| Well, you've both been looking at different styles of managing individuals in companies and the workplace. |
| How's the research going, Philip? |
| Well, I've been looking at why individualism... |
| I mean individual differences, are such an important area of management studies. |
| When you think about any organization, |
| be it a family business or a multinational company, |
| they're all fundamentally a group of people working together. |
| But it's what these individuals contribute to their places of work that makes you realize how important they are. |
| Of course they bring different ideas, |
| but it's also their attitudes and their experiences of learning. |
| Diversity is important in these areas too. |
| So why do people behave so differently from one another at work? |
| There are lots of reasons |
| but research has shown that a lot of it comes down to personality. |
| And the other factor is gender. |
| It's a well known fact that men and women do lots of things in different ways, |
| and the workplace is no different. |
| Did you look at the effects of this variation on companies? |
| Yes, I did. |
| On the positive side, |
| exposure to such diversity helps encourage creativity |
| which is generally an asset to a company. |
| But unfortunately individual differences are also the root of conflict between staff |
| and they can lead to difficulties for management, which can sometimes be serious. |
| Thanks, Philip. |
| So, now, I guess the two main things to remember here are to identify individual talent and then to utilize it. |
| So, Janice, you were looking at identifying different talents in workers. |
| Do you think this is easy for managers to do? |
| Well, currently teamwork is in fashion in the workplace |
| and in my opinion the importance of the individual is generally neglected. |
| What managers should be targeting is those employees who can take the lead in a situation |
| and are not afraid to accept the idea of responsibility. |
| That's true Janice but... |
| unfortunately, many managers think the entire notion of encouraging individuality amongst their staff is far too hard. |
| Yes, that may be true |
| but I think one of the most important tasks of managers is to consider the needs of the individual on one hand |
| and group co-operation and conformity on the other. |
| It requires creative thinking on the part of management to avoid tension. |
| So Janice, what kind of people do you think companies should be looking for? |
| Well, it has to start from the very beginning |
| when companies are looking for new employees. |
| When the personnel department is choosing between applicants |
| they need to look for someone who's broken the mould and can think for themselves. |
| Instead, people making these decisions often use a range of psychological tests |
| to see if a person is a problem solver, or will do as they're told. |
| I'm not convinced these qualities are actually the most important. |
| So, do you think being a good team player is overrated? |
| No, it's not overrated. |
| You do need to learn the rules and learn them fast. |
| No individual can get around this if you're working in an organization. |
| So how should managers deal with this? |
| Rewards. |
| When an individual demonstrates the behaviour the organisation expects, |
| some kind of incentive can be given. |
| What's important here is that this happens right at the beginning |
| so new recruits learn the rules of the system immediately. |
| Also the incentive should be something the individual actually wants, |
| and this isn't always just money. |
| To come back to you, Philip. |
| You were saying that recognition of good performers is essential. |
| What else should managers be looking for? |
| Well, managing people means you not only have an understanding of your employees, |
| but you also recognise the culture of the organization. |
| In fact, for some organizations, creativity and individuality may be the last thing they want to see during working hours! |
| Very true. |
| Yes, but managing people isn't as easy as it looks. |
| For example, change in the workplace can be quite tricky, |
| especially if there's a need to increase profit. |
| And at times like these, |
| managers may have to give priority to profit rather than individual staff needs. |
| Yes, and that creates difficult situations for people. |
| Yes but what's important is that managers are able to deal with quite high levels of personal stress. |
| During times of change, |
| they should be thinking not only about the strain on their staff |
| but take time out to think of themselves. |
| Absolutely. |
| So what are the implications... |