5 Practical Reasons Why You Should Definitely Learn a Foreign Language

Intellectuals are often recognized by their ability to conduct fluent conversations in several languages, usually English, French and German. Being fluent in a foreign language is a pre-requirement for many academic programs and is often a mark of intelligence and capability.

The majority of the non English world studies English as a default second language (as I have). That’s a step in the right direction. But I insist we should not stop there. I’ve decided to study French as an additional foreign language and urge my dear readers to do the same.

The most common languages on earth are Mandarin Chinese (885 million speakers), Spanish (332 million), English (322 million), Bengali (189 million) and Hindi (182 million). The UN’s 5 official languages are: Chinese, English, French, Russian and Arabic. I believe that one of the basic steps to understanding the world we live in is to accept cultural and ethnical diversity. Language is one of the very basic building blocks of the latter.

There are many benefits to being fluent in more languages. Some are more obvious than others. Here are 5 key benefits in my opinion:

#1 Opening an entirely new potential “market” for yourself

Languages are doorways to worlds and markets. In a recent interview with investment guru Jim Rogers he told about his daughter’s Chinese nanny and the Chinese lessons she’s taking at a very early age to prepare her for the future. Any foreign language opens a doorway to a foreign economy and market, each with vast opportunities of its own.

Needless to say, the expanding globalization in the world’s economy has created a high demand for language skills and cultural diversity.

#2 Creating a competitive edge

A foreign language is one of the best ways of creating a competitive edge relatively quickly. If you have the time you can become quite fluent in a foreign language in a matter of months. If you have only several hours a week it could take a year up to a year and a half but its well worth the investment.

Consider how your resume would look like if you were fluent in another language. Consider how you would be able to differentiate yourself from your fellow colleagues and offer a different added value to potential employers.

#3 Branding yourself differently

Marketing is almost everything these days. Branding yourself is required to succeed in any field of work. Fluency in a foreign language tends to stand out quickly enough and is guaranteed not to be forgotten. Naturally the more exotic the language the bigger the impact but all foreign languages will achieve this effect.

#4 Increasing your networking opportunities

From my own experience the same people who’ve decided to invest their free time in learning a foreign language are the same people you’d like to network with. Nearly all professions benefit from synergies created by speaking another language.

#5 Expanding your horizons

We all live on the same planet. Another language will introduce new worlds and cultures to you. Cultural and ethnical diversity are greatly appreciated and contribute to our evolution as human beings. Understanding the world we live in is invaluable to every metric for success everywhere.

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Creating Organizational Commitment among Employees through Behavioral Change of Attitudes: Cognitive Dissonance as a Tool for Managers

Employee behavior, as any human behavior, derives from attitudes toward various subjects or objects. These attitudes are in turn a result of beliefs held by the employee. In order to understand how to create or change employee attitudes we must understand how an attitude is created and what affects it.

The two main attitudes in organizational behavior are work satisfaction and organizational commitment. These two basic attitudes are of extreme importance to both organizations and managers. From a manager’s point of view the employee’s attitude towards organizational commitment is more important as it directly affects employee productivity.

A person’s beliefs and values create an attitude toward a subject or object which is basically a positive or negative approach towards it. Attitudes in turn affect behavior. For example, if a person believes that “work is no fun – work is a responsibility” then his attitude towards organizational commitment would be positive. In turn, in his behavior this person would work hard, stay over time and help other employees. A very important point to remember is that this works the other way around as well. Behavior affects attitudes which in turn affect beliefs.

Attitudes change when beliefs change. Beliefs change when new information is available to the believer. In order to effectively change beliefs (and thus affect attitudes and behavior) one needs to communicate new information. This communication is made of three parts:

1. The source – The effectiveness of the communication stands in direct relation with the credibility and attractiveness of the source of the message. If the message is important the source’s attractiveness is less consequential.

2. The message – Complex messages are obviously more difficult to communicate. The message should contain a unique selling proposition and should enable a deduction of a conclusion.

