Effective team and performance - Essay Example

Effective Team and Performance Lecturer: Nando’s was established in 1987 in Rossentthenville, South Africa by Robert Brozen and Frenando Duarte. The two, were fond of grilled chicken, which made them acquire the restaurant, Chickenland, which had provided them with the delicacy. After the acquisition the name of the restaurant was changed to Nando’s. The restaurant was later relocated to the UK, where it gained fame as the best restaurant, which served flam grilled chicken. The restaurant’s delicacies were attributed to Portuguese cuisine. This aspect made many customers to identify with Nando’s restaurant. According to Baker (2011, p. 35), customers were highly valued and got prompt responses to their requests. The restaurant was based in Ealing, UK, where the company formed its vision for business in the UK. According to Castiglione (2013, p. 49), the threshold set by the analysts was 5000 employees. Moreover, the company won three starts during the Best companies Accreditation award. The contest was based on the quality of leadership of eh companies, and personal growth. The association of Nando’s with Portuguese, nurtures the principle of inclusivity among the employees. This culminates in parity in appointments made. This fosters the aspect of diversity within Nando’s. The restaurant has a good leadership framework, which incorporates the diverse values of the communities of its location. This makes the company appealing to many foreign and international customers. It also prepares the Portuguese, South Africa, UK dishes. This implies that the restaurant is accommodating to all cultures. The restaurant ensures that its employees are manageable through the preparation of a good payroll system, which eliminates ghost workers. Nondi’s payroll system also ensures that workers pay is commensurate to their tasks. Maslow’s theory is applied in this scenario given that the restaurant aims at satisfying the basic needs of its employees before satisfying their secondary wants of self-actualization. According to the Clark (2009, p. 59), scientific theory of management, theory x, stipulates that the workforce needs to be controlled and supervised in order to dispense their duties as required by the organization. This leadership criterion is achieved through the application of division of labor. This ensures that each worker is given apportion for tasks to perform. This leads to increased productivity and performance. Moreover, these results in the motivation of employees. The division of labor in Nando’s is manifest in the manner in which the workers serve the clientele (Cumming, 2009, p. 67). Some staffs just welcome clients while others serve the customers. The rest of the employees, monitor the preparation of the flame grilled chicken. The management style in Nando’s is autocratic given that the entire decision making process is done by the top management. The restaurant employs this leadership style in order to be productive in an organization. According to Fernando (2007, p. 71), autocratic leadership gives the leader all powers within the organization, but this denies the employees an opportunity to communicate their grievances freely because of fear of indictment. This style usually applies in a bureaucratic organization structure whereby the set organizational rules apply regardless of the nature of a situation. This style leads to employees not turning up at work and sometimes it results to decline of the job altogether. However, this style saves time, especially during the decision making process. The managers of Nando’s take part in the decision making process. In this respect, they give orders to their subjects. The management of Nando’s also ensures that there is motivation for its workforce. This ensures that the employees have psyche to work. Psyche enables the employees to have fortitude and motivation. According to Flamholtz (2006, p. 29), Nando’s incorporates many forms of motivation techniques like rewards, in managing the employees. Moreover, the company needs to apply the Michael porter’s principles in order to be competitive in its business. The workforce of Nando’s portrays a family-like relationship whereby there exists a strong synergy in the dispensation of duties. This fosters unity and reduces friction in workplaces. This is explicit in the common name all the employees of Nando’s use, Nandocas. This signifies harmony and unity, which extends to the employees’ workplaces. The restaurant recognizes the importance of the workforce. In this respect, the Nando’s emphasizes on the welfare of the workforce before analyzing the productivity of the restaurant. This principle is relevant in management because quality products and services are derived from the input of the workers. The firm also believes in passion, courage and transparency in the workplace. This makes the workers to be good stewards of the restaurant. According to Griffiths, Sigona and Zetter (2005, p. 78), leadership in Nando’s entail a process of directing and influencing of the actions of a subject by his senior. In this context, leadership consists of independence of thought, integrity and determination in execution of duties. A Nando’s leader has to make informed decisions based on the situation at hand. In addition, he should focus on the objectives of the firm. The theories of organizational behavior apply in the restaurant leadership. For instance theory –x, describes employees who will avoid work if given the opportunity. This is the behavior of the workers in the Nando’s. They need supervision in order for the workforce to perform their duties properly. In Nando’s leadership, the leader should show a good example to his subjects in order for them to emulate and behave as required of them. This restaurant’s management uses management by objective in the generation of policies for firms. This is a technique in which the management incorporates the employees in the generation and creation of policies and objectives of Nando’s. This contributes in fostering harmony within the restaurant setting and it boosts the morale of the employees because they feel that they are part of the firm. This aspect is crucial in Nando’s in the sense that the high number of unskilled workforce need to be motivated in order for them to realize their potential in service delivery. The theory-y aspect is a situation whereby individuals have self-drive and self-imitativeness in the execution of tasks as opposed to theory x whereby an individual has to be supervised. If this theory will be applied in Nando’s, then there will be a reduction of the underproduction in the restaurant because the self-driven individuals will eventually self-employ themselves through engaging in small scale income generating activities. According to Perez (2012, p. 68), the leadership theories available apply in the Nando’s enterprise structures include the Great mind theory which