Authentic Leadership and Productivity in Human Resources - Research Proposal Example

Authentic Leadership and Productivity in Human Resources Introduction The purpose of functioning of any organization is not only to survive in a continuously evolving business world but also improving its performance on a steady basis to ensure the creation of competencies and competiveness for the business. The research is carried out with the objective of evaluating the role of authentic leadership in productivity in the arena of human resources. The paper includes a preliminary discussion of the concept of leadership and the benefits and drawbacks of leadership. A discussion of the impacts of authentic leadership on the performances and productivity of workers is also included. Leadership is a significant concept in human resource management; the effects of leadership on work performances and productivity are profound in many modern day organizations. As such, the topic of the research seems to be a relevant and valid topic for researching on. The main aim of the research is to understand how authentic leadership can affect teamwork and increase the overall productivity of individual as well as teams of employees through the integration of productive methods in work. The research would include the quantifiable analysis of the factors of productivity and effects of leadership. The cause of management aimed at developing the human resources are also explained in the paper. Literature Review According to Paul & Berry (2013), authentic leadership is an important criterion as far as the productivity is concerned. According to authors, leaders are the persons who lead the followers or the subordinates in effective strategic way. Leaders inspire and motivate subordinates to achieve the organizational objectives or goals. The authors also added that authentic leaders can increase the productivity of the workforces. It is being observed that productivity of the workforce is significantly dependent upon the mental strengths and commitment levels of human capital. In this aspect, authentic leadership plays instrumental roles to increase the mental strengths and the commitment levels of the workforce. They categorically stated that productivity cannot be increased by the one sided effort of the human resources, authentic leadership is also significantly required to introduce the sense of unity among the team. The sense of unity provides increased productivity. Authors firmly stated that the performance and productivity of the same employee can be increased by some folds if authentic leadership is there to guide the followers. They added that proper communication and information sharing is unavoidable for achieving increased productivity. They commented that only the authentic leaders can communicate properly. They further goes on saying that productivity of a workforce is as good as its leadership standards are. According to them, different mergers and acquisitions are being done to increase the productivity of the organization. It is often being noticed that after the merger or acquisition productivity of the organization reduces due to the cultural differences between the two organizations. Here in this context also authentic leadership is highly required to reduce the cultural differences and to increase the productivity (Paul & Berry, 2013, pp. 1-15). According to Davis (2009), authentic leadership is significantly necessary for the reputation of the organization. It not only concerned with the present reputation of the organizations but also future reputations of the companies. He added that authentic leaders not only inspires or motivate his followers in the organization but also use authentic productive methods to get best out of the employees. It is being observed by the author that authentic leaders always try to come up with unique ideas or methods which can increase the productivity of the whole team as well as the individuals. According to him authentic leadership is one of the most important criterions to increase and improve the performance of the followers. He stated that productivity and the organizational reputation are deeply interrelated. Organizational reputation cannot be increased without the productivity of the workforce. To increase the productivity of the workforce proper leadership is unavoidable. He further added that productivity of the Apple employees are highly considered by the rest of the business world. Behind their substantial productivity, authentic leadership of Steve Jobs cannot be denied at all. Authentic leadership styles of Steve Jobs and Ratan Tata have injected a sense of responsibility among their followers and these are significantly evident from their increased productivity (Davis, 2009, pp. 1-2). According to Hannah, Walumbwa & Fry (2011), authentic leadership can improve the productivity of the human resource in various ways. Authentic leaders can provide more effective employee input. Effective employee input increases the efficiency of the employees. If the efficiencies of the employees are increased then automatically productivity will also increase. They stated that a leader with democratic attitude often gives significant importance to the views of the employees. When views of the employees are considered seriously, then employees consider themselves an important part of the organizations. After this realization they try to contribute their best efforts for the sake of their companies. In this way automatically productivity of the each individual employee increases. Morale of the staffs is significantly important for the productivity. Authentic leadership only can maintain the positive morale of the staffs. Positivity and controlled optimism are important parts of the authentic leadership. If these two characteristics are reflected among the followers then productivity of the team also can be improved. They added that there