3. The target audience – Each target audience requires different means of communications.

As a result of the communication an inconsistency is formed in the belief, attitude and behavior triangle. For example, the behavior of promoting an employee affects my attitude towards that employee – If I promoted him he must have deserved the promotion (and not the other way around). Often times changing behavior is difficult and thus attitudes change for consistency. This in consistency between belief, attitude and behavior is known as cognitive dissonance. Another example of utilizing cognitive dissonance to change attitudes might the following known as festinger’s cognitive dissonance.

Group A receives 1$ to describe a boring chore as interesting. Group B receives 20$ to do the same. Results show group A estimates the chore as more interesting then group B. The dissonance created between the behavior of group A (describing as interesting) and their attitude towards the chore (boring) is enhanced due to the low compensation received (It must be more interesting then I think since I’m describing it as such for just 1$).

Another good example to consider is someone who bought an expansive PDA which suffers from bad WI-FI reception. There is a dissonance between the belief an expansive PDA should have good WI-FI reception and the fact he bought an expansive PDA. Eliminating the dissonance is possible in several ways: either the person tells himself he is not using WI-FI functionality (reducing the importance of it) or focusing on the PDA’s strengths. He could actually return the PDA but that would be much harder to perform.

In management we mainly have control over behavior. Thus managers should be focused on changing employee attitudes through behavioral change. An extreme example is the Army. Making a soldier love his weapon or tank is not an easy task. This love of soldier to weapon is achieved by commanding soldiers to constantly clean and maintain their weapons for example. The dissonance is created between their constant behavior and their belief they dislike the chores (If I’m constantly cleaning my tank I must there fore love it).

Some less extreme ways of changing employee commitment are very similar in principal. Some examples might be: employees phrasing their department’s vision and mission statement (If I’m phrasing it I care), Semi-mandatory conventions and gatherings (If I’m participating I must like my company) and much more.

Behavioral change of attitudes should be suited to each and every organization. Employee commitment to an organization is highly important as it directly affects productivity and profitability. Taking the time to consider which behaviors positively affect employee’s attitudes towards commitment is well worth the time.

Motivation Through Job Enrichment: What Are The Key Components?

Motivating employees is always one of every manager’s goals. Motivated employees contribute to productivity thus directly increasing profitability for the organization. Structuring jobs and roles correctly is very important in elevating the motivation of employees.

The main stream theory on motivation in general is based on Maslow’s needs hierarchy. Maslow’s constitutes a hierarchy of needs made of: Existence, Security, Social Relations, Esteem/Reputation, Autonomy and Self Realization. Every person strives to progress in the pyramid from existence to self realization. Motivation stems from the next unattained level. Each step forward is accompanied by satisfaction and each step back with frustration.

As most employees have realized the basic need in the hierarchy as existence, security and social relations motivation stems from the attempt to attain esteem, autonomy and self realization. Hence efforts to increase motivation should concentrate on providing employees with the proper chances and tools. Job enrichment is one of the most basic tools available.

The Job Characteristics model (JCM) proposed by Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham is a very influential model of job enrichment. This model is in compliance with Maslow’s needs hierarchy and tries to constitute job characteristics which will help motivate an employee in his quest for progress.

According to JCM there are five basic dimensions to job enrichment. The presence of these dimensions makes each job a platform of need fulfillment for the employee. Here are the five basic dimensions:

1. Skill Variety – A variety of tasks which require a variety of skills (not to be mistaken with many tasks which require the same skill).

2. Task Identity – Each task as clear and definite. Task identity should allow completing tasks and creating a sense of achievement.

3. Task Significance – Each task as important in the general scheme of the organization. Each task should also have perceived importance by other members of the organization.

4. Autonomy – Employee freedom to plan and execute decisions as one sees fit.

5. Feedback – Informative input to an employee on his or her performance by management and co-workers.

Creating these dimensions in a specific job could be challenging. Here are some suggested actions according to the model:

1. Combining Tasks – Combining tasks increases task significance and skill variety. An employee which handles various tasks needs do develop and adopt new skills and improve existing ones. For example, an employee for personnel may also be in charge of forming the personnel department’s goals for next year together with other related departments.

