MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

GRADUATE AND RESEARCH CENTRE
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
MBA 1 ARUA CAMPUS

AY 2014/2015; SEMESTER 1

COURSEWORK

COURSE UNIT: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

COURSE CODE: MBA7209
FACILITATORS: Prof. J.C Munene
MR. Francis Kasenkende
GROUP MEMBERS
NO. NAME REG: NO.
1 Ambrose Otimakisa Langoya 2014/HD10/183U

2 Dorcas Zako 2014/HD/10/276U

TOOL REVIEWED: POSITIVE MEANINGS AND POSITIVE CONNECTIONS

The Preamble

The paper is based on a book entitled, Positive meanings and positive connections. The central
idea in the book lies in how positive connections with others and how positive meaning engage
processes and produce outcomes that help to explain extraordinary experience and performance
in organizations.

The paper consists of five sections namely;

Section one which covers the background to the study, statement of opportunity, purpose of the
study and the conceptual framework.

Section Two looks at the discussion of the concepts as presented in the conceptual framework
including High quality communications, high quality relationship, meaningfulness in working
and positive connections.

Section Three demonstrates the relationship between the variables that is high quality
communications, high quality Relationship, meaningfulness in working and positive connections.

Section Four shows the link between the opportunity and the conceptual framework in order to
encourage organizations to seize the opportunity.

Finally section five looks at the conclusion to the study and a case study.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

SECTION ONE

Introduction

1.1Background to the study…………………………………………………………………….…5

1.2 Statement of opportunity………………………………………………………………………5

1.3 Purpose of the study…………………………………………………………………………..5

1.4 Conceptual framework………………………………………………………………………...6

SECTION TWO

Discussion of concepts

2.1 High quality communication…………………………………………………………………..6

2.1.1 Accurate communication…………………………………………………………………... 6

2.1.2 Timely communication…………………………………………………………………….. 6

2.1.3 Frequent communication………………………………………………………………….. .7

2.1.4 Problem solving communication……………………………………………………………8

2.2 High quality relationships

2.2.1 Shared goals…………………………………………………………………………………8

2.2.2 Shared knowledge…………………………………………………………………………. .8

2.2.3 Mutual respect……………………………………………………………………………….9

2.3 Meaningfulness at work……………………………………………………………………….9

2.4 positive connections…………………………………………………………………………12

SECTION THREE

Relationship between the variables………………………………………………………………15

3.1 Relationship between High quality communication and meaningfulness at work

………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15

3.2 Relationship between high quality relationships and meaningfulness at work

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3.3 Relationship between meaningfulness at work and positive connections …………………19

SECTION FOUR

Linking the opportunity to the conceptual framework

4.1 Explanation of the opportunity using the framework ………………………………………19

SECTION FIVE

Conclusion and case study

5.1 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………......26

5.2 Case study………………………………………………………………………………… 28

References……………………………………………………………………………………..... 29

BACK GROUND

Human connections in organizations are vital. Organizations depend on individuals to interact

and form connections to accomplish the work of the organization. The connections formed in

work contexts, therefore, have a significant effect on people just by virtue of the time spent there.

The quality of connection, in turn, impacts on how organizations function for example Centenary

bank Koboko branch started with six staff and two motorcycles covering a vast area which

included four districts of Maracha Yumbe, Moyo and Adjumani. The bank needed to achieve

targets which like number of accounts, loans and profit. This prompted branch management to

make contacts with different LC’s, in Moyo and Adjumani the LC’s guided the officers to

markets, farmers, church organizations, schools and district officials which enabled the bank to

set up account opening and loan appraisal drives and in one occasion the branch had to call for

support from the mother branch, Arua, to help in opening accounts for the overwhelming number

of people who had turned up. This activity saw the number of accounts rise from 1,200 to 5,000

and loans from 500M to 2.2bn. The branch also surpassed its profit target by 65M. The business

community in Adjumani also asked for a branch and this was considered for 2015by head office.

Organizations need to develop ways of relating with and involving individuals to accomplish

work and achieve high performance.

STATEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

Organizations ensure positive connections by employing high quality connections achieved

through high quality communications and high quality relationships. The expansion and
 coverage of centenary bank Koboko to Adjumani, Moyo, Maracha and Yumbe in terms of

account opening and loan appraisals were achieved through high quality connections

PUPOSE OF THE STUDY

The study seeks to examine the relationship between high quality communication, high quality

relationship, meaningfulness at work and positive connections

CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK

High Quality
Communication

i) Frequent
communication
ii) Timely
communication
Meaningfulness at work
iii) Accurate
communication i) Employee Positive Connections
High quality relationships
iv) Problem solving involvement
i) comm
Shared goals ii) Visionary
ii) Shared Leadership
knowledge
iii) Mutual respect

SECTION TWO

Discussion of concepts

This section discusses the different variables introduced in the conceptual framework so that they

are fully understood. A detailed discussion on them follows:-

2.1 High Quality Communication

Communication is a huge umbrella that covers and affects all that goes on between human

beings. Communication is much more than just the exchange of words. It is what we say, how

we say it, why we say it, when we say it, and what we neglect to say. It is our facial expressions,
our gestures, our posture, and our vocal tones. Communication includes both verbal and

nonverbal language. Communication is the energy that fuels the caring, giving, sharing, and

affirming among organizational members. Without genuine listening and sharing of ourselves,

we cannot know one another.

