Measuring People

The focus topic comes from the attached Course Notes, pp 34-35.
OB11 (Organisational Behaviour 2011 Class) identified four characteristics…
1. Complication – O (Organisation) level measures tend to be more simplistic (e.g. KPI ticks or single numbers), whereas G (Group) and I measures tend to show variation (e.g. personality tests).
2. Hiding Information – O level measures tend to hide G and I (Individual) information, and G level measures tend to hide I level information. This relates to the idea you can “unpack” an O measure by looking at the elements that went into defining the tick that emerge from the G.
3. Diffusion of Accountability – the higher up the Organisation the more difficult it is to pin the measure down to any particular cause. For example, share price hides how each Group in an Organisation added or detracted value.
4. Time Horizons and Continuity – An appropriate time scale for measuring at the O level is very different to that for measures at the I level. For example, organisational performance can be meaningfully measured annually, whereas people need more performance measurement in shorter time scales.
Do you agree with the characteristics that define the differences between measurements at each level of the IGO as outlined by OB11? Why or why not? If not, provide an alternative.
P.S
O stands for Organisation
G stands for Group
I stands for Individual
2. Motivating Right
I. Do you agree with the characteristics that define the differences between measurements at each level of the IGO as outlined by OB11? Why or why not? If not, provide an alternative.
Read: Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18, 769-783.
How do you know you are motivating the right behaviour?
This is a crunchy question. Break it down if you need to. What is the right behaviour? How do you know it is right?
Then, can you measure it? If you can measure it, how do you know what you have been doing changed behaviour? Can you ever really link your actions as a manager to “motivating” some one else?
As part of this, try to use something other than goal directed behaviour as the case in point.
Like I said, it is a wicked question.

Answering this question
This is a really, really difficult question.
In arguing the case, I would appreciate some people being Devil’s Advocates, being agent provocateur.
A good way to challenge your way of thinking is to reflect on whether your ideas about knowing you have motivated “right” works across different organisational contexts. For example, does your answer work in the volunteer sector? Does you answer work when what was considered right at the time changes to being wrong?
These are particularly difficult challenges when trying to get away from goal-based motivational approaches. What does a non-goal based motivational approach look like? Any good examples from experience that demonstrate the point?
II. Something that annoys me no end is the idea that somehow managers are superior to everyone else. A lot of documentation around systems relies on the judgement of managers. For example, BHP directs staff to consult managers if confronted with ethical dilemmas (e.g. “gifts” in SE Asia).

When it comes to motivation, why would we expect managers to be any better at knowing what the “right” behaviour is compared to anyone else in the organisation?
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