Understanding People in Organisations

Assessment Brief

Question 1:

Question 2:

Question 3:

Question 4:

Question 5:

FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE THE ASSIGNMENT

The student has made some attempt to answer the questions but falls short of the standards required. It was pleasing to see a reference list free of websites, but this is not enough. The student has not quite grasped the core concepts from the module and they are not yet well understood.

The unaccessed q.5 is 20% short on the minimum word count and does not contain any citations. Furthermore, much of the response is descriptive of the case and shows high similarity. A total grade reduction of 2% is applied.

To improve your grade

1. I needed to see a much clearer idea of what you considered rational and bureaucratic approaches to work. Moreover, reference to some positive aspects of rational work would have offered a more balanced response.

2. I would have liked to see some analysis of the testing processes at the call centres i.e. are they testing personality types or traits? Is the testing more nomothetic or ideographic in style? Moreover, in q2. there needs to be more support from specific evidence in the case to enhance the evidence in the literature you have found. 

3. In each paragraph you write try to routinely include three elements – evidence from the case, a relevant citation of what you have read and lastly your explanation of how the ideas respond to the question. This triad is missing in q.3. so the response is tending to lack a coherent focus. Effectiveness on teamwork might use Katzenbach’s curve, or leadership the LMX theory.

4. You ought to have been writing about OB Mod application model for behavioural learning in q.4. Use more than one reference source to respond to a question as this will leave you with a one-dimensional view of the topic.

5. Review Harvard referencing protocols. Every citation needs to be referenced and vice-versa. I note that Bandura, 2006 in q.4 does not appear in your reference list

1. Question One

The organization of work at Insure You which is a massive call centre purpose built in England includes the recruitment of 800 different work stations diversified among three floors which each convey three overall departments of inbound, outbound calls and customer relationship managing hub. However, with operations extending 24/7 and over three shifts, call operators are divided into teams which are supervised by a team captain who reports to supervisors, whom in turn report to shift managers. Considerably, the senior board of management has a total of three shift management teams which are the call centre manager, the finance and It managers and the HR.

Nevertheless, due to the huge load of world, a small chunk of the employees at Insure You are full or part time employed, with the rest being enrolled based on zero hours or agency staff contracts. This has manifested in high absenteeism especially during the night shifts. Moreover, even with such shortage, the staff are anticipated to work under intense measure answering 80 percent of the calls within the first thirty second and are subjected to conclude calls within four minutes. Moreover, the agents are not provided with their freedom to tackle the calls as the follow detailed computed scripts, are constantly supervised and monitored and only restricted to leave their stations for appointed breaks.

Insure you hence demonstrate the conceptual implementation of bureaucratic work approaches which translates to an iron cage which doesn’t only imprison but also limits the staff. Bureaucratic organizational structures deprive the staff from being initiative, motivated, ingenuine or even the capacity to improvise. However, this has been demonstrated priory by the conceptualization of Weber, who predicted that modern business structures will hold people in the iron cage, where they will be limited to a certain expertise, and having a minimal understanding or effective role in the organization they work within, which is highly the case of Insure You. According to the narrow rationality of perceiving such a context, there is a lack of relationship between the staff and their organization, which is focused mainly on the organization desire to win or achieve revenues mainly within the modern capitalist business world. Hence, while productivity is the main organizational motivation for the business, employees are unmotivated and unengaged (King and Lawley, 2016, Merz, 2013). Nevertheless, when we assess the positive view in contrast to the negative view of Insure You versus Recall respectively we notice that the bureaucratic approaches used differ in the manner of lean versus team (Adler and Borys, 1996). In the systematic analysis provided by Chambel, and Alcover (2011) on the psychological assessment of contracts of call centres workers that in the case of Insure You, temporary staff which account the majority of the staff perceive and experience lower balanced and relational obligations with the business and yet at the same time are dedicated to their transactional tasks. However, on the other side, Recall staff are seemingly perceiving a more constructive and balanced organizational obligations (Chambel, and Alcover, 2011). This can be seen and assessed mainly through the psychological contract which Recall has invested in to increase its relationship with the employees’ behaviours and attitudes, and allowing them to utilize their experience and problem solving skills. That is directly correlated with higher and better overall relational dedication and engagement with the work, and increased satisfaction, motivation and higher organizational ethical and virtuous demonstrated behaviours.

