This paper will address the importance of organizational behavior, and touch on the need for human or soft skills in addition to, and in some cases instead of the traditional technical skills. .
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Introduction.
"Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structures have on behavior within an organization, and then it applies that knowledge to make organizations work more effectively. Specifically, organizational behavior focuses on how to improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and turnover, and increase employee citizenship and job satisfaction". (Robbins, 2001, p. 26) Additionally it must be said that while technical skills are essential to job function, they must be combined with human and conceptual skills in order to facilitate communication and motivation. The study and practice of organizational behavior concepts is essential in today's business world in order for companies to keep up with rapid and dramatic changes brought on by competition, globalization, outsourcing and diversity in the workforce. By understanding elements of organizational behavior that are vital to the workforce such as an individuals values, attitudes, perceptions and learning styles, managers can increase productivity, job satisfaction and commitment to the organization while reducing absenteeism and the rate of job turnover.
Technical Skills vs. Human Skills.
Many leaders are impressed by some employee's technical skills that allow them to work faster. The focus is on this more so than the human, or soft skills. Frank Shipper, a professor of management in the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University (Pentilla, 2003) says that "Entrepreneurs who push employees to work fast are thinking like big companies, when they should instead focus on helping their employees work smarter instead of faster". .
In any company and in any job function, be it a team leader, team member or an individual, Robbins states "technical skills encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise".
