Lack of Empowerment within Government Organization - Case Study Example

Lack of Empowerment” within Government Organization X In many government organizations, there are different issues that arise in the administration and delivery of services to the general public. This means that some things need to be put in place so that all stakeholders in an organization are involved actively in production. This will ensure that people can suggest ways that are amicable to improve the conditions of the organization in terms of team building and other factors that can ensure proper communication and implementation of strategies of such an organization (Beirne, 2006, p12). In any organization, transmission of information from the leadership to junior employees is very important as it determines the ways of relating between them as well as boosting their confidence in delivery of services. This is made possible by the fact that ideas of any of the employee are considered very important in improving the quality of services such an organization offers to the public. Although a good relationship between company leaders and junior employees may not be recognized as important to some companies, it has a lot of contribution to the general performance of such organizations. This is because through interaction, leaders promote the morale of the employees in the course of their discussions of different issues (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer, 2005, p4). Involvement of all stakeholders in an organization in the process of production leads to development of a strong team that can be used to implement its plans as one team. Also, performing in an organization as a team has positive impact because achievement of the goals of such organizations becomes a responsibility of every person. This reduces the amount of money that can be invested in supervision of workers because the commitment of all employees is to the achievement of high quality results. In assessment of the impact of an organization structures on organizational performance, Organization X in government X was researched and information about it recorded and analyzed. The research exposed the various issues that affect the delivery of services in an organization by assessing the contribution of the leadership in the motivating the other employees and the effectiveness of their organizational structure. Definition of the Problem in Organization X This report is written as a result of the research that was done in Organization X concerning the problem of lack of empowerment within it for its workers. The report shows the issue that constitute to the problem of lack of empowerment within Organization X which is a governmental organization. The research identified the problem and linked it to the structures of other public organizations serving the public which are always, hierarchical, centralized showing bureaucratic relations for vertical communications only. These problems are reflected in the wastage of time as well as effort in communicating information through the channels and the processes which are affected by friction between different Organization X departments (Blasi et al, 2008, p22). Lack of empowerment in organization has impacted negatively the performance of its employees and their satisfaction levels in their day to day operations. This can be explained by the fact that demotivated and dissatisfied employees are always unhappy in what they do and consequently perform poorly. They do not deal well with their clients who come from within and without the organization, which may lead potential customers to avoid doing business with Organization X. Employees in Organization X do not own up their responsibilities and duties in in all the processes and work and therefore, contributing to low result in the performance. For the success of any organization, ownership of processes and works is an invaluable characteristic of a management that can ensure successive operation and effective performance of the employees. The managers in Organization X have limited ideas of rewarding their well performing employees and punishing those who do not fulfill their duties according to the expectation placed on them as per the organizational goals. The problem of lack of empowerment in Organization X will be analyzed according to various topics that expose the weaknesses of the management in treating their employees (Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer, 2005, p24). Analysis of the Problem of Lack of Empowerment in Organization X In Organization X, survey was conducted to evaluate the amount of empowerment that the management gives to the junior employees. The assessment was done by administration of the questionnaires to the managers who were leaders of teams of over one hundred employees and who had educational knowledge and had some experience in the their work. The research was conducted to ensure that these managers can give their assessment on their conduct ability and the impact they have on the employees in their organization. These were targeted to inform the different issues in organization X which are relevant to promote and enhance the participation of workers in achievement of their goals. Lack of adequate empowerment in the organization in question can be looked at from three major and different perspectives. These include; the stability of the organizational structure, employees satisfaction and job security and the performance evaluation and reward structure. These three aspects expose the things that affect the performance of employees in Organization X according to different treatment that are given to them by their management team. The issues that arose in the organization X which were termed as the problem in it delivery of services include; the leadership failure to encourage the employees to implement new technological ideas to solve problems, lack of strong leadership abilities in times of adversity, they managers never create new ideas or present to the teams they lead their vision for the future of the organization and do not elaborate the vision of the organization to employees. In addition, they managers in organization X do not show any concern for the employees which would encourage them to perform according to their plans. The management team of Organization X has not contributed to the improvement of the working environment for employees which has led to poor performance in the past years. All the issues performance of employees of Organization X is unfocused because team members have operated to attain organizational goals which are not clearly specified. This is perceived as the failure of the management to communicate the relevant information to employees so that they can focus their effort on attainment of such goals. The leadership structure of Organization X has problems because the mode of communication does not favor smooth flow of information from one individual to another. This was witnessed when respondents to questionnaire answered that they were aware their supervisors were not aware of the problems through which they