Introduction
In every organization, the way in which people behave is determined by organizational culture, communication, authority and motivation and other work techniques. A favorable culture is that which makes people feel important. This type of culture should embrace good communication, motivation for workers and good work techniques.
The Culture Embraced At the America Red Cross Organization
The culture of an organization can fall under pluralism, dualism or salad bowl. Everyone should be able to adopt their organization’s culture although sometimes it might be hard to assess and understand that culture. As employees interrelate with each other at their place of work every day, their various cultural demonstrations practically begin to disappear and they begin to adopt the organizational culture.
However, how employees behave in terms of workmate relations, enjoyment of work and performance in their duties is shaped by the organizational culture, as stated by Norgren & Nanda (2006). The America Red Cross organization embraces the pluralistic culture whereby, people from all races, religion, ethnic group or societies are tolerated. Our organization deals with people from all walks of life and does not discriminate against anyone.
As a result, workers in our organization have unity in the performance of duties. Everyone feels free to talk or work with others without feeling undermined. Following our pluralistic culture, our organization has managed to outsource and offshore its services in various countries and our workers always find their work environment very conducive. In addition, our organization highly promotes the employment of the minority such as women who are usually treated equally with their male counterparts.
The America Red Cross organization has a good coordination between the subordinates and the executives. Since disagreements are inevitable in any thriving organization, when they occur they get quickly solved due to better coordination. Instead of creating enormity we take the challenge to boost our relationship as workers. There is also a high degree of respect for the authority and this has seen our organization climb the ladder in its productivity. Thus, I do find pluralism being a very tolerable and fruitful culture in our organization.
Modes of Communication
Communication, both oral and written, is very essential to the foundation, success and efficiency of any organization. In America Red Cross, we have embraced the written modes of communication. The reason behind the written modes of communication is that, we are able to save time since there is no running up and down to meet people. Therefore, the various modes of communication used in the organization include the use of newsletters and magazines.
These address the incapacity of the management to talk to each employee given the large number of workers found in our organization. Through newsletters and magazines, the organization is capable of enlightening workers on its management rules, respond to queries, and keep employees on toes on what is required from them and market new products. However, this has drawbacks in that it is sluggish and cumbersome and in some cases the editorial content of the magazines might not be in line with organizational objectives thus providing irrelevant information.
Bulletin boards are among the oldest modes of organizational communication as they were mostly the only effective way the management could communicate with the employees. Bulletin boards today are used differently in different companies, for instance, in our organization they are used to post legal requirements. We also have a policy which requires employees to recognize the bulletin boards for information.
The challenge with the use of the bulletin board is that, it can be easily ignored if the information is not presented in an attractive manner. E-mail is the fastest growing mode of organizational communication today and there is no doubt that our organization majorly uses it.
This is because e-mail is immediate and easily accessible to anyone with a computer and internet which are common in most organizations today. E-mail saves employees from malicious reactions from superiors who block communication between their subordinates and the executives. The negative impact of email use is that it can be used for individual or trivial matters thus fixing up network resources.
Memos and reports are the frequently used in many organizations. In our organization, memos are the only way some information can be passed, for instance a quick meeting with the managers can be organized faster through memos. The organization head can either agree or disagree with something based on what memos or reports recommend and these can easily reach the workers. Sometime, live presentations are held to enforce the conclusions of the reports.
However, if the memos are not made clear and relevant to the whole company they can be ignored. Video tape based programs, satellites and closed circuits which are currently being used by many corporations. Since employees are used to watching television this mode of communication becomes very important. With the use of networked organizational televisions the CEO is usually capable of making an announcement to the staff in the shortest time possible. The challenge is that developing such a technology is very expensive.
Blogs and websites are also being used as modes of communications, according to Hooke & Rogers (2005). Using the website in communication is essential as the information is available to different people and it can be accessed at any time. Blogs are also important as they are cost effective and highly responsive. However, the two cannot be used for confidential information about the organization.
Nature of Authority (Recognized Social Ranks) of America Red Cross
Its nature of authority consists of various levels of authority. The topmost level is that of the Board of Governors (BOG) with a President who is also the chief executive officer (CEO). The President then reports to the Board of governors which is made up of fifty members who are all volunteers.
The president is elected by the members of the BOG, However, the president of America is considered the voluntary chairperson of the BOG and he also appoints eight of the board members. The BOG meets four times in a year to set governance and policy for the whole organization.
The next social rank is the National Headquarters Authority where strategic priorities and procedures are provided. At this level of authority, guidance and resources are also provided to ensure reliability of service delivery countrywide. The next level of authority is the Biomedical Service Divisions and Service Areas. Their duty is to sustain the work of the field entities. There is a total of eight service areas and eleven biomedical service divisions which are controlled by definite geographic setting in a way to provide supervision and support.
The Armed Forces and Emergency Service stations form the next level of authority. The stations are set throughout the United States and overseas. The American Red Cross offers support such as emergency communication, recommendations and information to people in the military and their families. At the same level of authority there is the Blood Service Regions.
There are thirty five of these regions and one of their tasks is to recruit donors, collect blood samples and ship the samples to any of the five national testing laboratories. In these laboratories the blood is done testing processed and then sent to the hospitals. The chapters of the America Red Cross are also found at this level of authority.
