The Motivation Style of ICICI - Essay Example

ICICI Management Motivation and job satisfaction have been identified as some of the most important factors to ensure the effective running of ICICI by its management. It is for this reason that the employees of this bank are given more freedom of action more than any other bank in India and this is normally done so that the top talent of the company has the opportunity to work independently. In this way, the employees feel appreciated by the management of the bank and this is done in a manner which not only encourages them to work harder to achieve the goals of this institution but also towards increasing its competitiveness (Bihari & Charde, 2014). The motivation style of ICICI is in line with Herzberg’s two factor theory which advocated for the removal of some of the control which the bank’s management has over its employees and this ensures that there is an increase in their accountability and responsibility over their work. In this way, the employees become motivated through their being given freedom of action while also having more responsibilities which encourage them to work harder for the greater good of the bank. In addition, also in line with the two factor theory, ICICI also motivates its employees through encouraging them to create natural work units where possible and this is done in a manner where the employees themselves are given the responsibility of creating whole sections of their teams instead of only a part of it (LaBelle, 2005). Moreover, ICICI also works towards the provision of regular feedback directly to its employees and this makes the latter to feel that their welfare at work is being well considered. The fact that the management does not have to go through supervisors to provide feedback encourages workers to improve their job performance (Hassan, 2005). The expectancy theory also comes to play in the way in which ICICI motivates its workers and this is because its management encourages employees to take on challenging tasks so that they may specialise in these tasks and in this manner, remove the need to bring in outsiders to undertake tasks. Thus, employees come to act in a way which is positive towards the achievement of the goals of ICICI as opposed to working in a negative manner which might be detrimental for the activities of the bank. Their being encouraged to take on more challenges ensures that employees get to have the freedom of choice and this is highly motivational in their work environment, hence contributing to their satisfaction. Leadership has been an essential factor in the successful development of ICICI and this has been mainly because of the fact that its management has been willing to undertake challenges which other banks were not willing to (Davda, 2012). Through transformational leadership, the management of ICICI has worked towards attracting more individuals from the middle class to become its customers. Targeting the middle class was a brilliant idea because many other banks had essentially ignored them and this created an opportunity for the bank to take them in and create its own niche in the market. ICICI chose to attend to all the banking needs of the middle class and this was done through its employees taking the initiative to find out the concerns and needs of this class. In this manner, ICICI, in a bid to ensure that it captured this new customer base provided it with the empathy and support it needed to bring it into its fold and this has made the fast growing Indian middle class to be among the bank’s biggest customers. Moreover, the management of ICICI came to the realisation that keeping its employees happy would go a long way in ensuring that there was an improvement in their performance towards the bank’s customers. It is for this reason that the management always keeps it lines of communication with its employees open so that if there are any urgent issues, they can be dealt with swiftly without having to go through too many bureaucratic channels. This style of leadership has led to the development of respect between management and employees at ICICI and it has helped in the strengthening of the employees’ independence of action to such an extent that they are encouraged to become valuable contributors to their teams. Because of the need to remain competitive, all the strategies of ICICI have been geared towards swift growth with the full participation of its employees. Since the bank encourages its employees to take on new challenges, most of the growth that has taken place has been in those areas where it is extremely difficult to establish itself. The end results have been extremely positive because of the leadership strategy where employees have been encouraged to be both innovative and creative to serve the bank’s interests, both domestically and internationally. The charismatic leadership that the bank’s management has adopted has worked towards the creating a vision which is not only inspiring but also appealing to its employees. The organisational culture of ICICI has been crucial to its swift growth since its founding and this has been generally because of its adapting to the current situation. ICICI is an institution which places a lot of value in its employees and this is done through its encouraging them to be active participants in the running of its operations (LaBelle, 2005; Cottingham, Suchman, Litzelman, Frankel, Mossbarger, Williamson, Inui, 2008). One of the most significant aspects of this bank’s culture is that it shows a clear appreciation for both genders among its employees so that there is no discrimination between the men and women who work for it. Women have come to be given more responsibilities within the bank and many of them have been awarded flexible work time so that they can be able to take care of other responsibilities in their lives. In addition, unlike other companies where there is the possibility that women might be discriminated against when promotions are being awarded, the women who work for ICICI have been provided equal promotion opportunities to their male counterparts. The recognition of the intellectual and high competency among women by the bank has encouraged its female employees to become active participants in its development. The result has been that all of its employees are given the opportunity to contribute towards the achievements of ICICI goals without any fear of discrimination based on gender and this encourages employees to concentrate solely on the tasks and challenges which have been placed before them. In order to achieve its objectives, ICICI has adopted the task or team culture whose main purpose is to encourage team work among all the employees that work within this institution. In this way, all the teams that are formed within this institution take into consideration the expertise of all its individual team members and this encourages them to solve most of the common challenges and problems that might arise (Hassan, 2005). Within the culture of ICICI, the skills of all the individuals who work for it are highly valued and because of this, these individuals are encouraged to develop a particular set of skills which are required to make the working process easier. In order to maintain the best means possible for tasks and challenges to be undertaken, the management of ICICI has worked towards encouraging independence, critical thinking as well as innovative practices so that a large number of its employees can be able to work together to achieve the bank’s objectives. Since its founding, ICICI has faced many changes and many of these changes have been as a result of its swift growth from a small bank of less than a thousand employees to one with tens of thousands. This has created a situation where the management of the bank has shifted from being one where there was constant interaction with the chief executive officer to one where the system of management has become more institutionalised. The management of change has largely followed Levin’s change management model where the change process is gradual and well thought out. The management of change at ICICI tends to go through an unfreezing stage where there is an analysis of the various changes that need to be made as well as the means through which these changes can be managed so that they do not disrupt the functions of the bank (Singh & Yadav, 2009). During this process, the bank is forced to re-examine its core ideals where changes are made in a controlled manner and in this way, the management is able to gain the motivation to make the desired changes so that a new position can be adopted. What follows is the transition or change process where all the changes that have been proposed are put into practice and these are run alongside those practices which have to be changed. During this process, the old ways of doing things are slowly discontinued as the newer ways take a more permanent place. This process is then followed by the refreezing process where all of the new changes become a basic part of the bank’s management activities. During this final stage, ICICI takes the initiative to provide training and support for all of its employees to ensure that they comply with all of the changes which have been made by management. Training is also provided to ensure that there is minimal resistance to these new changes because if there is serious resistance, there is the possibility that a large part of ICICI’s operations might be brought to a halt. Thus, with the new changes have also come a new confidence for the way in which the management and its employees view their market and provides them with more options of how to navigate it so that they can be able to give the best services possible to their customers. References Bihari, S.C. & Charde, S.K. 2014, "Intrinsic Value Of Stocks: Does Market Appreciate It? A Study On Three Major Private Banks In India", Economics, Management and Financial Markets, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 53-74. Cottingham, A. H., Suchman, A. L., Litzelman, D. K., Frankel, R. M., Mossbarger, D. 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