Reflective Journal - ORganizational Behaviour free essay sample

I work in the ETD Brokerage team within the investment banking division of UBS securities LLC, a global financial institution. The Brokerage team’s main function is to collect and settle brokerage on trades which take place on exchanges globally. My role within the team is split 30% on reconciling trading files, fixing breaks to ensure a smooth collection/settlement of brokerage and working with the London team and the offshore team in producing reports, spreadsheets, graphs and presentations for senior management. It is then split 70% on project managing ‘change the bank’ projects. I am currently working on a project that involves the implementation of a new brokerage reconciliation tool. Motivation I specified interest in a position at UBS as I wish to pursue a career within this organization or one of similar standing when I return to the UK in August 2014. My main motivations for having a successful year here follow Maslows Content Theory (1943) but is more relevant to Alderfer’s (1989) ERG theory. My ultimate motivational need is to have a successful career in financial advisory. I feel I have not fully fulfilled the safety and esteem levels of Maslows hierarchy structure yet but I am aspiring for self actualization. Where Alderfer’s theory differs from Maslow’s is where it recognizes that focusing exclusively on one need at a time, in a strict order is not necessary or correct. Alderfer’s theory goes on to talk about Frustration-Regression, a principle that describes that where growth needs, what Maslow describes as self actualization, remain unsatisfied, an individual will become frustrated, will regress, become de-motivated and refocus on lower-order needs. In the past I have experienced this. In my last job there was little room for progression and with the UK being in an economical downturn, competition was higher than ever. This left someone like me, a fresh graduate straight out of university, with little work experience, struggling to get a good job. This I found very de-motivating and I started to re-focus on the lower level needs in Maslow’s hierarchy. This leads me on to my next theorist, Hertzberg (1968). Hertzberg’s two factor theory talks about intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. These rewards identify a certain type of motivation. I am motivated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. I am driven by money, power and success (extrinsic rewards) but I feel I would not achieve these without the motivations of intrinsic rewards pulling me through; those of self-satisfaction, appreciation and accomplishment. I strongly believe that job satisfaction is extremely important and getting the work/personal life balance right is essential for a happy life. This is one of the main reasons I want to become a financial advisor. Once recognized, your work can fit in around your personal life, arranging meetings with clients that suit you. I feel that once established in the industry both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards will be prevalent and I will constantly be motivated at work. Communication I think that communication in the work place and for self-development is such an important aspect to fulfill. My communication skills are average. I am actively looking at ways to improve them for my personal development and my career advancement. Thriving communication skills are an absolute must for the career I want to pursue. Liaising and developing positive relationships with clients is key to a successful financial advisory career. At UBS, my communication skills are exercised through many different streams. Within my team, the brokerage team, I have to communicate with all team members in order to work effectively on projects and tasks assigned. Poor communication within the team can lead to doubling up of work, the setting up of conflicting goals, poor performance, poor efficiency and can cause confliction socially. Me and a member of my team recently worked on a project together but did not communicate effectively and both ended up producing some of the same work. This was due to poor communication. In the ETD Brokerage Team we have weekly team meetings which I find are very useful in giving us an insight in to the work being done on the other side of the team. The flow of information is useful for broadening knowledge about the work of the team and in brokerage in general. These meetings also allow for us to bond as a team, we often do meetings over tea and biscuits. Sometimes even Dunkin Donuts! The relaxed leadership style exercised in these meetings allows for a comfortable setting and a good flow of conversation whilst reaching the goal of sharing information, issues, problems and ideas. As well as communicating with my team I also reach out to other teams within UBS, mainly the transition team, the equities team and the trade support team and also with counter-parties in resolving discrepancies, either via e-mail, face to face or via phone. The ‘go out and get it’ slogan incorporated in to UBS’s mission statement and organizational culture has pushed me to be more hands on in approaching others and has contributed towards my confidence in communicating with others as a whole. I have already noticed