Organizational behavior involves interaction between individuals and groups. How does this interaction affects everyone in the organization becomes a big question. An effective organizational behavior strategy motivates employees to perform their best by making them an integral part of the team. When folks are driven towards a common goal, achieving success becomes a regular, yet simple exercise.
What Is Organizational Behavior?
Organizational behavior deals with the study of human behavior within groups or organizations and how this behavior can be modeled through analysis to impact the organizations in a positive way.
An organization in itself is composed of a group of people working individually or often within teams. The disposition of people towards each other in an organization remains the contributing factor towards shaping the organization. Organizational Behavior is an interdisciplinary field, in that it draws greatly from other subjects such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science and economics, to mention a few.
The success of an organization is largely dependent on effective management of its people. Behavior of people within an organization is governed by their ideas, feelings and activities. For effective management of people, it is crucial to perceive their requirements. However, since human behavior can differ with each individual, it becomes almost impossible to come with a unique solution to the organizational problems. For this reason, it is important to consider psychological and social aspects to design solutions focused on solving organizational issues.
The behavior of individuals within an organization can either defile the organization or aid in its overall improvement. For instance, certain employees may be compassionate and helpful towards their co-workers which helps to create a supportive work culture. This selfless attitude can be a result of the employee’s faith in the management and their satisfaction and commitment towards the organization.
An HR payroll software can help in stabilizing the organisation.However, an employee who no longer trusts the management or is left unsatisfied at the work front, may show antisocial behavior which can be harmful for the organization. Organizational culture is defined by the company parameters such as values, beliefs, norms and principles, visions, and behavioral expectations among many other things. Behavior of employees is highly impacted by work culture, as such it can affect them either positively or negatively.
A pro-social and supportive culture at work can be a major influence and also encourage and build an environment of selflessness. When people are encouraged, they feel more confident towards contributing ideas that might eventually benefit the organization. On the contrary, employees are more likely to hold up or not suggest any ideas at all if they feel they are going to face criticism or embarrassment. Generally, employees gain an understanding of the company’s culture through socializing with other people.
Reasons for Organizational Behavior Problems
In order to solve the organizational problems, it is necessary to first understand the reason for its occurrence. If the problems faced are due to damaging organizational behavior, it becomes crucial to recognize the purpose behind such a behavior. Only then can measures be taken to counter it and guide the organization in a progressive direction. Incorporation of new and encouraging behaviors in the company culture might prove rewarding to the employees and as such profit the company as a whole.
There are many factors that promote constructive organizational behaviour, such as accomplishments, self-actualization, encouragement, affiliation etc. Management should try to figure out the driving force that stimulates such a behavior and try to integrate more such factors in the work culture.
This can be in the form of promotions, new incentives, plans or rewards. It does not make sense to hire capable people and expect complete dedication in the absence of pro-social and rewarding company culture. In fact, people are more likely to lose interest in their work if they don’t feel recognized and rewarded.
Organizational Behavior Management is a social science as it is mostly concerned with people and behavior. It takes into account individual and group behavior and the factors that impact these behaviors. It is necessary to first understand the behavior of people constituting the organization in order to figure out how these work. The first and foremost importance of organizational behavior lies in understanding human behavior.
If the management can interpret properly the human needs within an organization, it can work towards fulfilling those needs and also chalk out new plans and incentives to satisfy the employees and boost them. In addition, the management has to understand also the reason for problematic behavior within organizations and take measures to eliminate the causes.
Influencing human behavior is another important aspect of studying organizational behavior. It helps the management to assess the reaction of employees beforehand, prior to making any changes in policies or schemes.
This way the management can come up with ways to alleviate any conflicts that may arise as a result of the change. Also, certain measures such as perks, promotions etc., can help in creating a content workplace which directly impacts employee performance in a positive way. As a whole, the organization gains hugely through analyzing and understanding organization behavior.
Importance of Organizational Behavior
Managing organizational behavior helps in improving the performance and satisfaction of employees. Several companies employ effective engagement and management strategies to happily bring everyone in the same direction. Leaders take action and motivate their peers to do their best.
Few other reasons why organizational behavior is important. It helps in:
- Making effective decisions
- Understanding people in a better way
- Resolving workplace conflicts
- Creating a healthy and progressive workplace environment
For the smooth functioning of processes at a workplace, management needs to create a flexible, directional, and open work environment. It is why setting the right behavior practices from the start is a must for every organization.