Communicating effectively helps group members build trust and respect, foster learning and

accomplish goals. Written, oral and body language are important tools for sharing ideas, feelings

and commitments. Your group is made up of people who share a common interest and

commitment, and yet perhaps see things from a variety of perspectives. Effective communication

is the way this diverse group of people will be able to understand the issues and make decisions

for effective change.

2.1.1 Frequent communication

This is information needed to manage task interdependencies are exchanged through

communication. Frequent communication helps to build relationships through the familiarity that

grows from repetition.

2.1.2 Timely communication

For communication to be of good quality it has to be timely. Delayed communication may result

in errors or delays, with negative implications for organizational outcomes

2.1.3 Accurate communication

The coordination of highly interdependent work depends not only on the frequency and timelines

of communication, but also on its accuracy. Communication is aid to beaccurate when it is free

from error or delay. Researchhas shown that the accurate communication is important for

supporting effective group process. This is as a result of errors which uses balminess amonst the

employees.
2.1.4 Problem solving communication

Effective coordination of interdependent work requires that participants engage in problem

solving communication. But it should be known that the most common response to

interdependence is conflict (Pondy, 1967), blaming and avoidance of blame (Dunnellon, 1994;

Gittell, 2000)

2.2 High Quality Relationship

Relationships refer to an enduring association between two persons (Reis, 2001),

2.2.1 Shared Goals

Shard goals motivate participants to move beyond sub goal optimization and the act with regard

for overall work process. Wit shared goals for the work process; participants have a powerful

bond and can more easily come to compatible conclusions about how to respond as new

information becomes available.

2.2.2 Shared knowledge

Shared knowledge inform participants of how their own tasks and the tasks of others contribute

to the overall work process, enabling them to act with regard for that overall work process. When

participants share knowledge of each other’s tasks and w they fit together, they have a powerful

bond that provides content for knowing who will be impacted by any given change and therefore

for knowing who needs to know what and with what urgency.

2.2.3 Mutual respect

Respect for the work of others encourages participants to value the contributions of others and

consider the impact of their actions on others, further reinforcing the inclination to act with

regard for overall work process. Respect for each other’s competence creates a powerful bond,
and is integral to the effective coordination of highly interdependent work (Eisenberg, 1990;

Rubenstein, Barth, & Douds, 1971)

2.3 Meaningfulness in and at working

Employees should have a sense of meaning and purpose in what they do. Employees doing “dirty

work” (Hughes, 1951) such as public toilet cleaning or refuse collection seem to be just as able

to find meaning in their work. They view their work as job or career as a calling (see their work

as fulfilling and socially useful). People with a work related calling tend to have more rewarding

relationships at work and a stronger identification with and commitment to the work. People in

jobs that are personally meaningful are more engaged than those that are not. Organizations

should strive to let their employees see meaning in the work that they do, so that their levels of

engagement and involvement goes higher. The concept of meaning of works is one that is often

studied (Colby, Sippola, & Phelps, 2002; Chapter 20). In our consumer-led society the

motivation to work has traditionally come from the need to earn a living and is often seen as a

means to an end (Reeves, 2001). It has been linked to words such as grind, toil, slog and sweat.

However there is clearly a positive side of work. Many people find work to be a deeply positive

experience. Work can be enjoyable, challenging and meaningful provided the work environment

is conducive to facilitate employee happiness and wellbeing (Stairs, 2005). Being without work

can be damaging because of its financial consequences .Good work is one that is excellent,

ethical and engaging.

Being engaged in meaningful work is associated with both personality hardiness and longer term

benefits. Meaning consists of two primary elements: comprehension and purpose. Individuals

need to understand themselves, their organizations and how they fit within the organization. This

gives rise to comprehension in work which in turn drives one to pursue purposes in work.
Comprehension provides the foundation for purpose and together these two elements provide

people with a sense that their work is a source and expression of meaning in their lives. As

individuals deepen their understanding of who they are as workers, what their organization is

about, and how they uniquely fit within and contribute to their organization, they will develop a

sense of comprehension about themselves as workers that will generate a purpose for their work.

Organizations should therefore encourage employees to attune to the organization’s purpose.

Viewing work as meaning is expected to benefit the employee who holds such views and the

organization they work for.

Meaning is developed through a sense-making process where the individual considers the

rewards and enjoyment work provides (Pratt &Ashforth, 2003; Starbuck & Milliken, 1988).

