Change and Stress Management - Assignment Example

Change and Stress Management at H.I.A Name: Institutional Affiliation: Change and Stress Management at H.I.A Q1. Deborah reacted in such a manner towards Melinda because she felt threatened. The threat was that the promotion of Deborah to be the executive support manager would change the way she operated in the work place. She was used to a two-hour lunch, which extended in to the normal working hours and is said to have been arriving late and leaving early from work. This shows that she had low morale in carrying out her normal day-to-day job activities. She was also accustomed to giving excuses that she wanted to avoid traffic jam and pick up her kid whenever she wanted to leave early from work. Deborah had little ambition in her job. This was aggravated by the fact that she disliked work and avoided any responsibility in the work place. This made her feel that Melinda was going to coerce her into achieving goals that she was not willing to achieve. Motivation comes out as a key element in helping employees in an organisation realize their objectives. Motivation requires intensity, direction, and persistence. Deborah did not want any change to take place in the organisation. She was contented with the way she performed her duties in the organisation. A change in the organisational structure was going to affect her. She was used to doing what she wanted for the past 15 years in the organisation. This made her believe that she was entitled to flexible working arrangements that suited her interests. Moreover, Deborah was trying to act defensively since she wanted to avoid change, action and blame from her seniors. She was doing all she could protect herself from any kind of stressful situations that she would be faced with while carrying out her roles at the work place. She was consistently displeased with the way her workmates handled jobs in the work place and was always acting cold towards Melinda. This was further evidenced by the fact that she was reluctant to stay after-hours to finish off some paper work. Her working relationship with Deborah constantly deteriorated and was at all times negative about the way Melinda carried out her duties. Furthermore, Deborah felt displeased by the fact that she had worked for the organisation for a period of fifteen years without any kind of promotion while Melinda who worked for only two years was promoted to head the company. This made her feel unappreciated and lost self-esteem. She expected to be elevated to a higher position in the company even though she had not made any efforts in ensuring that she performed her best in the work place. Deborah lost trust with the change in the management structure, and felt that the change was meant to suppress her freedom of doing what she was used to doing before the change. This left her with the opportunity of undermining the role played by Melinda. She was also not accustomed to pressure from the work place, which at most times extended into late hours. This brings up the issue of reallocation of resources in the organisation. The resources that would have been used to increase the salaries of the workers and increase their work morale were used to promote few individuals within the organisation (Nelson, 2008). Q2 The first thing Melinda ought to have done is to find the reasons as to why Deborah was behaving the way she did. She was supposed to dig deep into Deborah’s actions and come up with a clean sheet of the motivations behind her actions. She was also supposed to be very open to Deborah and inform her that she was going against ethical policies of the organisation. She should have tried to respond to the needs of Deborah even though they seemed outrageous. This is due to the fact she was her head in the organisation and would have had an easy time talking to her on her behavioural change. In addition, Melinda would have called a meeting to discuss the behavior of Deborah in relation to her roles in the workplace. Other members of staff in the organisation would have helped to settle the differences between the two people through dialogue. They would also have made great strides in ensuring that such an event does not occur again. Intervention from external parties is therefore a key element in conflict resolution. Alternatively, Melinda would have talked to Deborah about the goals and objectives of the organisation so that she clearly understands that she was not in the right track when she carried out her roles in the work place. Relevant concerns over how work is done in the organisation would have been a suitable issue for Melinda to highlight to Deborah. In addition, Melinda should have appreciated her interpersonal relationship and resolve any pending issues that would arise with Deborah. She directly chose to discuss issues related to the changed working policies in the organisation without first considering whether Deborah was in good term with her. Because of her negligence on her relationship with Deborah, her subject felt that she had o regard for the people she was supervising. In cases where Melinda would have found difficulties in resolving the issue with Deborah, she would have chosen to compromise her strict policies to ensure that the people she is supervising do not act aggressively towards her or develop low morale in the work place. This arises from the fact that Deborah had worked for the organisation for fifteen years without any kind of employee performance reward. Melinda would have left Deborah do her duties with a flexible working arrangement. In the same instance of trying to resolve the tension that masked Melinda and Deborah, Melinda would have also chosen to avoid any conflict with Deborah by ignoring her actions and trying to make her working better. This conflict resolution process is through avoidance of any possible tension that may be created in the work place unnecessarily. In fact, Deborah would have backed out of being cold towards her current boss and would be lining up to doing her best by ensuring that the organisation achieves its goals. Lastly, Melinda would have easily come to terms with Deborah’s erratic behavior by trying to harmonize the issues raised by Deborah. This involves putting in place measures and policies that do not pressurize the employees so hard that they do not have personal time to do