HRM-Behavior and Management in Organisations - Research Paper Example

HRM-Behavior and Management in Organizations Introduction: Human resource management is an essential element of every business. Employee relation is a very vast and complex topic. There have been numerous theories that have been developed in regards to employee relation. These theories have been a part of our daily lives and it is seen that even though people tend to be following the processes it is quite rare that the focus falls on the theories themselves. As explained by Adam and Meitz (1993): ‘By choosing a theory one organises reality’. There has been a wide and vast range of theories that have been developed over the years. There are a number of different roles that people tend to undertake within the organisations and each one of the roles are equally important for the success of the business. One of the most important however is that by leaders. Leaders play a crucial role in the organisations including several elements like training and mentoring as well (Adam and Meitz, 1993). Training and mentoring are two essential elements for every business. In the case of new employees to a job, it is seen that there is a need for new training and mentoring to be introduced within the organizations. These training and mentoring is based on the employee profiles and the levels based on which the employees can learn and develop. Hence for every company recruiting newer employees this is a very essential aspect. Mostly in the case of new employees these form the basic understanding of the organization and the job (Beer, Lawrence, Quinn Mills, and Walton, 1985). This paper will discuss two very essential aspects of the business, i.e. the concept of individual differences and the organizational roles and situations. The main aim of the paper is to discuss how people take up their roles in the organizations and how well the group situations are managed within the organization. Individual Differences: Murray and Kluckholm have divided the psychology studies of people into three main sections. They explain, ‘Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other men, (c) like no other man’. Considering the term Individual differences psychology, the main focus of this theory is based on the second level of study. The study of individual differences psychology is one where the theorist and experts study the differences in the individual behavior. The concept of individual differences is very important as it helps creating an average of the variations in the differences of individuals. This is an essential concept in organizations and employee behavior as with the various personalities of people within the industry, there is also a chance that the expected reactions might not be the same from all employees. Hence when a leader works towards managing a group, it is essential that the leader is able to understand and associate with each employee. This will help the leader understand the most effective form of leadership that can be implemented within the teams and the organization as a whole (Gazendam, 1993). Motivation like leadership is a very important part of the organizations and is an essential element in terms of competitiveness, and cost effectiveness. This is many ways is the mode for businesses to stay alive. Practice what you preach. For effective understanding of the employees and their individual differences, a few underlying principles can be used (Goleman, 2006). These include using tools like surveys, which can include the changing behavior of people within the organization. Using surveys will allow the root cause of the changes in attitudes to be identified and will also allow the company to recognize the employees who create issues for the change and in any which way resist change. Another very effective tool is the use of good practice by the managers themselves. Learning the various theories that have been designed over the years is an effective way to ensure that good practices are used within the firm. Also following the policies and procedures within the company is also a very useful tool to improve the conditions within the company. It is a common scene across all organizations that work does not get done if there are no policies and procedures present. The policies need to take into account all aspects of the business like what should happen, when a thing needs to happen. Who needs to manage it and other related topics (Grint, 2001). Organisational Roles and Situations: The term Organizational Roles refers to the technical positions that are occupied by both the leaders as well as the employees in an organization and the processes and procedures that occur in the day to day business. The leaders of any organization play a major role as change agents and they are the underlying force that helps keeping the motivation of the teams high. The leaders play a role in the motivation of the employees and also work on the building of trust and the confidence of the people. There have been a number of theories and approaches that have been developed by the experts in the field in the past and this forms a major role in effective leadership (Goleman, 2006). One of the major approaches is that by Daniel Goleman, which consists majorly of six styles of leadership and how leaders can be effective and also create a level of quality. Goleman