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  • Stress

    In the last byte, we completed the discussion on performance management with a summary of the discussion. In today’s byte, we look at the concept of stress and begin discussion on the same with a few basic definitions.

    Stress: Is the unconscious preparation to fight or flee that a person experiences when faced with any demand.

    Stressor: Is the person or event that triggers the stress response

    Distress: The adverse psychological, physical, behavioral, and organizational consequences that may arise as a result of stressful events

    Strain: Is another name for Distress.

    With this basic understanding, we begin the journey to understand stress better.

  • Performance Management: Summary

    In the last byte, we looked at the modern forms of mentoring. In today’s byte, we attempt to summarize the discussion on performance management.

    People in organization are constantly learning, the managers should exercise the application of consequences appropriately to create desired results. The strategic use of training and educational opportunities, stock options, and recognition awards is instrumental to successful organizational reward systems. Managers could serve as positive role models for employees and act as mentors too in their career development.

    Goal setting activities may be valuable to managers in bringing out the best performance of their reporting employees. Effectively designed goals could lead to excellent performance, but if these are misused, it could lead to dysfunctional behavior in an organization and lower the performance.

    The role of good performance management tools is providing employees with clear feedback on their actions – methods to improve and make them precise have to be evolved to get the right picture of an employee’s performance.

    With this discussion, we conclude the section on performance management and move ahead to next topic

  • Mentoring 2

    In the last byte, we looked at mentoring and identified the various stages that were involved in the creation of a mentoring relationship. In this byte, we move ahead towards the more modern forms of mentoring.

    Mentoring is extremely beneficial to the “mentee” or “Protégés” who undergo the mentoring. This could significantly enhance the early development of a new comer in an organization and also mid career development of an experienced employee. Research has identified that good performance of newcomers with a mentoring relationship had been given a greater delegation.

    Peer relationships for mentoring could be used as an alternative to traditional mentoring relationships to aid career development. Another trend as an attempt to outsource the business mentoring function is the executive coaching aspect.

    In fact, we could classify the various roles who aid in the process as – informational, collegial and special peers and they aid the career development through sharing information, career strategizing, job related feedback,  emotional support and friendship.

    To summarize the role, it is important to state that both mentors and peers play constructive roles in correcting an employee’s poor performance and enhance overall career development.

  • Mentoring

    In the last byte, we began the discussion on the mentoring function of a supervisor. In today’s byte, we look at Mentoring to a greater depth.

    To begin with let us define mentoring – mentoring is a work relationship that encourages development and career enhancement for people moving through the career cycle. [In the context of organizational behavior we shall limit it to only this definition]

    We could look at mentoring to process two distinct dimensions – a career related dimension and the other a psychological dimension. The career related dimension is called coaching and the psychological dimension is called counseling.

    If one is to observe the process of mentoring closely, we could see it move through 4 distinct phases:

    1. Initiation
    2. Cultivation
    3. Separation
    4. Redefinition
    We shall continue the discussion on mentoring in the next byte too…

  • Coaching & Counseling

    In the last byte, we looked at the model of attribution and understood it well. In today’s byte, we look at aspects of importance of coaching, counseling.

    Managers generally deal with two aspects when they are donning a first level managerial position (and definitely continue as one grows in an organization). The 2 aspects are – managing the workforce to continue the work designated for completion unabated and the second is the dimension individual professional and personal growth of employee reporting to the manager. Given the long contact hours at work, it is found that supervisors and coworkers are more effective in mentoring than assigned formal mentors from higher up in the organization!

    What is really unsaid is that the success of mentoring hinges on the presence of openness and trust amongst the parties involved – a stronger trust leads to greater openness and thus to better mentoring. Through these sessions, it is not necessary that only professional problems are addressed, personal dimensions that reduce the employee’s performance – viz depression etc could also be addressed. The supervisor in these roles plays a very helpful role in employee’s problem solving without being completely involved in the responsibility of employee’s problems.

