What Does a Manager Need to Succeed, Case Study Example

Introduction

For a manager to succeed he or she must make decisions but sometimes a manager is faced with critical moments that seem difficult and nerve- racking. To make effective as well as efficient decisions in private and public life practical guidance is of great significant. In the development of a human being, one discovers the real person and from that point one is required to make responsible decisions. However there are individuals who do not realize their responsibilities early enough. This makes them live in ignorance or develop fear of making wise decisions in life. A behavior can be adaptive if practiced often and this is what Mark experienced. As a business consultant I would not advice the manager to dismiss Mark because of his past development that was full of risky behaviors and pressure influence from peers (Geller, 2000).

Developing Positive Influence

Making the correct decisions is comprised of what is required of a person and what the person want to do. A person who repeats a mistake may live in bondage. Even after improving the safety in the working environment of the employees, injuries and incidents occurs regularly. We have to be reminded that human beings often make mistakes regardless of their best target in the comfortable environment since they are never perfect. In addition, the work culture normally encourages risk behaviors to be taken by the employees (Perdue 2000). The manager ought to embrace the behavioral approach to advancement on safety performance so as to understand employees better. In addition it will be advisable to consider Behavior- based safety which is a broad collection of interventions such as processes, programs and tactics in which principles of behavioral psychology are used to alter specific behavior. With the behavior – based safety, the employees observe each other routinely and afterwards a review of the observation is made by the observer and observe. The manager gives out positive feedback for behaviors that are safe but gives corrective feedback for a behavior considered to be at- risk. This behavior observation and drawing of feedback leads to informal problem solving techniques. Safer alternatives are then provided to help the employee with the risky behavior change in future. The manager should view anonymous safety communication, recognition and rewards (Perdue,1999).

The psychological principles processes in observation and feedback reinforce and motivate work practices that are safe. There are principles in social psychology that have great influence on human behavior. The manager should also embrace them so as positively influence an employee with a poor development. Encouraging such employees to exhibit behaviors that are adorable will lead to the increase in safety performance. The use of the principle of reciprocity on positive notes may change a risk behavior. This involves giving praise for a noted positive behavior change. In return the praised individual will have the urge of giving supportive feedback. If other employees in the organization portray safe behavior, then others tend to conform to the standard. It is advisable that the organization provides opportunities which employees take part in safety activities such as joining safety teams and analysis in job safety.  The manager should like the individual and not develop a negative attitude because this influences the interaction processes. Non- threatening and respectful feedback leaves a favorable impression on the receiver towards the giver. It is necessary that interventions of behavior change are introduced in a manner that will create positive impact on an individual and the organization at large (Williams & Geller, 2001).

Conclusion

An understanding of the reasons leading to occurrence of a risky behavior facilitates the designing of efficient interventions. It is also important to reflect on the person factors that affect behavior using the behavior-based psychology. Punishment should not be the result of observation along with feedback processes. If designed and implemented well behavior- based observation can effectively change risky behavior. Others tools of reducing risky behaviors are developing safety rules, safety training, correction and discipline. Management that is based on setting of objectives, managing by influence , managing change and managing by communication can positively influence an individual who have in the past experienced risky behaviors.

References

Geller, E. (2000). The Handbook of the Psychology of Safety: How to Improve Behaviors and Attitudes on the Job. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Perdue,  R. (2000) “Beyond Observation and Feedback: Integrating Behavioral Safety Principles Into Other Safety Management Systems”. Proceedings of the 2000 American Society of Professional Engineers (ASSE) Conference and Exposition.

Perdue,  R. (1999). “Addressing Ergonomic Hazards Through Behavioral Observation and Feedback. Proceedings of the 1999 American Society of Professional Engineers (ASSE) Conference and Exposition.

Williams, J. & Geller, E.(2001).Safety Performance Solutions. Keys to Behavior-based Safety. Rockville, MD: Government Institutes .