The Concept of the Benefits in Human Development and Leadership - Research Paper Example

Delve into the concept of the benefits in human development and leadership Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Research question 3 Thesis ment 3 Overview 3 Literature Review 4 Methodology and Data Analysis 6 Justification of Research Method 7 Data Collection 7 Data Analysis 8 Findings 8 Conclusion and Recommendations 9 References 11 Introduction The contribution of the human resources is an integral part of the success of any organization. Thus it is essential for every organization to undertake training and development activities for its valuable workforce. Since most of the organizations have a structure and the hierarchy is maintained across different levels, the aspects of leadership come up at each level. Therefore it is essential for all organizations to have a structured leadership and development program for the employees. The prosperity of any organization depends on how well the leadership qualities are instilled and how the skills can be developed. Research question How the development of leadership qualities among the employees is essential for the growth of the organization? Thesis Statement Incorporation of leadership training skills enhances the performance of the employees and thereby the progress of the organization. Overview This essay first makes a review of the various past researches and studies that have been conducted on this topic. Then a secondary research has been done to analyze the ways in which this development of the leadership skill is undertaken. Finally the research question has been addressed to provide an insight into the different kinds of issues that come up in the course of the study. Literature Review Various studies indicate that there are several essential qualities that the leaders of any organization must possess. There are mainly eight of these qualities that contribute to the making of a successful leader. A leader must have the qualities of being communicative with the colleagues and the subordinates (Bartram, 2005). He must have the capability to support and cooperate with the other employees. Along with that he must have the skills of analyzing the situations and interpret them to the people concerned. A leader must have skills for organizing and carrying out the plans that he has formulated. For this a lot of creativity and enterprising ability is also required. Since an individual may not have all these qualities in the early stages of his career, a continuous development and training is necessary to groom these professionals into a successful leader. A leader cannot deliver his duties unless these qualities are inculcated into him in the right manner. If any opportunity for learning arises for the top or the middle level management the human resources department needs to find out the areas where the improvement of these individuals is essential. On the other hand according to some researchers it is indispensible for all organizations to run on a definite model of leadership competency (Hollenbeck, McCall and Silzer, 2006). Thus according to them a more comprehensive approach needs to be taken for pursuing effective leadership where the dimensions under various circumstances and in cases of personal behavior has to be taken. Thus under different situations leaders would take the path of different leadership styles. In most of the cases of limited communication between the top management and the junior management, the autocratic style of leadership would be adopted. On the other hand sometimes leaders prefer to be democratic or participative where the decision making power rests on the hands of the employees as much as it remains with the leader or the top officials. Thus specific continuum has been provided for the different dimensions of leadership so that the leaders of a specific organization can be fit into a definite type. Hence a ideal leader should have a balance of all these qualities. Byrne and Rees in their study have provided and insight practical aspect of the development of leadership in any organization. They provided different methodologies and technique that are necessary to be adopted for the implementation of effective leadership (Byrne and Rees, 2006). For this various statistical and numerical methods have been exhibited that should be implemented at each step of the development process. However the problem with this study is that it has largely ignored the controversial issues that had cropped up in the formulation of the leadership models. The models that have been presented in such study have a scientific aspect to it. For a company or an organization that intends to adopt any such model it would be scientifically more feasible. Some of the scholars have restricted their studies of leadership to the top management solely. They have ignored the aspect of leadership even at the lower tiers of the hierarchy. Thus studies conducted by Berke have remained confined to the succession planning for the top management position. They are mainly concerned about how the individuals who intend to take a higher position replacing retiring individuals should be developed, groomed and trained (Berke, 2005). According to the author a proper succession plan would include the four basic elements of management like the clarity in the role that the leader intends to pursue and the implementation of the systems and processes in an appropriate manner. Along with this the senior management also has to make sure that proper resources are present and the resources are channelized and utilized in the right manner for the betterment of the employees. Cogner and Fulmer in their research have tried to align the two aspects of succession planning and development of leadership and connect the dots between these two issues in respect of a growing organization. They have conceived the idea that it is not a stereotypical process but a series of plans that any organization has to execute so that the people who form a part of the process are automatically groomed into the right candidates. Thus development of candidates eligible for the position should be done from the beginning. For this the correct candidate needs to be identified by the human resources department who will have the potential to be the future leader. Methodology and Data Analysis A proper and significant research work is required in order to determine the principles from the positive incidents. During the research work of contribution of effective leadership quality in organizational performance, appropriate information and data are effectively collected, evaluated and analyzed in a systematic and objective manner to apprehend to determine how people feel, think and behave. There are two types of research methods, such as qualitative and quantitative research methodology. These research methods used to incorporate several research approaches that are applied to find and determine the behavior and nature of collected data. Generally research method can be categorized into two parts, such as qualitative and quantitative research method. Quantitative research methodologies focus on finding, evaluating and analyzing the numerical data. On the other hand, qualitative research methodology generally deals with the feeling, meanings, emotion, motivation, behavior and attitude of people. In research field, this