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you ask we answer

Q:  I have just started my first job in retail and I got hired on the spot, the details of the job were unclear and I wasn’t even sure if I was full time or part time until I started. I was pretty much just thrown into it, and my boss never even finished training me - she told me not to tell anyone about that. It is now one month in and I am being told that I am not doing a good job. What should I do?

A:  This sounds like an ethical dilemma you can solve without having to quit your job or bring harm to your employer. You should talk to your boss and tell her that you want to finish your training, it is extremely unfair that she put you in this predicament especially given that this is your first job. If she refuses you can definitely escalate this to the human resources department where they would most definitely give you the training you deserve as well as stress the importance of training to your employer. If hostility is something you are concerned about after this is taken care of, you can request to switch store locations if that is something you desire. Be sure to keep track of everything so you have a proper case to present as well.

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Q:   I work for a makeup company, all my co workers are female except for me the new employee who recently joined the team who is a male (We are all makeup artists). I have only been on the job for about a month and I receive constant discrimination from my female co workers solely because I am a male. I love what I do and this is my dream job, but I feel so defeated being discriminated against every day. I am very good at what I do and all my clients love me, but I am constantly told to work the back room or stock shelves, which I was told would only be less than a quarter of what I do here - though it seems that is all that I am doing. What should I do?

A:   We are sorry to hear you are going through this. This would definitely fall under the category of discrimination, you are correct. You should alleviate this issue to your human resources department and keep track of what has been said to you as well as the details of what you have been doing at the workplace. You should never feel uncomfortable at the workplace and sensitivity training on this issue should be applied to the severity of your case. Times are changing and discrimination will and should not be tolerated in any form, please keep us updated on your situation.

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you ask we answer

Q:   I was in the restroom the other day and I overheard my boss telling a colleague that he was going to lay off Dwight on the next quarter (which is in two weeks). Dwight is a good person, a good employee, and a good friend of mine. What should I do?

A:   That sounds like a tough decision to make. You need to make a contingency plan of what could happen in all different outcomes of this scenario. How will Dwight react if you tell him? Will he act out in a way that could harm the company? Or will he just have more time to properly protect himself and find a new job? What kind of person do you think he is? Have you thought about telling your boss what you overheard, maybe he would want to be the one to inform Dwight himself. There are a lot of factors you have to keep in mind while figuring out this dilemma.

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Ethical dilemmas could complicate the workplace in many ways, it occurs when choices might benefit the organization but may be considered unethical. For example it might benefit the company to cut corners in a business deal, it is unethical because employees have to be involved basically involuntarily but do not have a choice because it is their job. Business Recourse Blog has opened our inbox to answer your questions on ethical dilemmas at the workplace! Ask away, be sure to include details so we can give you our best advice.

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Business Resource Blog has had the exclusive opportunity of interviewing the founder and CEO of Tesla - Elon Musk himself. We chatted on topics such as: as role of management within the organization, managing stress and conflict, how he motivates his employees to obtain a productive work environment and just how important the planning process is to the success of an organization.

Elon Musk is the founder of one of the most successful businesses in the modern world. Business resource blog came across this exclusive opportunity to interview him on how he has managed to run such a successful organization for so long with his ever evolving company Tesla, the self driving motor vehicles. As the founder of the company he is in the top tier of management within a matrix type organizational structure. Here are some of the questions and answers you have been waiting for:

Elon, could you assess the importance of the role of management within an organization?

        “Management should always be looking for ways to grow the company. They should know how to recognize and seize these opportunities to grow, and adapt to these changes in order to get ahead in the high paced competition of the business world. In order to maintain long term success it is crucial for management to create and maintain a healthy work environment for their employees at every level. Healthy organizations have written these good practices and characteristics in stone in order to be sure that they are running as smoothly as possible. These characteristics are ingrained in their corporate culture by management. Recognition of these characteristics if a healthy organization can mean life or death for your company. By realizing these important characteristics it can aid management in detecting errors within the organization and take corrective steps toward overcoming them. I would say the top three most important characteristics in my company would be the ones that keep employees motivated which are: High employee morale, because when employees value their positions within a company and have the desire to work there long term productivity is much higher, more enjoyable and more successful. Effective sharing of goals, because a business shares its goals with employees at every level to get them on board with the vision and mission for the company. When employees and managers grasp a good concept of what is required to reach these shared goals, they make every effort to achieve them. Teamwork, because well run business know how to develop teams that collaborate to achieve the goals of the company. Managers and employees offer assistance to each other in order to meet these corporate objectives. When employees are part of a team and have the support of their colleagues as well as managers, it then becomes less stressful to complete tasks knowing that their is the support and assistance available they might need.”

