motivation (Story, Hart, Stasson and Mahoney, 2009) If my manager was able to influence

hygiene factors and ensure that they are adequate then the model would have given her

structure to her most complex resource, humans. My manager missed out on understanding

and capitalising on my skills, abilities and knowledge (Vancouver, 2008).

Whilst I had self-determination to do well, I ultimately did not feel empowered as I didn’t

understand my competence, meaning or the impact of my work (McShane et al, 2019)

When managers manage hygiene factors and understand individual’s motivators then they

can use two factor theory as a base to assess, influence and reward performance.

Management Strategy

The strategy I propose for managing others in the workplace to assess and influence

performance is to manage the hygiene factors to ensure that there is no dissatisfaction and

capitalise on motivators to ensure good performance.

If I were to manage this situation, I would;

• Assess the duties of the role to ensure that match the remuneration of the role and that the

tasks are not too diversified to allow for some generalist and some specialisation;

• If the vacancy could not be filled permanently, I would then ensure that the occupant felt

some other form of security in the job;

• Provide regular supervision so that the occupant feels supported even if it isn’t company

policy to do so.

Once I have managed these hygiene factors then I would focus on understanding the

individual’s motivator factors and ensure that the employee feels empowered by

communicating meaning, impact, feedback (competence) and capitalise on their self-

determination.

Learnings

I have learnt that when assessing, influencing and rewarding performance that the first step,

using two-factor theory, is to ensure that hygiene factors which can cause dissatisfaction are

effectively managed to ensure that they are adequate. It is only then that managers can

effectively starting assessing motivator factors, influencing motivator factors and start

capitalising and rewarding performance.

References:

Cairns, T. D. (2013). What Will Tip the Scales for Flexible Work Arrangements-Motivation

or Collaboration? Employment Relations Today, 40(2), 29-33. doi:10.1002/ert.21408

McShane, S., Olekalns, M., Newman, A., & Martin, A. (2019). Organisational Behaviour,

Sixth Edition: Emerging Knowledge. Global Insights. North Ryde, Australia:

McGraw-Hill Education Australia.

Story, P. A., Hart, J. W., Stasson, M. F., & Mahoney, J. M. (2009). Using a two-factor

theory of achievement motivation to examine performance-based outcomes and self-

regulatory processes. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(4), 391-395.

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.10.023

Vancouver, J. B. (2008). Integrating self-regulation theories of work motivation into a

dynamic process theory. Human Resource Management Review, 18(1), 1-18.

doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2008.02.001

Example from Topic 10

Reflection

During my three years with an organisation, I witnessed organisational injustice, a toxic

environment and disengaged employees . The organisation had been through immense

change and under the new owner, did not have a human resource representative or employee

assistance program.

Managers and Team Leaders were expected to manage any employee behaviour without any

training or knowledge of best practice. I witnessed a situation where the Manager promoted

her daughter above the other Team Leaders, with no notice or process . This exacerbated an

already stressed Team Leader group and led to three of them resigning. The Team Leaders

had no avenue for assistance as their Manager was the cause and undermined their self-

esteem and confidence with remarks made during meetings.

Analysis

In the job demand-resources model, Bakker and Demerouti (2007) suggest a balance is

required between job demands and job resources. If one of these is not enough to meet the

needs of the other, then a strain or lack of motivation is created resulting in a negative

outcome for the organisation. In this situation I could see there was a high demand of mental

and emotional ability required by the Team Leaders to deal with the situation and high

physical demand to compensate for the work of the Manager’s daughter who was assigned to

other projects. They also described an environment where low resources in the form of

support, positive feedback and autonomy existed. This was on top of an already stressed

environment with pressure from Clients and the Executive. Any attempt to discuss the Team

Leaders’ concerns with the Manager were met with patronising, degrading comments aimed

at undermining the Team Leaders’ self-confidence and reducing any threat to her

daughter.

