Discussion Question #1
Describe the cultural diversity, level of technology, and communication channels at your current (or previous) organization or organizational unit (team). You may also consider within the context of an organization with which you are familiar.
As a retired Army veteran, I had the opportunity to work in a large cultural diverse organization. Since the United States Army was very well diverse, this created an opportunity for different backgrounds to learn to work together as a team to define our country. Soldiers were introduced to cultural diversity during basic training.
At this time soldiers are taught by their Drill Sergeants to motivate each other and bond based on different training tactics no matter what the race, creed or origin may be. The level of technology used was well updated with the use of modern day equipment that enhanced our ability to conduct daily missions and administrative duties. Communication was the utmost importance due to the level of security and classified information that was distributed throughout our organization.
Reflect on some of the past change initiatives. Based on the information you have accumulated in this course thus far and your understanding of the change process, assess and discuss to what extent these factors might have played in the level of success of change initiatives at your organization (or in your team). You may also consider within the context of an organization with which you are familiar.
Based on my knowledge obtained throughout this course, the change initiatives in my past military organizations were conducted by Senior military leadership and higher. There weren't any opportunities for Soldiers to provide any feedback on any missions. Basically, everyone had to adapt and overcome any changes implemented. Being flexible was a daily trend. However, the change initiatives that we experienced, built a stronger bond between team members that resulted in many successful outcomes
If more than one factor had an influence, identify the one that you believe had the greatest impact. Explain.
The one factor I believe that had the greatest impact within my past organizations was communication. Communication flow is the key to any successful change initiative. Communication among leaders and employees will create a smooth transition for the organization. The consensus is that leadership communication is vital to organizations (Mayfield et. al, 2016).
Reference
Mayfield, J., & Mayfield, M. (2016). International Journal of Business Communication Special Issue: Leadership Communication. International Journal of Business Communication,53(1), 3-4.
Discussion Question #2
In my current unit, there is so much diversity that range from different age groups, ethnicity and education level. Due to the different age groups, there are communication issues where some employees do not clearly. There are times were my supervisor will give instructions to complete a task one way but she will get upset when the task is completed due to her poor communication skills. She will give instructions to do one thing but will expect different results. If she would take her time and thoroughly get an understanding of the task to complete it timely.
Also, my supervisor is not a people person so she will tend to not engage with employees and may avoid them due to her not wanting to address conflict. If she would try to engage more with employees then some of the communication issues would decrease and a more productive workplace would be developed. According to Frendika et al 2018 there was a signification increase in cultural competency and work productivity improved.
So far, the communication issues are addressed through emails and additional questions are being asked to gain clarity. More team building activities were incorporated so my unit can work together on a different level to gain group cohesion and strengthen communication within the unit which is very important to build a good rapport within the unit.
When working in a group of employees that vary in age, ethnicity and educational level there must be a change in mindset to not limit employees due to diversity. For instance, there were more investigations assigned to younger employees than tenured employees. The tenured employees have more experience in investigations and can offer mentoring to younger employees to assure they know how to conduct investigations timely.
In RCCL each employee uses a laptop, cell phone and mobile printer to complete work. Sometimes employees can experience computer issues due to connectivity issues and software used to complete investigation. The main issue occurs due to the laptop and cell phone being force to use software that are not typically used with the device. Last year the writer had computer issues that cause my laptop to shut off randomly and had to complete all electronic forms at an office location.
Additional changes that occurred to RCCL when it was under DFPS and went to HHSC where budget restraints were enforced such as using rental cars more, no raises and stricter policies because HHSC does not understand what RCCL program is.
The budget restraints caused employees to have less funds through travel but cost more out of the pocket for employees to pay for gas for a rental car.
By getting a rental car for travel it can cause an employee to back track by having to locate a rental car facility nearby when some can be a far distance from the employee's home. No raises were given for the past two year and caused employees to quit. Additional policies were created to restrict activities such as not having team building activities which affect the moral of the workplace.
Reference
Frendika, R., Sule, E. T., Kusman, M., & Joeliaty. (2018). The Power of Personal Values and Cultural Competence Towards Personal Branding of Employees. Academy Of Strategic Management Journal, 17(1), 1-10.