Organisational behavior Northern Gas and Power

The aspect of political influences and determines who has power, and in the event, giving a clear picture of whether the organizational culture encourages productivity. The workplace comprises of different people and with diverse but competing interest that must be solved in one way or the other. As much as some organizational leadership may vouch for rational decision-making criterion, this may never be the case where interests are diverse; thus, political influence tactics and behaviors come to play. It follows that organizations have to create a conducive environment for handling conflicting agendas and shifting power bases. It is worth noting that effective politics in an organization does not imply winning in the context but rather posits an operating environment that facilitates mutual relationship while achieving results.

The firm manages to stay ahead of competition since it understands what it takes to be successful; the firm's employees make all the difference. Employees feel the company affords them a great place to work and identify with, through facilitating teamwork. The company embraces a culture where no employee is left to explore alone but rather top performers hold their counterparts and support all newcomers towards a common objective. Organizational cultures and motivational theories Company success is pegged on organizational culture and its impact on employee motivation. It is fashionable to argue that corporate culture goes along to define the firm’s performance. Maslow postulates that a person must satisfy the current set of needs in the hierarchy before advancing to the next level.

The lower needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy, and as individuals advance upwards towards the peak of the pyramid, self-actualization is apparent. Maslow's theory relates to the workplace in the sense that as individuals climb the career ladder, they get more innovative. The safety and psychological elements relate to a person’s basic desires to have a job and in turn get monetary compensation for their efforts. Further, self-actualization and self-esteem take shape through the work environment and the job performance. A case in point is Pay-for-performance that acts as a motivational tool. Northern Gas and Power embraces a culture that motivates its employees through five dimensions as Kanter (1989) postulates. The company advances the five dimensions by embracing management behavior and promoting staff; hence achieving increased productivity and morale.

The firm offers great support to employees, amazing pay packages and friendly working environment. The firm's mission is inspiring and makes employees believe they are important. The fact that Northern Gas and Power has mechanisms to guide employees through training and mentorship programs notwithstanding, employees feel elevated to act responsibly knowing that their future is dependent on the company’s success (Northern Gas and Power, 2018). This enables employees to create a sense of identity with the company; hence they feel motivated to work hard knowing that their future depends on the company success. Northern Gas and Power’s ability to allow employees to take charge of their careers align with Maslow’s theory. The company allows a share of value creation by rewarding its staff for work well done.

Northern Gas and Power use different methods to reward its employees to keep on working harder. Every employee is given an opportunity to get a name for themselves. The company has a properly structured hierarchy that ensures monitoring of employee’s contribution. Each role has a schedule of deliverables that are exposed to a measurement scale. The implication is that the firm sets targets for all staff to gauge performance against the company objectives. For instance, each team is assigned to a manager responsible for the development of schedules and initiatives to achieve a set target. The company management from senior to middle-level management use the power vested upon then for the good of the organization as opposed to personal glory.

This because of the culture that the organization upholds since its inception which is contrary to the self-uplifting syndrome depicted in many other organizations. All employees put the organization before self and since they understand that when it succeeds, they win too. The company’s culture is well-embedded in the system such that the managers use their legitimate power to coordinate the affairs of the firm as opposed to bossing their peers around. There are checks and balances pegged on the administrative hierarchy to ensure managers do not act subjectively when interacting with other employees. The employee should be able to choose an institution of their choice within the company’s area of operation since such an approach gives the firm sense of pride and meaning to staff members as well as their roles in the institution (Ong et al.

The CSR program should align to company goals and objectives such that it creates a culture and environment that embraces recruitment and retaining of talent. The firm should understand that CSR is as necessary on the inside as it is on the outside; hence the need to bring CSR inside the fir goes unsaid (Skudiene, 2012). The implication is that Northern Gas & Power should invest in employee skill development through training, tuition among other activities. Part B: Team Work The concept of teamwork comes in handy to pull people together for them to read from the same script towards achieving a common goal. It follows that groups gain traction through four tenets as postulated by Tuchman, that is, forming, storming, norming and performing.

The four phases of Tuchman Theory Source: (Schein, 2013) Forming stage This stage individuals are yet to stick together, and friction exists as each person strives to find his place in the team. Storming stage The group members align themselves to the purpose of the group and sense of togetherness is crucial. Norming Team members togetherness tighten even; further, processes become even clearer, rules that guide the group comes to existence, and each member gets to know his role. Performing stage The focus in this stage is on the group's task, and group relationship and the two provide synergy towards achieving set goals. It is imperative to acknowledge that realization of company’s success is as a result of individual strengths working in collaboration with his team in pursuit of common goals.

This allows for the seamless flow of performance that is meaningful and rewarding to individuals, groups and the company at large. Northern Gas and Power use the STAR model (strengths, Teamwork, Alignment, Results) to create a conducive environment that teams and individual thrive leading to happier, fulfilling workplace. The STAR model gains traction through Tuckman’s stages; hence Northern Gas and power managers align different aspects of the model to various stages of their team development to achieve optimal results. However, it is worth noting that teams do not operate in isolation, but rather other outside factors affect their effectiveness. Other support systems encompass training and mentorship programs to facilitate continuous employee growth. Northern Gas & Power understands that customer satisfaction depends on how well teams interact with stakeholders.

Therefore, each team ensures it communicates with suppliers, partners, customers, and competitors. All these factors define the success of each group and none these elements should be taken for granted. For instance, poor relationship with supplies will imply that raw material delivery may be late or substandard. This further facilitates customer loyalty which goes a long way to guarantee the firm sustained revenue flow. This can only thrive where there is mutual understanding, respect and seamless communication between managers and lower cadre employees. Lack of these elements creates a sense of fear in employees to a level where they cannot take risks, thus hindering creativity and innovation. Firms should strive to avoid such a scenario since its detrimental to growth and employee productivity.

Failure to instill confidence in employees lead to high turnover since employees feel that the company does not value them. Therefore, the company should effectively facilitate training to fill the existing skill gap to foster teamwork and team performance. Firms should identify the existing gaps before introducing any intervention plans. Northern Gas & Power is a market leader in the energy sector and leads by example on how institutions should embrace great culture towards customer satisfaction. The company understands that its success depends on their employees; hence it does not take chances when dealing with its staff from the point of recruitment, training, and retention. In any case, every employee at Northern Gas & Power is made to feel home, and they take pride in being part of the great team.