Management's role in changing climate

While organizational climates tend to be stable over time, they can be changed. The key, first of all, is to determine what problems, if any, exist within the organization and then to apply appropriate plans of action to correct them.

A picture of the hotel or restaurant's climate can be gained through either formal or informal means. A variety of instruments are available to measure climate in a variety of dimensions. The number of items in a questionnaire can vary from a low of 1 to a high of 254. Most questionnaires consist of between 20 and 80 items. A case study at the end of this chapter uses 36 items.

These questionnaires generally can be used in any type of business or organization, with the questions personalized to make them more relevant to the employees filling them out.

The number of categories used in surveys can also vary. Previously used surveys have been characterized by a common core of dimensions: autonomy, structure, reward, consideration, warmth and support. Beyond this core, considerable diversity can take place. This chapter suggests the six dimensions of clarity, commitment, standards, responsibility, recognition and teamwork. Larry E Greiner and Robert O Metzger suggest the following categories are appropriate:

When Holiday Inns developed its own survey internally, the following categories within dimensions were used:

An organization consists of tasks, structure, people, and technology. In general, climate questionnaires show a strong emphasis on people, moderate emphasis on structure, moderate to slight emphasis on tasks, and slight or no emphasis on technology. This emphasis on people-oriented questions may be due to a combination of two reasons. First, climate is related strongly to job satisfaction. Second, most of these questionnaires have been developed by professionals with a strong background in psychology, and naturally they are more interested in the human side of the organization.

While the survey method is an exact and relatively inexpensive way of measuring climate, other informal methods of gauging employee feelings are available. During regular employee meetings, the same themes may keep coming up, indicating problems in one or more areas. On regular tours of the property, managers may be able to identify employee concern over some topics. It should be pointed out that employees may be fearful or otherwise unwilling to share their feelings in open meetings or even face-to-face sessions with the manager if a feeling of trust is not felt. One of the strong features of a survey program is that individual anonymity is assured. The result should be a true representation of the organization's climate.

Four patterns of climate frequently emerge. These are structural, motivational, reinforcement and clarity- teamwork. 2

A structural climate is one that has very high scores on clarity and standards while exhibiting relatively low scores on the other four dimensions described above. Clear and specific procedures have been established for each job. The manager has developed a strong system of management information and control. However, this person also may tend to spend an undue amount of time in the office, and individual responsibility and commitment to goal achievement may be lacking. Nevertheless, this type of climate has been found in high-performing companies. As long as none of the scores is particularly low, this would be considered a good climate.

In the motivational climate, scores on responsibility and commitment are very high while scores on the other four dimensions (clarity, standards, recognition and teamwork) are moderate. Management has hired and encouraged employees with strong feelings of personal responsibility for individual performance. A difficulty arises if this is not matched by an emphasis on performance control and teamwork.

Teamwork and recognition are the strongest dimensions in the reinforcement climate. Typically, this profile would not be found in a high-performing organization unless there was also a high score in at least one other dimension. For example, it may be that reinforcement is given for any type of performance and that teamwork is emphasized at the expense of getting the job done properly.

In the clarity-teamwork climate, the organization functions because employees know clearly what they are supposed to do and feel a shared sense of identity in performing the job. While some stability exists, such organizations do not tend to perform at a high level. Morale is usually low and the company can experience a great deal of turnover.

The best climate is the one that works. Just as management practices influence the type of climate within a company, so the climate affects employee motivation. The best climate, then, is the one that stimulates the appropriate motivation desired. David McClelland of Harvard, an American University, developed a three-pronged theory of motivation; he called the social motives the need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the need for power. He saw individual motivation coming from the pursuit of one of these three social motives.

The need for achievement is the need to excel in a particular task. Individuals high in this need for achievement stress outperforming others, meeting or surpassing a self-imposed standard of excellence, having unique accomplishments, taking a long-term, advanced view toward advancing the business, and having plans to overcome personal and environmental obstacles. As depicted in Exhibit 17, commitment and responsibility are strong stimulants of achievement motivation.

The need for affiliation exists when a person shows concern about establishing, maintaining, or restoring positive relationships with other people. Such people want to be liked and accepted, are concerned about people both in and out of work, and desire to maintain positive interpersonal relationships on the job. Recognition and teamwork are strong stimulants of affiliation motivation.

The need for power is manifested by a desire to influence others. This person is characterized by powerful actions that arouse strong positive or negative feelings in others and a concern for reputation or position. Standards and clarity are strong stimulants of power motivation.

In a hotel or restaurant setting, in which departments must work closely together to ensure guest satisfaction, a climate that encourages affiliation or group motivation would tend to encourage high performance rather than one that encourages individual motivation.

Try this test: An elevator door opens at the fifth floor. The elevator is empty. Four people get in and the elevator descends to the fourth floor, where two people get out and three get in. At the third floor, four get out and one gets in. At the second floor, no one gets out and three get in. At the first floor, the door opens. Now quick: what is the answer?

Most people say the answer is five. But a few ask, "What's the question?" The point is that it is necessary to identify the problem before recommending a solution. In the case of organizational climate, we assume that a company wishes to have a reasonably high level in all of the six dimensions described above. Improving different dimensions of climate requires different techniques Exhibit 18.

Where standards, clarity, or commitment is low, a program of management by objectives is suggested. Management by objectives is concerned with developing goal commitment among employees by involving them in the setting of the standards.

Where responsibility is low, a program of job redesign is needed. Job enlargement consists of giving the employee different tasks to do as part of the job. Job enrichment involves passing on some of the traditional functions of management to the employee.

When recognition is lacking, management should implement a program of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement means giving employees rewards and encouragement when they do something right.

When teamwork is lacking, management must take responsibility for establishing trust between management and employees and among groups of employees.

The following chapters will expand upon the implementation of these techniques.