"Every man is obliged to honor with his private conduct, as much as with the public, his country." Jose Marti. “There is something worth more than the estimation of strangers; own estimate ”. Jose Marti.
Persons
Essential elements
In this part of the topic we will study the actions and behavior of individuals that lead to the development of behavior in work activity.
Truly there are many aspects that influence behavior so that the worker reaches an adequate performance.
Some are acquired by man in his stage of formation and development, others are part of the personality of the individual and others are elements external to man, but that act on him.
Among these elements we can mention:
- Knowledge and skills. Talent. Work experience and the activity to be carried out. Values you own. They will be studied in a separate topic. Effort deployed. Stress on the person. Incentives or rewards.
Knowledge and skills
Learning and obtaining knowledge are of substantial use to guarantee good performance in the work that is done. Both the general knowledge that allows a better and deeper intellectual development, as well as that related to the activity that is carried out that guarantee that the task can be carried out effectively and efficiently have a great influence on work performance. The skills acquired in life in general and at work in particular are also great contributors in obtaining high returns.
Knowledge and skills are aspects that can be taught to people, so it is highly beneficial that appropriate measures are taken in organizations to raise and deepen these aspects in all workers.
Buckinham, M. & Coffman, C., in Primero, break all the rules (p. 83), state that knowledge can be divided into "objective: what are the things the person knows" and "experiential: what are the notions that the individual has appropriated over time ”, the former states that it can be taught and the latter is less tangible, making it more difficult to teach.
Talent
When we talk about talent in talented people, we think about exclusive aspects of conceptually different beings and that as we vulgarly say "they are out of series" which is not totally true and to give an explanation about it, let's see how they express it Buckinham, M. & Coffman, C., in First, break all the rules (p. 65) "talent is a recurring pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that can be applied productively."
The aforementioned does not limit talent to exclusive beings but that all people in one way or another possess it as long as this behavior manifests itself repeatedly, that is, on a recurring basis, what is undeniable is that each person does not possess the same talent, but differentiated depending on the personal characteristics of each individual.
The importance in the workplace is that, above all, the characteristics of each person must be determined to match their talent with the work to be done and thus try to obtain the best job results and increase job satisfaction in the individual.
There is a consensus that talent is not learned but rather is innate, which on the basis of this talent can be developed as knowledge, experience, skills and other aspects are expanded or increased.
Talent in a person is not an absolute guarantee that the activity they carry out will be excellent, but it is a potential aspect of great importance for obtaining good results in accordance with their possibilities with the task to be carried out.
Work experience
Experience is another of the potential aspects that contribute to obtaining a good job performance, since knowledge of the work scenario, the confidence provided by mastering the activity being carried out, as well as mastering the activities and tasks that They are carried out are very important aspects to achieve good work results.
Effort Deployed
The effort that a person contributes on any activity (in our work case) is a function of the energy that consciously (or unconsciously) is deployed in the performance of the work as a contribution to achieving performance according to what is necessary.
It must be stated that all people do not have the same energy, however, this does not mean that those who physically have more energy will always make a greater effort in their work, so it is necessary to guarantee adequate motivation so that according to the individualities raised each contribute to the maximum of their possibilities, logically without affecting physical or mental health.
Stress
Stress is a factor that acts on the person, which can arise in the work environment or in the family or other means of the personal environment, which if not controlled at the appropriate levels can not only negatively influence work behavior, but also in the physical and / or mental health of the individual.
According to McGrath, JE (Stress and behavior in organizations), in Stonner JF Administration (Page 604) expresses that….. ”there are possibilities of stress when you think that an environmental situation presents a requirement that threatens to exceed the capabilities of the subject and their resources to satisfy it ”.
An important and decisive aspect is the perception of the individual, in relation to stress since it is stated that the psychological process of perception is the intermediate element between the stimulus received by the person and the response given by the person. Taking into account that perception is a process by which the person relates and gives meaning to his environment and that that meaning depends on the cognitive aspects that he has, such as his knowledge, experience and others.
Therefore, the same cause can have different effects on different people. The elements that cause stress are called stressors, the most common are when an individual must perform a job whose volume needs more time to do it than what they actually possess or also when they do not have the capacities, competences, and skills necessary to undertake the exercise. Certain environmental factors could be stressors, among which are: abnormal work conditions, high responsibilities for people or another important aspect for the person, structural or directional changes.
Another aspect to consider is that both the intensity of the stress and the magnitude of the period of time that it lasts are very important in the results.
Research carried out shows that stress can give rise to certain diseases, not only psychic but also physical, among which the following stand out: hypertension and heart problems, ulcers, we also have depression, dissatisfaction, job fatigue and others.
