Organizational Behaviour

Case Study

Work Life Balance Equality and Fairness

1. Work Life balance It seems that the higher management or the people at the manager level seems to be at unrest or unsatisfied these days in the organization. Earlier the employees at the lower level or working as individual seems to be unsatisfied but the paradigm is shifting. The stress level at the manager level is very high as they are responsible for themselves and the associates which he/she is managing. Story Line: The Steel Manufacturing Firm which has the capacity of processing 100 Tons/Annum wants to double the capacity in six months to cater the market demand. However the ideal Factory erection and commissioning will take around a year but the firm decides to make it in six months to capture the upcoming short term demands in Railways and automotive sectors. In addition, to improve competitiveness and achieve cost efficiency, firm intends to upgrade its technology. The firm plans to increase the working hours of the employees with additional remuneration for estimated time period of four months, within which the required trainings and expansion activity would be completed. But the project period got extended to eight months due to various issues like procurement,

technology adoption etc. which led to stretched working hours for more than promised period. This resulted in employees dissatisfaction and increased turnover. Origin of the Issue Misfit between personal, group and organizational goals

Global organization competitiveness across timezones

Family style changing from male breadwinner to dual couple families or single parent families.

Organizations demanding increase in flexibility and productivity.

Symptoms Lack of enthusiasm Personal conflict Stretched working hours Demotivated / dissatisfied employee

Causes Improper planning and nature / scope of work Competition between organization Faster growth Personal Attitude / Issues Technological advancements Importance to Quality of Customer Service (Emotional Dissonance) Pace of Change (Work Environments and competitions) Growth of Single Parent Families

Context of work has changed. (adaptable, multi skilled and high deadlines work)

Consequences Decreases in quality of work Increased absentism / attrition Complaining employee Less Commitment to the o rganization Health issues to employees.

Model

OB Project Work

Equality and Fairness Biasness (Self / Gender / Region / Age / Educational background) Story Line: IT Industry: An IT MNC has separate SBU which has various projects running under it. The SBU head belongs to west region and prefers people at responsible position from same region only or, whoever happens to be close to him. This discriminatory behavior led to group formation and unequal information dissemination. During HR review it was observed from various projects that females are consistently rated well. Also, Employees from non-premiere educational institutes were denied growth opportunities in spite of their consistent performance. Less skilled Employees were deployed at crucial customer facing positions due to their proximity to superiors. Origin of the Issue Perception Personal motives Context Symptoms Groupism Showing discontent to colleagues Criticism Ignorance Causes Personal Motives Regional inclination Similar interest / hobbies Societal Bias Stereotyping Consequences Favoritism Unfair rewards Loss of growth opportunities Team attrition - Discontent between team members Un-equal Information dissemination Decreased efficiency / effectiveness