To overcome the rationalization of bureaucratic organizational structures implemented by Insure You, the management team needs to loosen their grip over the employees and draft a more logical work flow and structure guided by experience, problem solving and decision making skills rather than automated computed scripts. In addition, it should revise its employees contracts to be mainly based on temporary or full time jobs, instead of focusing on agency or zero staff contracts.

2. Question Two

The personality tests remain inexpensive and simple to execute. A good personality test can determine and assess person’s personality in what seems like a matter of hours, whereas an enterprise can require more time to figure out. Such assessments minimize or remove the likelihood of bad recruits, resulting in a positive payoff. While a strong cultural compatible candidate would be significantly beneficial to the business organization, a terrible employee could be pricey and have a negative impact on the effectiveness and attitude of other workers.

Insure you uses a quick and conveniently easy recruitment algorithm which relies on an autonomous online digital personality test as well as a brief registration form to catch pace with said overwhelming amount of openings which that process generates. Staff selected or recruited straight to Recall, on the other hand, undergo a thorough selection strategy that incorporates an interviewing and group focused activities to determine their willingness to function in and manage a team. Extrovert types with the capacity to be friendly, engaging, and empathetic to consumers are identified through personality assessments.

HRM departments have been progressively using sophisticated technology like personality tests to assist them in making better employment decisions in order to establish high-quality workplace (Kanfer, Wanberg & Kantrowitz, 2001). Personality tests comprise evaluations that reveal vital but elusive knowledge regarding the personality and person specification, attitudes, and key skills. Human capital managers utilize such generated vital information to determine whether a candidate will do well or not in any specified position. The benefits and drawbacks of personality testing seem important, and firms must weigh it carefully the before determining whether or not to utilize them (Colbert et al., 2012).

Evaluating the candidate effectively, an unbiased hiring process, decreased time-to-hire, enhanced ROI, spotting negative personal attributes, and a higher possibility of getting the best-fit applicant are all positives of personality evaluation. Personality testing, for example, aids companies in identifying required personal traits in possible applicants (Attiq et al., 2017). A hiring manager could use underlying psychological features to screen potential recruits from a pool for a certain field of work. When hiring experts, for instance, personality attributes like rational skills, enthusiasm, rapid thinking, tenacity, strong communication abilities, empathy, as well as the capacity to remain calm will be sought. A personality inventory aids talent management professionals in efficiently narrowing down applicant searches. Furthermore, it facilitates and speeds up the recruiting process. Undesired interviews are reduced when the measurement is conducted online and thus the proper candidates may be selected. The time being spent selecting applicants is reduced because the results of personality tests may be obtained instantaneously (Youshan & Hassan, 2015). Furthermore, the assessment eliminates the possibility of implicit bias during the selection of applicants for the employment role. Recruiting personals make fair selections by weighing candidates’ qualifications against the job requirements (Youshan & Hassan, 2015). The ideal match for the profession is a person who possesses the required skills and abilities. The personality evaluation examines candidates on a variety of criteria and delivers explicit outcomes so that they may be compared along the same measure when applying for jobs.

The field of personality tests is filled with questionnaires and tests, the majority though are not accurate, according to the drawbacks of personality assessments. A business must have qualified experts who can tell the difference between genuine and inept exams. Personality assessments have a number of flaws. Personality Tests within the digital landscapes and Marketplace, for example, can be difficult to find. There seem to be various personality evaluation tools available which claim to provide accurate and reliable results.

Such claims, though, might have been a little far-fetched. A flawed personality assessment could produce deceptive findings, like incorrect applicant personality description, obstructing the employer’s recruitment choice in choosing the best applicant for the specified role. Aside from that, the findings of the personality test don’t really establish whether a person has a strong or terrible character. The analysis looks at the personality factors that are needed for the profession. Customer-facing professional jobs like customer manager, reception, supervisor, and persona stylist are best filled by someone with a pleasant disposition and excellent communication skills.

