GM Professional Development Program
Assignment 2: Professional Development Program Proposal
In Assignment 1, you conducted a research analysis of the company and proposed strategic solutions to the CEO. As you continue your consulting role, the next task is to deliver a professional development program to the CEO of your chosen organization.
It is important that your program’s proposal be based on your research of emotional intelligence (EI) and specifically detail how a new incentive program, based on an EI management approach, will:
● Foster teamwork
● Strengthen interpersonal relationships
● Enhance communication
● Increase overall performance
● Benefit not only managers but the bottom-line
Instructions
Following SWS standards, write a 5 to 7 page, double-spaced proposal that includes the following components:
1. EI and Motivation
○ Which of the EI building blocks would impact management’s ability to enhance employee performance and job satisfaction?
○ Based on your research on motivational theory, describe which motivational theory you would utilize to influence the members of the organization and aid in helping to resolve the issue. Provide examples to support your solution.
2. EI and Social Skills and Decision Making
○ Explain how the core concepts of emotional intelligence would enhance the decision-making efficacy of the management team.
3. Effective Teams
○ Describe the core attributes of an effective team and the strategies you would implement to develop team dynamics that will benefit the organization.
4. Reward Systems
○ Create an effective reward system for this organization based on how you want to resolve the organizational issue. Determine the strategies you would incorporate to motivate employees and influence behavior.
Professional Development Program Proposal: General Motors Example
EI and Motivation
In General Motors (GM), emotional intelligence (EI) is highly required because of the toxic workplace exhibited by employees who do not embrace diversity and inclusivity. Discrimination in the workplace can lead to internal conflicts and job dissatisfaction and thus has adverse effects on the employees’ productivity and organizational performance. Huy (2009) as quoted by Çekmecelioğlu, Günsel, & Ulutaş (2012) defined emotional intelligence as “ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions” (p. 63). General Motors employees, irrespective of their background, should be equipped with the emotional intelligence attributes to be able to understand their own emotions as well as those of the employees around them. For example, white employees should be aware of their emotions as well as those of the black employees. By doing this, white employees will be considerate when hurling racist remarks to their fellow workmates. The black employees also need emotional intelligence on how to handle racism from their work colleagues effectively. Adopting emotional intelligence can reduce the impacts of negative emotions, and as a result, aid in the regulation of individual emotions (Goleman, Boyatzis, Davidson, Druskat, & Kohlrieser, 2017). Emotional intelligence will boost workplace performance, as discussed by Lee (2017). EI leads to job satisfaction, which results in improved job performance.
Emotional intelligence comprises four main building blocks: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management (Goleman et al., 2017). GM workplace is characterized by conflict because employees of different backgrounds are unable to work together successfully. Therefore, to enhance productivity and performance, GM management should use relationship management, which is one of the EI building blocks. Through relationship management, the management will use the competencies of conflict management, teamwork, inspirational leadership, coaching and mentoring, influence, organizational awareness, and empathy. Relationship management will solve some of the problems such as internal conflict resulting in racism and create a united workplace team that can work together to achieve organizational goals.
In solving the diversity and inclusivity relationship issues in GM’s workplace, the management can apply Herzberg Motivational Theory. The theory is based on two factors: motivators and hygiene. Motivators encourage employees to increase their productivity. The hygiene factors, on the other hand, influence employees to work less hard if they are absent (Bexheti, 2016). In solving the workplace-related racism, the GM will need Hygiene factors since they will instill discipline and encourage employees to retain the acceptable relations standards. For example, by setting workplace policies and handling the issues of racism with seriousness, the vice will decline and encourage employees to concentrate on job performance. The hygiene factors applicable in GM’s workplace context are company policies on racism, security, work conditions, and relationships.
EI and Social Skills and Decision Making
GM management will need to apply emotional intelligence that is supported by social skills to manage and influence other organization members effectively. Having great social skills will help the management to make reasonable decisions that align with emotional intelligence competencies such as conflict management, cooperation, and building bonds among the employees. GM workplace has been characterized by internal conflicts arising from the employees due to racial differences. The management should be equipped with the right conflict management skills to create awareness to employees on how they can avoid actions that might lead to conflicts. For example, encouraging employees to adopt self-awareness and self-regulation will lead to the development of interpersonal skills that they can use before responding to emotional situations (Kleid, 2018). Excellent conflict management skills will require GM’s team to discuss disagreements openly in the presence of the disagreeing parties. In doing so, the leadership should share emotions to encourage open discussion and debate. This will help to reveal current hidden problems and assist each conflicting party to understand each other’s feelings. Using this approach will lead to a win-win situation where each party will be satisfied with the results.
The GM management will need rapport social skills to help in building bonds among the employees. Leaders with these skills create workplace environments that are characterized by better working relationships. Employees with better relationships can work together better and deliver the desired organizational goals. These skills will encourage the creation of friendships among employees. It will help employees to value others and get interested in their culture to know more about it (Sumathy, Madhavi, & Felix, 2015). When GM’s work environment is dominated by building bonds, the cases of racism will reduce because the employees understand and respects each other despite the existing cultural differences.