Other research on the meaning of work has focused on defining and investigating the effects and

characteristics of workers who consider their work to be a calling (Dobrow, 2004; Weiss,

Skelley, Hall &Haughey, 2003). Bellah and colleagues, however, in creating the job and career

orientations posited that there are other relationships an individual can have with work that

provide a sense of meaning. The tripartite concept of work orientation describes three ways an

individual can derive fulfillment from work (Bellah, et. al, 1985; Wrzesniewski, et. al, 1997).

Further, work orientation is an important individual difference worthy of investigation because

of its potential relationships to well-being.

Pratt and Ashfor define meaning as a subjective kind of sense that people make of their work.

Other scholars define meaning as a tool used by individuals for imposing stability on life.

Positive meaning is defined as a connection between two different entities’ or things that create

nonphysical reality accessible to humans (Baumesister&Vohs, 2002). (Sverko&Vizek-Vidoviae,

1995), that one’s work is believed to provide one with many things; economic gain, social status,

a sense of belonging and even a sense of purpose or meaning.

Fostering meaningfulness in working comes from doing a specific type of work, not from where

that work is done. This is the creation of some sort of person-job fit. And the meaningfulness at

working is logic of person –fit organization (Kristof, 1996). These can be done through

employee involvement and having a visionary leadership.

2.3.1 Employee involvement

Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions

and actions that affect their jobs. Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool, as

practiced in many organizations. Rather, it is a management and leadership philosophy about

how people are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing success

of their work organization.

Efforts to increase employee involvement empower workers, involve them in decision making

and give them increased job autonomy. Employee involvement programs can increase job

satisfaction, employee morale and commitment to the organization, as well as increase

productivity, reduce turnover and absenteeism and enhance the quality of products and services.

Efforts to involve employees in meaningful ways include:

 Self-managed work teams

 Employee committees or task forces

 Continuous improvement teams

 Participative decision making

 Employee suggestion forums, such as a suggestion box and monthly meetings

2.3.2 Visionary leadership

According to Burns (1978: 4), “the result of transforming leadership is a relationship of mutual

stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral

agents.” Transformational leaders throw themselves into a dynamic relationship with followers

who will feel elevated by it and become more active themselves, hereby creating new cadres of

leaders. Transformational leadership alters and elevates the motives, values, and goals of

followers through the vital teaching role of leadership, enabling leaders and followers to be

united in the pursuit of higher goals. Transformational leaders raise their followers up through

levels of morality.

The issue of moral leadership concerned Burns (1978) the most. He considered moral leadership

as emerging from, and always returning to, the fundamental wants, needs, aspirations, and values

of the followers. Satisfaction of followers' authentic needs is the primary objective of moral

leadership. Burns held that transformational leadership “ultimately becomes moral in that it

raises the level of human conduct and ethical aspiration of both leader and led, and thus it has a

transforming effect on both” (page 20).

Studies have found significant and positive relationships between transformational leadership

and the amount of effort followers are willing to exert, satisfaction with the leader, ratings of job

performance, and perceived effectiveness (Bass, 1998). Howell and Frost (1989) showed that

individuals working under a charismatic leader had higher task performance (in terms of the

number of courses of action suggested and quality of performance), higher task satisfaction and

lower role conflict and ambiguity in comparison to individuals working under considerate

leaders or under structuring leaders. Leader's vision and vision implementation through task cues

affects performance and many attitudes of subordinates (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1996).
Baum, Locke, and Kirkpatrick (1998) found additional support for this in their study. They

concluded that vision and vision communication have positive effects upon organizational level

performances. Stewart (2006) did a meta-analysis of 93 studies and found that transformational

leadership exhibited a consistently positive relationship with collective performance. Zhu, Chew,

and Spangler (2005) found that human-capital-enhancing human resource management fully

mediated the relationship between CEO transformational leadership and subjective assessment of

organizational outcomes. Keller (2006) studied transformational leadership, initiating structure,

and selected substitutes for leadership as longitudinal predictors of performance.

2.4 Positive Connections

Human connections in organization are vital and leave an impact on how individuals and

organizations function. Connections have been defined by many authors. (Berscheid& Lopes,

1997) define connection to mean a dynamic, living tissue that exists between two people when

there is some contact between them involving mutual awareness and social interaction.

(Gabarro, 1987) is of a view that connections can occur as a result of a momentary encounter,

and can also develop and change over a long period.

Therefore connection is vital when it is of high quality between people to make them flourish

and perform extra ordinarily at their work places hence quality of connection formed needs to be

good. Quality of connection has been defined by (Jane&Emmily at 263) in terms of whether the

connective tissue between individuals is life giving or life depleting. That like a healthy blood

vessel that connects parts of our body, high quality connection between two people allows the

transfer of vital nutrients; it is flexible, strong, and resilient. For example one person’s

expression of the power of a more long lasting work based connections: “I haven’t chosen this

relationship to be important to me. It just –is. She is always there in the back (of my mind) …
she has had such an impact on how I should run my life- how I should be a female faculty

member.