3. Question three

In the case of Recall, it was apparent that teamwork had been the core of the processes and had played a vital and important role in all the organizational activities. although it is apparent that each team and department had been characterized by a unique set of characteristics, objectives and styles, still Recall had followed the interdependency structure amongst its staff where it was more important to focus on motivation, expertise and functionalities to be productive rather than revenues (Driver, Brousseau, & Hunsaker, 1998). When people collaborate, they may create exceptional outcomes and continue going to new levels of perfection (Karvelas, 1998). In the commercial world, teamwork is essential for effective functioning (Charlsen, 2009). Competent leadership is required therefore for any team to function effectively (Varsami, Popescu, & Hanzu-Pazara, 2012).

Leaders across all types of businesses must seek to develop their overall leadership abilities. These might be considered necessary for the effective development of the organization. The study’s main goal is to underline the importance of leadership potential. Additionally, leaders are well aware that, in order to maintain the company’s effectiveness, they must continue to develop such skills throughout their employment. Leadership style includes communication, excitement, creativity, positivity, evaluation, collaboration, morality, professionalism, openness to experience, and resolving conflict.

However, while teamwork and effective leadership seems prominent at Recall, it seems lacking or scare at Insure You. The ability, behaviors, and competencies that leaders should exhibit in order to enhance employee well-being and lead to successful progress are referred to as leadership competence. Leaders appear to have the primary job tasks of managing and motivating others to handle and manage and achieve goals and objectives. Supporting others in reaching their full potential is one of the most important leadership qualities. Leaders gain success in the implementation of leadership traits by assisting others in improving their own capacity. There seem to be various types of leadership skills. Leaders must make efforts to perform well in certain roles and accomplish the desired outcomes, they must possess the essential skills. Furthermore, employees must understand the abilities individuals must use in a variety of situations and locales.

Competency deployment should be done strategically so that it helps both employees and the firm as a whole. When it comes to integrating leadership abilities in an effective manner, there are various variables involved. They should be committed to the goals and purpose, get a deep understanding of his or her jobs and accountabilities, demonstrate honesty and transparency all across their careers, know how or where to motivate others and initiate one’s own mindset, promote awareness of problem-solving techniques, assume control over psychiatric problems, and then provide effective decision-making and alternatives to a range of issues and hurdles.

4. Question Four

In the case of Insure You, observational theory of learning, commonly known as behavioural learning theory, is a suitable fit for a standard size company looking to educate the employees on particular job duties or responsibilities that will become the daily ritual. The principle of observation is founded on an employees’ desire and capacity to continually examine a behaviour, such as in Recall, and afterwards duplicate that action when prompted to use it (Bandura, 2006). The foundation of learned behaviour would be that this could be utilized to help develop different habits or to modify present ones, depending on the management’s way of showing the individual a change in behaviour that explicitly exhibits a substantial effect or consequence from the activity being learned. This negative / positive conduct, referred to as “vicarious rewards and punishments,” has a significant impact on the learning which occurs in the mindset of the organization employees (Bandura, 2006). However, at Insure You, whenever a mistake is done, the employees are rejected and dismissed and this acts as a barrier of development and motivation from other employees.

For instance, in call centers such as Insure You where employees are asked to answer calls 80% of the times in 30 seconds over 4 minutes, an efficient and reliable mentor will be able to demonstrate how a modification in scooping up and managing procedure can double productivity 80% per hour, generating great vicarious reward. An instructor’s capacity to illustrate an alternative method of controlling the same components that lowered production to 15% handled in the same timeframe is an illustration type of negative and adverse vicarious learning. In other terms, an observational learning could readily notice a modification instructional and then correlate it with a favorable or negative consequence, resulting in the memory implanting a newly acquired behavior which can be implemented after instruction and in future jobs (Bandura, 2006).

