Art of Persuasion
Description of a situation
While working at the recreation center on campus, I once applied the art of persuasion to improve the participation of the other workers in the activities of the center. The center involves a variety of activities, especially in the morning hours before the gym sessions. Since the center’s activities involve working in the early hours of the morning, most of the workers, especially the cleaners, were unwilling to undertake the activities.
When I joined the center as an assistant organizer, I noted that the attitude of the workers towards the center’s activities was weak. I developed a concern therefore to change the cleaners’ attitude for the betterment of the center. I noted that the workers did not like the idea of working very early in the morning. As theories of organizational behavior postulate, attitude influences the employee’s participation in the mission of an organization.
While this was clear in my mind, I did not know how to approach the issue until I acquired the ‘Art of Persuasion’ skills in the management class. Equipped with these skills, therefore, I decided to apply them to improve the performance of these workers, the cleaners. The subsequent discussion describes my application of the art of persuasion in addressing this issue.
Application of the Art of Persuasion
The first step was to identify the attitude of the target group (the cleaners). As mentioned earlier, the center activities are involving especially in the morning, a trend which every employee at the center understood. My role, as a supervisor, was to plan for the activities and to ensure that the workers perform these activities. I noted that the attendance was not impressive and as expected, during the morning sessions.
In fact, in some mornings I would record a turnout as low as 20%. The most interesting aspect of the trend was that those who did not frequently avail were willing to forfeit any amount of their salaries, as a penalty. In management and organizational behavior, attitude is one’s perception of their duties within an organization. People with a strong attitude, avail the required resources to accomplish the assigned duties whereas those with weak attitude provide excuses and end up not accomplishing their duties. With this knowledge, therefore, I noted that the cleaners had a weak attitude towards their morning duties.
I attributed the lack of availability during these hours to a weak attitude. The next aspect of ‘Art of Persuasion’, which I focused on, was the capability of these workers to comprehend information. These workers joined the center voluntarily and clearly understood this policy. Based on their turnout during the morning hours, these members lacked these capabilities and therefore there was a need to change their negative attitudes towards these duties.
The other aspect I focused on was the personal trait of these workers. With most of the members educated to at least high school level, they had high agreeableness traits, and therefore the art of persuasion could apply. On the aspect of esteem, most of the workers of the center are fresh high school graduates, including the cleaners. Such groups of people in society have low self-esteem with the inclusion of this particular case. The final aspect of this step was the mood of these workers. Having interacted with most of them during gym sessions, I knew they had a good mood and I, therefore, approached them to change their attitudes.
Then I devoted my time to a series of the meeting after work, with the target group (the cleaners). During these meetings, I focused on whether these workers paid attention to their duties within the center. From the onset, I noted that they did not pay attention. Most of these people did not care about the morning schedule. The workers, I realized, did not find the issue of absenteeism critical to the success of the center in service delivery.
Finally, most of the workers did not process or critically think about the information I passed to them. Having identified the major preliminaries in the Art of Persuasion technique, I narrowed my focus to individual workers. I described the situation in terms of the performance of each of these members based on the goals of the gym center. With my experience in the gym, I would point out the various roles, which strictly depended on their contribution. Stressing on the students’ and community’s need for services of the center, I attracted the attention of these workers into the morning schedule.
Having interacted with most of them, they trusted in most of the issues I raised. Since most of the workers understood their roles, I would point out how their effort was significant for the betterment of the gym center. Throughout my mission, I listened to the issues of each worker to comprehend why their involvement had gone too low. By the end of each discussion, I made sure that workers changed their attitudes. After my mission, the morning sessions started to record more than 85%, with the majority of those whom I had encountered during the persuasion. The Art was indeed successful and since then the cleanliness of the center has greatly improved.
Response to reflection questions
I think what could be done differently is the ‘combined meeting’ during the second step. One on one encounter could improve the process. This way, I could have been able to understand the reason for the weak attitude of every worker and address their issues at the early stages of the process.
Before learning the ‘Art of Persuasion’ technique, my standard procedure was to encourage such people by the rewards they expect after their roles. If they did not change, however, I forcibly threatened what they were likely to encounter. In most cases, this procedure did not transform into success, as most of those whom I persuaded did not change their attitudes.
Art of Persuasion technique proved successful for the Gym center. As a management student, I hope to use this technique in changing the attitudes of the employees for the achievement of goals and vision of companies. In this way, I plan to use the technique to improve the Organizational Behavior and hence boost the production of the organizations I shall work in.
