Abstract
Many research studies have been done to investigate the underlying issues influencing staff behavior. Considering the dynamics of carrying out research studies on such an important management facet, this study evaluates specific research studies done to determine the best way managers can manage employee behavior.
Through an analysis of given research studies, we find out that observation, interviews and surveys were the most commonly used techniques in data collection while graphs and charts were the most commonly used tools in data presentation.
Comprehensively, this study concludes that the research studies sampled were fairly done and the use of graphs, pie charts, interviews and observational techniques were appropriate tools in representing behavioral variables, but the use of surveys casts a lot of doubt to the accuracy of its findings.
Introduction
Analyzing staff behavior and its antecedents can be a daunting task for most researchers. This is because staff behavior is a relative issue and many factors affecting employee behavior vary form organization to organization or region to region (Currie 2006, p. 26).
In this regard, it is essential for organizations to adopt the best research techniques in data analysis and presentation to come up with the most accurate results. Staff behavior being a critical component in organizational performance, this study will seek to evaluate research styles adopted by specific researchers in analyzing staff behavior.
This will be done through the analysis of employed research techniques in the collection and presentation of data. However, focus is also put on the recommendations outlining the conclusions derived from the research.
Research Purpose
To analyze the best techniques management can use in managing staff behavior.
Topic Review
The performance of employees is directly dependent on their attitudes and behaviors in the organization (Marchington, 2008, p. 2). This is true because one employee has an impact on the behavior of other employees and the manager’s. Researchers have, therefore found this phenomenon interesting and many have over the years developed tones of research articles on staff behavior in organizational contexts.
Since staff behavior is a pertinent management problem, researchers from various fields including marketing, strategic management, human resource management and enterprise and innovation have focused on this issue through enquiry based learning to provide managers with a comprehensive way in which they can manage staff behavior (Robinson 2006, p. 5).
Researchers have in the past dealt with a wide variety of issues regarding staff behavior; ranging from emotional problems, hygiene problems, insubordination in the workplace, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse and alcohol or substance abuse (Henry 1990, p. 23).
These factors have been identified by researchers as more problematic in the organizational context when compared to other organizational indicators such as attendance or performance problems (Fellner 1984, 32). In this context, researchers have in the past given different perceptions on staffing in organizations, through the advancement of various solutions to the problem.
One of the key solutions advanced by researchers such as Geller (2001) and Komaki (1981, p. 111) has been the setting of good examples by managers to avoid bad staff behavior. These researchers claim that the key to benchmarking good behavior rests on the managers and minimal input should be expected of employees because they reiterate the behaviors they see of their bosses.
In this regard, such researchers propose that managers ought to make rules and recommendations that govern staff behavior in addition to being at the forefront in conforming to them (Stoneman1989, p. 115).
Proponents of this view don’t side with the perception that managers should give a theoretical understanding or example of proper employee behavior because they agree that good employee behavior is a top-down approach, in that, the managers essentially determine the staff behavior to be characteristic of the organization.
These researchers also note that such a goal can be achieved through shaping the staff’s attitudes and behaviors by having a positive attitude in the first place, to set the framework for good staff behavior (Komaki 1981, p. 112).
Other researchers such as Erin (2006, p. 220) and Balcazar (1986, p. 65), have had conflicting opinions on the matter and instead advance the fact that managers should not only set a good example and hope that the employees follow it, they should set clear expectations on the behaviors they expect their employees to show.
These researchers note that it is important for the management of any organization to set high standards of employee behavior so that if a small margin of error occurs towards the attainment of excellent employee behavior, it can be tolerated without having a significant impact on the performance of the organization.
Reference is given to managers who let their employees operate their departments the way they wish and work twice as hard to cover up for employee absenteeism (Balcazar 1986, p. 66). Such managers are branded as ineffective and tolerate the thriving of bad staff behavior within organizations.
The only way organizations can avoid situations where employees account for their actions and develop some sort of responsibility, is through the clear demarcation of what is tolerable or intolerable in the organization (Turner 2002, p. 34).
Even though setting high expectations for employee behavior may be beneficial in decreasing poor staff behavior, other researchers such as Watson (2005), Torrington (2005) and Henkel (2007, p. 310) have advanced the opinion that training, prompting and self-monitoring are the best strategies for reducing poor employee behavior.
These researchers observe that it is essential for organizations to carry out routine training programs where employees are taught how to act appropriately in the organizational context.