stipulates that leaders are born, not made. This theory is hypothetical and it does not augur well with the modern leadership environment because leaders undergo training whereby they are equipped with the necessary skills before they qualify fully for leadership role dispensation. Therefore, this theory does not apply in the Nando’s scenario. The trait theory asserts that some leaders possess qualities that make them suitable for leadership. This is true and applicable in Nando’s leadership. For instance, if a leader is not knowledgeable and decisive, he or she will not manage the leadership roles. Therefore, it applies in Nando’s restaurant whereby leaders chosen have to possess certain qualifications before they assume leadership (Read, 2012, p. 25). Contingency theory also applies in Nando’s. This is a scenario whereby the leadership is based on many variables especially situational variable. Therefore, their all leadership styles complement each other. This theory can be applied in Nando’s given the situation of the high proportion of the unskilled manpower to the skilled manpower. Participative leadership also applies in the restaurant. This is the leadership whereby the employees participate in the important function of the restaurant especially the decision making process. This makes the employees to own the restaurant delivering service at their best. Relationship theory emphasizes on the relations which exist between the leaders and their subjects. The leaders should consider the individual goals of workers and the organizational objectives. The conditions of working should not be adverse and the employees should be guaranteed job security in order to work better. The Nando restaurant needs processes and arrangements that are made with regard to the achievement of the pre-set restaurant goals. Indeed, leadership contributes to better performance of an organization. Leadership within Nando’s entails initiation of actions. This marks the start of the mandate of a leader figure within the restaurant. In addition, the leader is expected to motivate the employees through extension of various forms of incentives into them. Then he or she should ensure that the objectives of the employees do not override the corporate restaurant goals. For instance, the employees should not be seeking bonus and allowances when the Nando’s is running at losses. Moreover, a leader is supposed to be an icon of peace and guidance within the restaurant. Order and sanity should prevail. The rule and regulation of the organization should apply to all the employees. The leader should also comply with the set guidelines in order to win the confidence of the employees being led. The working conditions of the employees should be above the required standards set by the restaurant. This will reduce the cases of drop outs and switching of employees to different organizations in search of accommodating employers. The leaders should also recognize the employees by name because this boosts the morale of the employees. Furthermore, there should be coordination of the employees. This assists especially in cases of grievances amongst employees. This reduces tension and depression among employees because they cannot work when stressed. Guidance and counseling should be readily available to the errant employees instead of punishing and sending them packing. The employees should be indulged by their leader in co-curricular activities in order to build up synergy and the team spirit in the workplace. The laissez faire leadership applies in Nando’s given that there is close co-ordination between the leader and the employees (Baker, 2011, p. 74). The employees are given a chance to air their views on issues affecting them, society and the organization. However, this leadership style is appropriate if the subjects are experts in their place of work. The democratic leadership is usually included. Employees’ contributions are considered, though decision making lies with the leader. This is an ideal style because it eventually results in harmony and order in the organization. In addition, it advocates for innovativeness and creativity of Nando’s employees. The bureaucratic leadership applies in the Nando’s restaurant with regard to leading the employees. It lacks flexibility and it leads to strikes and lack of creativity among the employees. However, this style provides a chance for improvement because people are promoted based on their qualifications. It also embraces the rule of law, justice and fairness. This makes the employees work hard. Moreover, accidents may occur because of their agitation for promotions within the restaurant. For instance, in a product base firm, the promotions are based on the number of products an employee has produced. Therefore, this may be self-hurting to some employees. The tools of work can also be messed up in the course of hurrying to produce high quantities of chicken food. The restaurant employs the franchising model, which enables it to expand its business by creation of branches in many parts of the world. The organizations upholds its ethical values and work etiquette. This has made the restaurant thrive in many regions of the globe. According to Baril (2007, p. 47), the restaurant is flexible with regard to the cultural beliefs of the countries where it has interests. In this respect, the firm incorporates the culture of the countries in which its branches are located, in order to have congruence in its operations. This breaks cultural disparities in its business. The leadership of the company is laudable because it emerged first of the 25 best performing companies in the UK in the industry. The evaluation of the 25 companies was based on the number of employees each company had managed to employ. Bibliography Baker, T. E. (2011), Effective police leadership: moving beyond management. Flushing, NY, Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc. Baril, M., & Murray, L. (2007), Board of inquiry into command, control and leadership of CANBAT 2. [Ottawa], National Defence. Castiglione, B. (2013), The book of the courtier. Mineola, N.Y., Dover Publications. Clark, C. (2009), Administration & society. Beverly Hills, Calif, Sage Publications. Cumming, G. C. (2009), Understanding leadership: paradigms and cases. London [u.a.], SAGE. Fernando, M. (2007), Spiritual leadership in the entrepreneurial business a multifaith study. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar. Flamholtz, E. (2006), Effective management control: theory and practice. Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Griffiths, D., Sigona, N., & Zetter, R. (2005), Refugee community organisations and dispersal: networks, resources and social capital. Bristol Press, Policy. Perez, D. W., & Barkhurst, M. (2012), Paradoxes of leadership in police management. Clifton Park, N.Y., Delmar, Cengage Learning. Read, P. P. (2012), Alive: the story of the Andes survivors. London, Arrow. Read More