Abstract
This paper explores how team building and development is tied to the overall study of organizational behavior. The theories that sandwich motivation are also evaluated to understand the mechanisms through which organizations should put in place to ensure a work force that is motivated and satisfied. In respect to this, a scheme of talent management is core in maintaining a highly effective and efficient team. This paper explains in detail the reasons and effects of team building and development in an organization.
Introduction
Most organizations are comprised of both teams and workgroups. In respect to this teams are yielded from groups of employees which may either be formed willingly or un-willingly depending on the organizational task (Thompson & Pozner, 2007). On the other hand, a team is a collection of people in the workplace just like a group but differ in its design and characteristics (Locke, 2009). A team, therefore, has a relatively small number than the group and it pools together persons with complementary but varying skills thus leveraging on experience, expertise and knowledge.
Organizational behavior forms the basis through which the individuals or persons and their respective teams or groups are studied. Thus, organizational behavior lays its emphasis on how best to manage the persons, groups, teams, organizations as well as processes. This study therefore broadly captures the management of organizations, the fundamental structures as well as designs of different organizations, and the theories as well as the practices encompassing motivation of employees (Mullins, 2005).
Components of Organizational Behavior as Applied in Team Building and Development
Therefore, the ultimate reason for organizational behavior is to aid managers to have a clear and concise understanding of the ways and means through which their respective organizations attempt to achieve their goals. This concept of leadership can therefore not be taken separately from that of team building and management. This is because management is solely concerned about direction as well as control in the organization. Therefore, managers are seen to maintain harmony and cohesion within the workgroups and teams under their ‘man-ship’ (Mullins, 2005). Team in the workplace involves bringing together a task force with complementary but varying skills and knowledge. This type of team is normally referred to as a department in a natural organization (Locke, 2009). Thus, team building and development comprises the techniques or the processes through which organizations use to motivate their employees. Motivation, therefore, forms part of a crucial role in determining the quantity as well as the quality of the work done in the organization by the respective employees.
This is usually true because motivated employees tend to work more and put extra effort in trying to complete the task at hand thus accomplishing it on time or before time. Therefore, employees with a lot of motivation tend to work more efficiently as well as effectively in a bid to shape the organizations’ behavior which is translated into an organizational culture (Hewapathirana, 2008). This in effect is tied to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction means that the employees are satisfied with the tasks given to them and they do not feel as if they are been taken advantage of in the workplace.
Team building and development solely rely on theories capsulating employee motivation. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory that explains human needs in five major categories which are dependently linked to each other in a categorical way (Thompson & Pozner, 2007). This means that for employees to be fully satisfied and motivated their physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs (Thompson & Pozner, 2007).
The above-illustrated theory is the most significant especially in most US-based organizations, thus forming a good basis for team building and development in any organization. This is because as employees tend to move to higher levels in the corporate ladder, their needs vary. This is an important point to note because depending on the level of employees in an organization i.e.: operational level, tactical level, or strategic level, the needs differ (Locke, 2009).
In respect to the other motivational theories namely: Herzberg’s factors, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, Theory Z, Expectancy Theory, Equity theory and Reinforcement Theory, they all add up to employees’ needs satisfaction, compensation and rewards.
Therefore, in practice team building and development relies mostly on assessing the needs of employees, their compensation as well as their rewards. Therefore organizations need to come up with adequate mechanisms that capsulate these employee demands.
Tactics Organizations Use to Enhance Team Building & Development
In a bid to have successful team building and development initiatives in any organization it is advisable to create a talent management scheme. Talent Management is a concept that endears to create a committed, skillful, and expert pool of human capital in an organization. This in return is beneficial to the organization for it increases the productivity as well as the capability of employees to perform tasks more competently. This is because the employees become motivated, their career development is also enhanced this is due to in-house training programs thus increasing their knowledge and competence levels (Chambers et al., 1998).
This in return becomes very key to the organization because the platform of the organizational business model and the strategic goal is aligned with the talent management scheme, thus training and developing the skills of its employees in a more or less but a lucrative investment in terms of human intelligence capital (Locke, 2009).
Other mechanisms that might captivate motivation in employees include compensation programs, working schedules that are flexible, an increase of job security as well as establishment programs that involve the employees (Duttagupta, 2005).
Conclusion
It is therefore appropriate for organizations to ensure that team building and development is at the core of their objectives especially in regard to their investment in human intellectual capital. This ensures that the organization’s core business is maintained with the correct level of expertise and experience. In today’s competitive world it is therefore prudent for any organization to have in a place a talent management scheme that ensures the needs of its employees are met both extrinsic and intrinsic (Locke & Latham, 2002). Then compensation and reward systems should be set in place so that employees feel a sense of belonging, recognition and appreciation. This results in high-performance levels of its employees because as long as they are satisfied with their jobs and their physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs are met; then it is inevitable that they will perform their duties more effectively and efficiently. As a result, in the long run, this amounts to great levels of organizational success in its operations.
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