The managers and bosses in the labor organizations are not always aware and act consequently in relation to the possible causes that, the tasks of the jobs, the labor climate, the treatment and attention to the workers and other aspects of the working life could cause stress in workers, as well as act with the aim of eliminating them or bringing them to levels that do not cause harmful effects.
There are certain ways and methods to counteract stress through: physical exercises, relaxation techniques, or through: the improvement of organizational communication, increasing the participation of workers, delegating authority, guaranteeing a balance between work, employees and work time.
However, knowing that this phenomenon is not easy to understand or solve, we recommend that all bosses and managers be aware of it and work on the following:
- What is stress and what workers could be affected. What is the cause (or causes) that originates in that person (s). What effects could it cause. Take the corresponding actions for its elimination. Guarantee systematic control over this aspect.
Incentives
Incentives (or rewards) are also contributing elements to obtain high job returns. Seen in a broad sense, a person may be incentivized by external issues that positively influence their work to achieve good results, as an example we can cite salary or any material incentive, working conditions, equipment or tools used and others, the elements Internal, such as the education and values you have, the desire to be useful, your discipline and others contribute as an incentive, making it possible to obtain a good performance.
Motivation is attributed by this author, by many others as well, a decisive importance in work performance.
Ethics
Essential elements and concept of Ethics
Human beings, both in family and work life, demonstrate behavior through certain actions, which may or may not be correct, which must be regulated, this function is performed by morals.
Morality expressed through concepts, moral principles, qualities, judgments and others, exerts its influence on individuals and on society as a whole, exposing itself in certain steps such as: the morality existing by the practice of all, shapes the moral being; what we want to achieve immediately, must be; and the long-term goals we want to achieve, the moral ideal.
Morality is the object of study of ethics, that is, the latter investigates it and tries to explain it.
In general, we can say that morality is made up of phenomena in people's lives, but whoever studies these phenomena is ethics, which is capable of discovering elements of worth in human beings that positively strengthen performance.
Ethics can be defined as, "The study of the rights and obligations of people, the moral norms that apply in decision-making, and the nature of human relationships." Edward Freeman in Stonner, JM Administracion (p. 107).
Without underestimating the importance of ethics in the family or social life of people, our work will be directed towards working life, that is, in organizations, recognizing that the principles of ethics are general to any area of life.
Ethics is a term that encompasses the relationships, both internal and external, of the people who make up organizations.
The encompassing level of ethics, from the individual individually to society as a whole, does not allow it to be excluded from any action in life, and in our case study of any negotiation, since sometimes one could only think about what economic trying to get the maximum profit without taking into account the ethical aspect, which in addition to being not decent or honest, in the end would not bring positive balances for the organization in its environment. Since ethics as part of social life and as a reflection of social being is a dimension of all human activity.
Ethics must not only constitute the individual pleasure of achieving our purpose, but must be a necessity, for everyone, for everyone and for all individuals to be objectively and really better human beings.
Purposes to achieve
- Select and develop workers so that their performance is outlined with a high moral and ethical level. That through ethics, workers create a high sense of belonging by the organization. Eliminate all vestiges of corrupt practices, which not only They hurt the economy, but the morale and prestige of the people and the organization.
Principles of Ethics
Expressing what is the meaning of the word principle we can say that it is, base, foundation; each of the first truths that serve as the foundation of a science; and it also expresses any of the particular maxims by which each is governed in its operations.
Given the general concept of principle, we will be inclined to express what is related to ethical principles, which are nothing more than the fundamental ideas or rules of conduct that serve as a guide and that serve the relationships of the members of society as a whole, regulating the conduct of individuals in the different actions and actions that they undertake.
The principles of ethics are not imposed by any legal force but by existing attitudes and customs.
In general, a large group of principles can be cited, among which stand out: honesty, respect, dignity, responsibility, truthfulness, discipline, courtesy, sacrifice, and others.
When the general aspects of ethics were exposed, we saw their relationship with morality, and as we are essentially studying ethical aspects in agreement with organizations and these are in dissimilar negotiations, we will see some of the principles that must be taken into account in these Lastly, we must cite transparency in the negotiations; act respecting the existing legality and with all the professionalism; high concept of responsibility, not only in the negotiation itself, but in the pawned word and in decision making; high discretion and reliability and others.
Social responsibility in organizations.
People from the individual point of view; the organizations; and the country as a whole, through the State and other institutions, have a great social responsibility, in our case, without downplaying any of them, the focus of the study will be on the social responsibility of organizations.
An organization is a real element made up of people, and that through work makes a contribution either by producing or delivering a service and with other responsibilities such as caring for the environment, delivering work results with adequate quality, not violating the established rules or laws, as well as others that could be listed.