Behavior modification
Description of a situation
During my working at the gym center, I noted that Jean, my friend wasted a lot of time, especially after breaks. Jean worked in the recreation center’s maintenance department as a procurement assistant. It took quite sometime before she could resume the duty. As a person who had learned management skills, I clearly understood the consequences of time wastage to an individual, organization, and society. I, therefore, focused to change Jean’s behavior.
With my skills in behavior modification techniques, I understood that confrontation would not change her but would result in an argument. The first step in my approach was to identify the critical behavior, which indeed was time wastage and unpunctuality. Economists and management theorists assert that time management is directly proportional to the production of the organization and hence its growth and expansion. Therefore, Jean’s behavior would translate into inefficiency and low returns of the center. To ensure that this does not happen there was a need for behavior modification.
The second important step in behavior modification is to design the baseline data. To have an informative justification for Jean’s behavior, I collected the data on her time of resumption to her duties as presented in table 1 below.
Table 1: Jean’s Time management for 1 week before intervention.
Table 1 above shows that Jean wasted the most time in the morning. This implies that she reported late for work. Again, it is evident that Jean expended some more time in non-productive activities after lunch and 4 PM tea. From the data, her behavior is imminent during the morning arrivals. The reason for her behavior at this time may be two-fold. First, being a procurement officer, Jean’s work did not involve much in the morning, that is, she did not have many workers to serve.
The workers collected their equipment in the afternoon before going home. Secondly, her supervisor usually reported at 10.00 Am for work after attending to the other three branches of the center. Therefore, she enjoyed her freedom as nobody questioned her in the morning. During the after-lunch hour, however, Jean seemed to observe punctuality. This is because her supervisor would be around during most of these times.
Jean’s behavior had several consequences for the procurement department and the overall recreation center. During the morning hours, her delay also delayed the work of the field cleaners. These cleaners had to order the equipment through her. Field cleaners provided cleaning services to homeowners around the campus community. The implication of this was that major customers complained about late arrivals of the cleaners to their homes.
Some customers terminated their cleaning contracts. Although the management continually confronted the cleaners, the trend could not change. At that time, the cleaning service department consistently reported losses, which the management could not satisfactorily account for. Interestingly, the management rewarded the procurement officers, including Jean without realizing she was the root of the losses.
Since, Jean consistently enjoyed the rewards, the management, and her supervisor, in particular, could not realize the effect of her behavior. It was therefore a challenge for me to modify her behavior. If her supervisor realized the effect of her unpunctuality, Jean would face the risk of losing her job. Being a close friend, I developed an intervention to change her behavior for her benefit and that of the recreation center.
The Intervention
According to management theorists, behavior change is achievable through alteration of the conditions, which perpetuate the behavior. Therefore, for Jean’s case, I knew a confrontation would not change her behavior. Being in the management office, as a supervisor, I proposed for rescheduling of the procurement with most of the procurement processes allotted time in the morning. This ensured that Jean reported earlier in the morning to accomplish these duties.
I also rescheduled the order of the 4 PM tea. In my intervention, I proposed that all the workers should take tea from their respective offices. This aimed to reduce the time that Jean wasted during this period. The other aspect of my intervention was to scrap rewards from Jean’s office. Such a strategy would indicate to her that her performance was questionable and maybe she could change her behavior to attract the rewards.
Finally, I proposed that Jean’s supervisor should change his schedule of attending to other branches. He should start with Jean’s office and then attend to the rest of the day. This could improve Jean’s punctuality in the morning. Since the center needed a revolution to reduce the losses in the cleaning services’ department, the management implemented most of my proposals.
The next step in Jean’s behavior modification was to evaluate the success of the technique. After three months of implementation, I collected the following data on Jean’s time management.
Table 2: Jean’s Time management for 1 week after the intervention.
The comparison between Tables 1 and 2 shows a significant improvement in Jean’s punctuality. Her morning reporting improved due to large volumes of work allotted to her office. Time expended after 4 PM became considerably insignificant since she did not have to leave her office. The intervention notably indicates improvement and change in her behavior.
Response to Reflection Questions
The inclusion of data on Jean’s performance in her office into this technique could probably improve the OB modification behavior. The data would enable the management to develop a quick response intervention into her behavior.
The OB technique used above applies to almost all the situations of management and Organizational behavior. As long as the intervention adheres to the details of the five steps, the technique can successfully modify the specific behaviors of individual employees.
