Halle Cousineau

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

ORGB1135 Organizational Behaviour

Instructor: Kathleen Byrne

November 20th, 2022

Introduction
A highly established, middle-sized organization “Flow Fix” operating right outside of the Greater

Vancouver area specializes in providing residential and commercial plumbing for the residents.

Although “Flow fix” is the main competitor in the region for plumbing, Tyron Johnson the senior

executive of the establishment for two years is worried about an upcoming chain “Lighting

Plumber” which has been stirring away customers from Flow Flix since its rise in the market.

With the ongoing problem of the new competition “Lighting Plumber”, Tyron Johnson see’s a

decline in motivation within the organization when it comes to his employee’s that needs to be

maintained in order to thrive in a competitive marketplace. The decline of motivation in the

organization, can be expected due to the overall job design. Tyron believes this is due to pay

being drastically dispersed between job categories of similar abilities, skills and requirements.

With further look into “Flow-Flix” it can be deemed that there is not just one issue that is

resulting in employee’s becoming unmotivated while in the workplace. Although Tyron has

enough information presented to him to depict that there Is an organization problem within the

firm, but with various solutions that can be taken, it may be hard to decipher on the right one.

Symptoms of an Organizational Problem

A thorough analysis of the situation that is presented in this case, shows numerous of red flags

or symptoms that can be noted as an indication of an organizational problem that has arisen.

One of the many several red flags that were noted was a conducted survey to customers which

came back with a lack of performance on the employee end, resulting in 40% percent verdict on

customers having a bad experience at "Flow-Flix” with an additional 30% percent claiming that
they would use a competitor if they needed plumbing services next time. The survey’s

underscores would determine customer dissatisfaction. This encourages the idea that the

company also has employee dissatisfaction. A look toward the future, Tyron should seek

different avenues to gain employee motivation to acquire competitive advantage.

Employee Dissatisfaction
An area of concern for Tyron Johnson is the results back on the conducted surveys that were

presented back from the customers. The fact that only 60% of customers return to the

company after having a positive experience suggests that there may be a deeper issue

preventing us from improving total customer happiness. Tyron suggests that this may be due to

a general job design that divides employees into four basic categories: plumbers, plumber's

assistants, order processors and subcontractors. Across all these ranks within a job, each

position has a wide variation in salaries. Found within the textbook, a study has shown that

teams who are paid relatively the same amongst each other resulted in better performance

than teams who had a high pay difference. (McShane, 2021) a large dispersion on wages may

be the reason why the organization continues to see ambition languishing. Work is typically

dependent on others in other employment categories, which is another source of worry. This is

a sign of a workplace stressor in the form of an organizational constraint, stated within the

book, this type of constraint is formulated by a lack of equipment, supplies, budget funding, co-

worker support, information and other resources that are needed to complete a job (McShane,

2021). This is a limitation that affects a person physically or emotionally wellbeing. As stated in

the textbook, stress is most often described as an adaptative response to a situation that is
perceived as challenging or threatening to a person’s well-being (McShane, 2021) As a result,

distress is exerted, which deviates from normal physiological, psychological, and behavioural

functioning this is a consequence towards the organization. Consequences that are exerted

from distress are:

 Job dissatisfaction

 Moodiness

 Depression

 Lower organizational commitment

 Poor decision making

 Increased workplace accidents

All of which influence on job performance (McShane, 2021). According to McShane, “in

recent years, studies have fairly consistently concluded that the “happy worker” hypothesis

is true, but only to some extent. In other words, there is a moderately positive relationship

between job satisfaction and performance” (McShane, 2021)Overall dissatisfaction with the

firm can be seen when employees conducted one out of the four responses in the ELVN.

Another sign of displeasure is when employers are put workers in awkward situations, such

as when the wrong individual was scheduled for an appointment. Due to their limited

involvement in the issue, order processors and billing personnel are left with numerous

problems, including consumer complaints. One of the emotions that is pointed out amongst

the employee’s is anxiousness, which is a trait of neuroticism one of the five factors in the

Five-Factor Model of Personality. As described, those with high neuroticism aren’t familiar
 with change and experience stress when faced with workplace adjustments. Additionally, it

has been observed that the employees are showing job burnout, which happens when

people experience emotional exhaustion, cynicism and reduced feelings of accomplishment,

when they are dealing with customer service (McShane, 2021). Furthermore, Tyron’s

employees have followed a ELVN Model, which will be discussed in more detail below,

Causes
Due to the overall employee unhappiness of our company, the ELVN model's causes are put

into practise. Exit, loyalty, voice, and neglect are the causes that are emphasised; I will only

call attention to one of these factors in this case as it will be significant. As previously stated,

surveys that were conducted within our firm gave back an overall respondence of 100% of

customers receiving service that wasn’t up to FlowFlix standards. The results of these tests

demonstrated a general lack of desire to improve satisfaction among our employees when it

comes to outbidding our rival, Lightning Plumber. Due to these circumstances, it could be

presumed that our employee’s could be initiating neglect within our firm. Neglect is defined

as a decrease in job effort, a disregard for quality, and an increase in absenteeism and

tardiness (McShane, 2021). It’s further proven by McShane he states “employee’s who are

less likely to use voice in the EVLN model are more likely to engage in exit or neglect when

experiencing job dissatisfaction in the future” (McShane, 2021).