Special emphasis was made on service-oriented organizations because such organizations require optimum perfection in employee behaviors with respect to how they interact with their customers (Henkel 2007, p. 310). Proponents of this strategy also note that managers should be strategic recipients of training programs because they are entrusted with the duty of managing employee behavior in the workplace.
Just like previous research studies which stress on the fact that the bulk of staff behavior responsibility rests on managers, these researchers also put a lot of responsibility on the role of managers in ensuring the best training practices are routinely carried out in the organization to change employee attitudes and habits.
These researchers also note that training should not only be done to new employees in the organization but also existing ones, and those who still promote dysfunctional behavior should be expelled from the organization (Watson 2005, p. 65). These harsh sentiments are upheld because the researchers realized the importance of having a positive culture which encourages proper staff behaviors in the organization.
The best way organizations can achieve this positive attitude in the organization, according to the researchers, start at the direct point of employee entry in the organization (when new employees are taught the best practices in the organizations and oriented on the expectation of management with regard to their performance in the organization) (Watson 2005, p. 29).
Lastly, researchers such as Allison (1992, p. 85) and Dickinson (1993, p. 20) have acknowledged the importance of rewarding and encouraging employees to adopt good organizational behavior. They note that most of employee poor behaviors are brought about by the lack of proper compensation or inspiration by management.
In this respect, employees who are poorly motivated often exhibit poor organizational behaviors; either out of boredom or because of poor remuneration (as a sign of protest) (Allison 1992, p. 85).
These researchers also note that management should reward employees for good performance and endeavor to compensate them for their actions in the organization, or for the extra commitment they show in the organization, which surpasses their work roles (Dickinson 1993, p. 20).
These factors are identified as overall and most important because out of the surveys done on organizations with the best staff performance, it was identified that the best organizations had good managers who educated their employees on the importance of adopting good staff behavior (Dickinson 1993, p. 20). Also, in these organizations it was seldom observed that management never took note of outstanding employee performance.
Data Collection Approaches
In coming up with the above recommendations to correct poor staff behavior, the above-mentioned researchers have used various data collection approaches in coming up with these conclusions. In determining the kind of data collection approaches to undertake, it was quite important for the researchers to understand the nature of the research and the objectives to be considered in the studies.
In addition, the researchers had to consider the resources available to achieve the goals of their research studies. However, in the selection of the best data collection technique, some researchers used more than one data collection technique to get the most accurate results for their studies. The following data collection techniques summarize the most commonly used techniques in the studies.
Interviews
Interviews were majorly used to gain a deep insight into the dichotomy of employee behaviors in organizations studies because this technique can easily expose the underlying beliefs, attitudes and anecdotal data regarding people and the behaviors they manifest while in the organization.
Most researchers prefer this method because it results in the collection of rich data relating to staff behavior because of the personal contact between the researcher and the respondent (Berhman 2006, p. 1). In this manner, it is quite easy for researchers to probe the underlying reasons resulting to the manifestation of poor employee behaviors in the organization.
Considering the nature of the research was quantitative, interviews were mainly preferred by most researchers because through the technique, they were able to establish the underlying causes for specific organizational behaviors. In this context, if employees exhibited poor staff behavior, the researchers were able to determine the causes that led to the behavior in the first place.
For example, some respondents would explain that management neglect was the primary reason why the staff exhibited poor behavior in the organization and other employees would point out that the managers behaved badly in the first place and so they didn’t see the importance of behaving appropriately.
Researchers were also able to probe the best recommendations employees thought were most suitable to solve poor staff attitude in the organization. Even though the answers expected may have been diverse, the researchers were able to dig deep into the employees’ thoughts and extract the finer details of staff behavior in the organization.
In organizations where the staff was unable to read and write, interviews provided a good mechanism to obtain information from the respondents, regardless of their illiteracy (Berhman 2006, p. 1). Also, in instances where ambiguity could be detected, audio/visual backups provided a good mechanism to backup information and reanalyze data.
The use of interviews was therefore quite useful because it was applicable to a number of organizations but in order for it to be effective, enough time had to be allocated for the interview; meaning that the staff had to create time for the interview out of the usual organization time period (Berhman 2006, p. 1).
In addition, the use of interviews may have been challenging for the researchers because they had to find a quiet place to do the interview, since noisy surroundings affect the depth of an interview.
However, in instances where special equipment was used, challenges may have been experienced in transcribing the information or recording the interview altogether, because not all researchers are endowed with the skills of making this operation a success.
