Individuals in Organizations

Question 1

What is the difference between an employee and a contractor?

Answer 1

Will determine entitlements and the legal responsibility to pay taxes.

Question 2

What are the three criteria in determining employment status?

Answer 2

1. Behavioral – does the company have the right to control what the worker does and how they do their job?
2. Financial – Is business aspects and compensation controlled by the company? How worker is paid, expenses are reimbursed, who provides tools/supplies etc.
3. Relationship – are there written contracts or employee type benefits?

Question 3

Name and describe the six terms for types of employees.

Answer 3

Regular Employees - positions expected to continue year to year;
Temporary employees - employed for a specific period of time or for a project/season;
Full time employees – work 35-40+ hours/week on a regular basis and qualify for employee benefits;
Part time employees – work less than 35-40 hours/week on a regular basis and may not qualify for employee benefits;
Salaried employees – are not entitled to overtime compensation;
Hourly employees – entitled to overtime compensation for hours worked outside of regular schedule.

Question 4

Describe and explain the nine personality dimensions.

Answer 4

Perfectionist – knows what they want and how to get it done;
Helper – main concern is to please others;
Producer – may be seen as ‘yes men’ and get the job done;
Connoisseur – brings creativity and positivity;
Sage – quiet and prefer to observe and listen;
Troubleshooter – often worries about what could go wrong and prepare for any possibility;
Visionary – optimists who spark innovative ideas;
Top Dog – known as the informal boss, leader or challenger;
Mediator – dealmakers and compromisers who are uncomfortable with confrontation.

Question 5

What are the four generational influences found in the current workplace?

Answer 5

Silent generation, baby boomers, generation x and millennial.

Question 6

What are the major influences on and best ways to motivate the Silent generation?

Answer 6

• Show how much you value their expertise and their contributions.

Characteristics: service excellence, due process, fair and open, civic minded, loyalty, conservative.

Question 7

What are the major influences on and best ways to motivate Baby Boomers?

Answer 7

• Providing new opportunities to try new assignments built on their core skills by mixing old responsibilities with new.

Characteristics: Relationships count, experiment, play your dues, driver to excel, optimistic, take it personal.

Question 8

What are the major influences on and best ways to motivate Gen X?

Answer 8

• Providing flexible hours. Many in this generation have growing families.

Characteristics: make it happen, committed, comfortable with diversity, feedback hungry, self-sufficient, entrepreneurial, flexible.

Question 9

What are the major influences on and best ways to motivate Millennials?

Answer 9

• Ensuring they have challenging work that is meaningful. They will need to be oriented to the organization’s culture. Information on business protocol and unwritten rules are helpful.

Characteristics: high tech literacy, multi-tasking, civic minded, power of the pack, less gender and ethnicity issues, educated, manners.

Question 10

Explain Szilagyi’s basic model of motivation.

Answer 10

Incorporates needs, directions and rewards.
Motivation results from wanting to satisfy an individual need.

Question 11

Identify the six steps in Szilagyi’s model.

Answer 11

1. The need to create tension within the individual that they will seek to reduce.
2. Individual will search for behaviors and strategies to satisfy the need.
3. Individual performs the behaviors.
4. The performance is evaluated.
5. Reward or punishment is given based on the performance.
6. Individual evaluates if the need was satisfied.

Question 12

What is the basis for the scientific management model of motivation?

Answer 12

Workers are motivated to produce through wage incentives.

Question 13

How does the Human Relations Model differ from the scientific one?

Answer 13

They discovered that employees were not motivated solely by money but by a variety of different needs.

Question 14

Describe the three broad areas of present-day motivation theory.

Answer 14

1. Content theories focus on factors that energize motivated behavior.
2. Process theories focus on how to motivate.
3. Reinforcement theories focus on the ways behavior is learned.

Question 15

Describe Maslow’s Theory of needs.

Answer 15

Classifies human motivation into a hierarchy of 5 needs.

Question 16

Identify the different levels of needs in Maslow’s theory.

Answer 16

• Self-actualization
• Esteem needs
• Belongingness
• safety and security
• physiological needs.

Question 17

Describe Herzberg’s theory and how needs could be separated.

Answer 17

Conducted a study of job attitudes. Separated responses by motivators (job satisfaction) and hygiene factors (job dissatisfaction). AKA the two factory theory.

Question 18

What are the Herzberg’s two categories? What is contained in each?

Answer 18

• Dissatisfiers include salary, working conditions and company policy. Positive ratings in these factors didn’t lead to satisfactions, only absence of dissatisfaction.
• Satisfiers include achievement, recognition, responsibility and advancement.

Question 19

What factors do these content theories fail to consider?

Answer 19

• Needs vary between individuals and change over time.
• The way needs translate into behavior is widely different
• People from different countries and cultures rank their needs differently.

Question 20

What models fall into the process theory group?

Answer 20

• Expectancy theory
• equity theory
• goal setting theory.

Question 21

What is Expectancy Theory?

Answer 21

Accounts for the differences between individuals and their behaviors.

Based on 4 assumptions:
1. Behavior is determined by a combination of factors in the individual
2. Individuals make conscious decisions about their behavior.
3. Individuals have different needs, desires and goals.
4. Individuals decide on their behavior based on their expected outcome of the situation.

Question 22

What is equity Theory?

Answer 22

Based on an individual’s evaluation of the equity of the reward and how it plays a large part in their motivation, performance and satisfaction. Usually focuses on monetary compensation.

Question 23

Describe goal Setting Theory.