is no shadow of doubt that leadership style can be a game changer as far as the productivity of the employees is concerned. They categorically stated that authentic leadership can be the difference maker between a super productive team and an average productive team. According to the authors, authenticity of the leadership provides that extra bit of spark or push to the employees that are highly required. It provides the needed platform on which employees can stand and deliver high productivity. They further stated that in modern day business world competitions are getting tougher day by day. There is no scope of complacency as far as the productivity of the employees is concerned. Each and every organization is battling hard and spending various resources to increase the productivity of the employees. According to authors, in the current context authentic leadership is an intangible resource which is widely recognized and admired by the global business fraternity. They added that desired productivity will remain beyond the reach if the employees and teams are not exposed in front of the authentic leadership style. Authors have pointed out that only the authentic leadership style can easily understand the problems related with the productivity. Once the problem is being identified then it is considerably easy for them to come out with the solutions. They categorically stated that authentic leadership style increases the capacity of the employees to mitigate organizational obligations. Interpersonal conflicts among the employees are significant barriers as far as the team productivity is concerned. Authentic leadership resolves interpersonal conflicts and creates a sense of unity hence team productivity increases. Resistance to the organizational change is also a potential barrier to increase the productivity of the team. Authentic leadership style manages change resistance and does make sure that the employees adjust their working methods to increase their productivity. According to authors, there are no replacements or substitutes are available of the authentic leadership as far as increasing the productivity of human resources is concerned (Hannah, Walumbwa & Fry, 2011, pp. 771-802). Methodology The research methodology used is mainly secondary research. Both qualitative and quantitative data are collected for the research as a part of secondary data collection. A combination of quantitative and qualitative research designs are used for the research so that the research question can be appropriately answered. The quantitative research techniques are used for collecting and analyzing quantifiable data which consist of statistics and numbers. This type of research design is used so that measurable interpretations can be made from the collected data (Tracy, 2012, p.24). The qualitative research approach, on the other hand, is used to study the qualitative aspects of the study or the aspects which cannot be measured in quantifiable terms. The data are collected from academic resources like journals, books, company reports, research papers, magazines, newspaper publications and records maintained by different organizations. Relevant information are also collected from other secondary sources like reports prepared and published by government agencies, institutional authorities, trade unions, labor unions and certain real world companies (Kothari, 2011, p.140). Secondary research method is selected as the appropriate method for the case research because accessing the huge population for primary research is difficult for this study. Also, the secondary research method is a cost effective and less time consuming way of carrying out a research and is this appropriate for the case research which will be carried out by a single researcher. The secondary data collected in the research are analyzed and studied in an in depth manner so as to suitably interpret them and help the researcher to answer the research questions appropriately. In secondary research process, the researcher uses carefully planned ways of analysis and interpretation so that the analysis does not change the existing meaning of the collected data. The research methodologies are selected on the basis of the requirements and objectives of the research. The validity and reliability of the research methodologies are also focused on to ensure that the results and findings from the research process are authentic and valid. Analysis and Findings The findings of the research study are centered towards the approach of authentic leadership and its impact on teamwork in an organization. Leadership is an essential component which governs the overall productivity of a firm. Teamwork can only be facilitated through effective leadership. There are certain skills which need to be possessed by a leader so as to enhance team work and incorporate a sense of ownership amongst team members. It is observed in most of the organizations that participative style of leadership is adopted so as to give equal opportunity to all the team members. This approach even helps to encourage team members in decision making process and their creative ideas can be included in strategy formulation. Productivity of an organization can be enhanced through collaborative work between team members and the team leader. This can be achieved only if appropriate leadership style is adopted by a firm. High performance teams can be considered to be those teams which act beyond goals and roles. The team members who belong to such high performance team are well aware of the fact that there is some intangible component at the grass root level of the team which binds them together and even empowers the team. Authentic leadership can be considered as a medium which sets a leader for high goals and vision. Employee engagement is one of the essential factors that bring forth productivity in an organization. However this form of engagement is not only