Module I: Understanding

Organizational Behaviour in
the New Normal Era

Prof. Atri Sengupta

IIM Sambalpur
 Groups of people Producing
Achieving
working for goods or
Sustainability
common objectives services
Goal

Input Process Output Outcome Impact

s ic
Dynam
s ic
Dynam

Market
Market
 Story of a Successful
Company: Apple Inc.
• Innovation
• Incredibly collaborative company
• Highly organized
• Teamwork in whole of the company
• Talk about business every week
• Trust
• Work with ideas and Problem solving
• Logical arguments and group decision making
 Organizational Crisis or Disruptions:
Characteristics
• It threatens high-priority values of the organization
• It presents a restricted amount of time in which a response can be made
• It is unexpected or unanticipated by the organization
• Rarity of the event
• Significance of the event
• Level of impact on stakeholders
Organizational Crisis or Disruptions: Typology

• Crisis as event
• Crisis as process
Organizational
Crisis or
Disruptions:
Types of
Incidents
 Performance Excellence: Four Dimensions
4. Maturity Models (path to
performance excellence: scoring) –
How good are we?
•No Systematic Approach
•Reacting to Problems
•Early Systematic Approach
•Aligned & Improved Approach
•Integrated Approach
•Refined – Benchmark Approach
1. Organisation Context (key factor) – Who
are we?
(i) Organisational Description
•Organisational Environment
•Organisational Relationships
(ii) Organisational Challenges
•Competitive Environment
2. Design Principles (core values &
•Strategic Challenges concepts) – What do we believe?
•Performance Improvement System
•Visionary Leadership
•Systems Perspectives
Performance •Focus on the Future
Excellence •Social Responsibility
•Customer-driven-Excellence
•Agility
•Focus on Results & Creating Value
3. Organisation System (criteria question) – •Valuing Employees & Partners
What we do and how we do it? •Organisational & Personal Learning
•Management by Fact
•Leadership •Managing for Innovation
•Strategic Planning
•Customer & Market Focus
•Measurement, Analysis, & Knowledge
Management
•Human Resource Focus
•Process Management
•Business Result
 Topics of OB
Individual Group Behaviour Organization Structure &
Behaviour Design
nPerception nGroup Dynamics nCommunication

nLearning nConflict & nOrganization Theory,

nWorkplace Negotiation Structure, & Design

Emotions nPower and Politics nOrganizational Culture

nAttitude nOrganizational Change

nMotivation & Development

nPersonality

nStress
Management

9
OB at a Glance

Macro Level

Meso Level

Micro Level
 Pros and Cons (pertaining to both employees and managers) of
the Virtual Work Setup

(1) Mental well-being;

(2) Physical well-being;
(3) Lack of connection among the employees;
(4) Work-family conflicts;
(5) Identity crises;
 Pros and Cons (pertaining to both employees and managers) of
the Virtual Work Setup

6) Challenges related to managing employee engagement and performance;

7) Challenges related to managing team performance;
8) Redefinitions of managerial style—i.e., a conflict between time-based work and
output-based work;
9) Management of change resistance—i.e., a mindset issue; and
10) Creation of a proper ecosystem—e.g., dealing with technical infrastructure,
workstations, and electricity bills.
 Employee Wellbeing

• Employee well-being can be defined as the overall quality of an employee’s

experience and functioning at work, which is related to three key dimensions of
well-being:
üPsychological well-being (e.g., conditions such as job-related anxiety, emotional
exhaustion, depression, and happiness);
üPhysical well-being (e.g., heart disease and metabolic problems); and
üSocial well-being (e.g., trust, reciprocity, cooperation, and coordination).
 Employee Wellbeing

• Wellness strategies
1) Communication and awareness programs (e.g., programs focused on communication skills,
community service opportunities, effective listening, feedback skills, individual coaching and
counselling, and personal goals and missions);
2) Screening and assessment programs (e.g., programs such as health risk appraisals, fitness assessments,
nutritional assessments, and personal wellness assessments);
3) Education and lifestyle programs (e.g., financial planning classes, fitness classes, educational and
recreational activities, self-help materials, sports leagues, and time management classes); and
4) Behaviour change and support systems (e.g., support for those dealing with anger management,
cultural programs that include family members, and even cafeterias and vending machines).
GBS India: Employee Wellbeing
 Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and Work-Life Integration (WLI)

