Organizational Behavior
4/17/13
After a long thought process of which manager I was going to interview, I decided to go home last weekend and visit my first place of employment, “The Arenas at Woodbridge”. The Arenas at Woodbridge is an arcade that consists of two skating rinks, an ice skating rink and a rollerblading rink. In between the two skating rinks is a concession stand, which is where I happened to work as a cashier. This was my first time there in about two years so I didn’t know what to expect. Lots of memories were brought back as I was there and I was really hoping to bump into my former manager but unfortunately he was out with a cold, so I ended up interviewing one of my former supervisors instead.
I chose to interview my good friend Jon Hassay because I had the closest bond with him out of all the supervisors. Jon is responsible for supervising 3-5 employees per shift. Jon believes that the personality of the employees is crucial. The employees must be polite and be able to communicate with customers so that they can enjoy the service that they’re being given and feel welcomed to come back again. Motivation levels of the employees have a huge affect in the workplace. As a supervisor, Jon believes that he is responsible for motivating the employees.
Groups and teams is another important aspect in the workplace from Jon’s point of view. The job takes place in a kitchen so it is important for each employee to help one another since it’s nearly impossible for a job in the kitchen to be done by one person alone. The job consists of cooks and cashiers but each employee is trained to do everything so that whenever it gets too busy, each employee can assist their coworkers. Jon usually looks for an area that needs work in the kitchen and forms a group amongst the employees working to get the task completed. Jon would like to see an improvement in this area. He would like to see the employees help one another more often without being told. Jon feels that the employees view him as a strong leader. He likes to create a strong bond with the employees so that whenever they have a problem, they can feel free to approach him. The organization is designed as a hierarchy so whenever an employee has a problem that Jon cannot resolve, it is usually presented to someone of higher power. Jon believes the structure of the business is well organized and the communication is at a good level. When it comes to power and politics Jon states that in every job, power and politics will affect a workplace. He feels that power, politics and egos is not a serious issue at the Arenas. Everyone is familiar with what their responsibilities are and the work gets done.
From time to time, the organization encounters conflicts amongst the employees and the customers. Jon feels that it is important to hear both sides of a story before coming up with a resolution. Certain issues have gotten serious to the point where the cops needed to get involved. There are rarely any conflicts between two employees but when it does occur, the person in charge of making the schedule tries their best to schedule them during different shifts. Whenever a new employee is hired, he or she is trained by a supervisor or a trustworthy employee with experience. Meetings are held whenever a new rule or development is implemented. As a supervisor of the company, Jon has trained many employees and has also held plenty of meetings over the years. He thinks that it is necessary to retrain employees periodically. Even though it’d be costly, he believes that it would be beneficial towards the company’s success.
Based on the interview, it seems to me that the organization is lacking the most in motivation, organizational development, and groups and teams. Motivation is when you give a person a reason to do something. There are many different motivational theories that state the needs that people have. The most popular theory is
