The Way People Are Managed Is Vital for the Performance of Any Organization - Essay Example

Student name: Professor: Course: Semester: Date: Table of contents 1.0 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….3 2.0 Employee compensation…………………………………………………………………….4 2.1 Employee training and development……………………………………………………….5 2.2 Employee counseling…………………………………………………………………………6 2.3 Job satisfaction………………………………………………………………………………7 3.0 Studies refuting the view that how people are managed is vital for the performance of any organization…….....................................................................................................................7 4.0 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………....8 References …………………………………………………………………………………….…9 The way people are managed is vital for the performance of any organization 1.0 Introduction Until recently, human resource has not been considered instrumental in the performance of any successful company. But in the wake of increased competition due to opening up of business to the world economies, companies are slowly realizing the importance of attracting and retaining highly skilled and quality workforce as a vital component of their competitive advantage in a dynamic business world (Yuile, Chang & Sawang, 2012). Previous sources of competitive advantage have become less important overtime due to sustained supply of technical knowhow and technology products. A firm’s success has always been attributed to strong emphasis on product and process technology, access to finance, economies of scale and several other factors relating to the business. Notably however, it has become clear that the selection and management of quality workforce is a critical factor to organizational success. Human Resource practitioners in many companies are tasked with developing new and innovative ways to attract and retain quality workforce (Certo, 2011). In light of this understanding it is evident that the human resource function of any organization is a vital factor of production and in fact it is regarded as the most important component. Not all schools of thought agree with this notion though. There exist studies that don’t contend to this view. Under the subsequent sub-headings in this paper, I will delve into supporting the statement that how people are managed is important for the performance of any organization. I will also briefly highlight views that don’t support this assumption. 2.0 Employee compensation Employees are motivated by several factors to give maximum productivity at the organization they work for. It is true that many employees prefer to work in a fulfilling career that where they enjoy doing what they do every day. But at the end of the day if they is no adequate pay to take care of the bills, you don’t have a reason working for that organization not unless you have no option. It is therefore vital that organizations adequately compensate their employees to keep them motivated to work. When there is enough pay to take care of an individual’s obligations, he will gladly do his part as required by the organization (Yuile et al, 2012). Another question concerning the compensation issue is just how much is enough to pay your employees? Do you base it on the level of qualification one has? Do you have a flat rate for everybody who works for your organization or should you base the pay on the job done? These are the several questions that a human resource function should address as they have a big impact on how employees view equity and fair treatment in the sense of compensation. As noted by Yuile et al (2012), if a person feels he is receiving low pay than a person with his/her qualifications, he/she is likely to be less motivated to work. Equally preferential pay treatment within the organization is likely to have some employees unmotivated. Apart from an attractive pay package, employees also value non-cash benefits such as medical covers and holidays fully covered by the organization. When an employee feel that the management is not only interested in making money from exploiting his knowledge, skills and energy, he is motivated to give even better performance for the company since it values him. Many companies usually have their employees on yearly vacations in attractive destinations with the costs fully covered by the company. This serves to motivate them and also arouse a feeling of belonging in the employees. 2.1 Employee training and development The knowledge acquired in universities and colleges is just not enough to prepare somebody to effectively perform his duties and face challenges. New employees have to acquire organizational specific knowledge to fit into the organization (Eraut, 2004). The human resource management is therefore charged with the duty of training and inducting new employees on the how to go about the activities in the positions they are assigned. As companies acquire new technologies and production methods, employees have to be trained on how the technology works if at all the goals and objectives of the new technology are to be met. Companies invest massive resources in training employees externally on new technologies that they are about to acquire. This will not only increase the number of skills that the employee has thereby increasing his value, but it will also benefit the company in terms of having highly skilled workers who are knowledgeable in new technologies and production methods (Certo, 2011). Personal development of employees is very vial in motivating employees and preparing them to face challenges. An employee who is well trained and developed has a lot of confidence in himself and is able to critically analyze situations and come up with creative ways of solving some unique problems that the management might not be having prior knowledge on. 2.2 Employee counseling Employee counseling is one phenomenon