Compared to a low quality connection, a tie exists that is people communicate, they interact, and

they may even be involved in interdependent work, but the connective tissue is damaged. That

with low quality connection, there is little death in every interaction (Dutton, 2003). For example

an incident in which a sales consultant explains why he left his highly status job after eighteen

months as follows; “The day he hired on, his assigned mentor showed him new office and

walked away without a word- no tour of the office, no introduction to co-workers, ‘in short ,no

information’, the consultant says. Later in a meeting, a partner treated him like a piece of

furniture. Pointing him out as a new hire, the partner said, ‘I don’t know if he’s good. Somebody

try him out and let me know,’”.

High quality connects are characterized by recognition of and responsiveness to the other, and

therefore are critical for coordinating highly independent work, where actions taken by each

participant potentially require response by each of the others. (Dutton &Heaphy, 2003) high

level of connections and in particular from the

The assertion by different Scholars have made assumptions which has form basis for researchfor

example that humans are intrinsically social and have a need to belong (Baumeister& Leary,

1995; Maslow, 1968), making connections an important aspect of people’s social experience in

organizations. Second, we assume that connections are dynamic and change as individuals alter

how they are feeling, thinking and behaving while interrelating with another person (Gable & La

Guardia, 2007; Reis, 2007). Third, the work of organizations is performed through social

processes, and connections are key elements for understanding how work is accomplished.

Fourth, we assume that connections vary in quality. Differences in quality reflect variance in
how healthy and well-functioning the living tissue (in this case, the dyadic connection) is at a

particular point in time.

Connection quality is marked by three subjective experiences. First, connection quality is sensed

by the feelings of vitality in connection. People in an HQC are more likely to feel positive

arousal and a heightened sense of positive energy (Quinn & Dutton, 2005). Second, the quality

of a connection is also felt through a sense of positive regard (Rogers, 1951). Being regarded

positively denotes a sense of feeling known and loved, or being respected and cared for in

connection. Finally, the subjective experience of a connection’s quality is marked by the degree

of felt mutuality. Mutuality captures the feeling of potential movement in the connection, borne

out of mutual vulnerability and responsiveness as both people experience full participation and

engagement in the connection at the moment (Miller &Stiver, 1997). These three subjective

markers help to explain why HQCs are experienced as attractive and pleasant, but also as life-

giving. Literally and figuratively, one senses life or being more alive in these kinds of human-to-

human connections.

HQCs are also defined in terms of three structural features. These three features capture the

structural capacity of the connection. First, higher connection quality implies greater emotional

carrying capacity, which is evidenced by both the expression of more emotion when in the

connection and the expression of both positive and negative emotions. The tensility of the

connection captures the connection’s capacity to bend and withstand strain and to function in a

variety of circumstances. It is the feature of the connection that indicates its resilience or the

capacity to bounce back after setbacks. The third characteristic of a connections’ quality is its

connectivity. Connectivity describes a connection’s level of openness to new ideas and

influences. The three structural features help specify why connections of higher quality between

two people foster beneficial outcomes.

SECTION THREE

Relationship between the variables

This section covers the relationship between the variables under study. It examines the various

variables and how they relate to meaningfulness in working. Finally it also discusses how

meaningfulness in working leads to positive connections.

3.1 High quality communication and meaningfulness in working

3.1.1 Frequent communication and employee involvement

The information needed to manage task independencies is exchanged through communication.

But the role of communication is not merely informational. Frequent communication helps to

build relationships through familiarity and that grows from repetition. Employee involvement is

creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and actions that affect

their jobs. Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool, as practiced in many

organizations. Rather, it is a management and leadership philosophy about how people are most

enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing success of their work

organization. How to involve employees in decision making and continuous improvement

activities is the strategic aspect of involvement and can include such methods as suggestion

systems, manufacturing cells, work teams, continuous improvement meetings, Kaizen

(continuous improvement) events, corrective action processes, and periodic discussions with the

supervisor.

Intrinsic to most employee involvement processes is training in team effectiveness,

communication, and problem solving; the development of reward and recognition systems; and

frequently, the sharing of gains made through employee involvement efforts.

3.1.2 Frequent communication and visionary leadership

Leaders generate and sustain trust (Bennis, 2002; DePree, 2002) through thebehavior of the

leader. For example, trust seems to be determined primarily by thebehavior of the leader’s

communicative and supportive behaviors (Gimbel, 2001;Tschannen-Moran and Hoy, 1998).

Leaders’ communication practices affect followers’ trust in the leader. For example, the amount

of information received about the job and organization helped explain the variance both of trust

in top management and trust in immediate supervisors (Ellis and Shockley-Zalabak, 2001).

Similarly, frequent communication both before and after acquisition by another company and

useful information to employees about an acquired company increased acquired employees’

perceptions of the new management’s trustworthiness (Nikandrou et al., 2000). From a social

exchange perspective, frequent exchange builds trust between leaders and followers (Cherry,

2000; Kollock, 1994)

3.1.3 Timely communication and employee involvement

In coordinating highly interdependent work, timing can be everything. Delayed communication

may result in errors or delays, with negative implications for organizational outcomes. Engaged

employees are highly motivated, providing a valuable, productive and cost-effective service.

