Organization Theory and Employee Engagement - Essay Example

Organization Theory Employee engagement Employees are among the most fundamental resources an organization has. They therefore require appropriate engagement in order to improve their productivity. The engagement process begins with the actual recruitment; the appropriateness of an employee to serve effectively depends on his or her prowess to undertake the specific duties. The human resource managers must therefore ensure that they employ appropriate personnel to undertake the duties at the organization (Fargus, 2000). After recruitment, the management and productivity of the employees relies on the manner in which the organization engages them. Engagement is therefore a progressive process that requires effective implementation in order to sustain the specific mindset in the employees thereby sustaining productivity for the organization as the essay below portrays. Bureaucracy is an example of a modernist theory that provides guideline for the implementation of the employee engagement. Bureaucracy provides for the institution of different institutions within the organization in the form of offices and officers to oversee the engagement process. Bureaucratic organization has several offices and officers who engage the employee at differently at various levels thereby contributing to the productivity of the employee. The structure provides for an appropriate structure of management and promotes accountability from both the employee and the officers who manger them. the existence of offices at the organization portrays a sense of organization since the several offices and officers that manage the employees implement the policies of the organization and oversee the process entirely thereby minimizing loses. Additionally, a bureaucratic organization has an effective communication platform; communication is an essential feature at the organization. Employees interact with the organization at different levels. The organization must therefore have a particular platform for communication and have structures to oversee the communication process. Among the methods of communication at the organization are the upward and downwards communication models. Upward communication model provides the employees with an effective opportunity to communicate with their mangers while down ward communication model provides the managers with an opportunity to communicate with the junior employees. Regardless of the source of the message, the message should always reach its target audience and achieve the expected goals. Bureaucratic organization has specific offices that facilitate the two types of communication since the employees have an immediate manager to answer most of their question and guide them throughout the engagement. This minimizes instances of confusion thereby facilitating productivity. Bureaucratic proponents such as Karl Max, Max Weber and John Stuart all contend that bureaucracy is a productive and effective way of engaging and managing employees in order to improve their productivity. The organization should break down departments in a bid to increase the closeness of the managers and the employees. Such a bureaucratic system improves accountability since every head of department would account for his resources including the human resources (Müller, 2010). The development of departments is likely to increase professionalism at the organization since every department recruits appropriate personnel and therefore obtains maximum productivity from them. Additionally, the organization forms appropriate mechanisms of communication thereby providing the employees with rapid response for most of their concerns. The development of several departments provides the management with an opportunity to motivate the employees. The several departments will not only increase the presence of the management at the grassroots but also provide the management with additional resources to use in motivating productivity. The offices require appropriate personnel who have the experience, the positions thus become appropriate in promoting the employees. By peddling the promotion offer, the management is likely to obtain increased productivity as the employees strive to win recommendation for the promotions. Theory X and theory Y are two specific theories that influence employee motivation as an aspect of employee engagement and effective management. Motivation refers to the development of an appropriate mindset that helps sustain their productivity. The two theories provide for effective ways of interacting and engaging employees in order to improve their productivity. The modernist theories stress the psychological features of the employees thereby influencing the policies of the workplace that help motivate employees. The managers should have effective understanding of their employees in order to manage them effectively. Understanding the employee is a fundamental human resource management skill that helps the manager engage the employee appropriately and achieve the desired goal. All organizations exist to make profits in order to improve their productivity. This requires appropriate engagement that requires the manager to understand the factors that influence the productivity of the employee and the psychological features that motivate them to work. This way, the managers formulate and implement policies that appreciate their employees thereby improving their productivity. In theory X, McGregor holds the account that employees are characteristically lazy and will avoid their responsibilities every time. This understanding seeks to influence appropriate management technique that guarantees closer supervision of the employees in order to remind them to undertake their responsibilities. In this context, McGregor approves the development of several bureaucratic offices in order to increase the interaction between the employees and the management in order to oversee the employees undertakes their responsibilities appropriately. In theory Y, the management assumes that the employees enjoy work and are self-motivated. The theory holds that work comes naturally to employees and they enjoy their duties and responsibilities at the organization and will therefore work willingly. The two contradictory theory provides managers with effective tools to anticipate different behaviors from their employees and therefore employ effective management techniques capable of improving productivity despite the attitudes the employees portray. Analysis Modernist views to bureaucracy is that of increased professionalism thus productivity. An organization has several publics all of which require effective management. The development of bureaucratic offices helps infiltrate the organization thereby stamping the professional authority of the management. To some degree, bureaucratic approach to management has assumed the systems