Organizational Objectives V/s Individual Objectives

31/5/2013

In the not so distant past, the management theory was about the employees working towards the organizations goals. Today, despite the increase in population, the labor is scarce, be it skilled or unskilled. Organizations can attract the best talent only if they change their attitudes to a different theory. Organizations have to realize their goals, by meeting the personal goals of its employees.

Yes, organizations should do everything it can to ensure that the personal goals of its staff are achieved. This achievement process motivates them to do what the organization expects from them, that too happily without boredom.

But this change is easily said than done. It’s a whole new game. The challenges it brings are as many as the number of staffs that you have. As the expectations of staff are not mere money related, as its social factors to a large extend. But if organizations are to address the varied needs of its staff, will it be practically possible, viable? This means organizations will have to provide such services en masse to benefit from the economies of scale. This again leads to selecting employees with similar tastes and desires. This is going to change the way we recruit and what we look for in a CV.

The challenges are not limited to these. It can be different and diverse in different industries and even within the same industry.

Interesting times ahead for the management team, and for their consultants.

10 Comments

Akhil

31/5/2013 02:45:07 pm

I believe that every company should primarily focus on hiring people who believe in what the organization believes. Take the example of “Zappos”, who made it a norm to hire people (across all departments, not just sales) who share the same passion in customer service as Zappos does. This would avoid talented people getting labeled as cultural misfits.

Ameen Ahsan link

31/5/2013 11:25:43 pm

Thank you for the comment. Well, what you said is true and relevant. But nevertheless, the topic was on addressing the individual needs of the workers. Someone might be passionate about an activity, but he will have issues back home that nags him, affects his attention, and might even compel him to leave his job.

1/6/2013 12:51:30 am

Ameen,
Thank you for pointing out my deviation from the topic.
Bringing an organization culture of that of a family where there are tight bonds between the employees could solve the problem to a certain extent. It’s much better feeling in personal tough times when you know your peers are gonna be there for you. Easier said than done.
This alone can’t be a solution, but is harder to leave a family nonetheless.

1/6/2013 08:12:13 am

Dear Akhil,

Thank you the comment. Bringing about a family culture or a bonding inside a organization is a great thing. It was once enjoyed by old business houses. But in today's world, I feel its a major challenge, especially when family bonding is an alien concept even inside the family. The families getting nuclear, and values getting scares and rare, having such a thought inside a company is definitely going to be a tough game.

But coming to think of it, does it work the other way round? Will inspiring staff to be more family oriented, more into family values, help in getting a reciprocal feeling towards the company?

Only such experiments can tell. But one thing is sure, such experiments will work only if the company and staff are patient enough!

Vasudev Narayanan

3/6/2013 12:54:10 pm

Though we see it as Campus2Industry issue, Government and their reforms play an important candidate as well. While the inflation is galloping, the bill rate is not because the productivity of an employee is not.
As an employee, I will always have peer pressure, social pressure in improving my figures in payslip. That said, the organization does have pressure in various facets which very rarely is met by employees.
Only when an individual understands this economics can an organization bridge the gap.
This is my perspective.

4/6/2013 08:43:10 am

Vasudev Narayanan, you said it right. One of the biggest challenges facing a growing business, is when its staff does not grow with it. As their ability to contribute becomes less with the growing challenge, the organizations come with the problem of terminating them or demoting them. This is a very painful decision. As the person turned down could have been the hero of the yesteryear. This is applicable to even founders. How many times, have we seen a founder who has to step down, as his organization out grows him. So what to do in such situations?

I would say, the solution lies with those who are going to get affected. And the solution is to keep up with the changes, sharpen your axe, be updated, embrace new technology and skills. Its not easy, but then it never was during the yesteryear as well. The problem arises only when we get complacent and but down our guard.

mohsin

17/6/2013 05:28:57 am

Adam Smith said that the best results come when everyone in an group (or organization like a company) does good for himself.He meant that the success of a organization will be the sum of the effective personal ambitions of the individuals inside it. John Nash updated adam smith by saying that the best results come when everyone in a group does what is good for himself and the group. The western world understood this in the time of adam smith in the 19th century. But we are still way back in understanding the huge possibilities of the WIN-WIN strategy. One requirement for inculcating the win win strategy for both the employer and employee is the need for having an abundance mentality. To believe that there is enough wealth, enough success , enough prosperity for everyone in the world. That it is not a zero sum game. That it is not that if I need to win you need to lose.

R.Gopakumar

19/6/2013 09:07:22 am

Success of an organization depends upon the attitude of the staffs.Now a days this is coming down .If a person is having ambition and giving more importance to career than money, definitely these type of people will always worried about the growth of the organization. They filled with PASSION and POSITIVE ENERGY and it will transfer to other staff.

Shakir Ahmed

19/6/2013 05:30:27 pm

Human needs and wants are endless.Its impossible to any org. to satisfy these.But every org. could convince the employees that they are reasonably paid or benefited.Thus new challenges and risks in work place are meant to exploit and enhance their knowledge and skills and it also is an opportunity for them to earn more.So only by understanding and attaining the organizational goals,the employee could attain his personal goals.That's where the reward and punishment system helps them to be motivated and controlled.

MAHESH REDDY ANNEM

9/7/2013 05:10:48 am

Ameen, Thanks for posting such a thought provoking article. Currently its an order of the day to integrate the employee goals with organisational objectives. When it comes on screen at the time of recruitment. We can't really identify the similarities of objectives because "we can hire the minds but not thoughts". If we think it really happens it would result in Hallo effect or stereo typic error.
The employee commitment towards organisational objectives is possible only through Motivation (intrinsic factors). When we motivate only through extrinsic factors the employee might not be dissatisfied but it doesn't mean that he is satisfied.
Now a days organisations focus only on providing extrinsic factors in order to satisfy for the time being. The companies do not want their employees to have new ideas or thoughts in the regime of outsourcing. If they had they would not come into light due to uneven economic conditions.
Companies wanted to generate a stable income on existing processes without any experimentation.
Now a days everybody works for recognition. If an employee (his work) is recognized properly then he resembles in every objective of organisation.

- Make people part of strategy then strategy works for people.

Organizational Objectives V/s Individual Objectives

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