Work Experience in Sova - Essay Example

Work experience Work experience The organization under consideration is Sova, which is a charity working in the hearts of communities. The operation of the organization is majorly in England and Wales. The organization’s main goal is to offer assistance to people in order for them to steer clear of crime. Sova helps people in establishing better life through advising them on choices when they face life difficulties. With such services offered by Sova, it is essential that the organization should have a quite flexible structure, to allow for the free flow of information in the organization and for faster decision making (Daft, 2010). The environment has an influence on the structure of the organization, i.e. the organization may take a more horizontal or a vertical structure. Horizontal organizational structures are great for faster decision making and policy implementation within the organization. Sova offers support for communities. They are of the belief that with the right amount of support, every individual is capable of changing his/her life for the betterment of the whole society, and the very individuals. Sova provides a wide range of services, these include; alcohol and drug support, mentoring offenders, assisting people to return to work, helping individuals improve their skills, support with life skills and offering support to children, other young people and mostly, families. The position which I occupied within the organization was that of a motivator. My service within Sova was as a volunteer motivator, I had a direct connection with the organizational customers. As a motivator, the office which I occupied was the support officer. The role of the support officer was to have a direct meet with the customers of the organization and offer advice on choices, when they were faced with difficulties within life. In addition to that, the support officer served the function of offering therapy talk to the customers. The control which I had in this position was that of the low level management, looking into the operations of the organization. In this position, as par the organizational chart below, I was directly answerable to the project manager, who was in the organization’s middle management level, who in return would report to the area manager. The area manager is answerable to the chief organizational officer. The main management levels within the organization are three, i.e. top level, middle level and low level management. The top level management within Sova is responsible for the overall control of the organization (Helmig, 2004). They oversee all the organizational operations. This position, within the organizational structure indicated above is occupied by the chief operational officer. She is assisted by the area manager, who falls in the category of the middle level management. The execution of the organizational plans, in accordance to the placed Sova policies is a duty left for the middle level management. The middle level management serves as intermediaries between the top level and the low level management of the organization. There are the low level managers (Karim, 2006). These are the project managers, according to the organizational structure shown above. The low level managers have the duty to control and direct. They oversee the implementation of instructions issued from the top level management. Low level management answers to the middle level management, which in turn is answerable to the top level management of Sova. Relevance of stakeholders The stakeholders of any company have the best interest of the company at heart. Stake holders are of relevance to all charities. A good management of the organization’s stakeholder issues in one way or another would minimize or avoid the potential litigation and reputational risks. It is also evident as a proxy for the good management of Sova, human resource management is quite critical for the organizational success (Knox, 2007). The stakeholders for Sova, as a charity organization are as indicated below; I. Pressure groups Pressure groups refer to individuals or people who have the same belief in the cause as the organization does. Their strongly held views are intended at influencing some part of the society. Based on fact, pressure groups criticize the activities which the organization carries out. For Sova, pressure groups are the individuals who look into the quality of their services with criticism, and check the extent to which the support services actually benefit the society (Basu, 2008). II. Community The community are the people who live within the environments of an organization. They, in one way or the other, benefit from the services that the organization offers. For Sova, the community is the immediate society in its environments, i.e. the people living in England and Wales. They need to have an assurance that the organization will continue offering its servicers. In addition to that, the company is like a source of employment for members of the community. III. Employees These are the workers within the organization. The success of any company is highly dependent upon its human resource function. Without the employees, there would be no services offered by Sova. Therefore, as stakeholders, they require job security i.e. constant employment, plus equal and fair working conditions and opportunities within the organization. IV. Employers The term employers refer to the management of the organization, or the owners. These are the people who oversee the running of the company. The success of the company is quite important for them since it is directly linked to their success. V. Customers/consumers Customers are the end users of the organizational or company’s products. In the case of Sova, the customers or the consumers are the people receiving the support of the organization in order for them to have a better life establishment and be able to make the right choices in the organisation. There should be quality services issued to the people that the company gives support. In addition to that, customers or consumers of Sova’s services ought to be ensured on the continuity of the organization. VI. Creditors/funders The funders of the organization are those people who provide the company with the funds or capital with which they can continue with their operations. Charities are non-profit making organizations; hence work heavily using creditors or funders, for them to meet their day to day operational costs. For Sova, the creditors are the individuals or organizations who sponsor the support activities which the organization offers to the community, with the good cause. There is a requirement therefore by its funders that the organization ought to succeed (Knox, 2007). PESTLE Analysis The acronym pestle refers to the audit of the influences which the organization’s environment has on its operations. It refers to the political, economic, social, technological, Legal and Environmental forces influencing the operations of the organization (Phillips, 2010). A pestle analysis is crucial for Sova to understand its micro-economic and macro-economic environments in order for it to be successful in offering the support programs. The analysis is also crucial for decision making and strategic planning by the management of the organization. An organization experiences both external and internal forces from its environment during its operations. The pestle analysis lists both these external and internal influences which the organization has from its environment. External forces are those which the organization has no influence over. The external forces which Sova experiences are as discussed below; Political Political forces that Sova faces are the extent to which the governments within England and Wales intervene within the economy. The forces are political stability or instability, both in the local market and within the oversea markets of the organization, the policies put in place by the government, labour laws and tax policies. These are an indication that the operations of Sova are highly influenced by political factors. As a result, the organization ought to have a quick response towards the legislations, in the present and in the future. Economic As a non-profit organization, the economic factors influence the operations of Sova. The economic factors that the organization faces include; interest rates, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. Inflation implies increased costs for the operation of Sova, in their support offering activities. Social These are the socio-cultural factors. They are areas which surround the organization and have a similar belief plus attitudes of the population. Social factors impacting Sova include the growth of the population, which increases both demand and the number of people in need of their support services. The social factors are of great interest to the organization since it helps them understand the community to which they offer the support services better. In addition to those, technological, legal and environmental factors are also considered when viewing the forces which the external environment of the organization places upon it (Phillips, 2010). Technological factors are the changes within the landscape of technology. Improved technology for the company means an improved way of offering its services to the community. Legal factors the health and safety of the employees of a company, as ensured by the government, the consumer rights and laws among others. References Anheier, H. K. (2005). Nonprofit organizations. London: Routledge. Basu, K. &. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: A process model of sensemaking. Academy of Management Review, 122-136. Brammer, S. &. (2004). Stakeholder pressure, organizational size, and the allocation of departmental responsibility for the management of corporate charitable giving. Business & Society, 268-295\. Butterfield, R. E. (2005). The new public management and managerial roles: the case of the police sergeant. British Journal of Management, 329-341. Daft, R. L. (2010). Organization theory and design. New York: Cengage Learing. Helmig, B. J. (2004). Challenges in managing nonprofit organizations: A research overview. 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