LE03 Theory X and Theory Y

Theory X and Theory Y concept plays a significant role in a company. Both the theories were discussed at length in the class. In Theory X and Theory Y, L represents lazy or inefficient whereas G represents good or efficient employees. There are four situations w.r.t. Theory X and Theory Y  :-

Situation 1 - In this situation employees are lazy and the manager thinks they are lazy.

Once I had some problem with my landline phone. I complained many a times but for no good. One day I met the lineman, I asked him why he is not doing his job. He said I have loads of work piled for me you are not the only customer, I require lot of items like cables etc which my management does not give to me easily. Thus it is their fault not mine. Then I went to meet the manager and told him about my phone being dead for quite some time. He said that the linemen are not doing their job properly. We are getting a lot of complaints against them. They are wasting a lot of company resources.
Here the employee does not want to work so he puts the blame on management and the manager thinks he is inefficient and nothing can be done to improve the situation. In such situation the company cannot progress as within the company no one will work and everyone will just put blame on others.

Situation 2 - In this situation employees are efficient but the manager thinks they are lazy.

This is most dangerous situation wherein the employee is efficient but the manager thinks he is not efficient. This situation fits aptly to one of my friend. He was working very diligently in the company, whatever work is assigned to him he was able to complete everything within the time limit. But his manager always used to keep an eye on him. He used to note the timing when my friend comes to office and the time when he leave the office. He always insists on staying back late in the office no matter whether work is there or not. My friend, even though he was meeting all the deadlines never ever had a single word of appreciation from the manager. The result was that he quit the job after 14 months.

Thus it can be seen that this situation is very dangerous as it may lead to mass exodus of efficient employees. The company will have very high attrition rate.

Situation 3 – When the employees are lazy but the manager thinks they are efficient.

This situation can be explained with my own real life experience. After my graduation, I joined a public sector undertaking with a notion that no one in a psu work. In the company I started postponing whatever work was given to me. One day my manager called me and asked the reason for the negligence I was showing in work. He understood what exactly was going on and he asked a very simple question that what you would have done had it been your father’s company. I said I would have worked day and night to make sure that the company prospers. He said that this is our nation’s company. The money involved in the company is public’s money. When public’s money is at stake you cannot afford to be complacent. That session with my manager really changed me afterwards and I started doing my work efficiently. The work was also appreciated by the company and I was accorded the award of best employee of the company.

Thus I noticed that if the manager has confidence in his subordinates, he can do wonders. He can make them work and that too in a healthy working environment. Companies which have such managers have low attrition rate. The output of the company and productivity of employees keeps rising always.

Situation 4 – When the employees are efficient and the manager thinks they are efficient.

As mentioned earlier after the session with my manager, I became very efficient employee of the company. My manager had faith in me right from day one. This instilled in me positive energy and my productivity also increased. Since I knew I had my manager’s backing, I never hesitated experimenting with new ideas and some of them really clicked. My team was among the top performers of the company.

Thus the point which can be noted here is that the companies which have such managers will always be market leader. The companies will come out with new ideas and innovations at regular intervals. The attrition rate in such company would be minimal. Employee satisfaction will be highest in such a company.

Learning

The first two situations can be clubbed under Theory X where the manager thinks the employee is inefficient which may or may not be the case and the other two situations can be clubbed under Theory Y where the manager thinks the employee is efficient which again may or may not be the case. From the above I have realised that one should strive to become a manager associated with Theory Y. In such a case it will be better both for the manager and the company. The manager should also increase the targets make the employees achieve those targets by motivating them, by having continuous interaction with the employees. If such a case is there then the company will definitely reach new heights.