Developing High-Performance Teams in Alcan Australia Limited - Case Study Example

DEVELOPING HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAMS A case study of Alcan Australia Limited Executive summary The purpose of this report was to study the concept of creating high performance teams in light of the Alcan Australia Company. A brief description of the company is given by this report. Two concepts have been discussed. The concepts are motivation and success with regard to the leadership training program in Alcan Australia Company. The report has highlighted the factors behind the success of the company’s leadership training program as well as the principles of motivation that are incorporated in the program. The report has given comprehensive information on the concepts in question and come up with a conclusion and recommendations thereof. A case study of Alcan Australia Limited Introduction Alcan, one of the world’s principal suppliers of minerals-especially bauxite, aluminum, and alumina is a high-ranking provider of packaging materials and engineering equipment. Alcan Australia Limited founded in 1902 is currently a chief campaigner for upholding sustainability as the tool for creation of value and durable growth. Each of the company’s four business divisions holds a substantial market share in the United States of America and across Europe. Alcan has gained global acknowledgment from the world's most celebrated companies in the areas of corporate social responsibility, environmental leadership, welfare and safety superiority, and supremacy. Alcan is well known for the prominence it gives to such important concepts as employee motivation and leadership training programs. It has been benchmarked by many firms for its prosperity in creating high performance teams. The key reasons for the success of Alcan’s leadership training programs Leadership is one of the key functions of management. It is also known as the directing function. It is a function concerned with guiding people in a team. It entails such concepts as the chain of command, giving instructions, unity of command, responsibility and authority and informal groups within an organization. Leaders in an organization include all members of the top management, the department heads, supervisors and the leaders of informal groups within the organization. It is however worth noting that a leader and a manager are two different people. Leaders challenge the status quo while managers work hard to retain the status quo. Unlike managers, Leaders have a tendency to work with far sighted planning horizons (Price, 2011). Leadership training programs have been a big success at Alcan. The success of training programs can be attributed to various reasons. One of the most important reasons for the success of training programs at Alcan is assertive and efficient communication. Communication is the process through which messages and ideas are conveyed from one party known as the sender, to another party called the recipient, followed by an appropriate feedback (Price, 2011). Alcan embraces a very effective and dependable system of communication in effecting its training programs. The organizational structure of the Alcan Company promotes both effective horizontal and vertical communication. Horizontal communication refers to conveyance of information between two or more parties who are at the same level in the organization. Vertical communication is the conveyance of information between two or more parties who are at the same level in the organizational structure. Alcan’s trainers maintain good contact and strong communication links with the workforce and fresh recruits. This enhances cooperation that makes training more effective and successful. The most important tool in training is a reliable communication system. Another important factor behind the success of the company’s leadership training programs is the manner in which they manage, plan and organize their time and schedule. Time Management is an integral part of the training function of the human resource team. The company adopts on-the job system of training as a way of being economical with the use of time. On-the-job training is a concept human resource management that entails training of employees as they work. This approach does not require the staff to leave their places of work so as to attend training sessions. It is a practical approach since the employees go about their duties as they train. The practical aspect of this approach makes it more efficient. It achieves the aims of training more than the off-the-job training (Werner et al, 2012). Alcan’s adoption of this method of training is one of the greatest contributors to the success of the leadership training programs. The successfulness of the leadership training programs in Alcan Australia Limited is associated with their appreciation of a tendency to manage and build teams. Many scholarly researchers and management gurus have established that training people in leadership is more effective and efficient when carried out in groups. Grouping trainees facilitate the formation of informal factions among them. The effectiveness of informal groups has had a lasting positive impact on the performance of an organization (Werner et al, 2012). Such effectiveness also impacts favorably on the successfulness of a training program. Teamwork is considered a long-term asset at Alcan Australia Limited. Teamwork is associated with cooperation and effective communication. Informal groups have leaders who are usually very influential among other members of staff. During the process of delegation, such informal leaders are given priority. In the process, training grounds for future leaders are established are established. A concept that has changed the nature and effectiveness of leadership training programs at Alcan is change management. This concept entails engaging a team of change managers in the training process. Change managers are entrusted with the task of effecting change in an organization. Employees in almost all organizations have a tendency to resist change. Resistance to change is one of the greatest challenges facing organizations in all nations across the world (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009). Introduction of the concept of change management makes adoption of new technologies and current trends easier and more practicable. The personnel department of Alcan works in collaboration with the change management experts in training the staff and newly recruited employees. This is aimed at introducing the most current ideologies at the initial stages of training, orientation and the overall process of employee induction. Change managers and experts at Alcan are outsourced to ensure the introduction of a wide array of ideas. Effective Delegation is one of the factors behind the success of the leadership training program in Alcan Australia Limited. The delegation has been defined as one of the most effective ways of training future managers from within the organization. Delegation is the process of giving some decision making authority to junior employees. This is done with an aim of training employees on how to lead, supervise and manage others (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009). It’s the most effective aspect of leadership training since it is practical and is done in real job situations. It accounts for a big percentage of the success of the leadership training in the company. Managers under the instructions of the human resource department delegate