other activities. This strategy is aimed at ending up with a win-win situation for both parties involved in the feud. Q3. Organisational change is both stressful for team members and team leaders. Although this is the case, team leaders are the ones who are faced with a greater amount of stress that arises from the reactions from the team members as well as attaining the set goals and objectives. According to the case study, most of the organisational members experienced some form of stress came up due to change in the management structure and the organisation’s policies (Jones, 2010, pp.45). One of the main elements of stress that was seen at the work place resulted due to challenge stressors. This evolved because the workers trying to complete the work load in the given period. There was also the pressure to complete the designated tasks and time urgency. This is evidenced from the way Melinda was stressed when she tried to keep pace with the new roles as well as get along with the increased workload. On the other hand, Deborah found it hard to adjust to the longer working hours and demanded to be shifted to a different department. Hindrance stressors could also be experienced in an organisation. From the case study, Deborah was seen as a hindrance to the achievement of the organisation’s goals. This made Melinda stressed when she tried to convince Deborah that she needed to change for the benefit of the organisation and herself. Hindrance stressors are one of the causes of mental and psychological harm to the people involved. Behavioural change of the workers in an organisation lead to development of stressful situations if the behavior is not contained (Fincham & Rhodes, 2005). As depicted from the case study, Deborah is seen to have developed a negative attitude towards work. She grew more distant to Melinda and would at times bad-mouth and accuse her of being high-handed in handling people she was supervising. She also became moody and was reluctant to interact with others. At times, she would verbally abuse Melinda when she was made to stay back and work after-hours. Lastly, stressors like those that interpersonal demands created by other employees would be witnessed when an employee tries to ensure that the demands of their employer are met (Wilson, 2011). This is what Melinda was experiencing when she tried to show David that she deserved the job. She was not going to relent on having her ambitions attained. She was still learning her new roles and had difficulties with increased workload. Q4. Through organisational culture, a sense of familiarity among the members of the organisation would be achieved (Martin, 2005). This would result from a common perspective of attaining the goals of the organisation as well as maintain a good working condition for all the employees. As seen from the case study, the management changed the organisational structure and its policies. Although that change took place, the culture of hard work, commitment and dedication should have remained with the employees (Daft and Piroka-Merlo, 2009). The pre-established culture is meant to stay within the organisation as long as it exists. Organisational culture also facilitates the development of dedication to something greater than self-interest (Weinberg, 2007). It helps to maintain a tradition of working as a group and ensuring that the organisation is operating smoothly and according to the set objectives. This is seen in the case study when the executive director of Housing Industry Association, David Gunsberg, appoints Melinda to head a team of five staff members. These were his efforts to have an executive support manager to supervise the roles and responsibilities of H.I.A.’s general staff. Moreover, the stability of the social system of an organisation would be enhanced through organisational culture (Griffin & Moorhead, 2010). This would prevent what was witnessed in Housing Industry Association where Melinda and Deborah were in poor, working relationship. If they had cultivated a proper culture of cooperation and coordination in the work place, they would have managed to get along very well with their roles. Organisational culture serves as a sense making and control mechanism for fitting employees in the organisation (Nelson, 2008). This means that different employees in the organisation would be placed into different departments that suit their expertise. As evidenced from the case study, Deborah could be transferred to a different section where she was able to cope with roles in the work place. In addition, it can be utilised as a guideline for the way the organisation should be run and how the employees should carry out their duties. This implies that the workers do not require information on what to do since they know the culture of the organisation and its operations. Lastly, organisational culture defines the boundary between one organisation and others (Jones, 2010). This means that different organisations have different cultures. The fact that these cultures are distinct from each other means that they could be differentiated depended on what their culture is. The Housing Industry Association is known to be the largest residential building organisation in Australia. This makes them be known as an established residential building firm and would be distinct from its competitors. References Daft, R.L. & Pirola-Merlo, A. (2009). The Leadership Experience (Asia Pacific 1st Ed.). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Fincham, R. & Rhodes, P. (2005). Principles of Organizational Behaviour. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Griffin, R.W. & Moorhead, G. (2010). Organizational Behaviour-Managing People and Organizations (9th Ed). South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Jones, G. (2010). Organizational Theory, Design and Change (6th Ed). Sydney: Pearson Education Martin, J. (2005). Organizational Behaviour and Management (3rd Ed.), (Pp.17-47). Mason, OH: Thomson Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. (2008). Understanding Organizational Behaviour (3rd Ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson Weinberg, A. & Cooper, C. (2007). Surviving the Workplace – A Guide to Emotional Well- Being. London: Thomson Wilson, F.M. (2011). Organizational Behaviour and Work: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press Read More