Team-working social skills that are based on collaboration and cooperation will help to address differences in the GM workplace. These differences have resulted in racism since some employees feel that they are more entitled to certain managerial positions that others. For example, the black employees in managerial positions are usually discriminated against. It is an essential skill in emotional intelligence since when people are working as a team, they perceive the relationship as important as the task itself (Sumathy, Madhavi, & Felix, 2015). The employees will value fellow workmates as much as the activity being executed. Team-working in GM will enable workers to work together by sharing ideas and plans that can benefit the company. Promoting cooperation and collaboration culture will make everyone happy and comfortable to contribute. The employees will also be encouraged to find collaborative working-based opportunities. GM’s leadership role will be very important in fostering team commitment for collaboration and working together by aligning team members’ efforts with organizational goals.
Effective Teams
Effective teams lead to the achievement of outstanding results, as exemplified by (McEwan, Ruissen, Eys, Zumbo, & Beauchamp, 2017). A team usually has a common goal that calls for team members to develop mutual relationships that will lead to the accomplishment of the team goals. Effective teamwork strategies should be focused on encouraging members to work together by sharing ideas, skills, and knowledge to realize the team’s common goals. General Motors management should consider developing teams that are characterized by successful teamwork attributes outlined below:
Open communication
The management should encourage open communication by listening to the needs and issues raised by the team members. GM management should advance this attribute by valuing team contribution through positive feedback. The management should also influence employees to use authentic, constructive criticism feedback to improve their performance. This will help to create an effective work environment where all employees can share their knowledge and skills for the betterment of increased organizational performance. Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skills are effective in encouraging open discussion with team members. This leads to the creation of the work environment that is characterized by trustworthiness, honesty, and respect for the team members and individual employees (McEwan et al., 2017). GM management should encourage the growth of interpersonal skills by creating avenues through which employees and teams can present their ideas and skills to the organization. For example, the company can set five hours every week where the successful teams will be allowed to share their experiences and actions that led to success. The avenue should also be availed to the teams which did not achieve the set team goals to explain to the rest of the employees the mistakes that led to failure and what they have learned from the mistakes. By creating a family of teams in the workplace, the management will create oneness and discourage the issues of racism that are leading to the creation of toxic workplace culture.
Interdependence
GM management should encourage a work environment that embraces interdependence. The employees should be taught that working as a team has more benefits to both the individual and the organization than working alone. According to Tarricone & Luca (2012), an interdependent work environment taps the best from each employee, facilitating the team to achieve the best.
Foster commitment
When team members are committed to the achievement of the shared goals, they achieve the highest level (McEwan et al., 2017). As such, General Motors management should develop shared goals that influence employees in the workplace to work together. This will get rid of the spirit of individualism that has led to racism. The management can learn from the culture of the football team, where the team members celebrate as a whole when the goal is scored irrespective of the ethnic background of the player putting the ball in the net.
Reward Systems
As discussed earlier, failure by GM employees to embrace diversity and inclusivity in the workplace has led to racism and discrimination. Therefore, the management should create a reward system that motivates employees to embrace diversity and inclusivity. GM motors should adopt an employee recognition program where employees who embrace cultural diversity are appreciated and promoted to leadership positions. The management should show employees that diversity is an important attribute that should cut across the entire organization. The strategies of rewarding employees can range from spoken words such as “Thank you” to gift cards, certificates, and shopping vouchers. The GM managers can also plan for vacation packages to employees who exhibits outstanding diversity and inclusivity practices. For example, offering employees a trip to a foreign country to learn more about the natives’ culture is a great sign of motivation.
When designing the recognition reward program, GM management will need to create clear policies and guidelines that describe how employees will qualify for the rewards. These guidelines should include a threshold forwards, diversity, and inclusivity goals that will be measured, the frequency of rewarding, types of rewards, the approval process, and the employee eligibility requirements. By doing so, the management will provide criteria to the employees, which they should meet to be rewarded. It is also an explanation of the behavior that employees should exhibit in the workplace to qualify for recognition. With a reward system that encourages diversity appreciation, team performance and creativity; innovation in the organization will be enhanced. By creating diverse teams that can work together successfully, the common organizational bias and conflicts will reduce.
References
Bexheti, L. (2016). The Impact of Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory and Efficiency at Work. European Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 1(2), 379-386.
Çekmecelioğlu, H. G., Günsel, A., & Ulutaş, T. (2012). Effects Of Emotional Intelligence On Job Satisfaction: An Empirical Study On Call Center Employees. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5(8), 363 – 369. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042812044746
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., Davidson, R. J., Druskat, V., & Kohlrieser, G. (2017). Building Blocks Of Emotional Intelligence. Florence, MA: More Than Sound, LLC. https://mindfulleadershipconference.com/wp-content/uploads/Dan-Goleman-Emotional-Self-Awareness.pdf
Kleid, J. (2018). Emotional Intelligence Impacts Decision-Making. Changing Lives » Optimizing Performance, 1. https://www.jasonkleid.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Emotional-Intelligence-Impacts-Decision-Making1.pdf
Lee, H. J. (2017). How emotional intelligence relates to job satisfaction and burnout in public service jobs. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 729-745. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852316670489
McEwan, D., Ruissen, G. R., Eys, M. A., Zumbo, B. D., & Beauchamp, M. (2017). The Effectiveness of Teamwork Training on Teamwork Behaviors and Team Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Interventions. PloS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169604
Sumathy, C., Madhavi, C., & Felix, W. (2015). Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Decision Making by Leaders. American International Journal of Social Science, 4(1), 134-140. http://www.aijssnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_1_February_2015/16.pdf
Tarricone, P., & Luca, J. (2012). Successful teamwork: A case study. HERDSA, 640-646.