• Work interfering with family (W-F conflict)

• Family interfering with work (F-W conflict)
• Work-life integration includes two categories of initiatives: those at the individual level
and those at the organizational level
 Work-Family Conflict (WFA) and Work-Life Integration (WLI)

• Individual level strategies for WLI

1. Skills for being real and acting with authenticity, as well as embodying these values
consistently;
2. Skills for being “whole,” including managing multiple roles and earning respect from others
by clarifying expectations, helping others, building supportive networks, applying all of one’s
resources, managing boundaries intelligently, and weaving disparate strands; and
3. Innovative skills by focusing on results, resolving conflicts among domains, challenging the
status quo, seeing new ways of doing things, embracing change courageously, and creating a
culture of innovation
 Work-Family Conflict (WFA) and Work-Life Integration (WLI)

• Organizational level strategies for WLI

1. Organizations, on the other hand, need to focus on fostering flexible and supportive
cultures.
2. Leaders need to identify the barriers to work-life integration and address those
accordingly.
 Employee Motivation

• Herzberg’s extrinsic reward (hygiene factors: policy, supervision,

relationships, work conditions, salary, personal life, status, security, etc.)
• Herzberg’s intrinsic reward (motivators: achievement, recognition, work
itself, responsibility, advancement, growth, etc.)
 Employee Motivation

• Four types of situations may arise from the combinations of hygiene factors and motivators provided by the
organization (Dartey-Baah & Amoako, 2011)
1. High motivators + high hygiene factors indicates the ideal situation where employees are
highly motivated and have a few complaints;
2. High motivators + low hygiene factors points out that employees are motivated but have a lot
of complaints. A situation where the job is exciting and challenging but salaries and other
work conditions are not lucrative;
3. Low motivators + high hygiene factors specifies that employees in this context have a few
complaints but are not highly motivated. The job is then perceived as a paycheck; and
4. Low motivators + low hygiene factors signifies the worse situation that left with demotivated
employees with a lots of complaints.
 Employee Motivation

• Four types of situations may arise from the combinations of hygiene factors and motivators provided by the
organization (Dartey-Baah & Amoako, 2011)
1. High motivators + high hygiene factors indicates the ideal situation where employees are
highly motivated and have a few complaints;
2. High motivators + low hygiene factors points out that employees are motivated but have a lot
of complaints. A situation where the job is exciting and challenging but salaries and other
work conditions are not lucrative;
3. Low motivators + high hygiene factors specifies that employees in this context have a few
complaints but are not highly motivated. The job is then perceived as a paycheck; and
4. Low motivators + low hygiene factors signifies the worse situation that left with demotivated
employees with a lots of complaints.
 Employee Motivation

• Meaningfulness of work
1. Having a purpose or the significance of something in one’s life;
2. The intentions one holds; and
3. Identifying or clarifying the term with respect to a context.
• Job crafting: a voluntary process by which employees redefine and reimagine their job
designs in personally meaningful ways
üJob crafting methods: task, relational, and cognitive crafting
 Employee Engagement

• Engagement is “a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized

by vigor, dedication, and absorption” (Schaufeli et al., 2002, p.74)
üVigor: high levels of energy and mental resilience while working
üDedication: a strong involvement in one’s work, accompanied by feelings of
enthusiasm and significance and by a sense of pride and inspiration
üAbsorption: being fully engrossed in one’s work and having difficulties detaching
oneself from it
 Employee Engagement

• Drivers of Employee Engagement

1. Organizational factors: “hard” factors (e.g., work conditions, job characteristics, pay
and compensation), and “soft” factors ( e.g., leadership, communication, organization
culture); and
2. Employee individual factors: psychological capital (e.g., self-efficacy, optimism,
resilience, and so forth), proactive personality, and conscientiousness.
 Employee Engagement

• Pathbreaking Indian practices of employee engagement:

• HCL: “Employee first, Customer second”; empowers their employees to solve customer
problems
ü Wipro and Pantaloons: highly sophisticated executive development programmes;
ü Bharti Airtel: family-oriented cultural ethos;
ü Wipro: philosophy of “keeper of organizational culture”;
ü Tata Communication: initiative towards serving as “first anchor” for organizational
consistency;
 Employee Engagement

