Organizational Behavior in the Workplace

Organizational Behavior Research Paper

Organizational Behavior

December 8, 2005

Identification and definition of the problem.

My workplace environment at one time was a pleasant place to be. All the employees got along and worked together very well. We were a team and like to help each other out when one was in need. It was like clock work. We would go to work wanting to be there to do our jobs because we all knew we would have fun throughout the day while we were working. Then a new manager or I will call him my supervisor joined the team. It was not planned, we knew our store needed some help but the employees did not know for definite when we would be getting a new supervisor. The first day was like any usual first day. Meeting the employees, learning the names and a little bit about each person. After observing my new supervisor for a couple of hours I felt as if he was in a hurry to get the first day work out of the way and leave. He did not seem the least bit interested in the people he was going to be working with for over eight hours a day. I blew off my thoughts and felt it was too early to judge the situation. Well I was wrong to blow off my feelings, because I was right to think something was not quite right about this man. During his training he did not want any one below his position to help him out. If he was having troubles with the computer he had to go to the General Manager or another supervisor even though the employees probably know the computers just as well as managers because we use them all day long. He would look for thirty minutes for something in dry storage before he ever asked an employee. I personally thought that was unusual, not asking for help unless it was management. It seems like to me that it would have made him feel less superior if he had to ask one of his employees for help. At that point I knew working with this particular supervisor would not be pleasant. As time went on the situations got increasingly worse. He would scream at us employees for the most ridiculous things. Showing up to work without my name tag would be means for him sending me home. He has a tiny little machine that the general manager gave him to make them, but that not being the point he would send me home so I could think about how important it is to be in one hundred percent full uniform. The name tags are technically not part of out uniform according to corporate. I feel he was just on a power trip and wanted to send me home because he had the authority to do so. On many occasions he has brought us female employees to tears and then asks us to stop crying because he does not like it. I do not know what kind of person that is. He has admitted to bi polar disease and that he comes to work without taking him medication, but to me that is just an excuse to be mean and unprofessional. My work environment has gone from a fun and enjoyable place to be to a very miserable and tiring place to be when this supervisor is working. He does not work everyday and works some night shifts, so when he is not there it is still fun but the employees are all dreading he will walk through those doors and ruin our day. He brings everyone down with him. It is almost like I cannot help being stressed and in a miserable mood when this supervisor is around. Not just me but the entire store feels this way. The other managers have had complaints and I have over heard the general manager complain a few times to the other managers as well about his attitude and lack of leadership skills. I feel I have a supervisor with severe self-esteem issues and problems that I could never address. I feel he is on a sort of ego trip because he has a higher status in the company that most of us and he feeds of that. Some say he is a micromanager and I would tend to agree. I have a supervisor that not only brings me down but bring down my entire work place morale.

The objective

What I hope to achieve

With this one particular supervisor I hope to achieve a new positive foundation not only between him and me but my fellow employees as well. I should not feel miserable when I work with this man and neither should anyone else. This supervisor has been confronted on more that one occasion. The general manager also had a discussion with him about his attitude and behavior toward the employees. It does help for about a week, but then he as slipped right back into his usual ways. With the help of the entire employee staff, I hope to address this issue to the general manager. Hopefully when he physically sees the amount of his employees unhappy with this supervisor, it will make this a big enough issue to try and fix. Small talk in the manager's office has proved only temporary toward this supervisors attitude and behavior. I hope for a positive outcome from this issue being addressed. I would not want my supervisor to lash out against us worse than he already does because we are bringing up the issue again. I hope it goes surprisingly well, because it could go very badly.

Your description of the intervention strategy

you would use to fix the problem

If it were up to me to fix this problem I would talk to the supervisor in private to make him aware of the situation and how serious it has become. I will inform him that if he continues to act with this aggressive behavior toward the employees it would result in his termination. I would not beat around the bush, I would have him be fully aware of the situation and give him the option to talk to me in private of his feelings and his reasoning's for acting the way he does or call an employee meeting so he can see first hand how he makes his employees feel. I would also let him know how disappointed I was that we were having this discussion again and remind him of his termination from the company if he did not change permanently.

Discuss the changes you expect

After the intervention I would expect a vast change in my supervisors attitude and behavior toward his job and his employees