They make an extra effort or ‘go the extra mile’, making a measurable difference to our results

and the value perceived by our customers.

Failure to communicate will lead to a negative shift in any or all of the above benefits. This

could have a serious detrimental effect not only on your company’s operational efficiency, but

also customer satisfaction and ultimately your profits and market share.

In order to achieve engagement in our workforce we have to keep employees informed and

engaged through regular and effective communications, which are relevant and timely.

3.1.4 Timely communication and visionary leadership

Visionary leadership, often associated with charismatic or transformational leadership, creates a

general transcendent ideal that represents shared values. While visions may include reference to

individual roles (and thus may be indirectly related to creating meaningfulness in working), they

are often articulated as idealistic, future-oriented, and organizationally based (and hence

membership based) goals (Conger &Kanaungo, 1987). Visions like cultures, ideologies, and

collective identities make membership within a particular organization, special, enriching and

meaningful.

3.1.5 Accurate communication and employee involvement

Accuracy in communication encompasses how well communicators create verbal and nonverbal

messages that are understood by others and how well those messages are recognized,

comprehended, recalled, and interpreted. Accuracy refers to an objectively quantifiable metric by

which the communication that is sent or received can be compared against some objective

standard, or what is often referred to as ground truth. For example, if a sender expresses

authentic anger, the recipient is accurate to the extent that he or she classifies the expression as

anger rather than, say, love or surprise. One of the keys to engagement is defining and

articulating what constitutes a “successful” employee and communicating success clearly

Employee engagement has become a top business priority for senior executives. In this rapid

cycle economy, business leaders know that having a high-performing workforce is essential for

growth and survival. They recognize that a highly engaged workforce can increase innovation,

productivity, and bottom-line performance while reducing costs related to hiring and retention in

highly competitive talent markets

3.1.6 Accurate communication and visionary leadership

Visionary leadership refers to the capacity to create and communicate a view of a desired state of

affairs that clarifies the current situation and induces commitment to an even better future.

Colton (1985) described a visionary leader as one who “established goals and objectives for

individual and group action, which define not what we are but rather what we seek to be or do’’

The visionary leader inspires, challenges, guides, and empowers. This articulated link between

dreams and action, between vision and leadership, is well documented in the literature. For

example, in 1985, Bennis and Nanus claimed that a compelling vision is key to effective

leadership in excellent organizations. In 1990, Clark and Clark noted that the keyto successful

implementation “lies within the principal and his/her ability to provide visionary leadership”

3.1.7 Problem solving communication and employee involvement

Task interdependencies often result in problems that require joint problem solving. Hence,

effective coordination of interdependent work requires that participants engage themselves in

problem-solving communication. When organizing and operating a value-added business,

disagreements can arise among committee members or project managers over how to solve

problems facing the project or business. Using good communication skills can help the group

find solutions.

The following communication rules can improve problem solving:

 State your problem and interests. Acknowledge others' problems and interests. Avoid name

calling and answering a complaint with another complaint.

 Listen to the other parties and know their interests. Ask “why,” “why not” and “what if”

questions to better understand. Use silence to demonstrate you are willing to listen or to help

move the other side into a position to listen more effectively to you.

 Offer an apology when appropriate.

 Stay in the present and the future. The past has already been lived.

 Stick to the present topic.

 Look for areas of agreement.

 Set the time for the next discussion and take a time out if the discussion deteriorates.

 Use mutual restating until a party who continues to feel misunderstood feels understood

appropriately.

 State requests for change in behavioral terms. Don’t ask for changes in attitude or feeling just

to be different.

 Consistently express verbal and body messages. If negative feelings must be expressed, only

use words. Show confidence in the process, relax, use good eye contact and show interest.

3.1.8 Problem solving communication and visionary leadership

Effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to

resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas,

problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish. As simple as communication seems, much of

what we try to communicate to others—and what others try to communicate to us—gets

misunderstood, which can cause conflict and frustration in personal and professional

relationships. By learning these effective communication skills, you can better connect with your

spouse, kids, friends, and coworkers. Effective communication is about more than just

exchanging information; it's also about understanding the emotion behind the information.
Effective communication can improve relationships at home, work, and in social situations by

deepening your connections to others and improving teamwork, decision-making, and problem

solving. It enables you to communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating

conflict or destroying trust. Effective communication combines a set of skills including

nonverbal communication, attentive listening, the ability to manage stress in the moment, and the

capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the person you’re

communicating with.

Emotional awareness is a skill that, with patience and practice, can be learned at any time of life.

You can develop emotional awareness by learning how to get in touch with difficult emotions

and manage uncomfortable feelings, including anger, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and joy.

When you know how to do this, you can remain in control of your emotions and behavior, even

in very challenging situations, and communicate more clearly and effectively

3.2 High quality relationships and meaningfulness at work

Effective relationships between managers and employees are vital to the performance of a

company. The quality of manager and employee relationships can impact organizational

outcomes such as profits, customer service, job satisfaction, etc. A climate of good relationships

between managers and employees can help recruit quality staff, and can keep employee turnover

low. Having a good relationship with their supervisor is an important aspect of the job for

employees. As a business evolves through stages, so does the manager-employee relationship.