driven by culture, satisfaction and motivation, but even encompass two essential elements such as being valued and sense of belonging. Authentic leadership enhances productivity of an organization as it is all about being true to oneself and knowing yourself. The values and moral component of leaders are governing elements in this form of leadership approach. Self-promoting and self-centered attitudes are observed in many leaders but in this approach, a leader basically adopts caring and altruistic approach. This form of positive attitude of a leader helps to motivate team members so that they are able to overcome challenges and set forth high performance standards. On the other hand such values and authenticity which is maintained by a leader in certain cases are not enough to persuade team members to change respective attitude towards their job. The transformation requires specific skills within a leader so that one is able to highlight the positive factor behind change or outline the need for teamwork for overall productivity (Malouff, Alexsandra, McGrory, Murrell & Schutte, 2012, pp. 35-48). Productive approaches can only be incorporated in a system if a leader is focused on common goal rather than individual goal. These approaches are well understood by authentic leaders as they mainly focus on success of team. The behavioral integrity as per the research is observed to be highest in authentic leaders simply because they are caring and can efficiently distinguish between right and wrong. On the other hand this form of integrity also increases respect for leaders amongst team members. This gives a chance to team members to interact freely with their leaders or managers and formulate strategies which are aligned with long term success of the organization. According to some researchers, greater consistency which is observed in such authentic leaders facilitates team work. Apart from this characteristic, self-integrity and caring nature are the other essential factors on basis of which authentic leaders can be judged and their contribution towards team can be measured. The major productive method is encouraging team members to come forward with their creative ideas, initiating role play and enabling active participation of team members so that sensible decisions can be taken. Productivity in an organization is basically determined by the extent to which all the members of the team work in collaboration to achieve a common goal. It can be stated that authentic leaders set the right path which needs to be followed by team members so as to achieve desired objectives. These leaders give more emphasis on moral values rather than on framing strategies so as to remain competitive in the industry. The values that are highlighted by authentic leaders lay the base for teamwork within an organization. On the other hand, these leaders to certain extent do not possess transforming skills which is required to bind all the members within a team (Wang, Sui, Luthans, Wang & Wu, 2012, pp. 5-21). This in turn affects the factor of unity which is essential in any teamwork. Hence the productivity of an organization may be affected by authentic leadership, simply because this type of leadership focuses on maintaining moral values rather than developing competitive strategies. Conclusion The findings and analysis of the research indicates that authentic leadership plays a significant role in improving the organizational performance and productivity. This is mainly done through the introduction of proper motivational factors by the leaders in an organization. Authentic leadership has become necessary to steer an organization as well as its employees in the right direction so as to achieve the short term as well as the long term objectives of the organization. This study shows that the quality of leadership in an organization is an essential driver of the performance and efficiency of an organization. The authentic leaders in a company can help to enhance the performances of the employees and to motivate the employees to perform better and accomplish their goals. The analysis and interpretation of the collected data indicates that a suitable level and quality of leadership in an organization can lead to the long term success of the organization through the creation of a positive work environment, organizational culture, collaboration and motivation. It can be interpreted that leadership has many effects in an organization of which, increase in productivity and performance are the most significant and visible impacts. The research is expected to add to the existing literary works that have been previously prepared and presented in this area of study. References Davis, A. (2009). Authentic leadership future-proofing your organizations reputation. Human Resources Magazine, pp. 1-2. Hannah, S., Walumbwa, F., & Fry, L. (2011). Leadership in action teams: team leader and members authenticity, authenticity strength, and team outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 64(3), pp. 771-802. Kothari, C. R. (2011). Research methodology: methods and techniques. New Delhi: New Age International. Malouff, J. M., Alexsandra, C., McGrory, C. M, Murrell, R. L. & Schutte, N. S. (2012).Evidence for a Needs-Based Model of Organizational-Meeting Leadership. Current Psychology, 31 (1), pp. 35-48. Paul, G. W., & Berry, D. M. (2013). The importance of executive leadership in creating a post-merged organizational culture conducive to effective performance management. SA Journal of human resource management, SAJHRM, 11(1), pp.1-15. Tracy, S. J. (2012). Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. New Jersey: John Wiley & sons. Wang, H., Sui, Y., Luthans, F., Wang, D., & Wu, Y. (2012). Impact of authentic leadership on performance: Role of followers positive psychological capital and relational processes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35, pp 5-21. Read More