I indeed plan to use this technique in my future life. In my management career, I plan to change specific defiant behaviors of employees for maximum production and success of the organization. The performance of an organization depends on the organizational behavior and therefore this technique will provide a basis for modification, from defiant to productive behaviors.
Motivational analysis
Description of a situation
Strikes and mass actions in most reputable companies are the results of low salaries and poor working conditions. In such situations, salary (pay) and working conditions act as motivators while strikes are indicators of lack of motivation within an organization. I am very motivated when I work for attractive rewards and in good conditions. Motivation provides workers with the urge to accomplish their duties within an organization. Attractive rewards and good working conditions are my motivators.
Theoretical Account
In his theory of motivation, Taylor argued that human beings do not naturally like working. To motivate workers, therefore Taylor’s theory asserts that the management should offer attractive rewards (salaries) to them. I do not enjoy working and therefore Taylor’s theory supports my motivation. Salary based on the units produced drives me to work more. This is in conjunction with Taylor’s theory that managers should pay workers on their productivity.
Theory Y can also explain this motivation. As per Theory Y, salary acts to bide workers their duties. Since managers should control workers, Theory Y notes that salary acts to motivate them. Elton Mayo’s theory of motivation can also explain my motivation. Salaries satisfy the basic needs of human beings. Although I work for pay, the satisfaction of my social needs is the ultimate goal. Mayo argued that people work to satisfy their social needs.
The satisfaction of such needs is only possible through money, which workers earn from their productivity. Good working conditions also motivate me. As Mayo notes in his theory, good working conditions includes better communication, people-oriented leadership, and good workers’ relationship. In an industry where there exists good communication between the management and the employees, Mayo notes, employees feel motivated to work.
In such situations, the workers are fully involved in the decision making of the organization and hence motivated. People-oriented leadership enhances participation within the organization. In such industries, the leaders are concerned with the lives of the workers. As per Equity theory, rewards based on the performance equates all the workers and therefore motivating them. Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs is another theory, which explains my motivation. As employees climb the hierarchy of needs during the work, they feel motivated. According to cognitive theory, people evaluate their tasks based on how they satisfy their Maslow’s needs.
Therefore, people will produce more in industries in which they are progressively fulfilling their social needs as stipulated in Maslow’s hierarchy. Organizations offering attractive rewards in the form of salaries motivate me to work more.
High salaries help could me fulfill these needs and in turn, enable me to move to the next level of social need hierarchy. According to the Self-efficacy theory, people believe in their competence which salaries motivate. Therefore organizations should reward people to fully show their competence at work. Fredrick Herzberg’s theory also explains this kind of motivation. According to Herzberg, good working conditions mean job enlargement, enrichment, and empowerment. I am very motivated in working for organizations, which grants me the power to make decisions over tasks.
Intervention plan
People-oriented leadership in organizations enhances the managerial understanding of the employees’ needs. The understanding, as Mayo notes, would help the management solve specific problems of these employees. With this leadership, the needs of the employees guide the management in such organizations. Since money is the means to fulfill the social needs of employees, the management will be likely to offer higher incentives to fulfill the needs of these employees.
As a result, this intervention plan would motivate the employees. According to Taylor’s theory of motivation, human beings work for rewards in form of salary. As Cognitive and Maslow’s theories argue, people use these salaries to satisfy their needs. Therefore, if the employers are closer and care about the lives of their employees, they will offer salaries, which enable them to satisfy their needs. This may increase the motivation of the employees.
People-oriented leadership at the places of work provides a good working environment since the management is concerned with the lives of their workers. Although this action improves ‘pay’ and ‘good conditions’ as the motivator for employees, it, however, undermines innovation. According to Herzberg, innovation motivates some workers, especially those who have reached the ‘self-esteem’ hierarchy in Maslow’s social needs. According to the self-efficacy theory, innovation enables people to show their competence and motivating workers. Such employees view innovation of ideas and technology as a satisfaction to their lives and therefore they prefer working in situations in which they have the opportunity to innovate.
Review of the Process
As observed pay and working conditions are the motivators to employees. Theories such as Taylor’s, Cognitive, Self-efficacy, Herzberg, Mayo’s, Equity and Maslow’s clearly explain this observation. To improve these motivators, the paper proposes people-oriented leadership for organizations. Implementation of people-oriented leadership in an organization means, that the employee’s needs surpass the task they undertake in that organization.
As a result, the management will provide good working conditions, which do not negatively influence their lives. The management will also offer attractive salaries to the employees to help them satisfy their social needs. The satisfaction of needs motivates employees and hence increases their production into the organization. Good working conditions enhance better communication between the employees and the management.
