In Article #2: Know Your Motivation, I discussed the impact different dynamics can have on managing a classroom. I also expressed how different dynamics impacted my motivation and thus how important it is to be motivated during class. Here I will focus on the impact of motivation on the organisation.
An Influx of Customers Is Not Always Good For the Organisation.
In my opinion, the dynamic of a new intake (check #2: Know Your Motivation) was affecting the organisation, its people and the paying students. The heavy new intake put pressure on the logistics of the organisation. The students who were paying for the expensive tuition found it unfair to receiving similar tuition to those who were receiving it free.
I have experienced different launches of new training programs. In all of them, the first cohorts tend to have a bumpy experience until the organisations figures things out. In our course, not only was it a new program but it involved a private institute dealing with students from a public entity. Different attitudes and mindsets created a nightmare for everyone.
Stress Impacts Health Negatively
To counter these issues STC designated a full-time person to take care of the link between STC and MCAST. This person found the job stressful as he had to balance the requirements of the students, MCAST and the organisation. Two months before the contract was over, this person had a heart attack.
I cannot say that the heart attack was due to the stress on this project. To me this fatality was a metaphor of the impact the new intake had on the organisation. I remember that his death impacted me profoundly. I couldn’t help asking whether there was a link between stress and a person’s health.
Prioritise The Brand And Profits Follow
To my knowledge, STC had been given the contract for 1 year. As I recall STC had decided not to renew it and stopped outsourcing students from MCAST. STC feared damaging their brand as operations were being strained by students which did not align with the core market.
When money is prioritised over enthusiasm, the long-term cost is huge for the organisation. Without enthusiasm, the health of the individuals and the organisational culture is degraded. This erodes the value of the brand, reducing its attractiveness for income generation. Although STC was well organised to survive this contract, I felt it was good that STC prioritised their brand and their health.
Here I learnt how motivation impacts directly the level and health of a service. I decided that is unethical for me to take a subject that isn’t in my core motivation. It is true that a person’s motivation may fluctuate and that it also depends on the attitude of the students. However, if I take a course that knowingly is not motivating for me, I exponentially increase the chances of hurt others or myself.