Research Question
My study seeks to unravel the Pygmalion effect on firms concerning workers’ performance. The Pygmalion effect influences employees’ performance either positively or negatively depending on organization expectations. The research question for this study is: How can the Pygmalion effect be used for improving work situations in organization X?
Introduction
Pygmalion effect denotes a phenomenon in different workstations where employees’ performance is guided by the level of expectation. In this case, the higher the expectations the higher the performance while the vice versa is true. Raising the bar high for employees expectation increases their participation and dedication to work hence leading to good performance. Therefore, I will interview one manager in organization X which operates within UAE to ascertain the truth of the matter. The purpose of this essay is to determine Pygmalion influence and effects on worker’s performance.
Literature Review
Pygmalion effect is one of the strategies applied by leaders in business entities. A number of researchers have conducted several studies on this topic in an attempt to determine the efficiency of the ordeal. According to Gibson at al. (2008), organization structure and processes are important in the facilitation of the working environment (Gibson, Ivancevich & Donnelly, 2008). These authors found out that organization that expressed confidence on their workers registered good performance. This is because of the fact that workers set high goals for themselves to achieve within short run and long run period with or without managerial help. However, expressing and overloading employees with task may have negative effects on the work done. In most cases, employees stress comes from family, work demand, and personal life. Productivity goes down while at the same time leading to the production of goods of poor quality. Thus, Pygmalion effect does not work in all situations. This is because some employees might be going through stress factors unrelated to work such as the loss of someone dear to them. Moreover, it could be that the employee’s motivation has gone down due to individual views in consideration to fairness at the work place. Another theory is about Maslow, which plays a big role in organization in regard to performance. Needs satisfaction is the starting point for a healthy working environment. In the event workers derive satisfaction at work, employees feel contented and indebted to offer services to the firm (Williams, Buono & Bowditch, 1997). Leaders (managers) show confidence by compensating workers accordingly to improve performance.
Primary Research
To conduct the study, I will visit organization X operating within UAE. One Manager will be randomly selected to answer the interview questions. The participant will respond by filling out the questions provided. The questionnaire will be based on open-ended questions to accord the freedom to express opinions and diverse views. Personal data obtained will be held in high secrecy to ensure privacy. Contribution will be based on voluntary aspects. The interview questions to be asked include:
- Do you feel your employees feel comfortable working at your organization?
- Does your organization have high expectations for the employee?
- Which measures have you put in place to facilitate employee’s development?
- Which managerial structure do you apply in leading employees?
- If changes were to be made in this firm, where would it be using Pygmalion effect?
Discussion
After visiting organization X, I noted a number of observations as outlined in this section. First, the organization refused me from interviewing the employees. The reason they gave included the feeling of being insecure through employee disclosure of crucial information and leakage of unauthorized content. Secondly, manager avoided mentioning the name of the organization to discourage negative publicity. The reason behind this is that an organization may suffer negative effects from a bad image exposed to the public. I interviewed Mr. Ahmed the human resource manager. His job was to look after the employee and solve their problems on daily basis. He said that the employees become more responsible when the management requires and assign more duties to them. This leaves them with no time to waste hence perform the duty with passion. He personally stated that he expects that employee should be given more work than they can handle so that they feel challenged. He stressed that simple tasks make employees nonproductive hence acts as a de-motivating factor.
According to the research findings, leaders have a responsibility to guide and advise the workers in different fields so as to improve performance. This is done through the utilization of the prevailing relationship between the employer and the employees. A Manager can use Pygmalion effect in conducting various functions. These functions include remuneration, delegation, decision-making process, and training and development functions. Where delegation of work is at the highest level, employees attain confidence in performing duties. On the other hand, motivation in companies comes as a result of employee’s involvement in decision-making and good remuneration that steers up their morale. In addition, I also found out that manager find it hard to delegate the most crucial duties that may not match employee’s capability. My recommendation is that Pygmalion effect should be put into practice by managers in leading their workers to greater prosperity. Specifically, they should utilize this particular effect in sorting out issues and performing various functions (Gibson, 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Pygmalion effect has a lot of benefit to offer to managerial functions in firms. This is because employees need management confidence and support in carrying out their day-to-day chores. A highly motivated work force tends to achieve good results. This has been brought out in an explicit manner in this research finding.
References
Gibson, J. (2011). Organizations. Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Gibson, J., Ivancevich, J., & Donnelly, J. (2008). Organizations: structure, processes, behavior. Dallas: Business Publications.
Williams, L., Buono, A., & Bowditch, J. (1997). The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing Collisions Between People, Cultures, and Organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(3), 56