• Pathbreaking Indian practices of employee engagement:

• GAIL’s (Gas Authority of India Ltd.): focus on aligning employees with the organizational
perspectives for feeling the purpose and developing pride;
• Infosys: strives for building a sense of family and close relationship in the workplace;
• Tata Steel: drives their initiatives towards making employee happy;
• Dr. Reddy’s: considers teamwork as one of their values;
• MindTree: introduces “All Minds Meet” programme for on-the-spot solutions of the
problems through leader-employees open house meeting,
• TCS: whistle blowing online platform for enabling employees to raise their voice against
management’s mistreatments; employee empowerment policy of Mahindra & Mahindra
 Employee Performance and Managerial Style

• A study of Parker et al. (2020):

• About 40% of their study sample (managers and supervisors) exhibits low self-confidence in their abilities to
manage employees remotely;
• 16% are unsure about such abilities.
• 38% of them believe that employees will perform worse in remote working system,
• 22% are unsure about it,
• 40% believe in a positive way.
• Majority of the managers/supervisors have negative attitude towards the remote working system.
• 15% of the female managers report lack of confidence in their employees
• 36% of the male managers reveal mistrust on their employees.
 Employee Performance and Managerial Style

• Managerial Style: Theory X and Theory Y

• Monitoring employee vs output
 Infrastructure for Virtual Work

• Laptops for all employees

• Internet connections with adequate bandwidth
• Online platform for meetings
• Intranet login for employees to finish the work
• Reimbursement of internet charges
• A fixed allowance for home electricity charges in lieu of food coupon and transport
facilities
• A long-term interest-free loan for purchasing ergonomically fit furniture for the home
 New Work Modus Operandi

• All employees must mandatorily work from home.

• The company must adopt the advanced technology for smooth functioning of the virtual work
system. All technological supports must be provided to the employees, whenever needed. Tech
support contact numbers must be available with the employees.
• Different concerns compatible with the virtual work system must be adapted.
• ‘Talk to Your Buddy’ helpline may be created for the employees’ emotional support. Counselor,
HR people, Health expert may form a team in this regard.
• ‘Coffee with X’ (the name of the head of the organization and other leaders) should be
organized virtually where family members may also be included.
• Regular performance review meetings should be organized virtually
 New Work Modus Operandi

• A well-framed communication and coordination cell must be formed for all internal and external
communications. Regular reviews should also be planned for this cell.
• Active employee grievance cell and vendor grievance cell must be set up for addressing grievances.
• A thorough training programme for both the managers and employees on how to crack the equation of
collaboration while working remotely.
• A self-monitoring health report (e.g., body temperature) must be submitted by the employees everyday.
• A written stepwise guidelines on combating COVID-19 pandemic with the important contact numbers
must be displayed on the intranet (the instructor may ask the student groups to prepare a COVID-19
Guidelines).
• GbS possesses a large office setup, which may give be given partially to other organizations (for co-
working space) on rent. This will not only help GbS to save the cost of maintaining physical office, but
also to generate a source of income from the physical infrastructure.
 New Work Modus Operandi

• Physical setup
• Virtual setup
• Hybrid model
• Work from anywhere
 Resilience
• Resilience as an interactive process of relational adaptation has to do with
understanding, responding to, and absorbing variations; maintaining, gaining
back, and/or building new resources.
• Resilience is the process by which an actor (i.e., individual, organization, or
community) builds and uses its capability endowments to interact with the
environment in a way that positively adjusts and maintains functioning prior
to, during, and following adversity.
 Resilience: Capabilities for Durability
(Resource Endowments)

• Financial capability endowments

• Cognitive capability endowments (e.g., vision, sense of purpose,
strong values, knowledge and expertise, sense of understanding
signal, information sharing, understanding cause-effect
relationships)
• Behavioural capability endowments (e.g., actions taken,
organization’s structure-processes-activity configurations)
 Resilience: Capabilities for Durability
(Resource Endowments)

• Emotion-regulation capability endowments (e.g., self-regulation to

cope with adversity, emotional capital: individual and/or collective
optimism, hope, and opportunities to appropriately express and
discuss emotions)
• Relational capability endowments (e.g., coordinative and
collaborative practices, trust and network relationships)
 Resilience Building Process

• Preparing for
• Adjusting to
• Responding to adversity