Classics in Australian Human Resource Management - Satisfied Employees or High Productivity - Essay Example

Classics in Australian Management Name Course Tutor’s Name Date Classics in Australian Management According to the job and work design Philips case, both the organization and the employees suffered the consequences of old systems of operations and work methods. Apart from decreasing productivity level due to inadequate quality control, the Philips had to contend with poor labour relations of dissatisfied and poorly motivated employees. The situation was so dire and necessitated a massive work-restructuring programme to change the prevailing environments and transform the decision-making process. The limiting assembly lines and repetitive work cycle required an overhaul of the boring, unchallenging and tedious production lines to an autonomous and participative workplace. Therefore, in order to ensure employee satisfaction and increase productivity it is vital for organizations to organize their employees into work teams. Although the above issues reported of the Philips case can be resolved through designing work teams, the human resource managers may lack the information and tools necessary to transform the organization in to a team-based workforce. According to Rubin et al., (1977), the two common approaches to work teams include focusing on the team as a sub-unit of management; and designing work teams that enhance effectiveness. As a sub-unit of management, the individuals in the work teams should not be individually managed, but the managing individuals should manage the team as a whole group, and allow the team to oversee the members individually. In order to enhance effectiveness, the work teams should be designed towards employee satisfaction and productivity. As a transition from past practices, the focus on effectiveness and productivity avoids the sole focus on “product” variables in form of conflict, cohesiveness among team members, and decision making. However, with reference to the traditional approach to work teams, the two aspects that matter for the present-time organizations include, management of work teams and participation of the management. Primarily, poor management, for any entity, as well as for the work teams means low satisfaction, low productivity, poor decisions, and conflict. Research has shown that, an organization is better off without work teams than with poorly designed work teams. Similarly, a continuous evaluation, experimentation and objectivity is expected of the management in case of failure in the initially designed work teams. Through frequent assessment, feedback and refinement, the optimal work team design will eventually be achieved (Mohr, 1982). Work and job design – satisfied employees or high productivity Job design in the past occurred either to maximize employee satisfaction – achieved through the uses of psychology-oriented tenets such as enrichment – or to maximize productivity – adopting engineering-oriented principles such as simplification. As such, it was not possible to try and achieve both objectives simultaneously; just as much as designers, scientists and managers have been troubled by the trade-off between efficiency and employee satisfaction. Remedially, the process of designing work teams can serve as a counteractive measure for the baffling trade-off task. For instance the boring, unchallenging and tedious old production lines can be altered by breaking down the assembly into major components and dismantling old assembly lines. This workload sharing and social support characteristic of work teams makes the work more enjoyable without necessarily affecting productivity levels. Consequently, the diversity in skills among the team members means a wider range of potential solutions to a problem; thus, an autonomous and remodeled work place that makes the work enjoyable. A satisfied employee will therefore be motivated to increase production; hence the balance between the trade-off (Cummings, 1978). However, the resulting satisfaction for employees and productivity for the organization is not always a guarantee. For instance, poor coordination within and across the work teams may result in low productivity, conflict and inefficiency. It is imperative therefore, that proper designing be conducted for the work teams. Designing work teams From a study on the four scientific fields associated with work teams – social psychology, organizational behavior, industrial engineering and sociotechnical theory – it was established based on the recommendations for designing work teams that there was a direct correlation between employee satisfaction and organization productivity. The recommendations affect the five areas of human resource management, and are categorized in a descending order. First, the HR must re-examine its staffing procedures while adopting a team structure. Some critical issues that may possibly arise in the novel work environment include diverse membership, team size, and preference for working in teams. Although the choice for most qualified employees was preferred by most managers in the formation of teams, it is also important to have members with experiences and skills that differ and complement the others in order for them to handle a wider range of tasks. The cooperation among the teams members allows for members to learn from each other. However, care should be taken to avoid excessively varied teams as communication breakdowns and conflict may result. Additionally varied teams should be weary of unskilled or less skilled members, as it would negatively impact on the performance of the team (Cummings, 1978). Staffing of teams should be keen on team size, because a relatively large team necessitates excessive coordination, compared to a smaller team. The participation by the members is crucial as employees may feel less involved in large teams. Equally, preference for a certain job designation may affect