The influence of leadership style on the interpersonal relationship between employees and employers - Essay Example

Interview Analysis In the view of Bagley (2006), leadership is “the ability to guide and motivate a group of people to a common purpose.” To this end, Allen (2006) defines a leader as one “who can visualize a better world in the future and is able to convince others to join him or her on the journey.” This is to explain that leadership is all about guiding a group of people towards achieving a common goal. Leadership is needed for the growth of companies, organizations, institutions and even countries. As a matter of fact, a leader’s qualities, style and strategies can determine to a very large extent, whether or not the people or organization he is leading will succeed or fail. In view of the importance of leaders to succeed in their leadership however, several leadership styles, strategies and qualities have been propounded by scholars and philosophers. Based on these qualities and strategies, it is believed that the kind of qualities a leader possesses and the sort of strategies he puts in place in his leadership can do or undo his group. To this effect, and based on a number of leadership strategies available in literature, a number of interview questions were developed and administered on 5 employees in an U.S organization to find from them what they expect from their leaders. These expectations have been grouped into four themes and analyzed in terms of leadership qualities and strategies as propounded in existing literature. Based on information in literature about strategies and qualities leaders can possess to succeed, the following themes were developed; based on which questions were also developed and interviewed to 5 employees in one organization. The themes are: The influence of leadership style on the interpersonal relationship between employees and employers The role of appraisal to building effective human resource relations at the workplace The effect of rewards in encouraging workers to put up their best at the workplace The role of motivation to increasing the rate of productivity at the workplace Using promotion as a tool for improving worker efficiency Data Analysis Plan The interview was administered on five (5) employees. These employees were interviewed on a one-on-one basis with the interviewer. They were all to answer the same questions, which had been broken down into five sections to represent the five themes. Each section had two major questions. The results obtained from each employee were recorded on separate sheets of papers, after which a qualitative analysis was applied. The qualitative analysis did not involve the use mathematical diagrams, charts and tables. Rather, it made use of objective evaluation of the results in a holistic manner where conclusions on responses were taken judging from what the majority of workers without giving specific numbers as to what each respondent said. Below is an evaluation and report from information gathered in the interview as pertains to each theme. The information have been evaluated and analyzed by comparing and contrasting them to current leadership literature, some of which have been quoted in the report. The influence of leadership style on the interpersonal relationship between employees and employers There are several leadership styles but for the sake of this exercise, three leadership styles were used. These leadership styles are laissez faire style, autocratic style, and participative style. According to Legacee Management System (2011) these three leadership styles fall under the classical leadership style. According to Legacee Management System (2011), “The laissez faire style implies low control, the autocratic style high control and the participative lies somewhere in between.” Based on explanation of the three leadership styles, the employees were asked which of them existed at their in their organization. From the description of the leadership style that goes on in their organization, it was deduced that four of them pointed to autocratic leadership style where as one pointed to participative leadership style. It was eminent from their response that the autocratic style was being used at their workplace. According to the employees interviewed, they wished their leaders could be more democratic and involve workers in decision making. The employees reported that because their leaders want to take up all the decision making responsibility and place so much pressure on workers, the workers at times feel rebellious and uncooperative. The workers reported that even when they have to work, they do so reluctantly and do not give off their best. Comparing what goes on in literature, it can be established that leaders in the organization can get the best out of their employees should they resort to participative leadership style. This is in line with what Clark (2010) posits saying, “if you have the time and want to gain more commitment and motivation from your employees, then you should use the participative style.” The role of appraisal to building effective human resource relations at the workplace Appraisal is the process of evaluating the work of employees and giving them feedback on their performance. According to Landau (2009), “The appraisal system is commonplace for many employers. It is a yearly and sometimes bi-yearly opportunity for your employer to provide a formal and meaningful report on whether you have met expected standards, and what areas require improvement”. To this effect, all five employees interviewed explained that they receive regular appraisal from their leaders. They indicated this, stating however that the appraisal system mostly take an informal form. From the literature reviewed from Landau, it can be established that this is a very good initiative in place in the organization. Once workers are appraised, they are made to know their weaknesses and strengths. Appraisal is also a form of building effective human relationship at the workplace because the period of appraisal, especially when it is done through oral meeting gives employees the chance to interact with their employers and make inputs as to how they want organizations to be run. An important aspect of appraisal is that it serves as the basis for decision making on employees and once decisions are made, it gives employees trust in those decisions. Appraisal gives employers basis to take decisions on promotion and dismissal. It also gives employers information for salary adjustment and other forms of rewards. Appraisal helps in deciding who to motivate, how to motivate and at what time to motivate. With an effective appraisal system in place, all workers accept such decisions as promotion, dismissal, salary adjustment and motivation. This is because the series of appraisal that might have taken place might have directly or indirectly revealed to them, which of them deserve these. This way, once such decisions are taken, both the employees on whom the decisions are taken and other co-employees accept the decisions in good faith and do not complain of unfairness. The role of motivation to increasing the rate of productivity at the workplace Velez (2010) explains that motivation is “the characteristic that is required in order to achieve anything in life; without it you will give up at the first sign of adversity. It means to inspire, instigate and encourage a person to do their best.” This explanation given by Velez elaborates the importance of motivation at the workplace. Motivation comes in different forms and can be applied at different times. The two commonest forms of motivation are material and non-material motivation. With material motivation, workers are given tangible things whereas with non-material motivation, workers