2. Forming Natural Work Units – Each task is regarded as several work units. In order to create task identity work units should be joined for possible task completion. If we take a look at many day to day processes such as bookkeeping or assembly line jobs it is easy to see each employee is under-motivated as his task is a very small work unit out of a whole task (Build a car). The larger the bundles of work units the more motivated the employee as he gets too see the fruits of his labor, so to speak.

3. Establishing Client Relationships – Establishing client relationships greatly enhances job autonomy as many decisions are called for on an everyday basis. Many more situations present them selves and allow employees to evolve through facing them.

4. Vertical Loading – Assigning more task variety and responsibility to a job.

5. Opening Feedback Channels – Opening feedback channels enables employees to receive valued information on their performance. This is very easy to achieve through timely evaluations, occasional personal chats, co-worker evaluations and more.

A manager’s intuition should play a key role in implementing this model. Managers often delegate authority and tasks to gifted employees. In turn these employees acquire new skills and develop old ones, show greater initiative and commitment and are usually highly motivated. Analyzing jobs through-out the organization using the JCM model will be very effective in creating more motivated employees for the organization.

The Causes of Organizational Commitment: How to Create the Suitable Environment

Organizational commitment is very influenced by organizational design. In order to create commitment in the organization managers must create a suitable environment for it to evolve.

In principal manager who wish to create a suitable environment for commitment must strive to adopt characteristics of an organizational design which reduces class identity and increases company identity.

There are several, independent, ways to achieve higher levels of company Identity. In this article I will discuss some of the most common and effective ones.

1. Fine hierarchy – The opposite of manager/ employee hierarchy is a type of hierarchy which is understated. A message of self efficacy should be relayed: “Everyone can become a manager”. As every message this message should be composed of three elements: The source, the message and the target audience. For example, in order to create a finer hierarchy, managers might adopt a more collective decision process such as consulting with a team. This does not mean it’s the group’s decision but sharing often yields better results.

2. Internal Job Market – An organization which creates an internal job market relays a vote of confidence in employee capability and skills. Naturally employees of such an organization will have a general sense of potential and direction thus enhancing commitment. Creating an internal job market can be created by making a significant share of promotions from inside the organization, holding on to employee’s from life and by creating firm specific skills which enable employees to become distinct professional in the organization.

3. Social Mechanisms – We all know Google, Cisco, EY and many others as good places to work for. One of the main reasons this organizations have become so attractive to employees is their success in creating the right social mechanisms. In Google spare time for personal activities is available, welfare activities and environment such as gourmet foods and what not is readily available to all employees. You don’t have to be Google to create an attractive environment for employees. Allowing for personal time (no phones or emails for a couple of nights), vacations and proper working environment would work effectively to create commitment in employees.

4. Social Values – An identity of an employee’s and an organization’s values is a powerful tool in creating commitment. An organization which adopts employee values such as environmentalism, social responsibility and awareness and employee support will earn plenty in employee commitment.

5. Job Satisfaction and Job Design – Creating job satisfaction for employees obviously influences commitment positively. Job satisfaction and commitment are sometimes two sides of the same coin. People need to know they are making some sort of difference in the world. The level of difference a person makes can be influenced by proper marketing, titling and authority. Another side to job satisfaction is to allow employees to express them selves and their skills. There is much more to creating job satisfaction: Allowing for personal growth, providing training and opportunities, utilizing technology and more.

Commitment to an organization is more then the salary paid to an employee. People look for supportive, challenging and rewarding work places and will readily commit to the proper workplace.

Basic Human Rules for Creating World Wide Movements

Tim Castree has recently created a difference. Mr. Castree is the CEO of Leo Brent Australia and has successfully turned the lights off at Sidney Australia for one hour – “Earth hour”. 2.2 Million People participated in this initiative that resulted in a decrease of 10.2% in Sidney carbon emissions.

According to Castree there are seven basic human rules for creating world wide movements such as facebook or Earth hour which are first and foremost about marketing:

1. The need to be a part of something – People are imprinted with a strong urge to belong and follow.

2. Identifying with successful people – Recruiting celebrities for people to identify with.

3. Self expression – People need and want self expression. Creating a buzz and excitement is necessary. An issue should be made accessible to people.

4. Work is not divided equally – Game theory describes how people tend to do less in larger groups. The wisdom is letting passionate people lead and others to join.

