Main Concepts of Organizational Behaviour

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Introduction

Today organizations are challenged with obtaining top talent that is able to uphold the standards of the organization. The concept of a team has never been harder to come by with individuals looking out for their own self interests which are fostered by the American individualistic mentality. However for an organization to reach its pinnacle, it is imperative that it foster a sense of unity by holding its employees to the highest level of standards. This is even truer today after the numerous financial scandals that have plagued large business. This paper will discuss what I consider to be my organizations high level of standards and provide an overview how my organization rewards our employees for maintaining these standards.

Integrity and Ethical Standards

The organization that I work for maintains the highest levels of standards for their employees, not only from the work perspective, but from a personal perspective as well. Many people today would take issue with their employer providing guidelines and policies that dictate how they live their lives once they leave the office. However, working for an intelligence agency this is exactly what happens. To work for an intelligence agency one must pass a rigorous polygraph examination that determines an individual's suitableness for employment with the agency. An individual selected for an intelligence position must maintain values that are consistent with what is considered an up-standing citizen. For this reason, the individuals who work for these agencies have the highest standards of integrity and ethics that can be found in the working world today. Many would disagree with that statement based on news reports the past couple of years. However it is indeed a fact and Intelligence officers maintain vigilance of their actions 24 days, 7 days a week.

For this reason, the disciplinary issues that many organizations encounter are not seen at my place of work. It can be reasonably expected that when employees come to work they are going to give a full days effort. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part employees can be counted on to give it their best. Keeping in mind standards are both goals and values (Kouzes & Posner, 2002). Expecting the best from our employees does not meet I do not set high goals for my organization and those that carry out our mission. In fact, for this reason, I set the goals for my organization much higher than I might if I were in private industry. According to Kouzes and Posner, "successful leaders have high expectations, both of themselves and of their constituents".

I have always been under the belief that the higher one sets their goals the higher success one will achieve or as stated by Kouzes and Posner, "The expectations that successful leaders hold provide the framework into which people fit their own realities". This can be tricky at times as I want to set the goals as high as possible, but at the same time I want to ensure that they are feasible and attainable. Setting goals that are not attainable simply leads to bad morale as employees are never able to accomplish their objectives. Another reason I feel confident about setting high goals is due to the fact, that employees that work for my agency, for the most part, are there because they love what they do, and because their sense of patriotism. As all employees hold a Top Secret security clearance, they can easily leave the government and obtain a job in the private sector making $40k more per year. Although this does happen at times, the majority of employees continue to work for the agency due to the fact that they feel they are doing something important for their country.

Rewarding of Performance

Even though employees want to remain with the agency, steps are still taken to ensure a high level of morale and to keep the focus on the important aspects of our mission. Once ...