Before continuing, it is necessary to expose that the criteria on the social responsibility of organizations have varied over time, focusing in different ways and even some with truly inconceivable approaches and that are far from fair and objective treatment of society, only We will expose some of the currents without deepening or establishing deep comparisons between them, since this author considers that with what will be posed they will be perfectly understood.
One of the currents on this aspect is that of Andrew Carnigie where he raised the social responsibility of organizations through two principles: that of charity and that of management, the first requires the "luckiest" people to provide assistance to the "least fortunate ”, and the second is the demand on wealthy individuals and organizations to consider themselves as protectors of their belongings and that they should use them for an appropriate purpose for society.
Another trend in this regard is that of Milton Friedman that is exposed in Stonner, JF, Administration and I quote. "In companies, there is only one and only one social responsibility: to use their resources and energy in activities aimed at increasing their profits."
Models such as that of Robert Ackerman and other theorists expose the concept of social response capacity, which is based on the fact that organizations must become aware of the social aspects and act accordingly.
These and other criteria led towards the path of ethics, broadening and deepening, a concept on social responsibility appearing, which although not perfect, reaches a more coherent and fair dimension, which expresses that: The social responsibility of organizations is the obligation of those who lead to make decisions for the benefit of the social environment, improving the present and the future.
Fernández, EM, in Introduction to Management, states that social responsibility in organizations is expressed through four parts: Economic, legal, ethical and discretionary.
In the economic field, the organization produces or provides the services that the society demands, the legal one through the fulfillment of the established laws and provisions, the ethics in the development aid of the individuals with which the organization is related, and the discretionary one to the voluntary contributions made by the organization.
It can be summed up with what Portela, I. stated in Business Ethics, and I quote: “The organization's social responsibility must consist of its inescapable commitment to its immediate environment: customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, consumers, local communities, banks and the environment in general, the State, and humanity ”.
Organizational Ethics
We have multiple and diverse professions, where each one must possess their ethics, however, there are common ethical elements among them, this sphere is known as professional ethics when addressing specific tasks according to the characteristics and needs of each profession.
Organizational ethics is framed within professional ethics
An organization has a social dimension, which is why an exchange relationship with its environment is established, which must be harmonious. In this sense, the organizational culture requires being assimilated by the environment without antagonistic contradictions and with a positive spirit.
In this connection Fulmer, Robert. M., in Administration and Organization, expresses the following: “Organizational Ethics is the set of rules that govern the conduct of individuals in the social organization. These rules can be applied to the behavior of: individuals towards others in the organization, individuals or groups outside the organization, organizations towards social groups or towards society as a whole ”.
For this reason, we must eradicate concepts such as, the end justifies the means, or have as a central objective to earn money without taking into account the utility that is provided to society. The above not only ceases to be ethical, but in the long term the results for the organization would not be entirely good.
Gómez Pérez, R., in Business Ethics: Theory and Cases., Expresses that "An organization without quality ends up sooner or later in bankruptcy, an organization without ethics ends up not working… The organization is worth what its staff is worth."
Always keep in mind as an integral part of our education and our performance when undertaking our actions.
- Is it ethical or not what we are going to do? Should we do it or should we not do it? Are we acting well or badly?
We must expose that the ethics in the organizational direction attends what is correct or not in our conduct, in the treatment of people, in decision making, in the conduct of any business, etc. So acting responsibly, being truthful and fulfilling our commitments are actions that must always accompany us.
Inappropriate (unethical) behavior in organizations.
A group of principles and aspects that mean positive expressions in the conduct and behavior of the individuals who are part of the organizations were raised, we will now focus and relate some inappropriate and, of course, unethical behaviors, we can propose the following: lying in some part of the negotiation process; breach of the word expressed; the use of any resource for private benefit or that of another person that is not appropriate, carrying out acts or inducing them to be done and that go against other people, entities, society or the environment, deceiving customers about the characteristics of the products or services provided, non-compliance with legal or state obligations;use the bribe to guarantee our sales or the performance of a service; non-objective or misleading advertising and others.
Suggestions that make it possible to improve Ethics in organizations.
- Workers must know what their functions are, as well as what the organization expects of them from the ethical point of view. Treatment of people, as human beings and not as just another resource, guaranteeing respect within an adequate work environment, a development worthy of their capacities and competences with security, as well as a remuneration and incentive according to their work and responsibility, will not only be ethical on the part of the organization but will contribute to a reciprocal action by the workers. The strategic and work objectives must be clearly defined and achievable in the scheduled period and thus avoid that the desire to achieve them leads to ethical breaches. The organization must clearly outline its policies and regulations,Those that must expose and ensure that all employees master them.The organization must develop a code of conduct with precise elements and that constitute not an arbitrary imposition, but an action guide that is part of the organizational culture., the relationship must be characterized by a quality service, the existence of mutual respect and a treatment that helps this improve their work results.