went in the course of operation. The hierarchical structure and the bureaucracies have made the process of presentation of the problems by the employee affected to the supervisor who can authorize action to be taken (Shields, 2007, p43). Another problem that has been witnessed in organizational structure of Organization X is that in its teams, people give ideas that are not necessarily listened to by the people who have power to authorize implementation. Although teams have been made to ensure that people communicate and share their experiences in their organization, the respondents said that their managers never welcome ideas of other people from the team to facilitate easy implementation. This has resulted to implementation of monopolistic ideas that are from specific people while neglecting those from potential contributors to go unattended. Through these measures, Organization X has failed to perform well in developing new ideas that can help in solving emerging problems in the process of production through various ways. This issue is common in organizational structures that are dictatorial where the ideas that can be implemented are dependent on the source where if it not from an influential person it is not implemented (Shields, 2007, p12). The organizational structure of Organization X is rigid and is opposed to any form of flexibility that can help different issues that come in their course of operation. this was confirmed when the respondents alluded that there was rigidity in operations and there was slow adaptation to changes. This means that the leaders continually implement strategies that never are cultural even when they do not promise productivity (McKelvey and Holmén, 2006, p56-58). In terms of satisfaction of the employees in Organization X, there are issues that are showing that the employees are languishing in problems which could be addressed to promote their activity. In the research, some people responded that their supervisors had no idea of the problems that they had in their areas of operation. This implies that the junior employees lack a platform or could be restricted from communicating to their leaders the issues they face in implementing their business. In Organization X, it means that a problem can persist for a time before it can get addressed by the individual getting directly affected by it or at its critical stage when it threatens the collapse of the operations. Such problems affect the production adversely because the employees lack the capacity to perform or are unhappy as they discharge their duties in poor environment (Holbeche, 2005, p35). Another issue on the satisfaction that arose in the course of research is the fact the managers were found to be less concerned about the performance of the employees. In response to a question that asked them whether their manager gave appreciation to the things that are done by an employee, the respondents said that their mangers never appreciate creativity in any way. This means that even the creative employees in Organization X are demotivated to carry out their day to day operations in the organization (Marciano, 2010, p75). The responses given by the employees in the research carried out concerning the treatment of those who perform well in the Organization X, they responded that no recognition is given to any creativity that is brought about by different members of the community. This implies that they are never rewarded even if they develop and implement an idea that help the organization in coming up with new ideas. Respondents also said that their managers never recognized their contribution to Organization X whether it is well done or not well done. Through this kind of treatment, the performance of individuals in Organization X cannot be evaluated since none of the activities of the employee get recognized (Holbeche, 2005, p45). Statement of alternative solutions and/or courses of action In order to assist improve the performance of Organization X, there need to be implementation of a change in organizational structure which is bureaucratic and hierarchical prevent effectiveness in communication. To enhance the communication in the organization, the levels of bureaucracy should be broken so that people can present their issues to the managers without going through difficulties. This will enhance the communication of ideas for different members of the teams that exist in the organization (Lashley 2001, p12). Motivation for employees is an important venture because it makes them to own the work they do and this promotes their activity to perform and increase the gross productivity of the organization. Organization X should implement a strategy to recognize the efforts of their employees by either awarding them or giving them a public recognition. This will not only promote their motivation to do more but also will make them happy during their performance (Kruse et al, 2008, p19). Another thing that can be a solution to the problem of lack of empowerment to the people is incorporating the employees in the formulation of goals and objectives of the company. The employees will feel part of the organization and they will be motivated to achieve those goals as they agree during the process of formulation and commissioning. The leaders should make a platform for meeting the employees and communicating their vision of Organization X so that everyone will be in a position to adopt and fulfill it (Armstrong, 2010, p33). References Armstrong, M., (2010). Armstrongs handbook of reward management practice: Improving performance through reward. London: Kogan Page. Blasi, J. R., Kruse, D., Markowitz, H., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (2008). Risk and lack of diversification under employee ownership and shared capitalism. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research. Beirne, M. (2006). Empowerment and innovation: Managers, principles and reflective practice. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Holbeche, L. (2005). The high performance organization: Creating dynamic stability and sustainable success. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Kruse, D., Freeman, R. B., Blasi, J. R., & National Bureau of Economic Research. (2008). Do workers gain by sharing?: Employee outcomes under employee ownership, profit sharing, and broad-based stock options. Cambridge, Mass: National Bureau of Economic Research. Lashley, C. (2001). Empowerment: HR strategies for service excellence. Oxford: Butterworth/Heinemann. Marciano, P. L. (2010). Carrots and sticks dont work: Build a culture of employee engagements with the principles of RESPECT. New York: McGraw-Hill. McKelvey, M. D., & Holmén, M. (2006). Flexibility and stability in the innovating economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Shields, J. (2007). Managing employee performance and reward: Concepts, practices, strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sirota, D., Mischkind, L. A., & Meltzer, M. I. (2005). The enthusiastic employee: How companies profit by giving workers what they want. Indianapolis, IN: Wharton School Pub. Read More