Lastly, in interviews, there was a high probability that the information obtained may not have been consistent with the employee behaviors because some employees may have given false information to look good in the eyes of the researcher or to boost the image of the organization (Berhman 2006, p. 1).
Observation
In instances where interviews were deemed ineffective, observations were used to best conceptualize the underlying factors affecting the behavior of employees. Observations were best utilized in this type of research because its usage has been approved in research studies analyzing the behavior of individuals in a group context (Berhman 2006, p. 2).
One main advantage why the researchers felt that observation was appropriate for their researches, is that, in observation, the staff are unaware that they are being analyzed and therefore chances of the researcher obtaining uncompromised information is extremely high. In fact, some analysts note that observation technique is more effective when compared with interviews (Berhman 2006, p. 2).
This is because this technique provides reliable information through reliable indicators of staff behavior, which is better than probing the behavior of employees orally.
Some researchers preferred this technique because it was quite useful in triangulating or corroborating information from previous research studies, especially for researchers who were using secondary data materials (Berhman 2006, p. 2). Such kind of research may have included the analysis of case studies or such like sample data.
Observation technique is therefore quite effective, especially in qualitative research, which clearly outlines the nature of this study but regardless of these advantages, some researchers may have faced a couple of challenges in applying this technique.
One of the significant challenges for the researchers is the need for total commitment in observing the behavior of employees in the organization and this involves the time to record relevant information as well (Berhman 2006, p. 2). Secondly, unlike the interviewing technique, in observational research, the researchers could not ask the participants questions whenever they needed clarification.
Because of this fact, the final conclusion may have suffered the setback of portrayal of wrong analysis to employee behavior. This means that under observational technique there is a potential risk of wrong data interpretation, meaning that, if another researcher were to analyze the same scenario as observed by another researcher, probabilities that the two would infer different conclusions are high.
This technique, therefore, requires that the researchers be very impartial in using it and they should also try to draw out the most accurate conclusions from the observation. Otherwise, it would be appropriate to use follow up interviews to verify the conclusions.
Surveys
Analyzing the behavior of employees through the analysis of certain organizations was carried out using the survey technique. This means that Allison (1992) and Dickinson (1993) sampled a given group of organizations and analyzed the staff behavior in these organizations. These researchers may have been attracted to the technique because it was the most appropriate in gathering brief responses from a sample of organizations.
Also, the technique may have given the researchers the option to either ask open-ended or close-ended questions, in addition to giving the researchers the liberty to ask the questions in written copies or online. Lastly, the tabulation of employee responses was perceived to increase the efficiency of the research information.
Presentation of Findings
Different researchers used different types of presentations to show their findings. However, the most commonly used methods of data representation were graphs, to explain the relationship between various managerial practices and the resultant effect on employee behavior.
Variables such as employee motivation, remuneration and attitudes were directly depicted alongside management’s commitments to the parameters and the resultant effect on staff behavior. This technique was quite useful to most researchers because they could summarize what an entire essay would try to explain. In addition, under the technique, staff behavior could be quantified alongside the influencing variable.
Pie charts were also commonly used to expose the type of variables affecting staff behavior and the extent to which they affect staff behavior altogether.
In this regard, variables such as management’s commitment, performance benchmarking, training, remuneration and the likes were represented in a pie chart format with the percentage to which they affect employee behavior shown in the findings. This method was preferred because it could also summarize most of the significant variables affecting employee behavior and their relative strengths in doing so.
Conclusion
Research studies to analyze employee behaviors are best represented by the employment of observational research technique and interviews. The findings depicted in this study represent a fair view of how the research should be done, but the inclusion of surveys in coming up with the final conclusions may cast of a lot of doubt to the accuracy of the research.
This is because surveys are only representative of the overall operations of the organization and therefore, it does not go deep, to analyze underlying factors affecting staff behavior, the way interviews and observational techniques do. Nonetheless, the best conclusion, factoring in the nature of the research, could be best derived through observational technique.
With regard to the data presentation techniques, graphs and charts were appropriate tools of data representation in this study because staff behavior is by far a dynamic issue and the factors affecting it are also quite dynamic.
To quantify the degree of the variables affecting the behavior of employees, it was necessary to come up with a visual depiction of the most significant variables and the percentages or degrees to which they affect staff behavior.
Graphs and pie charts were therefore quite useful in this study because they were able to summarize the most important elements to this research. Comprehensively, the above research methodologies were fairly carried out and their conclusions reflect a significant degree of reliability.
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