What are some strategies used by individuals and organizations to manage stress and conflict?

           “It is important for us all as individuals to understand the power of the mind, especially when it comes to stress. Individuals (employees) should learn to have the belief that stress is not harmful, but it is something that we experience when our bodies are preparing us to handle a situation. Employees will benefit from the understanding that changing our state of mind and outlook on stress can have the largest impact on living a healthier life, as well as reducing as much stress as possible. Stress response has a correlation to oxytocin as it is a stress hormone. This makes us as humans look to come together when experiencing stress. Everyone experiences stress, especially in the workplace. When employees are stressed out it is extremely beneficial for the individuals as well as the company, for them to come together and confide in one another. This would aid dramatically in the reduction of stress as well as team building leading to a more cohesive company all together. I make sure to implement team building and stress reducing workshops as often as possible for every employee within the company, this also plays largely into motivation but it looks like we will get into that later. Another big thing for my company in stress reduction is charity work and giving back to our communities.  In addition to the workshops I also implement charity work or community service programs set up for employees to part take in. When humans are doing good on the outside as in caring or helping other people this  really helps reduce stress. Caring creates resilience in defying stress and aiding in life expectancy and well being.”

How do you go about motivating employees to obtain a healthy work environment?

        “There are six main motivational theories I like to mix and implement within my organization - ERG theory, McClelland's theory of needs, Goal setting theory, Reinforcement theory, Equity theory and Expectancy theory. Upon exploring all of these you notice a theme, you will find aspects of motivation, rewards and job performance all correlating together. Rewards could be considered as anything from praise from managers/higher ups, to needs, to goals to actual physical rewards. Rewards are typically the motivating factor for individuals. When rewards are involved it gives people the motivation to perform better at whatever task is in front of them, because they know that they will be compensated for their hard work. In the ERG theory as well as McClelland’s theory the rewards would be the fulfillment of needs, in the reinforcement & goal setting theories the reward would be praise and attainment of goals, lastly in the equity & expectancy theories the reward would be an actual reward. These are all incentives within the theories that we apply that lead to better job performance with our employees. The incentive of the reward gives employees the motivation to better perform at their jobs and given tasks. When employees are in a healthy environment, their needs are met and they feel good accomplishing good things - that is just the recipe for motivation.”

Just how important do you think planning is to the success of an organization?

      “Planning is one of the most crucial steps an organization can take to lead them to success. Most people often  don't understand the importance of planning or how crucial it is, if you plan things out properly you are already halfway there. Planning involves envisioning what the organization wants to achieve in the near future and determining the necessary steps that need to be taken in order to arrive at the intended destination which in most cases is success in any and all terms. The most important steps to planning for me and my company would be: Efficient use of resources, Establishing goals, Managing risk and uncertainty, Team building, and creating competitive advantages. In each of these aspects you will find many connections between them and healthy organizational characteristics.

      Let's start with Efficient use of resources, within this you might find Effective sharing of goals, Teamwork, High employee morale, Training opportunities, Leadership, Handling of poor performance, Understanding risks , Adapting to opportunities and changes, Clear defined structure, Well known company policies. These are all things that cost a company close to nothing to achieve. The above are all achievable and maintainable through proper considerations and planning. If a company properly uses its resources such as their HR department and managers to plan and put these healthy characteristics into action it would be extremely beneficial to their company and productivity will be maximized without the waste of their resources.

        We then have establishing goals, In order to establish goals companies need to set goals that challenge every employee in the organization. Businesses should not find satisfaction in the level they are at and stay there, or they will sink and lose business to other competitors. They should strive for better performance with the use of recognizing the healthy characteristics. As for managing risk and uncertainty Risk is something you would find present in almost every situation any business would have in order to grow. No organization can control their competition or the ever changing economic market/conditions. Unexpected events whether good or bad are bound to happen all the time within companies, it is how they adapt and deal with these events that determine their long term success. Just by planning companies could properly arm themselves to deal with the outcomes of the risks they are taking.