has explained that quality can be based on leadership styles which include, coaching leadership, visionary leadership, affiliative leadership, democratic leadership, pacesetting leadership and also commanding leadership (Goleman, 2006) The decisions made by the leaders has a major impact on the lives of the employees and the decisions hence need to be taken very carefully and effectively. Goleman highlights that an effective leader is one who is able to think of all the factors and then make the decision. Also another view is that of Mintzberg, i.e. the decisions of leaders are mostly affected by half truth and this he explains is a very positive and right argument. Another aspect that needs to be considered in any organization includes the training of employees. Training a group involves a lot more efforts as well as costs than training a single employee. The main similarity of training the employees and a group is that the content always remains the same (Buchanan and Huczynski 2004). However when training an individual, it is possible to help them out on improving the process and finding ways to overcome issues. This cannot be done in the group training (House & Shamir, 1993). Training an individual can be done while working on the job which allows the employees to also get a feel of the systems and ask questions which they would have otherwise been reluctant to ask in a group. Organisational Behaviour and its Impact: Being able to take up new roles and styles of management is one of the biggest challenges in an organisation. The bases of every business are the management theories that have been set down by the experts. These theories assist the leaders to successfully lead the teams and work effectively (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2004). The fair and employment laws that have been implemented by the government have a lot of relevance to the everyday work. It is essential for managers to have a strong knowledge of these laws to ensure that all employees are treated in a fair and ethical manner (Koestenbaum, 2002). One of the best ways to create a supportive environment in the work place is to communicate to the employee and bring out ways and modes to help one another achieve the fair employment within the work place. A communication strategy which involves meeting initially by the manager to discuss the same with the employees, after which the employees can initiate a meeting anytime they feel something within the office is not fair. This is more of an open communication and should be for the entire team rather than just the employee and managers. The impact of the leaders’ performance and behaviour within an organisation has a high impact on the overall performance of the business. Mintzberg has argues that there needs to be an alignment of leadership with the organizational development. Mintzberg has also pointed out that the internals of the organization are the best decision makers in terms of making the right choice of the leaders and externals cannot do so as the knowledge of the organization and the working is limited (Locke, Edwin 1975). Mintzberg has also brought out the importance of the half truth and the leadership within the organizations. Mintzberg explains that managers use the half truth and one of the many is to refer to employees as ‘human resources’ (Locke, Edwin 1975). Mintzberg has brought out that the reference to humans as Human resources is incorrect and is not an effective manner to deal with employees within the company. Mintzberg has also brought out that the use of half truths is dangerous as the actions of the leaders can be clearly impacted and the planning in turn can also be impacted (Grint, 2001). Another important point that he brings out is that the half truths are not reasonable and it is necessary to understand the threats to the managers and also the leaders within the organization. It has also been clear from the above discussion that the leadership decisions based on half truths are more harmful to the company than helpful. It not only affects the profitability of the company but also affects the employee involvement. Thus this is an effective and appropriate argument that has been set down by Mintzberg and for the success of the organization it is necessary to understand the full and half truths (MICA, 2004). Effectiveness of Organisational Behaviour: As has been mentioned earlier, the ability to change the behaviour of a leader based on the employees and the needs of the team. Of all the different leadership modes that are present in various organisations, one which has proved to be very effective and efficient is that of a charismatic leader. In a situation where decisions need to be taken very fast and with accuracy, the most effective leader would be the charismatic leader (House & Shamir, 1993). A leader with an indefinable personality and with a trait which seems unnatural and can be treated as supernatural refers to charismatic leaders. The main traits that have been related to these types of leaders include the ability to be charming, leading, persuading, influencing and also basically inspiring others (Beer, Lawrence, Quinn Mills and Walton, 1985). Weber has defined charisma as, ‘a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which s/he is set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader’. Weber