Research suggests that this relationship can be one of three types: low- medium-, and high-

quality. A HQ relationship is characterized as having high degrees of trust, respect, admiration,

and social exchange. HQ employees are the “go to person” or the “star employee”. They exhibit

higher levels of performance, job satisfaction, dependability, and have low turnover. HQ
relationships are high maintenance for managers since the relationships tend to be differentiated

by high levels of mentoring, coaching, and socializing.

3.2.1 Shared goals and employee involvement

Goal setting is a crucial component to any great business strategy. Goals determine a path for

your business to follow. They act as pillars of stability, and guiding lights that point your team in

the right direction. Sharing your goals increases their effectiveness. Whether with your peers,

your team or your partners, shared goals enable greater collaboration, communication, and a

greater degree of unity. Shared goals also create a culture of accountability. Shared goals

encourage teams to take a public position and motivate one another to fulfill their promises. It’s

amazing how hard someone will work to protect their reputation. When someone stops working,

the whole team falls short of its goal. A shared standard of responsibility is set, and internal

cooperation is the result. They key is to set regular check in points where everyone can report on

their progress.

A natural benefit of creating a culture of accountability is an increase in productivity. Whether

your goals are short- or long-term, shared goals with deadlines create focus. Every team member

will understand how important their contribution is to the overall plan and consequently, they

will feel their contribution is more meaningful.

Clarity is critical to a well-functioning enterprise. Without clarity, systems fall apart and team

members are lost in confusion. Shared goals help assert clarity by defining roles in relation to

goals. Everyone knows their part, and understands their position in reaching these goals. This

helps a team to work better as they will understand the motives of their colleagues. When people

from diverse backgrounds work together without shared goals, they often question each other’s

motives.
3.2.2 Shared knowledge and employee involvement

Knowledge sharing is an important part of building knowledge-based competitive advantage

(Argote& Ingram, 2000; Cohen &Levinthal, 1990; Kogut& Zander, 1992).

Knowledge sharing can be studied and managed at organizational, group, and individual levels

of analysis (Jackson, Chuang, Harden, & Jiang, 2006). Knowledge sharing often involves mutual

exchanges among individuals, including sending and receiving knowledge. It is a relational act

based on a sender-receiver relationship that incorporates communicating one’s knowledge to

others as well as receiving others’ knowledge (Hooff & de Leeuw van Weenen, 2004).

Knowledge, however, is often highly personal, not easily expressed, and thus difficult to share

with others (Kogut & Zander, 1992; Szulanski, 1996). oreover, we cannot take employee

motivation to share knowledge for granted (Cabrera & Cabrera, 2002; Osterloh & Frey, 2000).

Organizational instruments can nevertheless be deployed to foster knowledge sharing motivation

and thus positively influence knowledge sharing.

Intrinsic motivation to engage in knowledge sharing implies employees find the activity itself

interesting, enjoying, and stimulating. In a broader perspective, social psychology research

argues that intrinsically motivated individuals are proactive and get involved in activities to

promote their own personal growth (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Many empirical studies show intrinsic

motivation promotes highly valued behavioral outcomes, such as creativity (Amabile, 1993),

quality (Kruglanski, Friedman, &Zeevi, 1971), and learning (Vallerand & Bissonnette, 1992;

Vansteenkiste et al., 2004).

3.2.3 Mutual respect and visionary leadership

There’s an old adage “United we stand, Divided we fall”. It is important to concentrate on

fostering a stronger and better relationship among team members. It is only possible when they
know each other well and have a mutual respect for each other as an individual human being.

This helps in building strong relationships within the organization.

Organizations should facilitate open communication. It helps employees to know each other

well, fosters involvement and builds trust. Care should be taken to ensure that no individual is

undermined especially during meetings. Respecting the opinions and views of every individual

even if there are mutual differences helps in fostering a culture of respect within the

organization.

Organization’s value and mission statement giving due emphasis to the following: respect,

equality and integrity also remind the employees of their responsibilities towards their

colleagues. Any rules and regulations should be equally binding of every employee without

making any room for bias.

Being sensitive to cultural differences is necessary. One needs to be cautious while choosing

words. Often a wrong selection may prove to be disastrous. In a multicultural organization, some

words which are acceptable to one culture may not be acceptable to other cultures and may even

hurt their sentiments. This could result in friction between employees. It would be a good idea to

have a cultural orientation for new employees so that they are better integrated into the system.

People tend to have pre-conceived ideas about certain groups or individuals and they tend to

make assumptions about them based on these views. This tendency needs to be avoided and

discouraged to create mutual respect and trust among employees. Any derogatory remarks that

may hurt their religious, social or cultural sentiments should be strongly discouraged.

Self-esteem and respect are very important for any individual. An organization that values these

and ensures that they are not violated will go a long way in promoting a culture of respect. Do

share your thoughts on the same.

