Working with Leading People for a Business to Be Successful - Essay Example

? Working with Leading People Working with leading people Introduction For every business to be successful, it has to have an able management team. Company development also requires the individuals charged with steering the organization have vast wealth in terms of knowledge. For instance, many giants succumb to poor management hence losing their client base and impact in a market. Therefore, the recruitment process is very delicate, as it becomes a company’s navigating factor and foundation. In essence, improvement on the standard level of Delicious food entails the application of various influential factors. Majorly, effectiveness and competency in the selection process are inevitable, as the overall task requires utmost sobriety. In addition, the process needs to be vigorous with every shortlisted candidate aiming to outdo the other for them to get the managerial position advertised. Primarily, the experience possessed by these candidates will not be very substantial during the selection procedure. The most suitable candidates will be those with high prospects of bringing fresh and innovative ideas on the expansion of Delicious Food’s market presence will be high. The objective of this paper shall be to state the selection process by giving all that is required in order for the company to achieve its ultimate objective. Steps in the selection process Recruitment a) Job advertisement: Do you possess what it takes to be a team player? Are you the result-oriented kind of leader? Then Delicious Food Company is looking to collaborate with you to venture in to wider markets. If you have these attributes kindly, send your application and resume to our recruitment desk for your chance to be part of this great process. Remember you need to stand out for us to notice that you have what it takes us to bring you aboard our stable. b) Question segment: i. Describe yourself in a way that another person would view you. ii. Kindly discuss a situation in relation to your previous job responsibility as to how you were a team player and not a boss. iii. Do you have any firsthand experience in the development and oversight of new projects? iv. How would you adapt to changes in the event that they occur and how will you spearhead your team in to smooth adaptation of the change? v. How would you handle a member of staff whose output adds little value to the company? In line with Delicious Food Company’s mission of rolling out new branches countrywide, the managers will have to prove to the recruiting body that they are capable of building a project from scratch then nurture it to maturity. The task will be enormous, as it will entail them to begin a branch and ensure that it realizes profit. In essence, each will have to give a detailed plan of the steps that they intend to follow ensure that their individual branches realize profit. Therefore, for the recruitment department, it will be more on innovativeness rather than value addition. Competition among the shortlisted individuals will assist the department in identifying those who are most viable and able to perform. Ideally, effectiveness of the process will rely on giving each candidate the opportunity to exhibit his or her full potential hence making it a credible process. Legally, it would be risky to enroll the services of individuals without conducting intense background checks. Subsequently, the Human Resource department will scrutinize whether these candidates have acted out any form of fraud or whether they are on the police’s list of the most wanted. Essentially, doing this check will save Delicious Food Company from being in any legal suit. In addition, the shortlisted individuals should point out what their intended pay will be to avoid any legal confrontations once in office. Ethically, the moral aspects set by society have to come into play by carefully factoring the candidates’ states and conditions. Emphasis should be on avoiding any form of discrimination during the process as it may attract unintended lawsuits. Arguably, the recruitment process needs to be less costly by all means possible. The budgetary allocation has to be one that is realistic and able to meet target. Therefore, focus must be on how to meet the objective of the day and not on how to bring the company to its knees financially. Additionally, proper planning prior to the recruitment day will save Delicious Food Company good money, as it will avoid last minute buying of essential items for the process. Prior planning will also enable the finance department to factor in the required resources so that the company does not choke financially. Moreover, advertising for the available job openings will allow the company to source for the best as many will show interest translating to high chances of attaining what the company is looking for when recruiting. The placement of the job advertisements should also be in accordance with the set legal requirements. In that, it needs to give the prospected individuals ample time to respond to making it fair for all. For instance, if only a few get to respond then it would mean that the advertisement did not serve its anticipated purpose. Social networks and the recruitment process In recent years, the social media has become an acceptable part of society. Its availability and user-friendly nature has made it accessible to a greater part of the population. However, despite its high regards it has been a tool used to bring down the carriers of many. Relatively, the social network is a channel in which many choose to air their unrated views over certain pressing matters of concern. How one chooses to express themselves in these avenues may be detrimental to their carriers. Therefore, by reviewing how one expresses themselves via this channel will help the recruitment team in ascertaining the kind of people that these individuals truly are. In excess, their response to people’s statements on these sites will show how they could relate with others even at the work place. On the other hand, utilization of this should be with caution as not to infringe on ones privacy by maliciously using it to them bring down. By so doing, it will be unethical and a criminal offense intensely punishable by law. Understanding the styles of leadership and their impact A good team leader has to portray certain qualities that will warrant them to being in top positions of leadership. These qualities vary depending on different companies, relative field, and situations. In modern day illustrations, the various forms of leadership bring out these qualities. Mainly there are two styles of leadership, one being the executive (management) and the other being the participative (leadership) styles of guidance. First, the executive only delegates the responsibilities to his juniors