also explains, ‘resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him’ (Beer, Lawrence, Quinn Mills and Walton, 1985). Leaders irrespective of their styles i.e. charismatic, authoritative or even a transformational requires having a team and followers to be able to lead them. Hence it is clear that a leader only leads the way and helps the others to follow him and meet the goals of the organization. In situations where the leaders require having complete support of the followers, the most effective form of leadership again is the charismatic leadership (House & Shamir 1993). A few of the best examples of charismatic leaders includes, Adolf Hitler, Einston Churchill, Joseph Smith and also Wener Erhard. The contributions of these leaders have been very high and have impacted their organizations in a number of positive manners. It is clear from the above discussion that the charismatic leaders are very effective irrespective of how big or small the problem is. Also the impact of the actions of these leaders is very high on the overall business. It is also important to understand that there are a number of similarities between the transformational leaders and the charismatic leaders. One of the major differences is the focus of these leaders. There is a focus on the transformation of the organization for the transformational leaders however the charismatic leaders try to leave things the same and to work around the problems. Thus the followers can easily be carried away by the person and their styles of dealing with issues and in some ways also follow their lead without any questions. Leaders who follow the charismatic style are normally a combination of both ‘people’ as well as ‘organisation oriented’. Hence the charismatic leaders to a great extent are great leaders and provide a lot of results to the organisation as a whole. Conclusions: As seen from the above discussion, the leaders play a major role in the over organizational behavior and the overall effectiveness of the organizations. The ability to understand the needs of each individual and to work towards providing all employees with the right treatment to be motivated is the main job and role of the leader. As seen in the above discussion the role of human resource management is very high in every company. The success of a company is directly dependent on the performance of the employees and the right choice of employees can take the company a long way and can provide the company with excellent results. For an individual to be a successful leader it is essential that they have a clear vision and aim for the team. The behavior of the managers and leaders has a strong and direct impact on the employee productivity (Koestenbaum, 2002). This is majorly because employees tend to follow their leaders. If a leader needs to be successful it is essential that the leaders have the ability to be open to feedback, ready to accept their flaws and willingness to give in their best to the team. ‘All leaders challenge the process’ (Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., 2002). It is essential that leaders view the status quo and ask themselves why. Only by asking why and challenging the assumptions that instituted the status quo can a leader be effective. Hence to be able to fulfill their role in the organization, it is important that the leaders are aware of their surroundings and are able to work in sync with all the other roles within the organization. This will not only increase the level of team work but will also increase the overall success of the organization as well. Bibliography Adam, R.J., and Meitz, N. M., (1993). Industrial Relations Theory its Nature, Scope and Pedagogy, IMLR Press /Rutgers University and Scarecrow Press, inc Metchen, NJ and London Beer, M., Lawrence, P.R., Quinn Mills, D., and Walton, R.E., 1985, ‘Human Resource Management: A General Manager’s Perspective’, Free Press, Glencoe, IL Buchanan D. and Huczynski A., 2004, Organizational behavior, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Essex Gazendam, H.W.M, 1993, ‘Variety Controls Variety: On the use of Organisation Theories in Information Management’, Groningen: Wolters – Noordhoff, 400p Goleman, D., 2006, ‘Emotional intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition: Why it can matter more than IQ’, 26 September 2006, 10 Anv edition, Bantam Grint, K., 2001, 'The Arts of Leadership', 12 July 2001, Oxford University Press, USA H A Murray & C. Kluckhohn (1953). Personality In Nature, Society, and Culture; Second Edition, . 2nd ed. Revised: ALFRED A. KNOPF. 5 - 31. House, R. J., & Shamir, B, 1993, ‘Toward The Integration Of Transformational, Charismatic, And Visionary Theories’, In M. Chemers & R. Ayman (Eds.), ‘Leadership Theory And Research: Perspectives And Directions’, 81-107. New York: Academic Press. Koestenbaum, P. (2002). Leadership - The Inner Side of Greatness (a philosophy for leaders). San Francisco, Ca: Jossey-Bass. Kouzes, J. &. Posner, B. (2002). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco, Ca: John Wiley & Sons. Locke, Edwin A., 1975, ‘Personnel Attitudes and Motivation’, Annual Review of Psychology, 1975, Vol. 26, p388 MICA, 2004, ‘Half Truths of leadership’, Excellence in Management & Leadership Series, Accessed on 5th March 2010, Retrieved from http://www.micaworld.com/pdfs/Mintzberg_Participant_Guide.pdf Read More