SECTION 4

Linking the opportunity to the conceptual framework

This section looks at the explanation of the opportunity in relation to the conceptual model so

that once the model is adopted; organization are in position to create positive connections or

linkages amongst the employees, ensure there is good quality of communication and relationship

to enable employees find meaning in their work so that Organization goals are achieved. This

will ensure retention of the employees leading to efficiency and effectiveness for the individuals

and profitability or return on investment for the organization.

4.1 Explanation of the opportunity using the framework.

The conceptual framework accounts for the factors that can lead to the creation of a High

qualityconnections namely high quality communications, high quality relationships all mediated

by meaningfulness at work. When apositive connection is created, its benefits accrue to both the

individual employees and the organization as a whole. These benefits inculcate into extra

ordinary experience and performance by the employee and profitability for the organization

4.1.1 High quality communication

Communication is essential for effective functioning in every part of an organization. Although

marketing, production, finance, personnel, and maintenance departments may receive direction

from corporate goals and objectives, communication links them together and facilitates

organizational success. The importance of effective communication for managers cannot be

overemphasized for one specific reason: everything a manager does, involves communicating.

Communication is needed to increase efficiency, satisfy customers, improve quality, and create

innovative products.
Effective communication is so important for organizational success that not only managers, but

also their employees must be effective communicators. One role of a manager is to help

employees improve their communication skills. When all members of a team, department, or

organization are able to communicate effectively with each other and with people outside their

group, they are much more likely to perform well.

There was high quality communication realized between centenary bank and the LC1in Moyo

The LC1 then guided him and moved with him to the various leaders in the district and the

business community alike (mainly the Boda Boda association as an intrusion point), introducing

him and explaining his purpose there, they moved to district offices contacting various officials,

visiting the SACCOs, the markets and shops, the hotels and lodges with the purpose of

promoting centenary bank. Also The Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) of Moyo was

involved in reaching out to high ranking district officials, top personnel in schools, and different

church founded organizations.

4.2 High quality relationships

Every relationship is only as good as the people within it. Relationships between people are the

main determining factor in the overall quality of their commonly shared reality. The importance

of quality relationships cuts across all barriers, real or perceived. In fact, the better the quality of

the relationship, the fewer barriers there are with which to contend. Developing effective

relationships is the key to personal and organizational success. There is a lot of truth in the old

adage “it not what you know but who you know.” The seven principles mentioned above will

facilitate the process of developing quality relationships.

The bank created a good relation with the LC’s and the communities around. This relationship

attracted the business community, in Adjumani, towards the bank. They become so much
involved in that they requested for a branch of their own that would sever from Koboko.

Discussions were held in the DAC meetings and it was resolved that the bishop of Arua diocese

petitions the Board of directors of centenary bank for Adjumani branch to open. The board

invited him to present his petition to the board meeting that was attended by the various heads of

department and the cardinal which resulted in to agreement for Adjumani branch to open in

2015.

4.3 Meaningfulness at work

When employees view their work positively, they tend to get more emotionally involved in the

organization providing them with employment. They tend to be more conscientious, cooperate

more with others, and are more likely to provide the expected performance.

Meaningfulness at work, is about finding your sense of purpose, a state of mind that results in an

inner spark that you carry and allows you to wake up every day looking forward to work, and

believing deeply that what you do at work matters. The purpose is the guiding star, but the sense

of purpose is what motivates us to strive toward that star. This insight can be useful for

individuals, hiring managers, and leaders.

Targets were not being met in most of the parameters ranging from loans and loan numbers,

deposits and number of accounts. This affected the profits given the adverse operational costs

hence not breaking even. The portfolio stagnated between 500 Million to 700 Million, loan

numbers ranged between 200 to 300 clients, while deposits and number of accounts were

between 1.7 billion to 2 billion and 1,000 to 1,200 respectively. There was pressure to break

even, leading to a change of plan and strategy mapping. The vast untapped areas of Adjumani,

Moyo, Yumbe and Maracha together with the need to meet targets gave the staff of centenary
bank koboko purpose and meaning to perform their work to the benefit of both the bank and

individual.

4.4 Positive connections

Corrosive work relationships are like black holes that swallow up energy that people need to do

their jobs. In contrast, high-quality relationships generate and sustain energy, equipping people

to do work and do it well.Relationships are what sustain a workplace. They’re what creates good

teamwork. They’re what allows us to get things done and what makes our work enjoyable.

Wouldn’t you rather have the freedom to do your work every day instead of spending so much

time and energy struggling with an interpersonal conflict? Wouldn’t you rather have a trusting

workplace where differing opinions are valued, people are treated respectfully and goals are

achieved through collaboration and consensus?

A single hired room in the town Centre served as the lending office where officers would meet

and serve various clients ranging from salary earners to major business men in the district. There

would be daily interactions and continuous service rendered to the clients that would be served

on the day, customers who wanted to access their savings without incurring transports costs to

Arua complained. This gave an idea to set up an ATM. Consultations were carried out, and a

team dispatched to carry out a survey on the viability of an ATM in Koboko and other prospects.

