7
Human Behavior, Management, and Empowerment in Organizations
I.The Importance of Management
A.Management: The effective and efficient attainment of organizational goals through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling organizational resources
B.Management by objectives (MBO) was a popular approach in the last quarter of the 20th century that focused on goals, and measured success by achieving these goals
II.Working in a Traditional Bureaucracy
A.Value orientation discrepancies between workers and “the system”
1.Expecting the values of a large bureaucracy to coincide with your own sets you up for disappointment
2.Highlight 7.1: Value Orientation Conflicts Between Helping Professionals and Bureaucracies
B.Behavior patterns in bureaucratic systems
1.Warrior: Leads open campaigns to destroy and malign the system
2.Gossip: A covert warrior who complains to others both inside and outside of the agency about how terrible the system is
3.Complainer: Resembles a gossip, but confines complaints internally to other helping persons, to in-house staff, and to family members
4.Dancer: Skillful at ignoring rules and procedures
5.Machine: A typical bureaucrat who takes on the orientation of the bureaucracy
6.Executioner: A tremendously enthusiastic and self-motivated individual who has managed to gain some power, status, and advancement within the bureaucratic organization
C.A final commentary on bureaucracies
D.Highlight 7.2: The U.S. Health Care System, and Asian and Pacific Islander Cultural Values
1.Value dimensions in API cultures relating to health care provision
a.Shared decision-making in families
b.Filial piety: A devotion to and compliance with parental and familial authority, to the point of sacrificing individual desires and ambitions
c.Silent communication
d.Preservation of harmony
e.Delayed access but great respect for health care
2.Conflicts between cultural values and the U.S. health care system
a.Informed consent
b.Advanced directive: A person’s formally recognized statement signed before witnesses that gives instructions for what medical alternatives should be pursued in the event that the person becomes incapable of making such choices
c.Decisions about nursing home placement
3.Critical thinking: Implications for an improved health care system
III.Problems Frequently Encountered by Social Service Organizations
A.Vagueness of goals
B.Vagueness of process
C.Impersonal behavior
D.Lack of rewards and recognition
E.Agency policy and worker discretion
F.Traditions and unwritten rules
IV.Newer Approaches to Management and Worker Empowerment
A.Constructing a culture of caring
1.Job ownership: Workers feel that their job and their work performance is an important part of their identity
2.Seeking a higher purpose: Employees genuinely feel that they’re making a difference through their participation
3.Emotional bonding: An environment in which people truly care about and experience a vital feeling of connection with each other
4.Trust: The condition where people feel they can depend on each other to follow through on tasks and be supportive of one another
5.Pride in one’s work: The condition where workers feel high self-esteem regarding, and have great respect for, their accomplishments at work
B.The learning organization
1.Learning organization: One in which everyone is engaged in identifying and solving problems, enabling the organization to continuously experiment, change, and improve, thus increasing its capacity to grow, learn, and achieve its purpose. It includes the following five primary concepts
a.Power is redistributed from higher levels to lower levels in the organizational structure
b.Nurtures the development of new ideas
c.Emphasizes the effectiveness of service provision to clients instead of the process of service provision
d.Encourages the use of multidisciplinary teams
e.Promotes open information
f.Encourages individuals to lead because they want to serve one another as well as a higher purpose
2.Highlight 7.3: Leadership Styles (Williams)
a.Path-goal theory: Leaders can increase subordinate satisfaction and performance by clarifying and clearing the paths to goals and by increasing the number and kinds of rewards available for goal attainment
1)Directive leadership: Letting employees know precisely what is expected of them, giving them specific guidelines for performing tasks, scheduling work, setting standards of performance, and making sure that people follow standard rules and regulations
2)Supportive leadership: Being friendly to and approachable by employees, showing concern for them and their welfare, treating them as equals, and creating a friendly climate
3)Participative leadership: Consulting employees for their suggestions and input before making decisions
4)Achievement-oriented leadership: Setting challenging goals, having high expectations of employees, and displaying confidence that employees will assume responsibility and put forth extraordinary effort
3.Learning disabilities working against learning organizations
a.I am my position
b.The enemy is out there
c.The illusion of taking charge
d.The parable of the boiled frog
e.The delusion of learning from experience
f.The myth of the management team
C.Teamwork and team empowerment
1.A clear, engaging reason or purpose should exist for using them
2.Teams should be used when the job can’t be done unless people work together
3.Teams should be used when rewards can be provided for teamwork and team performance
4.Teams should have a clear authority to make recommendations or implement their decisions as a result of their efforts
D.Managing diversity
1.Within the workforce, people differ in their race/ethnicity, religion, gender, age, and ability
2.Highlight 7.4: Women in Social Services Management
a.Women represent nearly 70 percent of all paid employees in human services organizations and more than 79 percent of social workers in NASW; however, men hold most of the managerial positions
b.Management approaches used by women who are leaders
1)Inclusive leaders: Cultivate relationships with and among various communities and groups, using relationships to gather information, to enhance resources, and to form political alliances for their organizations
2)Social responsibility and empowerment
3)Participatory decision making and an appreciation for diversity
c.What organizations can do to empower women as leaders
1)Conduct an audit or analysis of the status of women within itself
2)Establish clear-cut objectives for each management unit
3)Encourage employee involvement in the diversity-enhancement process by establishing employee network groups composed of women or people with the same cultural background
d.Encouraging women in social work to pursue careers in management (Gardella & Haynes)
1)Identify a woman leader who may be a role model for you in the future or who has been a role model for you in the past
2)Develop a list of your personal strengths
3)If you have the opportunity, reach out to another woman as a mentor
4)Think about and articulate what personal and professional goals you would like to achieve within the next five years
5)Select a community club or professional organization and join it
6)Meet with other women who are in professional circumstances similar to your own
E.Client system empowerment by management
1.Factors working against client empowerment
a.Expectations of funding sources
b.The social environment
c.Intrapersonal issues
d.Interpersonal issues
2.Organizational conditions enhancing client empowerment
a.Administrative leadership and support
b.Staff development
c.Enhanced collaborative approach
V.Specific Management Approaches
A.Total Quality Management
1.Clients as customers
a.Highlight 7.5: “The Seven Sins of Service” (Albrecht)
1)Apathy
2)Brush-off
3)Coldness
4)Condescension
5)Robotism
6)Rule book
7)Runaround
2.Customer feedback
3.Quality as the primary goal
a.Accuracy
b.Consistency
c.Responsiveness
d.Perceived value
e.Service experience
4.Individualized definitions of quality
5.Employee empowerment
6.Use of teams and teamwork
7.A total quality approach to leadership
8.Establishing a culture of quality
9.A long-term perspective
B.Servant leadership: Emphasizes that leaders should be attentive to the concerns of their followers and empathize with them; they should take care of them and nurture them (Greenleaf)
1.Qualities of a servant leader (Barbuto & Wheeler)
a.Calling (it is more than just choosing that course)
b.Listening
c.Empathy
d.Healing
e.Awareness
f.Persuasion
g.Conceptualization
h.Foresight
i.Stewardship
j.Growth
k.Building community
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