   As we discussed, team building is a huge factor in many healthy characteristics, with special correlation to motivation and planning. Planning plays a huge role in team building and cooperation or employees. It is crucial for the employees of an organization to work well and strongly together in order to complete tasks and hit goals of the company. It is important for top management to aid their employees in becoming a team and have a well communicated plan given to them where everyone knows what they are responsible for within their department/team.

     Last but certainly not least we have creating competitive advantages, Competition is another huge aspect in the business world, every company has competition. The market and world is ever evolving as should your business if you want long term success. Companies would need a strong well working leader and team with a good understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses as well as their competitors and then putting a well thought out plan into action.

 As you can tell it takes a lot to successfully plan success, but keep in mind it is half the battle. It takes a some time to get used to but it will start to become natural, and you will make these steps into an art.”

   We want to thank our readers for giving us the amazing opportunity to be able to get your questions answered from the Elon Musk. We got a lot of insight on what it takes to run such a smooth business and we are able to take a lot away from the given answers. Comment below on who you would like Business Resource Blog to interview next and exactly what questions you would like answered from them!

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Organizational Structures: the backbone of a business

    For our very first post we are going to explore what we consider to be the backbone of a business, the organizational structure. The organizational structure could be considered the backbone of a business for many reasons, without it the company would collapse.  Organizational structures are a way to understand and define who does what within the business, all businesses requiring some sort of structure in order to be profitable and grow. The type of structure needed depends on the needs of the company, many factors must be considered such as the size and type of the business and so on, but all in all an organizational structure is most definitely crucial towards the success of a company. Not only does it help define who does what but it aids in ensuring that the company's goals annually and long term are to be met. Also making the flow of information between departments and branches within the business more coordinated, being built into the structure. The world and the market are ever changing and evolving, with this companies must too if they want to succeed. As the organization grows, so must their structure ensuring that the right people are in the right places in order to grow and succeed.

 Poorly executed/uncoordinated organizational structures can ultimately lead to the failure of a business. A lot of things can and will go wrong if a strong organizational structure is not found within the company. There will be miscommunication between branches and departments as well as critical deadlines not being met due to lack of sufficiency to accomplish all parts of the given task. There will be conflict and mass confusion leading to failure, which all could be avoided if there was a properly thought out organizational structure.  

     There are many differences between traditional and modern/contemporary organizations. Traditional organizations follow a hierarchy or chain of command. Employees are departmentalized and the power goes upwards. There is often one person at the top (CEO) who makes all the decisions, and everything has to run by them first. They usually follow the traditional power dynamic - top boss, middle management and employees.  Management and employees who follow traditional chain of command have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This making business easier controlled and many rules and protocols exist to make things run more smoothly and efficiently to meet the company's expectations.

   Modern organizations tend to function more organically, adapting to the environment and changing according to the needs at that time. They can act independently in real time without having to wait for permission from the traditional hierarchy chain. The teams decide what's what for their given project. Again, they function very organically - this is a huge benefit because often there is no middle man thus removing boundaries (“boundaryless” if you will). Communication is usually via internet and jobs require little to no real face time. Decisions can be made in real time without having to wait for the “okay from the big man”. This creates a more flexible, innovative business.

Now here's a brief overview of the three key types of organizational structures:

FUNCTIONAL - Also known as bureaucratic, divides the company based on specialty. Each portion of the organization is specialized and grouped into specific departments according to purpose. Works well for small businesses each department is typically well supported by knowledge and talent of the employees, entirely dedicated to one function. Coordination and communication is restricted the within business due to the various  boundaries of departments working separately. (more traditional)

DIVISIONAL - Typically used with larger scale companies, one large company having smaller parts to it or in other words “sister companies”, may also be structured according to projects or products. The needs of company/divisions can be met more specifically as well as rapidly, company can easily respond to market changes.Can be conflict between divisions, there can also be more costly due to size and scope, work can be inefficient as duplication is often an issue within divisions as well as inhibited communication. (more contemporary)

MATRIX - Hybrid of divisional and functional structure, usually found used in multinational companies, there are project teams but still divisions. Cooperation across the company, the “best in company” can guide projects of all sorts bringing skilled individuals together across the organization, all departments can have a voice in the production process from start to finish. Can be confusing, responsibility and jurisdiction are not defined properly, tend to have cliques within company, can create power struggle.

Link below to a quiz your employees could take to see how much they know about organizational structures!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZF223Z9

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