Goldman (2008) suggests that management’s lack of identification and mismanagement of

conflict is a form of toxic leadership which can spread throughout an organisation. In this

situation a number of toxic forms were present (Frost, 2004). Initially the Manager acted

with intent, both promotion of her daughter and undermining the other Team Leaders’

confidence and self-esteem. In my view she was incompetent in how she handled the

concerns of the Team leaders and their perception of unfair treatment by suggesting they

were immature and not ready for promotion. I was also in a meeting where the Manager

discussed the Team Leaders’ behaviour in a derogatory manner to the Managing Director

who had little patience for emotional reactions in the workplace.

Singh and Choudhary (2018) suggests interpersonal conflict relate to lower employee

engagement. This was the case where the Team leaders and eventually their staff became

disengaged, having higher absences, lower staff retention and we also saw an impact on

Client retention. I eventually stepped in as a “toxic handler” in order to reduce the impact on

the organisation. However, although the Team leaders and staff appreciated having an

independent person to talk to, I found myself unable to assist as the Manager stopped access,

suggesting I was undermining her management of the situation. This left me feeling helpless.

Proposed Strategy

Singh and Choudhary (2018) states that a strong level of organisational justice leads to a high

level of interpersonal trust and a high level of engagement. If employees feel that decision

making procedures are fair they are more likely to be forgiving of the outcome (Lawson,

Noblet, & Rodwell, 2009). Negative emotions can become toxic and affect an employees

engagement and wellbeing (Kiefer & Barclay, 2012), and Managers should address toxic

behaviour proactively (Goldman, 2008).

Goldman (2008) suggests strategic planning, informal protocols and the introduction of

designated toxic handlers to proactively manage any negativity. However for a toxic handler

to succeed they require acknowledgment and support from the organisation (Frost, 2004).

My proposal would be to introduce a Human Resource Manager who works with a contracted

Employee Assistance Program. Compton and McManus (2015) suggest such programs

provide benefits such as reduced absenteeism and reduced workers compensation. Murphy

(1995) suggest collaboration between Human Resource Management and Employee

Assistance Programs are cost efficient and provide the range of expertise required to manage

job related stress and improve mental and physical health of employees.

(Learning missing)

Reference

Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands-Resources model: state of the art.(Author

abstract). Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309-328.

doi:10.1108/02683940710733115

Compton, R.-L., & McManus, J. G. (2015). Employee Assistance Programs in Australia: Evaluating

Success. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 30(1-2), 32-45.

doi:10.1080/15555240.2015.998971

Frost, P. J. (2004). Handling toxic emotions: new challenges for leaders and their

organization. Organizational Dynamics, 33(2), 111.

Goldman, A. (2008). Company on the Couch: Unveiling Toxic Behavior in Dysfunctional

Organizations. Journal of Management Inquiry, 17(3), 226-238.

doi:10.1177/1056492608318157

Kiefer, T., & Barclay, L. J. (2012). Understanding the mediating role of toxic emotional experiences

in the relationship between negative emotions and adverse outcomes.(Report). Journal of

Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 85(4), 600.

Lawson, K. J., Noblet, A. J., & Rodwell, J. J. (2009). Promoting employee wellbeing: the relevance

of work characteristics and organizational justice. Health Promotion International, 24(3),

223-233. doi:10.1093/heapro/dap025

McShane, S., Olekalns, M., & Newman, A. (2018). Organisational Behaviour : Emerging

Knowledge. Global Insights. Sydney, AUSTRALIA: McGraw-Hill Australia.

Murphy, L. R. (1995). Managing job stress: an employee assistance human resource management

partnership. Personnel Review, 24(1), 41. doi:10.1108/00483489510079075

Singh, T., & Choudhary, S. (2018). Organisational Justice, Experiencing Interpersonal Conflict and

Employee Engagement: A Moderated Mediation Analysis. Journal of Organisation and

Human Behaviour, 7(1), 1-10.