the employee’s reaction to the job. While some may prefer employees are good team players and work best in teams, other prefer contributing as individuals. Thus the effectiveness of a team will depend on the degree of matching employees in the areas of preferences. Secondly, a move to a team structure will require the HR to adjust the training offered to their employees. Some the major training issues include team training and flexibility. In supporting and developing effective work teams the HR should ensure proper training is accorded to the team members. For example the training should incorporate among other topics, decision-making process of teams, philosophy of teams, technical and communication skills necessary for the members to fulfill their roles. Similarly, the training should include cross-training on various designations among members through rotating assignments. In addition to providing on-the-job-training for the members, the cross-training also reduces absenteeism-related problems, thus increasing flexibility and cooperation among the members (Mohr, 1982). Thirdly, adoption of teamwork will impact performance management. Its is vital for the organization’s performance management system to be modified because employees are often rewarded for what they do. The modifications should consider the types of the teams, the organizational culture and their objectives. While making the adjustments, the major factors to be incorporated include goal dependence, workload sharing and related feedback and rewards. Just as the performance of individual employees is measured on the basis of set goals, work teams ought to be formed with a mission or set goals. Once the goals have been identified, the team spirit can be reinforced interdependently by linking the team’s goals to those of the individual members. Just as the goals are linked, the individual members’ outcomes should be linked. To motivate team-oriented behaviour and ensure each member is a stakeholder in the success of the team, each member should receive feedback and reward on the basis of the team’s performance. Furthermore, determining the individual contribution of employees in a team-based workforce is a difficult task for managers but will be important for the success of the team. The manger should therefore ensure that every member of the team should fulfill their role and avoid depending on others. Although team success might benefit an individual member, each employee should be aware that their contribution can be distinguished from the work of the team and the rewards will be determined by individual performance (Whyte, 1955). Fourth, job design has not been termed a HR function despite its relationship with such issues as compensation levels, employee satisfaction, and training requirements. Nevertheless, acting as advisers to line management, the HR department can revitalize their roles by determining the work structure in the team environment. The team environment allows for self-management, participation, task importance and variety, task wholesomeness, and task independence. The autonomy or self-regulating ability for teams allows for individual decision-making about procedures, assignments and schedules. Depending on the maturity of the members, culture of the organization and nature of their jobs, a team can adopt such designs as self-managing, manager-led or self-designing. Effective work teams enjoy some level of autonomy away from the management control. Once the team becomes autonomous without the interference of the management, decision-making should be conducted by the team members. Participation and self-management makes the members more responsible towards the team’s work product. By availing more information for the decision-making members and letting the employees that encounter most problems decide on the plan of action, the quality of the decisions made will improve dramatically. Allowing a member to partake of a variety of tasks within the team revives the otherwise hidden skills and use wider range of experiences. Tasks considered rather boring or uninteresting will thus be distributed among team members. Acknowledging and appreciating the tasks team members do as vital for the organization will motivate them to further satisfy the customers and improve business performance. Increasing the responsibility of teams such as putting the members in charge of a segment or product increases motivation by enhancing their sense of responsibility, control, and ownership of a meaningful piece of work (Whyte, 1955). Lastly, employee relations incorporate labour-management relations, communications and morale building. HR may provide advisory services to line managers and supervisors concerning labour relations. Consequently, teams must be focused and confident on delivery and effectiveness, especially if supervisors and managers coach and lead them. Effective work teams derive social support through interacting and helping each other. Additionally, cooperation and communication within and between teams translates to effectiveness and improved performance for the organization. Finally, managerial support will serve to prevent failure of well laid plans for a team-based workforce. Therefore, with well-designed teams from the outset, a team-based workforce can ensure increased productivity for the organization and satisfied employees. References Whyte, W. F. (1955). Money and Motivation: An Analysis of Incentivism in Industry." New York: Harper. Mohr. L. B. (1982). Explaining Orgalli:::.alionalIkl/(/rioT. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Rubin, I. M., M. S. Plovnick, and R. E. Fry. (1977). Task-Oriented Team Development. New York: McGraw-Hill. Cummings. T. C. (1978). "Self-Hegulating Work Croups: A Socio-Teehnical Synthesis:' Acadell/Y oj Mallogelllelli Hedell' 2. no. 3 (July): 62.'5-34. Belbin, R. M. (l981).Management Teallls:Why They Succeed ,,/' rail. London: Heincmann. Read More