5. Motivation and inspiration are key – fear and shame are not adequate drivers.

6. Change should be made in small portions – Small and feasible changes quickly become a process.

7. Share achievements – Participants should feel rewarded.

Source: www.themarker.com

Creating and managing effective teams in the workplace

Teams have the potential of exponentially empowering an organization as every member completes the other and in turn creates synergy. Creating and managing effective teams is a challenge worth taking on as the benefits of synergy are a great reward.

This article will offer tools and thoughts on how to create and manage effective teams in the workplace.

Management theory identifies a team as 3 or more members with the opportunity to create hierarchies and interactions amongst them (therefore a large group of people is not a team).

There are three distinct types of teams:
1. Organic teams - Teams which are supported by an organizational structure.
2. Project teams - Teams which are assembled for a specific project.
3. Non-organic teams - Teams which are assembled in an organization for a specific process or task or multi-disciplinary teams.

In every team the manager plays a role in which professional as well as procedural guidance holds an extremely important place.

Effectiveness of teams can be described as effectiveness compared to the target set at the forming of the team or as effectiveness compared to resources.

What we look for in effective teams is the Synergy. Synergy is what separates a good team from just a team and what enables team based organizations to create a viable competitive advantage over time.

In order to create and manage effective teams a manager must work to enable the advantages of a team to bloom. A manager of a good effective team must use the following characteristics to most benefit the organization:

1. Use the differential knowledge of team members - The sum of knowledge in a team is obviously greater then of any individual. Moreover, differential knowledge creates that sought after synergy.

2. Enable diversity of opinion and approach - Different team members have accumulated different experience and to solving problems. Use that resource in order to address issues in a variety of ways.

3. Acceptance and commitment - Being a part of a process or team creates acceptance and commitment to the team and to its goals. Encourage the team to share and make use of every team member in order to create that commitment.

4. Offer team members a stage to show intellectual abilities - Team members will flourish if given the opportunity do express themselves.

5. Do not be afraid of disputes - Disputes lead to growth in a team.

A manager of a good effective team must also be wary of the following unwanted characteristics of teams:

1. Avoid group pressure - Try to minimize group pressure and dominance of certain members. Group pressure effects free thought and expression subduing great possible ideas.

2. Do not let one member take control over a team

3. Politics should be avoided - Do not enable politics between team members. Compromises made using political power harm the team’s goals and effectiveness as they might not be the optimum outcome of a team.

4. Keep the original goals of the team at the centre - Many teams naturally shift the centre of attention to other issues and goals.

5. Avoid group think - Group think is one of the most dangerous characteristics of teams and should be avoided at all costs. Group think usually leads to unwanted solutions and can severely harm an organization.

Utilising the tools mentioned above will help create synergy in a team as a result of mutual fertilization of ideas. This process is as intuitive as it might be analytical.

How to manage change in business

Many potentially good initiatives fail due to a lack of strategy and misunderstanding. How should change be managed?

While the purpose of the initiative is often clear the way to implement it is shrouded in mist. Many organizational change initiatives often fail at implementation. While the benefits of the process are usually very clear and understandable it is a whole other matter getting the organization to willingly adopt the change.

As any process organizational change must begin with a strategy. What is the purpose of the change process but also: How to market it, how to introduce it to the organization and how to ensure employees and co-workers will willingly adopt it?

A few common mistakes in managing change have been mentioned in Laurent Keller Johnson’s article for Harvard Business Monday Morning (Leading Change and Succeeding). The following are common mistakes of poorly managed change processes:

1. Take the time to study organizational culture

Change will not happen on its merits alone. Furthermore, even though a process of change might offer much more to the organization or to its employees it will generally be regarded suspiciously. This is human nature. We are creatures of routine and habit. We fear the unknown. Thus, when managing change one must carefully examine organizational culture and understand the finer subtleties in order to better introduce change into the organization.

2. Get management commitment to change

No process of change will succeed without the commitment of senior management. A clear message regarding the process of change should be heard through out the organization. Employees and co-workers need to know the change is welcomed and required and they are a part of its success.