approach to management as most organization has several departments and sub departments all of which must function seamlessly for in order to increase profitability at the organization. Employee supervision and motivation are two fundamental features of the management that run concurrently in order achieve profitability in the modern context. The creation of respective bureaucratic offices helps facilitate the management of modern-day complex business organizations that grow into newer markets (Sims, 2007). Communication is an essential feature in the operations of the organization. The organization should develop an effective structure for communication in order to develop a healthy working environment. Formal communication exists between the employees and their managers while informal communication exists among the employees themselves in their private times (Thomas, 2009). Both types of communication are essential in achieving profitability at the organization a feature that validates the development of several bureaucratic offices at the organization. Formal communication facilitates the exchange of commands and policies from the management to the employees and the provision of feedback among other important features of the operations of the organization. The existence of the several bureaucratic offices at the organization facilitates the communication process between the management and the employees. Additionally, through the creation of smaller department heads helps infiltrate the management into the informal conversations that employees have at the organization thereby improving the process of determining the factors affecting the productivity of the employee. Employee engagement requires the creation of appropriate offices in order to supervise their productivity at the organization. Among the factors validating the creation of such bureaucratize offices include the size of the organization. A bigger company requires more mangers to supervise the operations of the employees (Saroj & Joseph, 1984). Large organizations have more resources and have larger operation capital that therefore requires effective management in order to ensure profitably. Furthermore, such organizations are likely to grow and expand into new markets in a bid to improve their market shares. The creation of bureaucratic offices in such organization helps improve efficiency of production since in such environments some employees are likely to malinger and avoid their duties at the organization, the additional offices therefore increases the presence of the management thereby improving efficiency through dedicated supervision. Accountability is a major concern to most managers thereby validating the creation of more bureaucratic offices in modern organizations. The creation of offices in the organization facilitates the determination of enhanced accountability in the organization since the managers have a specific office to hold accountable during an audit process. Additionally, with the creation of such offices it becomes easier to determine and rewards productivity at the organization thereby influencing and motivating both the managers and the employees. The creation of several offices provides managers with an opportunity to train more managers and promote them based on their performance. Promoting employees to the positions of management is an effective motivation that improves the productivity of the employees. Additionally, the managers use such offices to train managements thereby promoting them to higher offices when opportunities arise such as the expansion of the organization into new markets (Painter, 2012). Neo modernist approaches on the other hand attribute more importance on the motivation of the employees thereby authorizing the application of the theory X and theory Y. as explained earlier, employees are among the basic resources in an organization, the management must therefore ensure that they have the appropriate mindset in order to ascertain productivity at the organization. The two theories provide managers with two appropriate understanding of their employees thereby manipulating the various resources including the human resource in order to achieve the desired profitability (Collins, 2006). Theory X view employees as lazy and unproductive. Employees cannot therefore work without appropriate motivation a feature that compels the management to employ effective supervision of the employees in order to steer the process of production. Theory Y on the contrary posits that employees are self-driven and therefore productive. According to the theory, employees love their work that comes naturally to them. They are therefore productive and maintain high productivity standards. The two contradictory theories provide the management with an objective view and approach to their employees. They can therefore anticipate any outcome from the employees. The theory provides mangers with the opportunity to evaluate several management technique in order to change the mindset of the employees in order to improve their productivity. The managers should have the ability and intuitions to recruits effective employees who meet the quality standards they require in the facilities and manage the employees appropriately in order to achieve enhanced productivity. In brief, the managements must have the prowess to manage the two divergent outcomes from the employees thereby enhance productivity. The creation of a healthy working environment requires the development of appropriate organization depending on the type of employees an organization has. The management should develop an appropriate organizational culture capable of motivating productivity at the organization. The two theories portray that employees can easily become either extremely productive or unproductive. The productivity of the employees depending on the techniques the management employs. Recruiting professionals is a sure way of enhancing productivity at the organization. Professionals have the moral obligation to maintain high level of productivity. They have the technical knowhow to facilitate productivity at the organization. Additionally, they understand the ethical and codes of conduct at the organization thereby maintaining productivity at the organization. Managing professionals is easier owing to their high intellectual standard. However, they require particular motivations in order to ensure that they maintain their productivity. Among the factors that motivate employees at the organization is the nature of the working environment. The management must develop a competitive working place in which the employees have equal opportunities for promotions. Promotions provide the management with experienced and loyal employees who understand the features of operations at the organization. On the other hand, the provide employees with an opportunity to compete thereby improving the