Introduction
Every firm wants its employees to work effectively. The team building process is the key to success in this contemporary business era. However, due to different cultural values and skill differences, the firm may face some issues. The most important thing is to identify these issues and impacts early and make effective strategies to sustain the business process. NEWGEN, a software company, faced a prominent issue. The study aims to identify the problem and propose solutions.
Issue
The problem occurred in the team building process. Abdul appointed Ms. Lee as a department supervisor. She was promoted from the customer service department of the company to the technical department to contribute to the product development process. She was promoted due to excellent performance in the customer service department. On the other hand, Hahn Chen, an engineer (B.S Degree Holder) asked for a transfer. He claimed that Ms. Lee had no experience working in the department. It was the lack of job fit (Carrick & Dunaway, 2017). He further argued that she did not help him with his projects due to lack of experience. Thus, he wanted the transfer or report directly to the manager.
Could Abdul have avoided this problem? How?
Abdul could have avoided this problem. For Instance, instead of depicting the drastic promotion, he could train Ms. Lee to learn different technical skills to integrate with team members. She only got customer service skills, and it was not workable in the technical department. Furthermore, Abdul could derive the root causes of the issues. It takes time to learn different skills and emerge in the team. The result might be different if he could go deeper into the case scenario.
What is your solution to this problem? What needs to be done to get the department running smoothly again?
The management must run the department smoothly. However, the solution was needed to meet this purpose. In my opinion, things got worse initially. I think promoting Lee was a wrong decision by Abdul. He did not realize the nature of the work and pertinent capabilities of both employees. In an organization, the right task to the right person matters. Instead of promoting Lee in the technical debarment, Abdul could promote her in the customer service department. Hahn Chen was right because she could not contribute effectively. The skill and personality difference were the significant barrier regarding this promotion. However, it was done intentionally. My solution to this problem is to promote Ms. Lee as a customer service manager, as she has gotten years of experience. One of the department members should be promoted to supervisor because he may understand the nature of work and integrate with some required technical skills. It seems useful to streamline diversity. However, in the product development process, the diversity must be optimized regarding the same field. Immediate removal of Ms. Lee from the department and making an engineer a supervisor is a practical solution or strategy, which can be implemented drastically.
How will you prevent this problem from occurring again in the Company?
If the problem occurs again, I would like to call Ella Smith. Ella Smith is an external consultant, specified in HR, business law and employee contracts. The firm does not want to terminate its best employees, as both have proved their excellence in different departments. She can come up with a new employee policy for the human resource department. She can propose an employee policy that may regulate employees when working in different teams. It can open some ways to align with the latest diversity trends in an organization. The most important thing for the company is to learn how it can put all employees at the same agendas to meet organizational objectives.
What is this case study about? What areas of OB does it cover?
This case study revolves around human resource management and organizational behavior. Diversity, motivation, communication, team, and leadership are several areas of organizational behavior (Ginsberg & Wlodkowski, 2009). The case discussed all these areas. The whole case study is about employee diversity and the team building process. The study showed several issues in the team building process. It seems a compelling case between two employees. The company combined roles of these employees by promoting a customer service employee into a product development department.
What are some of the theories that are covered in this case? How would you apply for them?
The case is associated with the personality-job fit theory. The theory articulates different personality traits in the workplace or organization (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, & Johnson, 2005). According to this theory, every person will have a personality trait or skill set to meet the particular demands of the organization. This theory supports the right job for the right person, and Abdul missed it completely. Motivation is another critical area in the case study. A person can be motivated by assigning the relevant tasks. These kinds of promotions look attractive but become controversial for both employees and organizations. Thus, NEWGEN must apply personality-job fit theory and consider several motivating factors.
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that NEWGEN can apply useful OB concepts or theories to avoid these issues. The most important thing is to maintain good relations among employees by executing these concepts. The problem was associated with employee diversity in the product development department. The firm has several options to get rid of these issues and regain the department process. Personality-Job fit is linked with my solution. The firm must utilize its resources to develop a pertinent culture and employ the solution.
References
Carrick, M., & Dunaway, C. (2017). Fit Matters: How to Love Your Job. Maven House.
Ginsberg, M. B., & Wlodkowski, R. J. (2009). Diversity and Motivation: Culturally Responsive Teaching in College. John Wiley & Sons.
Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals’ fit at work: a meta-analysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58 (2), 281-342.
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