Given the different contacts that the loan officers had, audience was sought with one of the

clients who offered his premises for this purpose.

SECTION FIVE

Conclusion and case study This section covers the conclusion to the study and contains a case

study that highlights the importance of creating a positive connections as to enhance good

experience at work and extra performance among the employees.

5.1 Conclusion

Meaning can come in many forms. What is meaningful to one person may not be to another.

Therefore helping people find and connect to positive meaning in their work through effective

communication and good relationships is one of the most important things an organization can

do to have its employee’s exhibit extra ordinary experience and performance hence fulfilling the

goals of the organization. With evidence indicating that those organizations that have such

conditions outperform those that don’t, it is therefore paramount for management to create an

environment that fosters the smooth communications, relations among employees who are to be

led by a person who is person-organization fit with good leadership characteristics to lead the

members of the organization to find meaning in work to motivate them.

5.2 Case study of Centenary Bank Koboko branch

Centenary bank Koboko branch started as a lending center under the supervision of the mother

branch-Arua, in 2010. Assigned Loan officers, from Arua branch, would move back and forth on

a daily to serve the clients of Koboko in order to meet targets. A single hired room in the town

Centre served as the lending office where officers would meet and serve various clients ranging

from salary earners to major business men in the district. There would be daily interactions and

continuous service rendered to the clients that would be served on the day, customers who

wanted to access their savings without incurring transports costs to Arua complained. This gave

an idea to set up an ATM. Consultations were carried out, and a team dispatched to carry out a
survey on the viability of an ATM in Koboko and other prospects. Given the different contacts

that the loan officers had, audience was sought with one of the clients who offered his premises

for this purpose. The ATM became operational in Koboko.

Much as faster business was being realized and greater opportunities accrued, the plan to set up a

branch in Koboko became more vivid. This compelled the manager to engage the different

officials from business development at head office with district officials. Following the survey

report, consultations and prior arrangements with the district officials led to an agreement hence

identification of location for business operations to start. Through our head office still, Bank of

Uganda was notified which gave a letter of no objection for centenary bank to start operations in

Koboko as a branch.

A group of six members, which included two management staff, two loan officers and two

banking officers, was fully empowered in 2011 to serve Koboko as a branch. Without a car but

two motorcycles, the team was to handle marked districts under Koboko catchment area;

Maracha district, Yumbe district, Moyo district and Adjumani district. The team however

decided to cover only Koboko and ignore the rest of the areas because of limited resources but

vast area.

However, targets were not being met in most of the parameters ranging from loans and loan

numbers, deposits and number of accounts. This affected the profits given the adverse

operational costs hence not breaking even. The portfolio stagnated between 500 Million to 700

Million, loan numbers ranged between 200 to 300 clients, while deposits and number of accounts

were between 1.7 billion to 2 billion and 1,000 to 1,200 respectively. There was pressure to

break even, leading to a change of plan and strategy mapping.

In the ensuring branch weekly and monthly meetings, there were suggestions and one of them

was to create awareness by moving to non-banked districts in the rest of the catchment area. The

branch had two motorcycles to cover the vast catchment area and without a contact person in any

of the districts, this would prove an uphill task.

A staff volunteered to visit Moyo which looked centrally located, linking all the other districts.

He made first contact with the LC1 and shared the idea of extending centenary bank services to

Moyo. The LC1 then guided him and moved with him to the various leaders in the district and

the business community alike (mainly the BodaBoda association as an intrusion point),

introducing him and explaining his purpose there, they moved to district offices contacting

various officials, visiting the SACCOs, the markets and shops, the hotels and lodges with the

purpose of promoting centenary bank. The Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) of Moyo was

involved in reaching out to high ranking district officials, top personnel in schools, and different

church founded organizations.

The effect of this mobilization was tremendous in that by the end of 2013, the number of

accounts had tripled to 5000, the loan book was reading 2.2 billion while the deposits and loan

clients were 5.5 billion and 1,100 respectively, and profit of 65 million shillings was realized,

this was way beyond the budgeted. The concentration was in Moyo paved way for the discovery

of better opportunities in Adjumani which was more vibrant lively and productive. Preliminary

market scanning and business sense survey gave positive results and the service carried on. This

created a deeper and stronger relationship with the bodaboda associations of Moyo and

Adjumani. The frequency of visits to these districts increased and at certain occasionally Koboko

branch either hired a car or requested for back up from the mother branch Arua in order to

contain the ever increasing number of customers.

This relationship attracted the business community, in Adjumani, towards the bank. They

become so much involved in that they requested for a branch of their own that would sever from

Koboko. Discussions were held in the DAC meetings and it was resolved that the bishop of Arua

diocese petitions the Board of directors of centenary bank for Adjumani branch to open. The

board invited him to present his petition in the board meeting that was attended by the various

heads of department and the cardinal. They were convinced and unanimously agreed to open

Adjumani branch in 2015.

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