Work Place Analysis - Essay Example

? Final Paper: Work Place Analysis al Affiliation Work Place Analysis Introduction Business organizations have been established to serve varied purposes. Financial enterprises, of which one belongs and works for, served the needs of diverse clientele and stakeholders. For clients, the organization aimed to safeguard their funds; ensuring the growth of the financial portfolios; providing them with capitalization or loan for professional growth; and offering other financial products (savings, credit cards, and even insurance). Since more organizations have opted to become global, competition becomes fiercer and stiffer. Clients are able to differentiate on various financial institutions that apparently offer similar services in terms of three relevant factors: organizational culture, management and leadership style, and ethical considerations. In this regard, the current paper aims to present a more in-depth analysis of one’s work place in terms of these three factors and how the presence or absence of these crucial ingredients affect the attainment of organizational goals. Organizational Culture An organization’s culture was learned to comprise of a set of symbols and components which include the company’s observable atmosphere, shared values, common assumptions, stories-rites-rituals-symbols, and cultural roles. As a financial organization, one’s work place defined in mission and vision statements as follows: ‘to become a consistently excellent leader in providing varied financial services to a wide array of clients and that which caters to their distinct and specific needs’. Given this statement, the financial organization had developed a recognizable behavior that exudes focusing on providing customer satisfaction through the training and development of its human resources. Thus, the organization has been noted by customers to provide excellent customer service through the exemplary behavior and conduct of all personnel they get to interact with. The behavior that exhibited conformity to ideals of providing excellent customer service includes sharing the following corporate philosophy: Values for Customer Service: Being attentive to customers’ needs and demands; Exuding a happy and optimistic disposition while attending to customers’ needs; Offering personalized service; Finding out other products and services which could be extended beyond what is being asked for; and Surpassing the customers’ expectations for services rendered. Likewise, the organization has also recognized that a fully motivated staff and personnel would be able to deliver the expected values for customer service if and when they are duly trained and develop to respond to the customers’ varied needs and demands. As such, the values for employees are hereby part of the corporate philosophy: Values for Employees The organization recognizes the crucial role and importance of human resources towards delighting the customers and achieving organizational goals; Regular training and development programs that focus on customer service, performance of responsibilities; and preparing for advancement are frequently scheduled and conducted; and Employees are to be provided with incentives and benefits with include promotions, bonuses, as well as acknowledgements to reward exemplary performance in providing excellent customer service, as well as in contributing to the achievement of organizational goals. Given the shares values, it is therefore part of the organization’s culture that the following common assumptions are adhered to: integrity, honesty, commitment in one’s performance of duties and responsibilities, professionalism, respect for authority, and conformity to the code of discipline and work ethics as stipulated in the organization’s policies and procedures. It is therefore a familiar practice to encourage customer feedback through brief customer survey forms that are provided by the bank tellers and front desk personnel to encourage solicitation of information from the perspectives of the clientele. This practice forms part of the stories-rites-rituals-symbols that communicate responses and reactions from the clientele. Among the common reactions include: (1) excellent customer service noted since all the staff attending to our needs are always smiling and accommodating; (2) our complaints and inquiries are immediately addressed in the most remarkable manner; (3) the staff and personnel are most competent and courteous in attending to our needs; (4) we would refer this financial institution to our friends and family members due to the professionalism of all staff and managers; and (5) keep up the good work! In addition, the organization is supportive of a culturally diverse human resources to support an equally diverse clientele. Thus, part of the training and development program is a module on cultural awareness and addressing the different needs of diverse clients by recognizing diversity, determining cultural dimensions that are applicable to address the clients’ needs, and being aware of verbal and non-verbal communication patterns of people from different cultures; among others. Finally, the organization’s culture also emphasized priorities accorded to corporate social responsibility. This means that the organization acknowledges its obligation to share financial blessings to the local community through supporting civic and socio-cultural endeavors, as well as provision of educational or financial support to well deserving students of the community; among other programs and projects. The management and executive team believes that commitment to corporate social responsibility would assist in sustaining a positive image and would be rewarded through continued patronage from individual and corporate clients. Management and Leadership Style Management Philosophy The organization’s philosophy in terms of leadership and management is to likewise schedule advanced leadership training and development of managers to enable them to address the needs of the subordinates who they directly govern. Part of this philosophy is encouraging managers to empower their subordinates to assume active roles in routine decision-making process with appropriate guidelines and standards. There is also the philosophy of open communication across the organizational hierarchy. This would assure that all inputs, comments, suggestions, and recommendations from all personnel are heard and appropriately addressed. Supervisor’s Management and Leadership Style The management and leadership style being exemplified by one’s immediate supervisor is the democratic and transformational styles of leadership. The democratic style acknowledges that subordinates have the competencies and qualifications to undertake the performance of responsibilities; as such, are given the prerogative to act in the most efficient and effective manner towards attainment of our defined goals. Likewise, as supervisor, he maintains smooth interpersonal relationships with the subordinates and provides incentives that aptly recognize the exemplary performance of defined tasks. As a transformational leader, he also exhibits his belief in people through recognizing the value of the inputs and contributions in respective endeavors. In addition, as a visionary, he welcomes suggestions and recommendations for improvement to enable the achievement of the mission and vision to become a consistent leader in the provision of financial services through excellent customer service. Thus, he always assumes a proactive stance in anticipating the needs of the clients due to the ever changing factors in the global environment. The only weakness observed for these styles of leadership manifested by one’s immediate supervisor is the extended time within which decision-making process is implemented. Due to his solicitation of inputs and comments from subordinates, some decisions are stalled and takes more take to action. However, it is commendable to note that there are crucial scenarios which require urgent decisions that are duly governed by the management team. Since the employees have been previously and regularly empowered to communicate with management, all inputs have been