Peoples Management in the Sports Complex - Coursework Example

PEOPLES MANAGEMENT Submitted By Introduction 3 Methodology 3 Findings 4 Analysis of the Problem and Recommendations 4 Effective Communication 4 Successful Team Building and Team Work Synergy 5 Motivation 7 Management style 9 Human relations 9 Conclusion 10 Bibliography 11 Introduction People’s management is the crux of human resource studies. A manager’s most important job is to manage people. As a manger you must lead, inspire, encourage and motivate them yet have to take strict decisions regarding discipline, evaluation even hiring and firing issues. What HR practices, activities and initiatives are required for building a great team which works in collaboration in achieving strategic organisational goals? This paper aims at identifying the reasons of general employee dissatisfaction reflecting in high turnover rate, poor service, and downfall in profitability, decline in repeat business and other signs of detoriation in sports complex. Methodology The first and foremost task as a line manager of this sports complex is to identify all the problems areas. An analysis of the reasons of these problems will help us in actually finding the solution. This can be done through various methods which include observation, questionnaires to find out what employees dislike about company policies by ensuring anonymity, conducting open meetings, building trust among employees by giving value to their suggestions, conducting exit interview from leaving employees to develop sound understanding of deficiencies in the system and the source of dissatisfaction. Findings All the problems of sports complex were actually deep rooted in employee dissatisfaction. Diminishing profits, declining sales, customer complaints, high turnover, decline in repeat business all this were the result of ineffective and inefficient human resource policy and practices. A major restructuring and revitalization of HR policy was required to meet the current challenges. The problems identified were Lack of communication No synergy in team work Highly de motivated employees Authoritative management style No effort regarding building human capital relationship Inflexible policies rather than contingency approach Analysis of the Problem and Recommendations A deep analysis of the situation and the problem revealed certain shortcomings in the HR policies and practices. I will discuss in detail all of them one by one what is lacking and deficient and how it can be improved by strengthening certain practices in sport complex. Effective Communication HRM should realize the importance of communication skills and the development of interpersonal skills between the management and workforce. What we observe here at sports complex is a certain lack of communication. A good Hr manager needs to build a rapport with his staff so that they can communicate openly with each other. However a good manager should notice and keep track of all verbal and non verbal communication. According to Albert Mehrabian nonverbal communication is a complex communication phenomena which very subtly convey the feelings such as body language, facial expressions, hand and arm gestures, postures, positions and various arms and feet movement all communicate along with the verbal words. Sometimes there is dichotomy between verbal and nonverbal communication which subtly convey the true feelings of the person. 1(Albert Mehrabian, 2009) A good manager is a reader of all sorts of communication and does not ignore any. A manager should possess good interpersonal skills so that environment is friendly, pleasant and receptive. What I recommend here is effective open communication where both managers and workforce can freely interact with each and can openly discuss whatever problems they are facing, instead of opting out of the job or rude behavior with customers which shows lack of interest on the part of the workforce. Effective communication and conflict management is the first step towards building trust among employees. 2(Michael Fielding, 2006) Successful Team Building and Team Work Synergy Another thing which is lacking in sports complex working environment is lack of team work. The reason of building teams in organizations is to capitalize on synergy of work. It is the expectation that teams would perform a task better than individuals and hence further org. objectives. It is the job of the manager not only to build teams but ensure their effective working by active focus on the objective, regular reviewing of the team’s method of working i.e. task reflexivity and ensuring well being of the employees. Effective team working also requires creativity, flexibility and readiness to change in addition to tolerance for differences within the team and willingness to accept changes when uncertainty occurs. 3(Michael A West, 2004) Belbins has identified nine roles that are available to team members. Effective team management is dependent on a good mix of roles amongst its members and a well selected balanced team. While building teams and defining roles a good manager should keep in mind the respective qualities, skills and traits of the employees and which role suits him/her best. An employee also can give his input by doing self assessment. These roles are 4(Ann P Young, Marry Cooke, 2002) The coordinator The shaper The plant The resource investigator The monitor evaluator The team worker The implementer The completer The specialist The coordinator is a mature, confident, and trusting person who ensures everyone’s participation, directs towards goal and is responsible for maintaining overall control. The shaper is dynamic and energetic and pressurizes others also to achieve goal. The plant is creative and imaginative and usually comes up with unorthodox solutions. The resource investigator is extrovert, very enthusiastic and excellent communicator. Basically focuses on social networking and exploring wide range of opportunities. The monitor evaluator is the rational, distant, reserved, analytical introvert, who critically analyzes the situation before making strategic decision. The team worker is the pleasant, friendly, reliable and accommodating person who avoids friction. The implementer is the reliable, efficient, disciplined and practical person whose forte is to convert ideas into practical outcomes. The completer is the responsible, conscientious people who will deliver at all cost and is wary of time constraints and hardly delegate work. The specialist has deep and profound knowledge although with a narrow base contributes knowledge. I as a manger will try to build cross sectional teams capitalizing on the strengths of each employee with defined roles for maximum synergy of work and minimum friction. Belbian team roles defines tendency to behave, integrate, interrelate with each other in team roles. A good mix ensures teams and hence organisational success. 