There seem to be numerous ideas that explain how it is that observational learning works. According to the most widely accepted hypothesis, individuals like to mimic successful actions in each other (Bandura, 2006). As such, in a teaching situation, particularly one involving work, the context of observation training is selected depending on the trainer’s intense focus on a critical work purpose and exemplify modifications to such operations, allowing trainees / employees to perceive the adjustments and strive to imitate and implement the corrective actions in the future. Concentration, retention, performance, and incentive are the 4 distinct components that has to be in effect for observation conditions for learning (Bandura, 2006Employees are not able to master the new set of skills and knowledge except of they can focus on their lecturer and respective environment. The competence and personality of the instructor, as well as the venue of the instruction, would all hold a crucial influence throughout this procedure (Bandura, 2006). In order for recall to succeed, the instructor has to be capable of teaching the employee in such a way that the conduct may be effortlessly remembered afterwards. The retention cycle will be aided by repeatedly seeing the procedures and then practically repeating the same processes (Bandura, 2006).

5. Question five

Inaugurating technology at Insure You, had initially boosted performance and productivity especially post the integration of the technology that the supervisor had implemented based on his prior work experience. Nevertheless, even with the technological inauguration, Insure You, pace of development has seemingly remained slow and sluggish and this is mainly due to the inefficiency. To speed up and boost call processing even more, the Centre Manager opted to implement new automated voice reply and automated dispersal technology. The goal was to maximize sales opportunities while lowering the amount of employees needed. He soon picked on a system that had he had been acquainted with since his previous job, and the quickness through which he acquired and integrated the developed model astonished his bosses. When suitable agents confirm that they are accessible on the workstation, the program routes queries to them. Customers get held in a wait if agents were unreachable. Supervisors use information from the device to control performance, such as the volume of calls accepted by every agent, the duration of every call, as well as the time invested performing post-call management. This data is available on the facility’s computer monitors. Two workers were subsequently fired after neglecting to declare their readiness for another contact on their workstation, resulting in unapproved breaks.

Nevertheless, the predicted sales boost from implementing the system has indeed been sluggish to materialize. Notwithstanding the supervising team’s implementation of a “star of the week” reward, revenues had been sliding behind plan for 3 months. Complaints from customers, which are collected regularly, seem to have been rapidly progressing as well. The management staff is spending hours in the workplaces than ever before analyzing revenue and tracking measures. Supervisors as well as shift managers evaluate data from the past day each new onset of a shift.

That can be associated mainly with the algorithm via which the reply system was constructed through which lacked interaction, communication, real time, and efficient reply or help to the customers. On the other side, Recall had been implementing an information system that analyzes the performance of the employees rather than substituting them. A ‘heat chart’ has been used by executives to aid in the planning of employees. For the entire week, this graph represents the proportion of calls attended to at 2 minutes, broken down onto half-hour appointed cells. The red cells indicate timings slots where more than 50% of callers take much longer to complete. Supervisors collaborate with key staff to analyze the source of red cells or, if necessary, decide on an interim and/or long-term resolution. For illustration, it could be due to an abnormal surge in calls triggered by a business or system fault, absenteeism, poor staffing, or a rise in call intricacy. Thus Recall use technology to boost its ROI while Insure You had utilized it for productivity solely

References

Adler, P. S., & Borys, B. (1996). Two Types of Bureaucracy: Enabling and Coercive. Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(1), 61–89. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393986

King, D., & Lawley, S. (2016). Organizational Behaviour. Oxford University Press.

Merz, F. (2013). Max Weber ́s Theory of Bureaucracy and Its Negative Consequences. GRIN Verlag.

Chambel, M. Alcover, C. (2011) The psychological contract of call-centre workers: Employment conditions, satisfaction and civic virtue behaviours, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 32:1 115-134

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Kanfer, R., Wanberg, C. R., & Kantrowitz, T. M. (2001). Job search and employment: A personality–motivational analysis and meta-analytic review. Journal of Applied psychology, 86(5), 837.

Sharma, S. (2020). The Advantages and Disadvantages of A Personality Test. Available at: https://blog.mettl.com/advantages-disadvantages-of-personality-tests/

Youshan, B. B., & Hassan, Z. (2015). The effect of employees personality on organizational performance: Study on insurance company. International Journal of Accounting and Business Management, 3(1), 187-194.