Importance of Organizational Behavior

The Importance of Organizational Behavior

In any organization one can assume that the main goal of that business is to succeed; what exactly does being a winning organization mean and what does it take to get there? In the past companies placed a great amount of emphasis on the numbers and how to achieve those numbers. The people who actually helped achieve those numbers were graded on their technical skills, productivity, and budgets. Employees were moneymaking machines and how they achieved those numbers was not a concern of their managers as long as the numbers were being met. Organizational behavior studies have become more important today than in previous years because corporations must learn to adapt to the rapidly changing business cultures that have stemmed from a competitive and fast-paced market. Organizational behavior was a topic that was not discussed until an employee's behavior changed, productivity changed, or sales decreased. In today's business world, managers are paying more attention to how employees react to situations rather than if they respond. They are beginning to view organizational behavior as an intricate piece of training and development of the workforce. Soft skills were never a part of management training and it was rare that managers were commended for having those skills. In the business world today, I feel organizational behavior is an essential tool for managing effective teams. If you can zone in on an employees' personality, creativity, and adaptability, motivating that employee the way they need to be motivated is never a gray area and a guaranteed success.

Organizational Behavior or as I call it - Discipline principles is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization's effectiveness (Robbins, S. 2001). Organizational Behavior studies three main areas in order to help organizations work more effectively; they are individuals, groups, and structure. Everyone and everything in an organization makes an impact on the way an organization functions, therefore knowing what makes your employee "tick" is a key factor in success. In an organization an employee is expected to have skills pertaining to the specific job description. Hiring a ballet dancer to play hockey is not only absurd but also non productive. Technical skills, depending on the position in your organization is sometimes required and absolutely necessary. But, in most organizations if you can find someone that has excellent interpersonal skills and common sense, you can train them on the technical aspect of the position.

As a manager in today's business arena, your interpersonal skills must be fine-tuned. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is now falling into play with employees and managers decisions. "Proper management of the work lives of human beings, of the way in which they earn their living, can improve them and improve the world and in this sense be a utopian or revolutionary technique." - Abraham Maslow (Maslow, A., 1998). Employees are people with needs and