Staff Management - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... If we take these factors into consideration, we find that in hotels there is usually a respect for authority which makes the employees defer to their superiors and operate in the circle of ownership that they have over their jobs. Hence, what can be done within their purview, they do that well and leave the rest to the control system to tell them their specific duties. By empowering employees at all levels, Becker has introduced what can be called uncertainty in the decision-making the process as the case highlights how employees are unsure of what they are supposed to do and hence seeking direction on even the minute aspects. Though the intention here is not to belittle empowerment, there are places where employees need to be assigned specific jobs with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and this is one such instance (Joiner, 2001, 238). Individual behavior, in this case, is a classic example of how empowerment leads to the wrong results if not managed properly. The case illustrates the need for direct supervision along with clearly defined roles and responsibilities for the staff that stems from a command and control system with each level doing what they are supposed to do under strict conditions of regulation. Though the intentions of Becker are noble, he just happened to have implemented them in the wrong manner leading to the outcomes described in the case. In conclusion, it can be said that Becker was in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the wrong set of people.
Organizational Culture
The culture of the organization before Becker took over is an example of top-down control with limited autonomy at each level and employees at all levels being clearly told what to do and how to do it. Once Becker took over and started the process of empowerment, there was a "culture" shock in the hotel which led to chaos and confusion and loss of productivity and direction. These are all symptoms of how an organization reared in the culture of authoritarian decision making and centralized authority reacts when there is a shakeup in the way the organization goes about its business. As mentioned in the previous section, the intentions of Becker are noble but they just happened to be applied to the wrong organization (Ashkanasy, 2003, 303).
The point here is that hotels can be run in autonomous fashion provided they have a culture of openness right from the beginning. And if changes to the culture are supposed to be brought in, they must be done in a gradual and graduated manner instead of introducing them all at once. This saves the organization and the employees in it a lot of trouble as culture shocks can be managed and the transition to another organizational culture done in an orderly and smooth manner. Hence, when introducing changes to the organizational culture, care must be taken to follow the due diligence process and not jump into unchartered territory (Schein, 1990, 90).
The hotel described in the case was being run in an efficient manner with the culture being one of command and control with elements of delegation and role definition is clearly laid down. So, when Becker took over and started his reorganization methods, it did not go down too well with the employees who were used to a different ...Download file to see next pagesRead More