5(R. Meledith Belbin, 2010) Motivation It is the job of the manager to keep employees motivated. High turnover and low performance at sports complex reveals low motivation levels of the employees. Motivation is necessary for successful organizations. Motivation is actually an act of inducement. It induces employees to do more work. Motivated employees can take any organization to new heights. Motivation is basically a process consist of three parts 6(NVR Naidu, Krishna Rao, 2008) Motives, possibility of gains and rewards Motivational factors such as need, desire, aspirations. Attainment of the objective. Motivation is a psychological concept and need should come from within the individual. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs best defines these needs. According to him human behavior revolves around five basic need systems. Maslow defines these needs from the most primitive to more innovative and then mature needs. There is a natural trend or flow according to which humans realize their needs and hence become motivated. At the lowest level is the moist basic or primitive need, physiological which reflects basic survival need. Second in rank is security. Third is the sense of belonging, human desire to be acknowledged and appreciated. Fourth is the ego status which motivates person to work to the maximum of his capacity and hence become eligible for rewards and benefits. Most of the employees at the sports complex are at this level. Last is self actualization where human being works for personal growth and self satisfaction. 7(Patrick J Montana, Bruce H Charnov, 2008) I as manager can use this Maslow hierarchy of needs to identify at which level each of my employee stands so that I can offer appropriate motivation to him according to his needs. Two factor or hygiene theory is another motivational theory with different perspective. Maslow Hierarchy focuses on sources of motivation from life in general whereas two factor theory focuses on sources of motivation pertinent to work and work accomplishments. This theory is based on the investigation of what people exactly want from their job. He identifies five important determinants of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. These determinants are generic in nature and hence they also apply to our scenario of sports complex. Determinants of job satisfaction are Achievement Recognition The attraction of work itself Responsibility Advancement As a line manager of sports complex I will try to identify what is the basic reason of the great job dissatisfaction in our company through observation, interviews and if possible questionnaire so that relevant measures can be taken to diffuse this prevalent job dissatisfaction. Determinants of job dissatisfaction as identified in the theory are Company policy and administration Supervision Salary Interpersonal relations Working conditions What I as manager intent to do is to promote and ensure determinants of job satisfaction and try to eliminate or change or minimize determinants of job dissatisfaction. Employees can only be motivated with appropriate measures taken by the administration it includes as already discussed structural changes in Hr policies and practices? 8(R.K. Sapru, 2006) Management style There are many factors which lead to job dissatisfaction as identified by the two factor theory. In addition to this I understand that some changes in organisational culture and management style is also required. It will also be helpful in improving staff retention. Management style is the way a manager exercises his authority to achieve organisational goals. It can be a combination of factors which are internal to the individual such as his personality, culture and external factors such as organisational policies, rules and regulations. There are different theories about management style. Human relations Human relations approach emphasized the relationship of manager and workforce for optimum utilization of resources and hence efficiency. This human relation approach categorizes human behavior and hence came Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X presumes that workers have inherent dislike of work so they need constant supervision. Theory Y managers believe that employees generally take work as interesting and motivating. 9(Abraham Pizam, 2005) I as the manager of sports complex will implement Theory Z. This theory believes in the combination of Theory X and Theory Y. Workers do need supervision but they should be trusted for their work through employee empowerment. I will also bring some changes in organisational culture it will be more open and flexible following contingency theory. It gives us leverage to take the best possible solution to any problem according to the given situation with not very rigid rules. 10(Christian Bacher, 2005) Conclusion This sport complex is suffering from severe employee dissatisfaction resulting in lower profits, high turnover etc. All these problems can be solved through some changes in organisational culture, communication, human relations, management style and by giving the right motivation to employees as suggested in the report. The managers need to value their workforce through building trust, positive , open and effective communication, motivating employees by rewarding the desired behavior and by bringing some flexibility in policies so that employees are encouraged to work on contingency approach and hence can facilitate the customers whenever need arises. Only satisfied and motivated employees can provide customer satisfaction and hence strategic organisational goals in term of increased revenues and profitability. Bibliography 1(Albert Mehrabian, 2009, Non Verbal Communication, New Jersey, Transaction Publishers) 2(Michael Fielding, 2006, Effective Communication In Organizations, Cape town, Juta publishers) 3(Michael A West, 2004, Effective Teamwork: Practical lessons from Organisational Research, Oxford, Blackwell Publishing) 4(Ann P Young, Marry Cooke, 2002, managing and Implementing decisions in Health care, London, Harcourt Publishers) 5(R. Meledith Belbin, 2010, Managing Teams: why they succeed or fail, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann) 6(NVR Naidu, Krishna Rao, 2008, Management and Entrepreneurship, New Delhi, I K International Publishing) 7(Patrick J Montana, Bruce H Charnov, 2008, Management, New York, Barron’s Educational Series) 8(R.K. Sapru, 2006, Administrative Theories and management thought, New Delhi, Prentice Hall) 9(Abraham Pizam, 2005, International encyclopedia of hospitality management, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann) 10(Christian Bacher, 2005, Contingency theory: what are the strengths and weaknesses of the system, Germany, Grin-Verlag) Read More