Decoding the Workplace - 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations

This highly readable career development book reveals dynamic aspects of the workplace that are hidden to many, ignored by others-factors that can make or break careers.

There are many key questions about work that most individuals never consider. How can workplace norms affect our careers in powerful ways? How do sex-role stereotypes impact our behaviors? When are "teams" not teams? How does organizational culture profoundly affect your workplace? What questions should you ask yourself about your boss? What factors most affect job satisfaction and success?

Decoding the Workplace: 50 Keys to Understanding People in Organizations is a must-read for anyone wanting to better understand the workplace and become more effective and successful. Written by a former management consultant to the U.S. Air Force and a professor and organizational behavior scholar, this definitive work explains many of the dynamics at play in our organizations. Beyond being informative, insightful, and beneficial to any employee, regardless of job status or experience, it is highly readable, entertaining, and thought-provoking.

List of contents

Preface

Part I: First Thoughts
Chapter One Using Keys to Decode the Workplace
Chapter Two Systems: Everything Is Connected

Part II: Individual Differences
Chapter Three Perception: Don't Assume That Others See the Workplace as You Do
Chapter Four Motivation: It's Not All about Money

Part III: Groups
Chapter Five Norms: Beware the Unwritten Rules of the Workplace
Chapter Six Roles: There Is More to a Job Than the Job Description
Chapter Seven Organizational Socialization: New Employees Act Differently Than Current Employees

Part IV: Organization
Chapter Eight Groups, Teams, and Organization Structure: When Your Team Should Not Be a Team
Chapter Nine Organizational Culture: As Fish Are to Water, People Are to Culture-Unaware

Part V: Influence
Chapter Ten Leaders and Managers: Followers Make Leaders
Chapter Eleven Power and Influence: Do Favors, Be an Expert, and Understand Perceptions
Chapter Twelve More about Power and Influence: Choose Activities Carefully and Build 360-Degree Relationships

Part VI: Outcomes
Chapter Thirteen Job Satisfaction, Conflict, and Stress: What's Good, What's Not, What's Hidden
Chapter Fourteen Meaning: What Is Important to Me Might Not Be Important to You-Making Sense of Our Lives and the Workplace

Decoding the Workplace: Concluding Thoughts
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

About the author

John Ballard, PhD, is emeritus professor of management at Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati, OH.

Product details

• Authors: John Ballard, Kevin O'Connor, John Ballard Ph.D.
• Publisher: Greenwood Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2015
• EAN: 9781440838262
• ISBN: 978-1-4408-3826-2
• No. of pages: 154
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance > Training, job, career; Personnel & human resources management, Personnel and human resources management