are given remarks such as praises and promotion. Through the interview, workers revealed that though they are motivated at times, the motivation is not forthcoming. They say the only time they see any motivation coming their way is when the year ends and they are given bonuses. This is not a good practice as far as productivity is concerned. This is because scholars argue that motivation has a direct relation with productivity. According to various studies, staff motivation and higher motivation of workers leads to increased productivity: then as productivity rises, the company can benefit because the company becomes more efficient (Word Press, 2009). Motivation serves as a catalyst for encouraging workers to give off their best when working. Motivation is able to lead to increased productivity because it is has a psychological effect on the worker whenever motivation is forthcoming. In this direction, it is suggested that the company improves on its motivation system to workers. As regularly as possible, workers should be motivated. This may be done through simple means such as writing well done notes for workers. The leadership can also decide to show concern in the everyday activities of workers such as their birthday and other public festivals. During such periods, leaders can buy cards for their workers just to show that they are concerned. As these practices go on, they can serve as motivation for workers to give off their best. The effect of rewards in encouraging workers to put up their best at the workplace Reward as used in this context refers to wages, remuneration and salaries. Workers would want to receive meaningful pay according to the work they do. This is an effective way to encouraging workers to give off their best. To this effect, the interview reviewed that workers receive very good pay according to the work they do. Meanwhile, one major concern raised by the five employees interviewed was the fact that they do suspect that they are not being paid equal salaries for equal work done. In the view of Krattenmaker (2002) “Human resources professionals believe—and the new survey confirms—that employees are particularly keen on knowing they are being paid fairly relative to their peers inside the organization.” This is a serious shortfall for the organisation. Workers pay is an important issue when talking about output of work by workers. When two employees do the same piece of work and for whatever reason one is paid more than the other; especially when they have the same qualification, the one who is paid less feels cheated therefore develops apathy towards work. Strategic leadership would therefore seek to pay employees the same salary for the same work and qualification. The employees interviewed commented that if for any reason theirs would want to pay another worker more, it should be made clear that that is only a reward and not something that is going to happen on a regular basis. The interview, which took place on a one-on-one basis, however saw employees express surprise that they are aware that some of their colleagues do not take the same pay as they do. Using promotion as a means to promote worker efficiency Promotion at the work place comes when one employee is raised in rank. Promotions are leadership strategies to encourage workers to improve on their efficiency. Once promoted, a worker is challenged to give off his best in anticipation for another promotion. Those who are not promoted are also encouraged to put up their best for future promotions. The National Business Research Institute, NBRI, (2010) argues that promotion is an effective way to get to the hearts of employees. According to them, promotions are indication to employees that once they work hard, their effect will be rewarded. During the interview, the employees revealed that because the organizational structure at their workplace is very small, promotion do not happen very often. They said the organization was very small and did not have a lot of senior ranks where junior ranks could be promoted to. It also came up that even in cases where leaders wanted certain positions at the top to be occupied they relied on recruitment rather than promotion. When workers are not assured of secured promotions, they hardly stay in a particular organization for long. Promotion therefore leads to worker retention. This is because after workers work for certain number of years, they feel challenged to take up higher positions to match their experience and qualification. If such positions do not exist in their workplace, they are left with no other option than to look to places where they can find these positions. In other therefore for the organization to retain its experienced workers, it is advised that there become positions created at the top where deserving workers can occupy. This however does not defeat the fact that recruitment is important for bringing diversity to a particular organization. Once new people are recruited to take up positions in organizations, they come along with new ideas and initiatives. Summary and Recommendation Much of the success of an organization depends on leaders. Their style of leadership and their leadership behavior and strategies determines the future of the organization. It is suggested that the company leadership take to participative leadership style as suggested by the workers interviewed. With participative leadership style, the organization can be assured that all employees will bring their ideas on board to enhance the development of the work. Again, it is recommended that the appraisal system in place be maintained and carried out on a regular basis. If possible, this should take the form of roundtable meeting where all employees will be witness to their appraisal their colleagues receive. This way, employees will be witnesses to why a particular employee should receive promotion or motivation or any form of reward. Also, it is advised that the system of payment of workers should be synchronized to ensure that employees doing equal work with equal qualifications are paid equally. If there will be the need for some employees to receive anything more, it should be made clear that they are receiving that as motivation and there should be proof that they deserve it. Under no circumstance should any employee be made to receive higher pay for no explained reason as this is not a credible leadership behavior. As far as worker motivation is concerned, it is suggested that motivation should be very regular and should not always be in monetary form. There could be alternatives such as verbal and written congratulatory notes. Finally, it is recommended that positions be created within the organization where deserving, experienced and hardworking workers can fill. Though recruitment is a good idea, is should be done along with internal promotion. REFERENCE LIST Allen, D. “What is your definition of Leadership” http://wichita.kumc.edu/fcm/documents/Ten%20questions%20about%20Leadership.pdf 2006, Web. 11th February, 2011 from Bagley, B. “What is your definition of Leadership” http://wichita.kumc.edu/fcm/documents/Ten%20questions%20about%20Leadership.pdf 2006. Web 11th February, 2011 Clark D “Leadership Style” 2010, http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html Web. 12th March 2011 Landau, P., “The appraisal system: what are your rights of challenge?” http://careers.guardian.co.uk/appraisal-challenge-rights-legal Careers guardian, 2009. Web. Access 20 January 2011 Legacee Management System “Types of Leadership” http://www.legacee.com/Info/Leadership/LeadershipStyles.html 2011. Web 12th March 2011 Velez, S., "What Is Motivation" http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Is-Motivation&id=945902 Ezine Articles, 2010. Web Accessed 18 January 2011 Read More