decision making authority to junior employees as part of the leadership training program. It is however worth noting that delegation does not work effectively with newly established firms. For that reason, Alcan began adopting the concept of delegation after being in business for over four decades. This was to allow time for maturity of the structures and systems of the organization. Other factors favoring the success of the leadership training program in Alcan Australia Limited include: the introduction of emotional intelligence, situational leadership and participative management for new leaders and managers. Emotional intelligence entails the employment of feelings and emotions in the workplace. Researchers and management experts have found out that emotions at the workplace have both positive and negative effects. For instance anger and resentment comes with negative results. Excessive excitement may cause panic and divert people’s focus. Positive emotions on the other hand have positive impacts on the productivity of a company (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009). It is for this reason that Alcan Australia Limited has taken the step of introducing emotional intelligence at the place of work and particularly in the training process. The motivation principles highlighted by Alcan’s leadership training program Motivation is a management function aimed at boosting employee morale and enhances staff enthusiasm. Motivated employees work with determination and feel attached to the company unlike those who are not motivated at all. Through motivation, members of the top management, who are the shareholder’s stewards, give the junior employees more reason why they should work in the organization (Price, 2011). Alcan’s management realizes the essence of motivation and that is why it is an integral part of the leadership training program. The personnel department of the company has come up with and implemented motivation principles in the leadership training program. These principles are meant to provide motivated and enthusiastic human resources. The first of these motivation principles is setting challenging and inspirational goals. Challenging objectives give the staff members the urge to prove themselves with the task. A challenging and seemingly unattainable goal makes the employees work harder than they would have worked under a situation with simple goals. Objectives that easy to achieve promote laxity in the workplace (Biech, 2009). Working under challenging circumstances and strict deadlines eliminates laziness within the organization. Inspirational and challenging objectives have been the core of motivation in Alcan Australia Limited. The second principle of motivation integrated in the leadership training program of Alcan limited is: appreciating and making use the talents and skills of the employees. During the recruitment process and in the course of work the supervisors and managers identify the talents that exist among the workers. The management then employs such talent in the most appropriate way. Duties and tasks can at times be assigned in accordance to natural skill and talent (Biech, 2009). The personnel department of Alcan argues that an employee who is better placed to use his talent and skill will be motivated than one who is placed in a position where his skill and talent are irrelevant. For this reason, supervisors of the junior employees and the shop floor operatives are trained and directed to identify talent and outstanding skill among the employees for motivational purposes. The third principle of motivation that is applied to the leadership training program is that of showing considerably higher levels of confidence and expectation in employees. Once an employee feels trusted and believed in, he or she works with an immense sense of responsibility and accountability. They enjoy the feeling of being right and this motivates them to work even harder in a bid to gain more trust since trust is associated with advantages such as promotions, rewards and so on. The difference between an employee who is trusted and one who is not is that the trusted one works with enthusiasm and has a sense of belonging while the one who the management has little confidence in, works because he is obliged to(Biech, 2009). Definitely, the company cannot expect similar results from the two. The fourth principle of motivation is creating an improved and encouraging working environment. A well enhanced and exciting work environment encourages the employees. A depressing and boring work surrounding does not give an employee the urge to put more effort (Biech, 2009).10 Steps to Successful Training. A lively environment eliminates incidences of absenteeism, and promotes punctuality. Alcan’s human resource department is concerned with the welfare of employees as well as good working conditions and a comfortable office setting. Where the working conditions are not friendly, the staff will not be productive because they worry about the state of their working environment diverts their attention and as a result, they lose focus. The last of the key principles of motivation is creating unity and cohesiveness. The creation of shared views and interests goes hand in hand with informal groups. Informal groups work as a team. Much as they are not recognized in the official organization structure of Alcan Australia Limited, the management is aware of their existence and though not expressly, it encourages such groups since they are the building blocks of team spirit. Competition among the informal groups may yield positive results on the productivity of the organization as a whole. Working as a team is a source of motivation for team members encourage the weak and slow ones hence increasing the overall team performance and consequently the organizational performance improves (Werner et al, 2012). Conclusion In conclusion, the success of the leadership training program in Alcan Australia Limited can be attributed to the above discussed factors. The role of motivation has come out clearly in this report. It is therefore conclusive to say that Alcan Australia Limited has attained its market leader position through employment of such concepts as teamwork, motivation, employee welfare promotion and participative management. It is worth noting that the working environment and office conditions have great impacts on the performance of a company. Alcan limited gives prominence to this factor and the results have been observed over the years. Recommendations and implementation From the report, a number of recommendations can be made. Key among them, companies especially the ones dealing in manufacturing business should concentrate on improving and maintaining high standards as far as working environment is concerned. This evidently has a great impact on the motivation of employees. Companies should as well integrate motivation into their training programs. Motivation impacts positively on productivity. Concepts that reduce unnecessary bureaucracies such as participative management and delegation should be given room in all organizations. References Biech, E. (2009).10 Steps to Successful Training. New York. The American Society for Training and Development Gitman, L. & McDaniel, C. (2009).The Future of Business: The Essentials (4th Edition). London. Cengage Learning Price, A. (2011). Human Resource Management (4th Edition). London. Cengage Learning EMEA Werner, S., Schuler, R.S. & Jackson, S. (2012) Human Resource Management (11th Edition). London. Cengage Learning Read More