that emphasizes how supportive measures in the organization can improve a company’s performance. It is becoming a common phenomenon in many corporates today as pressure at the work place increases at the same rate with pressure in employees’ lives. Many successful organizations with a large workforce have to deal with issues of stress and other personality issues amongst their employees (Coles, 2003). It is important that any organization should be concerned about the well being of its employees so that the workforce can be in the right frame of mind. It has an indirect impact on the organizational effectiveness and also the productivity of the organization. According to Coles (2003), about 25% of the difficulties and problems experienced by employees that result in stress are work related. Counseling support can have a significant positive impact on sickness absence among employees. It is capable of contributing to significant improvements on most attitude-to-work factors such as opportunity for control, skills use, job demand, interpersonal contact, adequacy of pay and job satisfaction. As a result of this improvement, employees’ attitude can change positively all to the benefit of the management as they will have an easy time dealing with employees and controlling emotions. It is more productive working with a team that is determined to achieve common objectives than working with unmotivated team with all the wrong attitudes towards work. Counseling is not just meant to the benefit of the employees as may be the notion in some quarters, but it is also to the best interest of the organization to show that the company cares about the employees as an important segment of its stakeholders. 2.3 Job satisfaction The human resource function is also tasked with outlining the responsibilities for every job in the organization. This means that the roles have to be clearly outlined for every body. Once the responsibilities have been outline, then the skills required to perform these responsibilities have to be determined. It is important that at the point of recruitment and selection all these factors are put into consideration when placing the individual who is better suited for the job to ensure job satisfaction (Vijande, Sanchez & Mieres, 2012). The human resource should take care to ensure that people are assigned jobs that they are capable of accomplishing. People should also have jobs that fulfill them in terms of desired level of challenges and experience. This is in line with the understanding that to some employees, it is not all about money but also about self actualization and other benefits like fame and recognition that come with holding coveted positions and accomplishing tasks that will be remembered long after they leave the organization (Low & Bordia, 2011). 3.0 Studies refuting the view that how people are managed is vital for the performance of any organization How people are managed is not in itself a factor that has a substantial effect on the productivity of an organization. A company with a well articulated vision and mission can be able to reach its objective through proper planning and implementation of its plans (Smallman, McDonald & Mueller, 2010). This does not entirely dismiss the fact that the plans will be implemented by the human resource. It is worthy noting that every person in an organization has his personal ambitions and aspirations. It is not possible or even logical that an organization strives to please each an every person depending on his/her interpretation of proper treatment. Organizations have targets and objectives to achieve and if an employee cannot stand the pressure, the organization has to make a rational decision of relieving him and seeking a capable employee (Murray & Grant, 2006). The process of selection and recruitment of people is vital for organizations as it is the point where employers can identify the right candidates for the open positions. This will ensure that the organization does not go through hard times managing people relations and training their staff. This therefore stresses on the conviction that selection of human resource has a large part to play on the performance of an organization more than how an organization manages its people. 4.0 Conclusion As it can be deduced from the discussion in this paper, how people are managed in an organization has a large impact on the performance of the organization. In the face of changing corporate world and changing personal lives, it is imperative that companies adopt different improved styles to managing people in the organization. Organizations which have employees that are highly motivated usually find no problem achieving their objectives as the employees work as a team and a family with common goals and objectives that they are ready to go beyond their obligations to ensure they are attained. References Certo .S., 2011, Modern Managemnt: Concepts and Skills, Pearson Education Coles.A., (2003).counseling in the workplace, McGraw-hill International Eraut.M., (2004) Transfer of Knowledge between education and workplace settings. Studies in Continuing Education, 26,2 Murray.P., Grant.J., 2006, Contemporary Issues in Management and Organizational Behavior, Routledge Low.C., Bordia.P.,(2011) A career stage perspective on employees’ preferred psychological contract contributions and inducements: journal of management and organization, 17, 729-746 Smallman.C., McDonald.G., Mueller.J., (2010) Governing the corporation; structure process and behavior, journal of management and organization, 16: 194-198 Vijande.M., Sanchez.J., Mieres.G., (2012) Organizational learning, innovation and performance in KIBS: jounal of management and organaisation,18, 6, 870-904 Yuile.c., Chang.A., Sawang.S., (2012) The role of life friendly policies on employees’ work-life balance: journal of management and organization, 18, 1, 53-63 Read More