There are more than eight hundred Red Cross chapters across America and its territories. These chapters provide a diversity of services to the people they serve including blood samples, first aid courses, assistance during disasters, CPR safety, and connection with families, water safety, disaster relief and global tracing.
The last level of authority is the community level. The community members also help the Red Cross chapters and their neighbors by volunteering their time, financial assistance and blood donations. The America Red Cross is a non-profit organization and to provide services we usually seek donations from the US public. We also take charge for services such as training and blood products in order to recuperate the price of acquiring and distributing the items.
Motivational Techniques That Influence Performance
Job rotation is also referred to as cross-training. It is provided to employees who perform repetitive duties in their work such as the rescue team. Employees experience change from one task to another which is aimed at giving them an opportunity to acquire different skills that include job enlargement which is usually provided to workers who perform less and simple tasks.
This leads to an increased number of tasks and a variety of tasks performed by the relevant employees. It results to the affected employees feeling important that their services are appreciated. Enlargement of job is important in America Red Cross where there is usually a lot of work for the community.
Job enrichment raises the ability of employees to have control over the work they perform. The employees are given the authority to run the planning, implementation, and assessment of their own work. As a result, the employees feel responsible, free and independent hence, appreciated.
Motivation through flextime: this gives the employee a chance to decide on their timetable of work to a certain degree. For example, if the offices are open from 7am to 8pm, the employee can get in at any time provided they complete their eight hour period of work.
In such a way, the employees feel flexible and they can utilize their extra time for their personal or family matters. Job sharing however uncommon, sometimes it happens especially in a case where employees are working in remote and unevenly populated areas. It is effective for avoiding boredom and eases work as employees can consider to alternate days of work.
Employee involvement when an individual is involved in a certain organization or institution, he would want to be part of that organization or institution.
Therefore, including employees in decision making in as far as their work is concerned makes them feel cherished and essential to the organization thus increases their motivation. Variable pay program is merit-based and pay and bonuses are great motivators for employees in this organization. They are usually offered as an encouragement or remuneration for excellent performance.
Theory of Emotional Intelligence (Emotional Quotient-EQ) As Applied In America Red Cross
The theory of Emotional intelligence is progressively becoming significant to organizational development and developing the workers. These EQ principles are very useful in our organization as they provide a new method of understanding and assessing individuals’ behaviors, attitude, potential, management skills and interpersonal skills.
These principles are considered crucial to various managerial duties such as scheduling, hiring, job profiling, discussions and selection, customer services and management development. With the fact that the America Red Cross is a non-profit making organization, using this theory in its relationship with workers is very important.
The theory links heavily with the idea of love and spirituality thus brimming compassion and humanity. This links well with work ethics in America Red Cross where employees are required to show their compassion to those they are helping and show some sense of humanity because they deal with people who are helpless of themselves.
The theory also links with the notion of multiple intelligence which demonstrates and determines the range of abilities people have and the fact that every person has a value. This concept is highly upheld in our organization as employees are required to value each other and mostly the people they assist because all people regardless of their life status have value and possess a certain degree of abilities.
How the Organization Embraces New Paradigms Such As Telework and Virtual Offices
Many organizations including the America Red Cross have highly embraced the new paradigms such as telework and virtual organization. Virtual organization refers to a case where employees operate remotely from each other and from the management. This is reality when it comes to the America Red Cross organization where, given the huge community to deal with, it is a fact that workers have to work remotely from each other and far from the management.
In such a way our organization has been able to reach and help people from far remote areas and remain relevant to the community. In order to make virtual offices effective there has been a revolution in places of work, time of work and means of communication as stated by Khosrow-Pour (2006).
This has been made possible by the availability of an impeccable web of electronic communication networks such as email, laptops and modems, video conferencing, cellular telephones and interactive pagers among others. All these aspects of virtual office make team work and mobility a reality and this is very important to our organization.
Telework is a form of virtual office arrangements. It involves duties being carried out in the various locations remote from the office where employees do not have personal contacts with coworkers and can only communicate using electronic media.
This virtue is highly embraced in the America Red Cross where workers most of the time work in remote areas far from coworkers. Teleworkers are usually provided with orientation programs by the traveler insurance. With the use of phones, emails, laptops, voicemails and computer servers, teleworkers are able to communicate with the office.
Conclusion
Organizational behavior is a very important virtue in every organization. In order to uphold this virtue, organizations need to embrace a culture which dictates the various behavioral mechanisms for employees. Similarly, the means of communication have also been improved in order to make workers aware of their responsibilities.
Effective authority is also important in ensuring workers undertake their responsibilities. In order to have good organizational behavior employers have adopted various motivational techniques for their employees which embrace the theory of emotional intelligence. Nevertheless, organizations have currently embraced new paradigms of virtual organization and teamwork which help them achieve their goals.
References
Hooke, W. & Rogers, P. (2005). Public Health Risks of Disasters: Communication, Infrastructure, and Preparedness: Workshop Summary. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.
Khosrow-Pour, M. (2006). Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology Management: 2006 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, Washington, DC, USA, May 21-24, 2006, Volume 1. Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group Inc (IGI).
Norgren, J. & Nanda, S. (2006). American Cultural Pluralism and Law. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group.