3. Take the time to identify opposition to change and subdue it

Identify the major oppositions to change and adopt to subdue it. No process of change will succeed with the worker’s union objecting to it or not being a part of it, for example. Take the time to meet and discuss change with the oppositions. More often then not this process will benefit both sides and lead to better results.

4. Set up a good implementation team

Implementation is key in processes of change. No process of change will succeed with out constant follow up and a tight implementation. Change requires close attention, and accompanying the organization and its members through. Employees and co-workers will always revert back to old routines with out proper guidance.

5. Identify good candidates for leading change through out the organization

Identify agents of change through out the organization promotes the process of change enormously. These agents should be leaders and central members of the organization look up to by other members.

Managerial decision making and the decision process

Decisions drive an organization. The theory on decision making is vast but can be summarized quite effectively by using Vroom and Yetton's normative model for decision making.
The model characterizes several types of decision making, each suitable for varying situations. These types are:

A1: Leader takes known information and then decides alone.
A2: Leader gets for information from followers, and then decides alone.
C1: Leader shares problem with followers individually, listens to ideas and then decides alone. C2: Leader shares problems with followers as a group, listens to ideas and then decides alone. G2: Leader shares problems with followers as a group and then seeks and accepts consensus agreement.

According to Vroom and Yetton each decision is influenced by two major factors:

1.Decision Quality - Is the quality of the decision measurable?

a. Does the manager have the necessary skills and information to make the decision? Do employees possess that information?
b. Does the issue at hand have a structural resolution? Is the problem structured?
c. Can the probability of decision being the correct solution be measurable?

2. Acceptance

a. Does the implementation of the decision require employee acceptance? Do employees have an interest to be involved?
b. Will the decision be accepted by employees if taken alone by the manager?
c. Is there an identity between employee and organizational goals?

The implementation of the model is rather simple. If acceptance is of importance types A1 and A2 will be less suitable. If the manager sees decision quality as important and employees do not then G2 would be less suitable.

Source: Vroom, V.H. and Yetton, P.W. (1973). Leadership and decision-making. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press

How to improve morale and boost profitability in your organization

Very few companies give proper attention to morale among workers in their organization. This is of course a mistake. High morale in the organization may not directly affect productivity but it has been shown high morale among workers improves work satisfaction greatly and thus increases the profitability of the organization.

Morale can be regarded as team spirit or attitude. Improving morale in an organization should thus affect those concepts. In today's competitive and goal oriented environment companies are usually goal driven and managed and as a result workers are focused on increased efficiency, better procedures and keeping up with competitors. This behavior has its price in worker morale which needs to be balanced.

The balance or improvement in morale can be achieved in many ways. Boosting morale is often done by concentrating on: employee appreciation, employee involvement, management concern and accountability and working environment. The following are some of the ways to improve morale among workers in an organization:

1) Organizational Transparency - Employees are not stupid. They can sense trouble (or good news) a mile away. Transparency in an organization is extremely important whether it is good news such a recent success, troubling news such as an upcoming merger or bad news such as personnel lay offs.

2) Feedback (and more importantly positive feedback)- Take the time to give positive feed back to employees. This should be regarded narrowly. A positively oriented meeting to analyze a recent success what have we done right is also important and contributes to moralee in the organization. Feedback should be implemented regularly and consistently.

3) Milestone parties - Take note of important mile stones achieved. Party! It is important to dwell on success as well as on failure

4) Take time off to think about organizational surroundings - A two day workshop about "Our Department" can do wonders. Let employees express feelings, opinions and thoughts.

5) Hire solution over problem oriented employees - Problem oriented employees are just that, problem oriented. These employees infect organizations with almost negative energies.

6) Make horizontal movement possible - Allow employees to move horizontally in your organization. It is very important to show employees there are other ways open to them.

7) Adjust decision taking strategy to the organization - Consult with employees and listen whenever possible (not always).

8) Create organization fidelity - High organizational and management credibility are highly important as employees can be reassured and can trust management.

9) Working environment - Improve working environment as much as possible. From office design to office supplies.

Studies have shown improving morale improves employee satisfaction and thus improving profitability. Just take a look at successful corporations such as Google Inc. or IBM which are famous for employee moral and satisfaction.