an improvement in my communication skills and in turn, the productivity of my work. I also manage an offshore team based in India. Communicating with offshore is much harder. The time difference means I can only liaise with the team from 8 till noon, USA time. As well as this obstacle, there are language barriers too. Although the team in India can speak proficient English, I do sometimes find it difficult to interpret their vocabulary and their accents and this sometimes causes confusion. This, however, is made easier with the use of our internal messenger system, Mind Align. Personality I took the Myers-Briggs (1985) type indicator test (MBTI) to determine the personality typology I fell in to according to Briggs. This test is a psychometric questionnaire. It was designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The test identified that I was ‘The Visionary,’ abbreviated as ENTP. ENTP are abbreviations for extroverted a typology first identified by Jung (1921) characterizing a personality that is outgoing, active, quick to make decisions and very responsive to others. N, T and P then stand for intuitive, thinking and perceiving. In wholesome the visionary type person is lively, energetic, clever, inventive, analytical, logical, open-minded and spontaneous. I strongly agree with this typology. I have always been told I have an energetic and inventive personality. In work I have demonstrated these traits in projects that have been assigned to me thus far. I am currently working on a project that involves configuring a new system and I am tasked with setting the system to operate how I want it to. Doing this effectively involves understanding what I want the system to do and then being imaginative in thinking about the different ways that I can make the system operate. Personalities in the work place are a huge factor to be wary of as a manager. Conflicting personalities can affect an organizations culture and the productivity of work amongst employees. A manager, when interviewing for a new position within the team, should always be observing a person, trying to identify personality traits and working out if this person will fit in to the culture of the organization. This is as, if not more, important than the individuals experience and ability. I think in my team at work, we gel well together. Everybody gets on personally and this makes a huge difference to the vibe within the team. The culture is relaxed, friendly, open and honest with a team spirit ethos. Teams At UBS, I work in the Brokerage team made up of 6 employees onshore. In addition, I manage an offshore team of 8, based in India. I then work cross functionally with different departments within UBS. I work well in teams. My visionary personality means I am very outgoing and am very responsive to others. Tuckmans model (1965) explains that as a team develops maturity and ability, relationships establish, and the leader changes leadership style. I have found this at UBS, where my manger adopted a more professional and superior leadership style to start and as our relationship flourished and I have become more self-sufficient, her leadership style is more relaxed. Preferred learning style I took the Fleming (1987) VARK learning preferences test. My learning style was identified as ‘Visionary. ’ A visionary learner learns best through seeing. Seeing pictures, graphs, and diagrams and doing practical as opposed to theory. I learn best this way as I interpret images in my mind much better than words. I also find it easier to remember pictures and diagrams. At UBS, I produce presentations for senior management and like to use lots of images and graphs to make my points. This method not only allows me to present information in a more visual way but also allows me to understand and interpret the data better myself too. Personal Development (SMART) and Action Plan As identified in the earlier surveys and tests mentioned earlier, I am analytical, logical and pay great attention to detail. I then also feel like I am a great listener, and have good organization skills. I can take control of a situation but feel I could work on my confidence and communication skills and believe these are necessary attributes of a leader. I have constructed an action plan/development plan using the SMART steps identified by Locke (1990). This action plan is well regarded and has proven to see results on performance. The 5 steps to consider are; clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback and task complexity. Lockes research showed that specific and difficult goals led to better task performance than vague or easy goals. To follow these principles I have set myself higher than expected goals, goals that test my ability and take me out of my comfort zone. The sense of achievement once accomplished is extremely motivating. My goals are: †¢Network with senior Management more effectively – I have set up a meeting with Louise Gounday, – A top financial advisor currently working for UBS. (100 Top Women Financial Advisors Globally) †¢Undertake UBS Specific courses on top of my work and PGC course. †¢Take more ownership and leadership of my ‘change the bank project,’ in order to make a more valuable contribution leading discussions, posing questions and finding successful resolutions.