duly relayed and which were always taken into consideration when changes have to be implemented and made. Likewise, all decisions are immediately communicated along the organizational line to ensure that each personnel is appropriately apprised of new developments, policies, or updates in procedures that need to be understood and implemented. The two factors, management philosophy, as well as the management and leadership style of one’s immediate supervisor are definitely in agreement. This indicates that the organizational culture that clearly identified mission, vision, values statements and goals clearly exhibited consistency in expected behavior, as communicated and adhered to. Ethical Standards Code of Ethics The financial organization one works for has designed a code of ethics, as integrated and embodied within the code of conduct and discipline. As such, the six components that are incorporated in the code of ethics have been designed to fit the requirements of the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Institute, and includes the following, to wit: “1. Act with integrity, competence, diligence, respect, and in an ethical manner with the public, clients, prospective clients, employers, employees, colleagues in the investment profession, and other participants in the global capital markets. 2. Place the integrity of the investment profession and the interests of clients above their own personal interests. 3. Use reasonable care and exercise independent professional judgment when conducting investment analysis, making investment recommendations, taking investment actions, and engaging in other professional activities. 4. Practice and encourage others to practice in a professional and ethical manner that will reflect credit on themselves and the profession. 5. Promote the integrity of, and uphold the rules governing, capital markets. 6. Maintain and improve their professional competence and strive to maintain and improve the competence of other investment professionals” (Investopedia, 2013, p. 1). The financial organization definitely follows these standards of ethics, as could be deduced from the common assumptions that were enumerated under organizational culture. Likewise, the code of conduct and discipline clearly enumerates expected behavior of the employees in relevant facets, including attendance, performance of duties, rewards and penalties for violation of policies and procedures, as well as clear guidelines on conflicts of interests and dealing with other stakeholders (investors, suppliers, state and government agencies). Does the culture of the company reflect that ethical statement? The organizational culture of the company evidently reflects the code of ethics through giving due credence and relevance to integrity, respect, professionalism, and adherence to ethical, moral, and legal standards are given due importance. As noted above, the organization’s philosophy, shared values, and common assumptions have integrated the relevant components of the ethical standards. Likewise, since this is a financial institution, it is also expected by the public that transparency in all transactions are communicated and revealed through the provision and publication of the financial statements on an annualized basis. In addition, since the organization provided commitment to the ideals of corporate social responsibility, employees, management and shareholders, are expected to share financial blessings to the local community members and to deserving students, through educational grants and civic programs that aim to uplift the welfare of residents within the area. In return, it has been observed and attested that this provided vast opportunities for the organization to grow and expand to other strategic locations. The sharing of financial blessings and conformity to providing exemplary customer service has been aptly rewarded through continued growth and productivity through the years. Does your company’s ethical standard conflict with your personal standard? The company’s ethical standard is actually consistent with one’s personal and professional standard; as well as values and beliefs. This is also the reason why one had supported and continued to serve the organization for a considerable length of time. It has been acknowledged that since we share similarities in ethical beliefs and standards, there would not be any source of conflict or misunderstanding. One’s personal values and standards include respecting the diversity of other people; exhibiting exemplary work ethics through maintaining self-discipline and professionalism; as well as serving the needs and demand of clients, as required. One also gives strongly adherence to values such as honesty, integrity, and through the ethics of reciprocity. Thus, all transactions and dealings with various stakeholders (customers, colleagues, superiors, and other external parties) are observed to be conducted with strict adherence to the policies and procedures of the organization; as well as in conformity to the code of conduct and discipline (which also embodied the code of ethics). What would you recommend to your company to overcome the deficiencies you have noted? As noted, the only weakness observed in the organization was that the leadership style (democratic and transformational) proved to manifest tendencies for slower decision-making process due to the need to solicit inputs, comments, and suggestions from the subordinates. As such, to facilitate a faster way to decide, one proposes that a layered decision-making based on categorizing the decisions that need to be made should be instituted. This means that for areas where decisions on funds or financial resources are required (of a defined amount), the persons who are directly involved in financial resources (shareholders, executive team, and finance/accounting managers) should be the only ones involved. Actually, this particular aspect is already enforced in the organization; especially when crucial decisions are to be evaluated regarding funding and investment, the board of directors and the executive management team are the sole responsible and accountable authorities to make the needed decision. But still, for other funding requirements that directly affect the workers, a layered decision making process would facilitate arriving at a conclusive recommendation. It would also help if a group of core representatives from each department (marketing, sales, and customer service) would represent the whole department in soliciting crucial inputs that would assist in making the decision. Conclusion The current discourse successfully presented an in-depth analysis of the financial institution one works in through an examination of three crucial factors: organizational culture, management and leadership style, as well as ethical considerations. The findings revealed that one’s organization has exhibited a culture that nurtured the professional growth and development of the employees and the leaders which was instrumental in enhancing the manner by which focus and thrust was accorded on customer satisfaction and addressing the varied needs and demands of a discerning and culturally diverse clientele. Likewise, the manifested leadership style of one’s immediate superior, the democratic and transformational leadership style, are consistent with the organization’s culture and contributed to influencing the subordinates towards attaining defined mission, vision, and goals in the most optimized manner. Finally, through designing the code of discipline and conduct that embodied the code of ethics, the organization clearly adhered to ethical, moral, and legal standards which enabled the human resources to be directly and guided towards effective behavior in the organizational setting. All of the three factors were evident and effectively applied in one’s organization which proved that through their presence, continued success in sustaining leadership and profitability were ultimately achieved. Reference Investopedia. (2013). CFA-Level 1: Ethics and Standards - Code of Ethics. Retrieved from investopedia.com: http://www.investopedia.com/exam-guide/cfa-level-1/ethics-standards/code-ethics.asp Read More