productivity of the organization. Another equally important factor that influences productivity at the organization is communication at the organization. The management must develop effective channels of communication that enhances the execution of the policies they formulate. Effective communication enhances the quality of production at the organization. The managers must therefore develop effective channels of communication that facilitate the transfer of commends and the receipt of feedback from the employees in order to motivate productivity. Evaluation The two theories have respective strengths and weaknesses and therefore effective considerations in order to determine the most appropriate for implementation in a contemporary organization. Bureaucratic theory provides managers with increased control of their employees and the organization. Bureaucratic structures appear more appropriate for the modern organization but they are expensive to manage. Bureaucratic organizations require more resources in terms of money required in the creation of the office and the remuneration of the individuals. Additionally the structures slows the process of decision making, each of the successive managers contribute to the decision before communicating the same down to the junior employees a feature that consumes time an equally important resource at the organization. Besides the consumption of more resources, bureaucratic structures slow the pace of acquisition and implementing changes at the organization. The structure curtails communication between the management and the employees. The successive offices can easily curtail communication thereby failing to resolve some of the challenges facing the employees. Contemporary organizations require a structure that facilitates communication between the management and the employees. The management must have an appropriate way of obtaining complains from the managers thereby addressing them before the situation digresses at the organization. This may often be hard to achieve in highly bureaucratic organizations since the junior managers act as barriers to the communication process. The creation of several offices at the organization may also result in witch-hunt as the employees compete for promotions. Such develop nets may not only curtail productivity but may also compel employees to engage in dangerous activities in order to succeed others. As explained earlier, modern day organizations employ professionals, people with technical knowhow and the mental maturity to appreciate their positions and undertake their duties appropriately at the organization. It thus becomes redundant to develop numerous bureaucratize offices at the organization in order to manage people who understand the terms and conditions of their engagements. Most of such offices easily become redundant and wasteful endeavors that do not necessarily improve productivity of the organization (Price, 2011). Theory X and theory Y on the other hand concentrates on the motivation of employees. The realistic theories provide managers with the ability to evaluate their employees thereby employ appropriate management techniques in order to improve productivity. The two theories provide managers with the understanding of their employees. Professional employees are educated and as explained earlier have the professional technical knowhow to undertake their duties at the organization. Such employees require minimal supervision owing to their ability to read and conceptualize appropriate operations at the organization. These employees read and understand the terms and conditions of their engagements and are therefore less likely to lazy about at the organization. Spending millions of dollars in creating bureaucratic offices in order to supervise the operations of this type of employees is not only wasteful but also equally redundant. Effective implementation of theory X and theory Y is therefore likely to develop an appropriate working environment for the professional employees. The management must manipulate such features as remuneration and the competitive nature of the workplace in order to motivate the professional employees. Additionally, the professional employees can easily manage themselves as they use the codes of conduct and ethical principles to guide their operations at the organization. Coupled with their targets and use of time, the professional employees easily relate with their managers effortless thereby addressing the issues affecting their productivity. The two theories are therefore more appropriate in managing professionals than the bureaucratic theory that would simply waste the organizations’ resources. Some organizations of the other hand require unskilled labor; this group of employees on the other hand requires dedicated surveillance in order to enhance their productivity. This category on the other hand requires effective management in order to ensure that they remain productive. Most of the unskilled labor exhibit the features addressed by theory X a feature that validates the creation of smaller managerial positions within the organization. Furthermore, the unskilled labor requires lower remuneration and creating an administrative office amongst them in order to increase supervision is equally cheaper compared to the management of professional employees. Briefly, the two theories possess a value of relativity, as they are applicable in different circumstances, theory X and theory Y are applicable in the management of professional employees who have greater technical knowhow and can maintain high ethical standards at the workplace. Such a work force is motivated and loves their jobs. Unskilled labor on the other hand requires dedicated supervision a feature that validates the creation of bureaucratic structure at such organizations. References Collins, D. (2006). Behaving Badly: Ethical Lessons from Enron. New York: Dog Ear Publishing. Fargus, P. (2000). Measuring and improving employee motivation. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Müller, C. (2010). Employee motivation an incentives at Apple: Do incentives really help to motivate employees?. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag. Painter, R. et all. (2012). Cases and Materials on Employment law, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Price, A. (2011). Human Resource Management. Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA. Saroj, P. & Joseph, A. A. (1984). Sources and Outcomes of Stress in Organizational Settings: Toward the Development of a Structural Model. Academy of Management Journal. 27(2), 330-350. Print. Sims, R. R. (2007). Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges and Opportunities. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Publ. Thomas, K. W. (2009). Intrinsic motivation at work: What really drives employee engagement. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Read More