Oganizational Behavior in the News Article pptx

Organizational Behavior in the News Article
Name: Do Thuy Mo
Student’s number: 552041
Citation:
Teresa Amabile, Steven Kramer. “Do Happier People Work Harder?” [The New York
Times].Web. September 3, 2011. September 4, 2011, on page SR7 of the New York
edition.
/>harder.html
Summary:
The article shows the result of some surveys and research around how employees felt and
behaved in job’s situations they were placed in, especially, when they were not in a good mood.
The analysis has pointed out that employee engagement might seem like a frill in a downturn
economy; it could make a big difference in a company’s survival, however. In a 2010 study,
James K. Harter and colleagues found that lower job satisfaction foreshadowed poorer bottom-
line performance. They had estimated the cost of America’s disengagement crisis at a
staggering $300 billion in lost productivity annually. According to the analysis of 12,000
electronic diary entries from 238 professionals, when asked to describe one event that stood
out during that day, respondents all tend to reveal their inner work lives — the usually hidden
perceptions, emotions and motivations that people experienced as they reacted to and made
sense of events in their workdays. The writers deeply felt sorry to point out some mistakes in
which managing styles had led to poor performance and low productivity among employees.
Most managers did not understand the negative consequences of the struggle for employees.
Fully 95 percent of these managers failed to recognize that progress in meaningful work was
the primary motivator, well ahead of traditional incentives like raises and bonuses. The article
concluded with the writers’ opinion about effective leadership and strong motivation that could
remove obstacles in the path of improving employees ’efficiency.
Course connections analysis:
Leadership
Leadership is critical to the success of organizations. If you have ever worked for someone with
poor leadership performance and skills, you certainly understand how inconsistency, negativity
and unpredictability can diminish your sense of job motivation and company loyalty. As

mentioned in professor Dunham’s lecture about leadership, organizations are so dynamic today
that leaders are often evaluated on factors like these that relate to: how well a leader can
promote, support, initiate and drive change in the organization. The first category of things
tend to be interpersonal in nature: how well the leaders structures for followers; how frequent
personal contact is; how effectively they motivate; how well they communicate; the
interpersonal power the leader has, which is a measure of ability to influence; degree to which
followers are nurtured; degree to which the leader is supportive for followers; and, sometimes,
degree to which the leader can behave in a charismatic manner to inspire followers. Employees
are far more likely to have new ideas on days when they feel satisfied with the way they are
treated. Moreover, once workers experienced their labor as meaningful, progress is often
followed by joy and excitement about the work.
Motivation
Everyone is motivated!
When people did not care about their jobs or their employers, they would not
show up consistently, they produced less, or their work quality suffered. In this
case, they might be motivated to use as little effort as they can or to quit their
job.
On the contrary, the problem which was mentioned in the article may motivate
people to exert a lot of effort at work. That managers can help ensure that people
are happily engaged at work is not expensive at all. Workers’ well-being depends,
in large part, on managers’ ability and willingness to facilitate workers’
accomplishments — by removing obstacles, providing help and acknowledging
strong effort.
Topic Relationship:
Motivation and leadership are the main topics that relate closely to the article.
Why this is important information for us to know?
The article helps us know more about psychology and behavior of employees at
work and in organization. Thus, we have effective strategies in management and
leadership.
Key lessons learned from the Article:

I am about to be a leader in the future, therefore, every lesson on leadership,
motivation or research in psychology of employees in organization is extremely
appealing to me.
What I like most about this article is its spirit: “Work should ennoble, not kill, the
human spirit. Promoting workers’ well-being isn’t just ethical; it makes economic
sense”. Happiness - like any attitude - is a choice. If the work you do every day is
not something you “love,” you can choose to do it with an attitude that expresses
your desire to do a good job, deliver an excellent end product, and respect those
around you. Letting people work their way also gives companies a competitive
edge in recruiting talent as the economy becomes increasingly global.
Furthermore, by supporting workers’ everyday progress, we could end the
disengagement crisis and, in the process, lift work force’s well-being and
economy’s productivity.