Customer Dissatisfaction
Numerous warning signs within the company indicate a level of client unhappiness. According

to surveys, 25% of customer interactions resulted in no service call-backs due to confusion

around diagnostic questions and order processors' inability to respond to them. The remaining

75% of calls had additional issues. Consequently, a full 1 in 4 customers who use Flowflix to hire

a plumber were worse than dissatisfied. Through these surveys, Tyron discovered that time and

expense, particularly when the incorrect individual is assigned to the work, were the primary

causes of general unhappiness with our customers. Tyron claims that a plumber's helper

doesn't have the necessary abilities to do plumbing work when they come on site and the

assistant is unable to complete the work, which adds to our expenditures because it takes extra

time to reschedule the appointment. These particular symptoms centre on the MARS Model of

Individual Behavior and Performance, which holds that for an organisation to perform at its

best, all four of the following factors—motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational—

must be in perfect harmony (McShane, 2021). In this particular situation, it seems that the

plumber’s assistant lacks the ability which is both the learned capabilities and natural aptitudes

required to complete a task (McShane, 2021). Additionally, there are learned talents, which

include the abilities and information that people develop via practicing, instruction, and other

avenues of learning that it looks like they might be lacking. Within the company, situational

circumstances continue to play a role. As defined, they are an influence that can either impede

or assist behaviour and performance when it comes to workplace activity. This impact, in

particular, compels talented, committed, and motivated people to be deficient in other means

through lack of time, budget, physical work facilities, and other resources (McShane, 2021). This

is demonstrated by the dearth of resources available to someone completing a plumbing-level

task with only plumber assistant abilities. Additionally, this results in time restrictions when

rescheduling appointments, it exceeds our budget because this will cost us money both for the
incorrect service and for the additional appointments needed to fix the issue that we were

originally called on for.

Problem Statement
Tryon Johnson has implemented a variety of methods to acquire a competitive edge through

the market, but there are still several issues that have an arisen on the company. Our general

lack of desire when it comes to performance on the job is the most crucial issue to emphasise

when it comes to how to be able to defeat businesses like Lightning Plumber. This lack of

motivation is a result of the organization's skill set amongst its employee’s, which requires

managerial attention.

Solutions

Job Redesign
The first issue inside the company was the lack of motivation within the company, which was

evident through surveys that were done. This generated concerns that the organization's

general job design was the primary cause of his employees' lack of involvement. It was evident

that the employees' lack of participation resulted from their dependence on one another in

order to work at their most productive levels. Order processors and billing agents for Flow Fix’s

expressed worries that they were not fully qualified for the positions they were assigned to, as

they were dealing with tasks that were well above their ability and experience. Employees of

Tyron Johnson who oversee these tasks, don’t have the learned capabilities or aptitudes in

order to successfully complete their job. Increasing employee performance and wellbeing is
what we aim to do. As mentioned, a good match in an organisation improves employee

performance, thus our first option is to match a person's qualities with the work needs. We

could have chosen candidates who possessed the necessary skills, such as certified plumbers or

those with some plumbing experience who could respond to inquiries from our clients,

although this option would induce grievances, turnovers, and accidents when we integrate new

hires. Training staff who lack the specialised knowledge and abilities required to accomplish the

job, particularly plumbing helpers brought into complete tasks they are ill-equipped to handle,

could be another tactic. Although if we were to have no other ways of changing the

redesigning of our employee’s, there could be other ways of improving well-being as they are a

primary source of a person’s motivation (McShane, 2021). Since emotionally stable people can

cope better with ambiguity and change's uncertainty, emotional stability is one of the best

predictors of adaptive performance, according to the textbook Tyron Johnson should insist on

creating a good work environment because some employees are more negatively affected by

certain aspects on the job. When dealing with unhappy consumers on a regular basis, it

wouldn't be too far-fetched to say that offering the staff members a few positive affirmations

would aid with their self-improvement. Other activities can be introduced to offset any negative

emotions revolving around the workplace like:

 Going out together as a team

 Having designated quiet areas

 Allowance of pets

 Pizza Parties

 Encourage Humour
Despite their small stature, each of these initiatives significantly raises employee happiness.

Managing Stress
Managing these stress-related scenarios with a variety of cures is another workable approach

to one of Flowflix's growing problems in the company when it comes to its employees dealing

with difficult conditions at work. Although these solutions might not get rid of the stress, it is

said that the avoidance strategy which denies the existence of stress only amplifies it

(McShane, 2021). The first option is to eliminate the stressor by changing the employee's job to

better suit their preferences and skills (McShane, 2021). For example, rather than having a

plumbing assistant work at a plumber level position, we can find a way to ensure that they are

scheduled for appointments that are within their scope of competence. Another strategy for

managing employee stress is to either permanently or temporarily remove the source of it for

them. It appears that forcing our order processors and billing people to speak with clients

directly, without any acknowledgement of the job they have already done for them, not only

reduces employee happiness also wastes both their time and that of the customers. Programs

like wellness initiatives that educate staff about the advantages of better diet and exercise,

regular sleep habits, and other healthy lifestyle choices, as well as employee assistance

initiatives that provide counselling services to assist staff in resolving marital, financial, or

employment-related issues, are additional options that can be used to manage stress

(McShane, 2021). These programs, if not implemented properly could be quite costly for the

company as extra expenditures will be taken to keep employees satisfied. Employee social

support from their coworkers, managers, family, friends, and other people who may offer
informational assistance to temper an individual's sense of stress is as well helpful when they

are dealing with a job that requires support from other positions (McShane, 2021).

Best Solution
I believe that option one- redesigning the job is the greatest way to solve the issue within a

company because it is the only workable solution short of revamping the company's skill set. If

we take into context on why employees aren’t satisfied enough to perform work that is up to

Lightening Plumbers standards its essentially because the employees are put into a position

where their abilities don’t match with the line of work that they are performing. The only way

to get rid of this issue is to redesign the job which will then in turn resolve the stress that comes

along with the job which would have been the second solution.

Bibliography
McShane, S. L. (2021). Canadian Organizational Behaviour. Canada: McGraw Hill.