  • Performance: Attribution 2

    In the last byte, we looked at a graphical representation of attribution and the change in behavior that could be associated with it. In today’s byte, we attempt to understand the graphical model further.

    A simple explanation to the diagram displayed in the last byte could be as follows:

    A manager could observe a poor performance and immediately take cues (which would be as described earlier – consensus, consistency or distinctiveness) depending on the interpretation of these, the manager could attribute the poor performance to either internal or external causes. The internal sources attributed to could include – low effort, lack of commitment or lack of ability. External attribution could be towards the equipment failure or unrealistic goals etc. Based on the understanding, the manager could detect the source of the problem and tries to correct it.

    The response of the manager could vary ranging from expressing personal concern to sending the employee back home!

    It could be sensed that a manager who attributes the poor performance to a person would react more harshly than a manager who would attribute it to situational causes. In all this, the manager should be aware of 2 attribution errors we have already discussed:

    1. Fundamental Attribution Error
    2. Self-serving Bias

  • Performance: Attribution

    In the last byte, we looked at how information cues work towards creating an attribution. In today’s byte, we show a model that could summarize the way attribution happens.

    Following diagram summarizes how we could look at the way attribution and the corresponding behavior could work. 


    We shall explain the same and continue the discussion in the next byte.

  • Performance Management: Poor Performance Attribution – Cues

    In the last byte, we began our discussion on attribution theory. In today’s byte, we look at this in a greater detail.

    Kelly (about whom we mentioned in the last byte) attempted to explain the behavior of other people by identifying antecedents of internal and external attribution. The attributions that people make as based on information gathered in the form of informational cues. There are 3 classifications of cues [defined in the last byte]:

    1. Consensus
    2. Distinctiveness
    3. Consistency
    Based on whether these 3 cues are high or low, we make attributions. In case we summarize the way the choices are made, we could say:
    1. The combination of low consensus, low distinctiveness and high consistency leads to internal attribution
    2. Other combinations lead to external attribution!

  • Performance Management: Poor Performance Attribution

    In the last byte, we looked at the potential source of Poor Performance. In today’s byte, we look at some of the typical issues that happen when we attempt to attribute a poor performance.

    If we are working in a team, we often find situations where the team is encountered with a poor performance. While some of the team leaders assign the responsibility to the external factors that where beyond the control of the team, there are others who attribute the poor performance to the employee whom they feel hadn’t worked hard enough. This is the subject matter of Attribution Theory – according to which, managers make their attributions (inferences) concerning employees behavior and performance. It is also found that, supervisors and employees who do not share perceptions and attributes are more likely to blame each other for performance problems! (True isn’t it!)

    Harold Kelly extended this understanding on the way we attribute and identified antecedents of internal and external attribution. We shall discuss this further in the next byte, but leave you with 3 definitions to mull over:

    1. Consensus: An informational cue indicating the extent to which peers in the same situation behave in a similar fashion.
    2. Distinctiveness: An informational cue indicating the degree to which an individual behaves the same way in other situation
    3. Consistency: An informational cure indicating the frequency of behavior over time

  • Performance Management: Poor Performance

    In the last byte, we looked at how one could manage performance by getting the right rewards in place. In today’s byte, we look at dealing with poor performance.

    It is not uncommon to find instances of performance being below par – there is one question that arises once a poor performance is detected – What is the source of the poor performance?

    Poor performance could arise from a variety of causes, some are: poorly designed work systems, a not so good selection process, inadequate training and development dimension, lack of personal motivation, personal problems creeping into the work environment etc. Given this plethora of causes, it would be important to identify the right source of the problem and proceed with the apt corrective action.

    Once the source is identified, we could classify it into 2 categories:

    1. Problem due to the system – solution would be for the supervisor to set the system better
    2. Problem due to the personal sphere of the employee – in this case, the source of the problem should be further investigated and nailed down.
    Having nailed down the source of the problem and its primary responsibility, we would require to next chalk out a plan to correct the performance. Without getting into details, it is important to state here that both the employee and the supervisor should be engaged in getting to a solution – there are no short answers in here.