Answer 23

• States that workers strive toward goals and focus on the goal setting process.
• Goals should be specific and challenging but reachable.
• Accurate feedback should be given to create satisfaction.

Question 24

What are the problems with process theories and how can they be overcome?

Answer 24

They are only effective after a manager has gotten to know their employees. Can be overcome if managers set clear performance standards, give good feedback and reward satisfactorily.

Question 25

Describe reinforcement theory, both positive and negative.

Answer 25

Looks at how consequences of past behaviors affect future actions.
If consequences are positive, the individual will have similar response in similar situations.
If consequences are negative, the individual will change their behavior to avoid those consequences.

Question 26

How can job design be used as a motivator?

Answer 26

This focuses on making jobs challenging to the employee -> rewarding.

Question 27

Identify the difference between training and development of employees.

Answer 27

Training is maintaining and improving the employee’s current job performance. Employee development involves gaining skills for future jobs.

Question 28

What are the four key steps to providing training and development?

Answer 28

1. Determine training needs.
2. Establish objectives.
3. Select training methods and implement programs.
4. Evaluate training and development programs.

Question 29

How is a job needs analysis conducted?

Answer 29

• Organizational analysis - Looks at the needs of the organization now and in the future.
• Operational analysis – looks at the needs of specific job groups.
• Individual analysis – looks at the needs of the employees.

Question 30

List and define the training and development methods.

Answer 30

1. On the job training.
2. Job rotation – skills can be broadened by rotating jobs at their level.
3. Apprenticeship.
4. Simulation – can be trained on the same piece of equipment, located away from the workplace.
5. Self-Study.

Question 31

Differentiate between efficiency and effectiveness.

Answer 31

Efficiency: Doing things right.
Effectiveness: Doing the right things.

Question 32

Describe what a performance framework is and the key elements.

Answer 32

Performance framework is an important part of the effectiveness of the organization.
1. Performance criteria
2. Level of analysis.
3. Performance focus.
4. Time frame.

Question 33

Define a career.

Answer 33

A sequence of jobs that unfolds over time.

Question 34

Discuss the four levels of career advancement.

Answer 34

Level 1 – the first job. The employee is a trainee or apprentice learning the necessary skills.
Level 2 – moves to their first managerial job. Starts making real contributions to the organization.
Level 3 – when individual is mid-career and takes on more responsibility. Leadership roles directing other’s activities, mentoring and training.
Level 4 – individual is promoted to a higher level of management. Setting goals for the future direction of the organization.

Question 35

Why is it important to understand what career stage an employee is in?

Answer 35

In order to motivate employees to perform.

• Entry stage – new to the company, job or team. - Development stage – concentrates on growing and developing. - Balance stage – professional growth has slowed and more work/life balance. - Exploration stage – where employees look for something new.

Question 36

Describe Schein’s Cone Model.

Answer 36

Indicates that career paths can go in 3 different directions:
* Vertically – moving up and down the organizational hierarchy.
* Radially – increasing and decreasing the employee’s importance in the organization.
* Circumferentially – moving from one functional area to another

Question 37

What question does a career preference analysis answer?

Answer 37

“What do I want from this job or career?”.
Elements of career planning are a personal resource analysis, career preferences analysis, and career goals.

Question 38

Career goals normally consist of what two components?

Answer 38

Time frame – goals to achieve immediate, 3-5 years and 10 years;
Criteria – include specific factors to achieve.

Question 39

What specific factors would be considered as career goal criteria?

Answer 39

1. Specific job titles.
2. Target salary.
3. Number of different jobs held during a period.
4. Number of people to be supervised.
5. Level of educational achievement.
6. Type of lifestyle wanted.
7. Level of responsibility.
8. Type, size, and growth of employing organization.

Question 40

What are the two factors that identify an individual’s career state?

Answer 40

• how promotable the employee is.
• how well the employee is performing.

Question 41

Describe the four categories that identify individual’s career state.

Answer 41

1. Learners - considered promotable but not performing to the next level yet.
2. Stars – doing high quality work and considered to have high potential for advancement.
3. Solid Citizens – do good work but little to no chance for further advancements.
4. Deadwoods – have little or no chance for advancements and their performance is inadequate.

Question 42

The typical professional development plan includes what items?

Answer 42

Short term goals (1-2 years)
Long term goals (3-5 years)
Strengths;
Development needs/priorities

Question 43

Explain how to achieve a career goal.

Answer 43

Individual can compare current skills to those needed to reach the goal and come up with a plan to achieve it.

Question 44

Identify the most important purposes of an evaluation system.

Answer 44

• Feedback for employees on their current performance;
• Promotion, termination and transfer decisions;
• Criteria for organizational awards;
• Criteria for evaluating recruitment, selection and placement decisions.

Question 45

What questions identify the factors that contribute to poor performance?

Answer 45

1. Does the person have enough job knowledge and skills to perform as expected?
2. Has the person been rewarded in the past for good performance?
3. Does the current job satisfy the person’s current job needs?
4. Are there outside factors that might affect job performance, such as poor co-worker relationships or inadequate working conditions?

Question 46

What steps make up the formal performance assessment process?

Answer 46

1. Identifying all the elements of the job.
2. Identifying performance criteria.
3. Developing measurement metrics.
4. Establish performance standards.
5. Considering the performance assessment and interview. Also conduct, content and frequency.
6. Planning for intervention or corrective action.

Question 47

When considering the formal performance process what should be considered when developing specific performance metrics?

Answer 47

1. Thorough preparation.
2. Interactive interview.
3. Immediate written summarization.