Better communication further enhances the participation of employees in the decision-making of the organization and therefore motivates them. However, as noted, the plan may jeopardize the innovation as a motivator, especially to those who have reached the self-esteem stage in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. People-oriented leadership provides employees with job enrichment and enlargement, factors that Herzberg identified as motivators to employees.
Therefore, working in organizations whose leadership style is people-oriented may motivate me for high production and hence expansion of that organization. This is because the leadership focuses on fulfilling the needs of the employees, which is achievable through the provision of attractive salaries to these employees.
Active listening
Description of a situation
On my first day at the recreation center, the management scheduled me for a briefing meeting with the center manager. Since I had acquired skills in active listening, I decided to apply them to that meeting. As per the classwork, active listening involves the participation and concentration of the recipient. The purpose of active listening is to develop rapport, build trust, and acquire important information.
Since the manager was to introduce me to the program at the gym center, I had to apply the technique of active listening to grasp important aspects of the meeting. As discussed in class, I applied four important steps of active listening. These include listening and understanding, empathizing, asking, encouraging, and paraphrasing.
Application of Active Listening
The first important step is listening and understanding. In this meeting, I suspended everything that bothered my mind and concentrated on every word, which the manager uttered. Since active listening advocates for understanding and feeling of the spoken word, I focused on both the verbal and nonverbal signals of the manager. Non-verbal signals involve facial expressions, eye contact, and body language.
Non-verbal signals reinforce the verbal signals. As the manager spoke, he continuously used body language, therefore reinforced his message. To understand, I offered all my senses to observing him as he spoke. The other important aspect of active listening is empathizing. It involves comprehension of the information from the view of the speaker. To gain rapport and develop trust with the manager, I tried to understand the feeling of his speech, from his perspective.
At this stage, I wrote the important points of his speech to gain a deep understanding. Again, at this stage, I was able to develop questions regarding critical issues regarding the supervision of the center. To maintain my focus and concentration, I noted down the questions whenever he paused during his speech. In this way, I ensured that I did not distract his concentration as well. As learned, writing key points of the speech reveals to the speaker that the listener is actively involved in the speech. Writing also boosted my composure and trust with the manager. The more I wrote down the important points of the speech, the more I developed feeling for its content. This step facilitated the other aspects of listening in the subsequent steps.
After his speech, I requested a chance to ask some questions. Questions enable the listener to focus on the pertinent issues of the speech. Since it increases charisma, my composure with the manager grew to enquire more about my roles. At this stage, I enquired on various issues, which were not very clear to me such as allowances, holidays, and tasks. It is usually difficult for employees to discuss salaries with their seniors as I did.
Through questions, I was able to seek clarifications on all issues revolving around my role. The final step of listening involves summarizing the speech of the speaker. It involves reiterating the important components of the speech is different and simple wording. I repeated the important aspects of his speech to ensure I grasped the major issues of my work, most importantly, his expectation from me. At this stage, the manager was able to rectify any misunderstanding in his speech and provided further clarification. It also provided the manager with the chance to evaluate my level of understanding and adherence to instructions.
Response to Reflection Questions
Active listening did not feel natural. This is because some rules were difficult to follow. Coordination between the verbal and nonverbal signals was difficult. As the first time to apply active listening, understanding the information illustrated by the nonverbal signals was a challenge. Drafting questions from his speech was another difficult skill of the technique. To develop such questions requires the listener to have an insight into the subject of the speech. Being my first time in this as a worker in this center, it was difficult to comprehend the loopholes of his speech. Asking the questions was also a difficult skill. Sometimes the manager had to reframe my questions before answering them.
The manager commended my listening and learning capabilities. The approach indeed impressed him. This is because, as he commented, the technique enabled me to capture the main issues of the job. Another aspect, which he commented on, was the ability to concentrate throughout the speech. The technique enhances total participation and concentration during the listening process. It also enhances the grasping of the important information of a speech.
My listening ability was poor before this active listening activity. This is because before then, I did not adhere to several rules presented in active listening. First, I always concentrated on verbal signals in complete disregard of nonverbal signals. Therefore, before the activity, I did not grasp the important content of the spoken information. Secondly, I did not incorporate the aspect of developing questions during listening before this activity.
Finally, I omitted the skill of asking questions after the speech. In this case, however, I actively listened throughout the speech. In the process of his speech, I used both nonverbal and verbal expressions to respond to his questions. By noting down the important aspects of the speech, I often participated in his speech and therefore actively listened.