BUS209 Organizational Behavior : Organizational Management Problem

Introduction:

The present case study revolves around the organizational management problem encountered at Regal Pointe Hotel by the management authority, owing to the low staff morale and lack of employee engagement, which have been aggravated by the housekeeping attendant, Lucinda’s behaviour. Lucinda feels disengaged at workplace, and this is why she has been deflating the staff morale of other co-workers as well. It is an evident fact that low employee engagement and low staff morale in a service industry is bound to have a negative impact on the quality of service provided to the consumers. Hence, the report intends to address the organizational problem identified at Regal Pointe Hotel, and offer necessary recommendations for the same.

Discussion:

Problem:

The organizational problem identified in the Regal Pointe Hotel is the problem of low staff morale and employee disengaged. Most of the employees are feeling disengaged simple because of ineffective communication between the management authority and the employees, It should be noted that the problem of lack of employee engagement is directly interfering with the productivity level of the company, and hence the problem has been defined from the perspective of the management authority of Regal Pointe Hotel. The factors leading to the problem include lack of effective interpersonal communication at workplace, and lack of mutual trust and understanding amongst the employer and the employees, absence of proper Human Resource policy for strategic human resource management.

Causes of the Organizational Problem:

The organizational problem as encountered in the present organization is a high rate of employee disengagement and low staff morale. It is important to identify the causes of the problem as well.

Potential Cause 1: While analysing this problem, the first major cause identified is lack of effective communication between the management authority and the employees working at Regal Pointe Hotel. It is quite normal that the employees will resist the management authority on various levels, and yet it is the function of the organization to interact with the employees, communicate its vision and goals to the employees, and keep themselves updated about the problems, if faced by the employees. Here, the staffs feel that they have certain operational needs which are not getting communicated to, and eventually solved by the management authority. While too much managerial intervention is not desirable, the complete absence of managerial attention only disengages the employees. This is exactly the reason why Lucinda can potentially impact the staff morale, simply because the management fails to win the loyalty of the employees. It is important to state here that the Neo-classical Theory of  Organizational Behaviour states that it is not sufficient to control the employees of an organization, on the basis of a strong hierarchically organized management structure (Langton t al., 2013). In fact, it is equally important to pay undivided attention to the employees in a non-threatening way, so that they can share their problems with the management and feel that their voices are being heard as well (Wilson, 2013).

Potential Cause 2: The next cause of the low staff morale identified here, is lack of a stringent strategic HR policy that needs to be communicated to the employees over periodical intervals. The concept of Organizational Behaviour revolves around two important issues- the nature of the people or the employees, and the nature of the organization (Gagné et al., 2014). Accordingly, the nature of people is expected to be absolutely fair, so that no employee feels that he is falling prey to employee favouritism at his workplace. However, since at Regal Pointe Hotel, most of the employees claim that their co-workers are getting promoted on the basis of managerial preferences, instead of professional expertise, the employees are feeling demoralized and de-motivated (Langton, 2015).  The organizations should have fair and transparent employee appraisal policies, in absence of which managerial decisions are often misinterpreted, as in the present case.

Potential Cause 3: While diversity at workplace offers potential challenge at workplace, it is important to ensure that the organizational behaviour is such that the employees do not feel that the management is biased towards them, in providing their well-being. Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management asserts that organizational success is dependent on the management’s ability to scientifically train the employees in a way that it enhances labour cooperation, rather than creating labour conflict. However, the problem here is that Lucinda Furtado, a housekeeping attendant being a Philippine lacks engagement at workplace, as she feels that the management is being biased towards her (Lee & Lawrence, 2013). However, in order to stop her from complaining about workplace policies she is often assigned lighter tasks that have also ignited further employee conflicts.

Necessary Recommendations:

Recommendation for Problem 1: As far as the recommendations are concerned, the first one is higher rate of employee engagement. The employees need to communicate their problems to the management authority, and hence the management authority must conduct inter-departmental interactive sessions as well as business meetings at periodical intervals (at least twice a week) to keep themselves updated about the problems of the employees, and enhance their engagement. Further, the case study clearly shows that most of the employees at Regal Pointe Hotel are unable to get employer feedback and comprehend organizational goals, and therefore lack of engagement at workplace. Considering this problem, it is also recommended that the managers interact with the employees at regular intervals, and communicate the vision of the company, as well as immediate organizational goals, aligning the same with employee benefits, so that the employees feel motivated to achieve them.

Recommendation for Problem 2: Further, effective non-discrimination policy should be incorporated in the HR policy of the company, and the management should introduce and communicate proper performance evaluation systems. Each employee should be made aware of the specific parameters of workplace promotion, so that they cannot claim that they have been deprived of workplace promotion and career advancement prospects.

Recommendation for Problem 3: In order to enforce strong organizational behaviour policies, staff training should be incorporated at workplace as well. Lucnda often complains about discrimination against her, and this especially occurs as she believes that she is coming from a different ethnic background. However, in order to provide her better treatment, the expectations of other employees should not be compromised either. Staff training will help in establishing positive rapport amongst the employees, making them aware of the importance to form good relation, and lead to organizational excellence, regardless of their cultural and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, Lucinda would be enrolled in soft skill training program to develop within her an assertive communication style and to enhance her collaboration and cooperation at workplace.

Conclusion:

By increasing management-employee interaction as well as through effective communicate of workplace vision, goals and employee benefits, the organization will be able to increase employee engagement. Lucinda should be kept at workplace, and she should be trained and if necessary face-to-face session must be conducted with her, to make her understand that she is being valued as much as any other employee at workplace.

References

Gagné, M., Sharma, P., & De Massis, A. (2014). The study of organizational behaviour in family business. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23(5), 643-656.

Langton, N. (2015). Organizational Behaviour: Concepts, Controversies, Applications, Seventh Canadian Edition Plus NEW MyManagementLab with Pearson EText--Access Card Package. Pearson Education Canada.

Langton, N., Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Fundamentals of organizational behaviour. Pearson Education Canada.

Lee, R., & Lawrence, P. (2013). Organizational Behaviour (RLE: Organizations): Politics at Work (Vol. 18). Routledge.

Wilson, F. M. (2013). Organizational behaviour and work: a critical introduction. Oxford University Press.