Values
General elements
The behavior and conduct of workers greatly influence work results and job performance, however, it is unquestionable that the values owned and developed by people depend on behavior and conduct, hence the importance that Organizations and their managers must give the selection of individuals with values that contribute positively to organizational objectives.
The work is not limited only to the aspect of selection, but the fundamental values for the organization must be inculcated, developed and deepened in the workers, since it is not possible for a worker to join fully possess what is needed.
The creation of values constitutes for any organization a fundamental focus and within its strategy it must also be that the values take internal character in the employees and that they are properly applied as a basic aspect of the daily work for each individual and for the organization in your set.
Concept
We will study various concepts presented by different researchers on the subject taking into account their main arguments, see:
López, M. and Guerra, L. (1998)., They propose. “Values are a set of subtle mechanisms that condition employee behavior, through informal judgments, most of the time implicit, regarding what is right or what should not be done. Values condition beliefs, mental schemes, attitudes, which give meaning to the reality in which the organization's activity is carried out, influencing how work is carried out, how workers relate to each other and to clients ”.
Deal and Kennedy. (1985), they express. “Values are the foundation of any organizational culture, they define success in concrete terms for employees and set standards for the organization. They provide a common sense of direction for all employees and set guidelines for their daily commitment. ”
Denison (1991)., Raises. “Values represent the basis of the evaluation of the members of an organization and are used to judge situations, acts, objects, people. They reflect the real goals, as well as the beliefs and basic concepts of an organization and as such, form the core of the organizational culture ”.
In a general sense, we can express that values are the set of aspects that condition people's behavior through the judgments that are formed in relation to right or wrong. Values condition attitudes and behavior, allowing a sense of the objective reality of the organization's activity, enabling its fulfillment, also allowing the development of relations between workers and with the external environment. It constitutes a motivating element and increases the sense of belonging to the organization.
Factors that determine the values
There are a group of aspects that influence, condition and in many cases determine the values that must be instilled in the organization, some of them are: the influence of the founders, leaders and senior executives of the organization; territorial values (region, country) or branch, sector or profession, which naturally or through a work of orientation towards them allows them to develop in the organization; relevant results, performances and successes of the organization; The values of a person can have as a source: the family, the circle of friends, school education and others.
Organizations that want to guarantee the conduct and behavior of their workers that allow them to be effective, efficient, and to have the consideration and respect of their clients, must have their own values, not only well defined and accepted by all, but also to systematically verify their application..
The values of an organization should not be abstract, but based on the objective reality and concrete conditions of its development, forming a well-defined system that can be taught and that through its transmission ensures that they can be learned and applied by all.
In this regard Jackson (1992) exposes. "In terms of values, it is important to communicate to all members of the organization what exactly is the value system of the organization, especially in periods of change, and also to produce change in the culture of the organization."
Aspects in which you must work
There is an important group of aspects in which you must work which are:
- The elaboration of the values of the organization must be the first order task of the top leaders. Strategic decisions must be based on the values of the organization. Before organizational changes, ensure the necessary adjustment while maintaining the essence of the values. Respect the values for all members of the organization.
Summary
It is not by chance that the study of these three aspects has been carried out in this work and within them the first is man, that is, people, since it constitutes, center, base, starting point and all the other attributes that they wish to incorporate.
For this reason, it is essential to master the main aspects related to people's conduct and behavior, which will allow obtaining a positive performance. They are exposed and deepened in a number of them that are not the only ones but we consider these among the main ones.
They should be studied in depth as they arise and take into account their interrelation with motivation. We remember the aspects, which are:
- Knowledge and skills. Talent. Work experience and the activity to be carried out. Values you own. Effort deployed. Stress on the person. Incentives or rewards.
In relation to the values, not only its general elements but also its concept and other aspects such as the factors that condition the values that we recommend studying in depth are studied.
We studied ethics and saw its relationship with morality, and also the ethical aspects in accordance with the organizations, some of the principles that must be taken into account were exposed, important is also transparency in negotiations; act respecting the existing legality and with all the professionalism; high concept of responsibility, not only in the negotiation itself, but in the pawned word and in decision making; high discretion and reliability and others.
Always keep in mind as an integral part of our education and our performance when undertaking our actions.
- Is it ethical or not what we are going to do? Should we do it or should we not do it? Are we acting well or badly?
This issue of great repercussion for people and organizations must be studied in depth and not only this but act consistently both for our prestige and that of the organization, as well as to guarantee good results of work.
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