without making follow up on the task to effect proper implementation. Ideally, he does not take blame for any shortcomings by his team but only shifts blame. On the other hand, the participative form of leadership is the ideal style of leadership. Here, the manager not only leads the pack but he also engages with this team during the entire execution of the project process. Unlike the other style, this leader takes full responsibility if the team that he leads does not accomplish its task and target. In addition, this leader is flexible and innovative to ensure that they deliver the desired results. As an additional trait, this leader emerges as a situational leader who offers direction when the unplanned occurs (Bower man & Wart, 2011: 6). Quit often, he leads the team to success and refers to ‘we’ and not ‘I’ in expressions portraying the engaging of others characteristic. In comparison, management is the hard approach to leading a team while leadership encompasses a more relaxed approach to providing direction. In leadership, the manager ensures that all the team members are on one page regarding where they intend to go as a team. He ensures that none lags behind during the entire process. This leader also serves to motivate the team members as to improve on the quality of output. In addition, this leader ensures that the team players have all the required resources in order to give a better output. In the leadership kind of way, the manager provides the direction that the other team members need to follow to be in line with company targets. Essentially, the leader possesses remarkable organizational, rationalized, and analytical trait that steer the team towards achieving its goal. Moreover, the leader fails to step aside and watch those under his or her docket precisely the junior staff do most of the work. On the contrary, the leader participates fully by doing the required and even going the extra mile. In this leadership, the leader puts in extra time to ensure that the results are available in the require time. All these are contrary to what management entails and portrays. Illustration of these forms of leadership Chelsea football club has been in existence since 1905 and its hometown is Fulham in London city. Most recently, the club hired the services of new manager Roberto Di Mateo whose ability was supposed to steer the club in to being on top of the league-standing table. Unlike former coach Andre Villas -Boas he possess unique managerial skills regarding the individual management of the team members. The difference between him and his predecessor is that for Andre it was about the long-term strategy of winning. On the other hand, De Matteo believes that achievements have to be visible now therefore; he strives to ensure that his team gets to be at the top of the table at the close of the season. On the other hand, Andre’s focus was how the next season would be for the team, hence not emphasizing on the need to win the current season. This was demoralizing to the players as they would feel that all was lost hence limiting their performance. In comparison, Roberto is a better manager than Villas-Boas because he seeks to inspire his team to achieve currently and not despair as time gives opportunity and room for improvement. Ideally, all leaders should serve as sources of motivation and not sources of despair just like De Matteo. Moreover, there are other motivational factors likely to drive the team members towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives. First, the use of incentives will challenge the individual team players to work harder in order to get the available token. By being competitive, the yielded results will be relative to the high effort exhibited when executing the task. Secondly, the leader may introduce the recognition of the most achieving team players by giving titles like ‘employee of the month’ to serve as a motivational factor. Being the owner of this prestigious title within a department challenges the rest of the employees to work harder as to achieve the same. Thirdly, as part of recognizing individual effort, the manager should ensure that only those who deserve receive promotions. This should be on merit and not on favor or bias. In essence, by being fair in promoting employees due to their hard work will motivate them to go to the next level that will in turn lead to higher productivity. Finally, making sure that all the team players get adequate pay for their work will ensure that there is no laxity in them coming to work, as there is satisfaction and comfort within their work place. Arguably, an under paid team yields very poor results as they do not feel the need to fully participate towards the company’s realization of its profits. Blake’s Managerial grid Robert Blake and Jane Mouton formulated this concept in 1964. Its assertion was a grid as it located the five leadership styles constructed on two axes showing behavior. Ideally, its application was more of an international approach rather than a prediction in to futuristic leadership. Its focus was to facilitate leaders into developing a team kind of concept by maximizing on the concern for the employees and the desired results (Egner, 2009: 5). According to the managerial model, the horizontal axis depicts the concern for productivity while the vertical axis depicts the employee concern. Therefore, when the concern for productivity is high and the employee concern is low the overall output becomes low and vice versa. Therefore, a manager must ensure that the concerns of the team members have first priority rather than the concern for what the company intends to achieve (Bower man & Wart, 2011: 6). Essentially, the productivity concern and the team member concern need to go hand in hand, as one needs not be lower than the other on the grid. As a result, the work out put will be high as the factoring of the individual needs translates to adequate organizational performance. Staff turnover and staff retention In a real life setting, it comes a time when the human resource department experiences either an increase or a decrease in the employee asset base. Therefore, this is what staff turnover means. Arguably, this scenario will invoke the application of staff retention measures as to protect the employee capital. Hence, staff retention is the maintenance of the most desirable employees who add value to the company. In order to retain as many team players as possible, a number of issues need consideration. First, the employees retained should be ones who bring immense contribution to the company welfare. In addition, their level of competency in performing their work related duties would guarantee them a place in the on going staff turn over process. Staff retention should be a positive measure as it assists the company to continue with its normal routine. In return, the