All Work and No Play, Makes You Quit Your Job
- sghani
- Sep 16, 2019
- 5 min read
This week’s blog post focuses on the human relation aspect of the workforce. As the class reading proceeds to compare the Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid versus Likert’s System IV versus Ouchi’s Theory Z versus Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs in Workforce versus Douglas McGregor’s “Theory X & Y”, I realized that they have similarities and differences. All the theorizes have their main hypothesis’s and how they are relevant to the workforce. Therefore, lets dive in!
One of the main features of the human relations movement was that the workers were an important part of the institution they were hired into. This would lead to a decrease in miscommunication between the employees and management as a result of how that information in transmitted. The human relations movement recognized the employees as a person or individual first and accommodated their outlooks and thoughts. Unfortunately, a manager that works for the human relation cause could have reason to manipulate their employees by saying one thing and doing another. This is where the saying, “actions speak louder than words”, comes to play in. This brings us to the post that we had to write for classical approach in week 2 and how instead of the human relations manager, we would get a controlling and hostile manager, instead. Therefore, besides the classical and human relation manager, we are introduced to a human resources manager. This definition of the human resource manager helps to create an organization that contests its employees, provide them the responsibility to do their job and helps with the progression through opportunities.
This brings us to our first theory, Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid. This managerial grid, Leadership Grid, provided the perfect equilibrium between a concern for the employee’s well-being and concern for their job efficiency. The grid on the right provides with different managerial styles with regards to the mentioned factors. Looking at the image, the best style proposed would be the “management team”. It correlates perfectly with the highest level of production versus the highest level of concern for its people.
Our second theorist of the human resource manager is Renis Likert, who introduced a system called the interaction- influence system that focuses on favorability, the organization’s attitudes, and need for the maximum level of job gratification for its employees. The figure on the left provides us the summary of the system. As we can observe, system one offers barely anything by the definition of the theorist. On the contrary, system four makes a better argument that it would be used efficiently, making the organization reach its full potential.
In addition, before we talk about Ouchi’s Theory Z, I would like to discuss two of the most influential theorists who developed the human relations movement. Firstly, we would talk about Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs in Workforce that helped compartmentalize the needs of daily and workforce needs. He hypothesized that people are motivated to more after low level needs are met and they can then proceed with their high level needs to reach their max potential. The pyramid on the right showcases the five most important needs, where the last three are considered as low-level needs and the top two as high-level needs. He proposed that in order to reach self-actualization, the individual should be satisfied with the last there on the pyramid. For example, major organizations like corporate based business or executives in higher management use this specific theory so that they can have the best of the best employees.
Likewise, McGregor’s Theory X&Y was used to propose what would help motivate people to work. The imagine on the right compare the Theory X and Theory Y ideas. As seen, Theory X is based on control, strict and unbendable policies, as well as incentives for reward and punishments. This creates a hostile and authoritative environment where, the employees resist the system and level of production decreases significantly. This theory specifically is used in large-scale companies that have a production environment like Ford or Chevrolet. On the other hand, Theory Y in practice believes that the organization’s goals and the individual’s can be completed at the same time if they are happily motivated to do so without any negative factors. Looking at the two theories, it is quite evident that Theory Y is a better fit because both the organization and the employee is getting what they set to accomplish. Examples includes Apple and Google that uses rewards such as employee discounts and vacations to appreciate their employees.
Moreover, Theory Y can be applied to Maslow’s Hierarchy to the top three levels. Belonging needs, esteem needs and self- actualization. Whereas, Theory X can be applied to the last two lower levels of the pyramid, where physiological and safety needs are emphasized. When we compare these theories together, we can see that a person’s motivation comes from higher levels only if the lower have been accomplished first without any manipulations. Therefore, it brings us to our last human recourses manager theorist, William Ouichi.
The Ouchi’s Theory Z hypothesized by comparing the Japanese workforce in organizations with the U.S. workforce in organizations. He hypothesized that the only way to achieve an increase in productivity is if the workers were directly involved. The Theory Z wasn’t a blueprint to follow in the Japanese’s footsteps, instead a list of incentives that could be used as a model in the American workforce. The image displays the list by Ouchi and how this equates to a balanced work and life. Examples include Samsung, and Hyundai because they value the long term aspect of the theory.
As I state the theories all these brilliant men, they make it easier to understand the structure of an organization and how that relates to a positive communicative flow between each department. If I was working for a Fortune100 company where, I wasn’t appreciated and over-worked, I wouldn’t be able to excel in my job performance and would leave. As a matter of fact, not using the correct model to motivate the company’s employees and give them praise, has a really high turn-over rate. This week's reading highlights the Cognizant's Employees that filtered content for Facebook. Reflecting on the conditions that the workers had to face such as hostile environment and using drugs and sex as a coping mechanism was quite a shock. In addition, I have a real life example, where working in Cox Health Laboratory, I observed McGregor’s Theory X, where we would have at 3 people leaving by the end of the week. What is more surprising was the fact that we were over-worked and under paid. The management didn’t prioritize our needs or heard our voice and as a result, we have people leaving left and right.
In conclusion, when I think about the human relations movement and the human resources manager, I always look for the best-balanced model. Relating to each theorist, I can understand that one model or theory cannot be used for the maximum productivity and employee satisfaction. Instead, using several points and models to make a unique well-fitted blueprint for the management and organizations. That is a wrap for week four. I hope this blog was most informative and do leave a comment if you agree or disagree with my opinions of facts.
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