qualitative research method is considered as one of the important methodological approach. Qualitative research methodology can be applied in a research work based on the exploratory nature of the study (Dane, 2010). It has been already discussed that the qualitative research methodology deals with emotional elements and in-depth feelings of human being. This research methodology used to focus on the describing the defining and measuring process of the variables. Depending on the exploratory nature, qualitative research methodology has been implemented in this study. Justification of Research Method Research method can be adopted based on the behavior and nature of the study. This study will provide finding of contribution of leadership quality to the business performance of the organization. Thoughts, suggestions, views and knowledge of various authors and literatures have been considered as major data and information sources. These author’s in-depth feelings and thoughts helped to focus on the topic and to provide an expected positive research outcome. Looking into these aspects, qualitative research methodology has been implemented in this study. On the other hand, a research can be considered as exploratory in nature if the problem of the study is not defined clearly. Considering the exploratory characteristic of this study, qualitative research methodology has been implemented in this study. Data Collection There are two types of data collection methods, such as primary data collection method and secondary data collection method. Primary data collection process focuses on collecting and analyzing real time data from several specific field works. Secondary data collection process generally focuses on collecting data from several secondary academic sources, such as journals, text books and academic articles. Secondary data collection method has been implemented in this study due to several advantages (Boeije, 2009). It is both time and cost consuming. In addition to this, researcher can provide positive research outcome within a quick period of time. Data Analysis It is clear from review of literature that organizations need to adopt and implement effective leadership style based on the demand of the situation and nature and behavior of workforce. Several authors argued that an organization cannot achieve its business objectives without effective leadership quality of the managers of the organization. There are several responsibilities of a leader within an organization that lead to effective business performance. According to the discussion of several literatures, it can be stated that leadership style differs from a person to another due to behavioral and cultural differences. However, each and every author accepted that management of the organizations follow different leadership styles to overcome challenges and issues and guide entire group to professional and personal objectives. Findings It is true that performance of an organization depends on the performance of entire workforce within that organization. Employees within an organization generally expect effective recognition from organization against their hard work and effective performances. Therefore, it is important for the organizations to take care both professional and personal needs of employees (Halldorsson, 2007). Lack of motivation of employees can lead to inadequate working performance that can hamper business profitability. It is the responsibility of the management of organization to appoint managers in every department with valuable leadership skill. An entire workforce cannot get motivated without an effective leadership skill of the managers. A skilled and effective leader within an organization generally takes care of employee satisfaction and business performance. There are several leadership styles that help the managers or leaders to overcome different types of critical situation. Supportive or delegating or participating leadership styles are generally implemented in workplace based on performance of employees, culture of organization, nature of business objective and required time period (Iqbal, 2011). In addition to this, leaders generally adopt and implement experimental strategies to achieve rapid growth. it is the quality and effectiveness of the leadership style of an individual that helps the organization to develop business growth strategies for future. Conclusion and Recommendations It is clear from above discussions that global organizations need to focus on effective leadership style within an organization. Performance of an organization depends on effectiveness of developed strategies, decision making process and performance of workforce. The organizations are realizing that managers within the organizations should have the ability to control and guide entire workforce to achieve competitive advantages in this competitive global business environment. Effective leadership styles encourage the managers and decision makers to develop right strategies according to the performance of the organizations and employees. Following recommendation plans will help the organizations to ensure high quality leadership and effective business performance. First of all the, organizations have to find out experienced and capable leaders who can understand the situation of workforce. The leaders should have knowledge about each and every leadership style. It is known to all the performance of employee within an organization depends on his satisfaction and motivation level. The managers in respective departments have to take care of the needs and satisfaction level of the employees. A manager should lead the team from front. Participative leadership style can encourage employees in a group to perform well. A leader has to ensure effective communication process between top and bottom level employees. It can enhance entire decision making and strategy development process. Last but not the least; it is important to focus on performance evaluation and motivation level of employees. Both these terms are related to each other. Satisfied and motivated employees will always try to perform well. Therefore, it is responsibility of leaders to control entire workforce to enhance business performance. References Bartram, D. (2005). The great eight competencies: A criterion –centric approach to validation. Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol 90 (6). 1185-1203. Berke, D. (2005). Succession planning and management: A guide to organizational systems and practices. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Hollenbeck, G. P., McCall, M. W., Jr., and Silzer, R. F. (2006). Leadership competency models. Leadership Quarterly, 17, 398-413. Byrne, J. A. C., and Rees, R. T. (2006). The successful leadership development program: How to build it and how to keep it going. San Francisco, CA: Pfeiffer. Conger, J. A., and Fulmer, R. M. (2003). Developing you r leadership pipeline. Harvard Business Review, 81(12), 56-64. Pearce, C. L., and Conger, J. A. (2003). Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Dane, F. (2010). Evaluating Research. London: Sage. Boeije, H. (2009). Analysis in Qualitative Research. London: Sage. Halldorsson, F. (2007). Leadership Style, Employee Job Performance, and Organizational Outcomes. London: ProQuest. Iqbal, T. (2011). The Impact of Leadership style and organizational effectiveness. Munich: GRIN Verlag. Read More