level of productivity remains uninterrupted as the labor force remains intact. Leadership concepts One of the major concepts used in the development of teamwork would be the use of individual effectiveness. In the output process, one has to internalize it and determine the possible results for it to be effective. For instance, when asked to work harder, employees exhibit high chances of them giving an additional ten to twenty percent efforts only if they choose to. This will be highly influenced by their values, feelings, attitudes and the moods experienced at that time(Phillips & Gully, 2012).. In essence, the effective management of these emotions leads to admirable behavior by the employees, which translates to improved performance. Employees are less likely to quit their jobs when their personal attributes intermarry with the organization’s values as they become consistent to working harder. Subsequently, it facilitates job satisfaction to the employees due to having positive attitudes towards their working environment. As a counter approach, a manager can use motivational factors to provoke positive work attitudes by the employees. In essence, they are able to retain the talented employees for the overall benefit of the company. Secondly, a company’s code of ethics enables its employees to work in an environment that is most likely to be productive. Ethics are the professional rules and regulations set by an institution to ensure that there is smooth running of the institutions activities. These ethic regulations tend to vary within different organizations but they are relatively the same in organizations within the same field. For effective results, the company’s staff needs to adhere to these norms as they set the bench mark to which target may fall. Without these, the company’s management systems will not be successful in delegating its functions (Bower man & Wart, 2011: 6). Ideally, before an individual joins an institution as an employee they have to familiarize their selves with the ethics code governing the practice of the company. Going through this process gives the potential employees the opportunity to comprehend these rules before signing any document that may be binding. Clearly, if it appears as though they will not be able to meet the standard then there poses an impossibility to hire them. In this regard, ultimate teamwork is attainable when all the stakeholders involved understand what they are required to do to yield desirable results. Performance monitoring As much as a managerial team may appear to be effective, it might also have its shortcomings. Ideally, nobody in the universe is perfect hence; a little shortcoming here and there by different individuals is not sinful. For the case of the managers at McDonalds UK, they have exhibited prowess in effectively managing the company into being renowned in all over England. However, they all have their shortcomings, which are surprisingly mend able. Overly, Mr. Jones’ long service to the company has made him quit a resource. However, offering him training regarding the emerging trends and technological changes as well as the culture issues is essential. This will help keep him up to date irrespective of the current times. As for Miss Salazar, she is young and vibrant but improvement should be on her communicative skills, which are essential in attracting and retaining customers. It will also improve on her ability to communicate with the other employees. For Mr. Patel, emphasis will be on writing skills as he probably is from a different native origin. Overly, his English language skills need polishing up on as to improve on the documentation and capturing of information. Lastly, for Mr. Adebayo his limited ability to bring out issues related to him or others has proved most challenging to him. Therefore, recommendations are that he enrolls in a self-assertive class in order for him to improve on the same. Ideally, all these managers have a common solution to their short falls, which is training as per their inadequacies. Working effectively in a team Ideally, team spirit is the powering wheel that drives many organizations to success. The team pulling aspect in an organizational setting requires the active involvement of each team player. Working in isolation is a potential inhibitor to an institution’s development. In essence, individuals within a team need to work hand in hand for the team to be able to liaise with other teams to produce a common general output. This will critically entail the effective integration of the various departmental outputs within the organization to achieve the desired goals. In order for this to work the individuals involved need to be in line with the organizational goals. Moreover, the size of the team that a manager chooses to work with should be one that is manageable to the extent of individual monitoring (West, 2012:4). For effectiveness, the team has to have competent members with adequate skills on their job description. They should be people who will enable the team to be effective by not derailing it due to laxity on their side. Moreover, their behavioral attitudes should reflect their willingness to perform and not their shortcomings towards their work. The above stated requirements are the primary conditions that will ensure that the team falling under a leader exercises utmost performance. In conclusion, this paper has provided a detailed analysis of the significance of teamwork in an organization. Teamwork starts right from the selection of new staff until each is aware of, and execute their role in the organization. Evidently, the success realized in workplace is attributed to the efforts people employ. Whether in the management team or elsewhere, working effectively with other workers is the key function in the entire employee’s role. For effective team building, collegial behavior should be modeled effectively. In addition, it is crucial to encourage team-building activities. Further still, it is essential to ensure that individuals understand the contribution of their efforts to the organizational broader goals. Bibliography Egner, T. (2009). Behavioral Leadership - The Managerial Grid. Mu?nchen, GRIN Verlag GmbH. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-20100911437. Bowerman, K. D., & Van Wart, M. (2011). The business of leadership: an introduction. Armonk, N.Y, M.E. Sharpe. West, M. A. (2012). Effective teamwork: practical lessons from organizational research. Chichester, West Sussex, John Wiley & Sons. https://www.google.co.ke/search?q=WWW.MANAGERS.ORG.UK&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=WWW.MANAGERS.ORG.UK&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmdo=1&tbm=bks&prmd=imvns&ei=TZFqUPT5FYjIhAf-tIDYAQ&start=0&sa=N&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=7ebe905b918db516&biw=800&bih=461 Read More