Affective Events Theory And Autonomy

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Using my own work experiences, I am going to discuss the affective events theory and autonomy. I will review how affective events theory and autonomy relates to my personal dilemmas in my professional field. According to the text, affective events theory basis is centered on emotions, behaviors, attitudes and how it affects the work environment (Robbins & Judge). Everyone has had an experience with the affective events theory and as I explain, I’m sure you can relate it to your own personal work experiences. As stated previously, I will also cover autonomy in this discussion. Autonomy is the extent at which an employer provides flexibility with the individual’s job, scheduling as well as the procedures in which an individual may use to …show more content…
Work events can trigger negative, positive or both reactions based on the event (Robbins & Judge). For example, in my previous profession as Membership Professional, workloads became heavy around re-enrollment time. New laws made changes to the types of insurance individuals could purchase and or afford. Thus, the system as well as the employees became overloaded. Many employees, including myself, worked late nights and early mornings for about 3 months. The level of motivation was astounding the first month of enrollment. We were all eager to get the members enrolled and enrolled accurately. This could be a labeled as positive effect. System issues (work events) began to change the motivation and attitude levels on my team. Management was too busy handling the “bigger” issues to focus on the system glitches. As a membership professional, we used analytical thinking on a daily. Running to a supervisor about a system issue with each member would have become ridiculous and somewhat embarrassing. Moving forward, I found a way to enroll these members and reduce the issues with the system. Between those 3 months, my behavior and attitude shifted from negative to positive. The work load hassles got bigger, thus my attitude and reaction to each load became more and more negative. This is a great example of the affective events …show more content…
Flexibility in terms of scheduling and job tasks usually leads to a more positive work environment. Lots of employees have strict guidelines, a go-to book for your job description and a set work schedule. This is not abnormal. There are many employees, such as my previous employer, who offer autonomy. Autonomy can be defined as a great deal of freedom or flexibility in your job procedures and or work schedule (Robbins & Judge). As a membership professional we often had a great deal of freedom in regards to the procedures we chose to use to enroll a member or make changes to their current policies. As discussed earlier, analytical skills were used daily and running to the supervisor for help too often was not a great professional look. As a membership professional, you are supposed to be capable of handling system issues and or complaints, often without guidance. Of course, in many cases, a supervisor’s approval is required, but as the membership professional, you should have the solution prior to meeting with the supervisor. This flexibility was often challenging, with the fear of making the wrong choice and a member not being able to receive their medications, was a huge burden to carry. Autonomy is basically an assumed responsibility taken as a professional in the workforce. Displaying the ability to work alone and find solutions are job traits most employers would be willing to pay top dollar