Prerogative Has Been Abused - Essay Example

? Prerogative Has Been Abused Managerial prerogative is a thorny issue in human resources dis s and yes, it is an the recent assertions that managers abuse their mandates seem true. Increasingly, employees are largely dissatisfied with their bosses, as studies that encompass management studies and research rise (Price, 2007). While some argument thrust that managers have been doing their role by stamping their authority, others reckon that privileges have been over-emphasized and abused. For the managers who over-stamp their authority and power, increased criticism from their juniors’ makes a number of them to be hole-up, timid, aggressive and indifferent (Price, 2007). These arguments are compounded with the hard economic times that make employers pile pressure on employees to deliver, with managers being the crux in pendulum. Increasingly, managers experience ambivalence trying to please both sides, thus choosing predominantly the former (Golan, 2005). Therefore, some are involved in bullying other employees in the lower ranks, thus the rising term called Workplace Bullying or Narcissism (Bernadi, 2001). This paper seeks to address the traditional roles that managers ought to play and how they have abused them. In this it is tailored on exploring the dynamics of micromanagement, recruitments issues, harassment and abuses vented on juniors, the dilemma of customer relations and role conflict, employee dissatisfaction and the psycho-social as well as the economic related impacts of managerial actions against on employees. Overall, managers should be responsible for the management of employee relations. This includes employee selection and recruitment, as well as their classification and determination of compensation. Beyond this, managers initiate employee training and capacity development, besides facilitating negotiations for payment agreements and other relevant harmonization (Price, 2007). Broadly, the phenomenon of managers overstepping their mandate can be viewed in the following ways. Today, a number of companies employ people without formalized accord and some do so ‘at-will contracts’ (Price, 2007). Whereas some managers are open and rational to this arrangement, a few managers take advantage of this unfortunate affair. It is not surprising thus to witness managers terminating employees for any reason they deem fit, sometimes basing their decisions on pure discrimination and ‘whistle-blowing’. This largely creates conflict in the workplace (Price, 2007). A number of reports indicate that a good number of managers exhibit harassment to their subordinates, some sexual in nature. No wonder, a number of acts and pieces of legislations, the world over, prohibit discriminatory harassment including sexual harassment (Frankaro, 2007). The other area where managers seem to overstep their boundaries is in management of customer relationship and employee interaction. Related to this is placing bottlenecks of employees’ communication with clients and sometimes within themselves, tailored around the ‘ebb and flow’ of communication as defined by the management. Sometimes, managers consciously or unconsciously inhibit the flow of communication between workers to promote witch-hunting and cause incitement. Most of them are not cognizant of the fundamental requirement associated with this and sometimes base their fear and defensive action on their insecurities and inferiority complex (Gollan, 2005). Actions of some employers represented by the managers are de-motivating to employees. Micro-management is an issue that many employees detest. The practice sometimes arises from the concern of most managers to have particulars mini-details, and pressure to deliver results within a particular unreasonable timeline (Gennard, 2006). Much as it has been argued that micromanagement is effective to bring lazy and procrastinating employees into action, oftentimes, micromanagements could be based on pure inferiority complex and other set of insecurities or as a strategy to dismiss an employee. In order to achieve these, the manager can maliciously raise standards of work that he/she is aware a particular employee will not perform and then finds an excuse to dismiss the employee. Besides, based on such pressure, the employee may leave voluntarily because of emotional setbacks in the environment (Gollan, 2005). Further, managers are in the habit of believing that they are the only ones who can do a job better and fail to delegate or when they do so, they develop mechanisms of micromanaging the assignment or tasks assigned to the employee/group of employees. This has the potential of manager being surrounded by ‘yes’ men, even though sometimes yes men are effective to ensure things move forward (Fankaro, 2007). In addition, it cushions manager’s attitudes of being closed-minded to fresh ideals and strategies at work (Frankaro, 2007), with increasing expression that this ‘has been the tradition of this company’ and oftentimes, employees are left out in decision-making process (Price, 2007). This position has however been supported by pundits that employees especially new ones ought to fit into traditions, and thus managers exhibiting this stand are making no mistakes. In addition, such managers are in the habit of directing juniors, and not empowering them, and are at the centre of everything. Additionally, such people are usually more involved in asking for unnecessary detailed reports however irrelevant the details concomitance to the work required is; they are keener on the pecking order details (Price, 2007). Overall, the impacts of wrong managerial decisions are many. overall, physiologists reckons that the actions and wrong behavior of managers may lead to blame game, less productivity, illness accruing from stress, eating abnormalities, lack of proper sleep, and depression. Others include propensity to alcohol addiction, deliberate resignation and absenteeism, and suicidal tendencies (Bernadi, 2001). Specifically, the effects include disengagement of workers. When employers and managers mismanage employees there is likelihood of apathy, which is tailored around only an employee giving time but not good production, and increasingly people develop the notion that their inputs are not trusted (Leat, 2007). Secondly, it leads to resentment because of loss of persuasiveness to do the right thing at work, and therefore less productivity. In relation to this, anger and bitterness set into employees and the thought of exiting becomes the norm (Balle, 2011). In addition, employees become timid in taking initiatives and making sacrifices since they feel that whatever they do is not positively sanctioned. To the Manager, walling-up and shutting-down his/her effort becomes the order of the day since she/he will harbor the belief that no one listens (Balle, 2011). Interestingly, behaviors of managers such bullying has led to incidences of physical confrontations and violence in the workplace. Bernadi (2011), for example, reports a case a high profile violence of one Pierre Lebrun, who was working at OC Transport in Ottawa, Mexico, where the employee shot people, with five of them reportedly dying, and him ultimately committing suicide (Bernadi, 2001). To Sum up, Managers-subordinate relationship can be described as good and bad. Employees are tired of being bullied at the work place, and micromanagement does more evil than good. The solution for improvement however lies in managers taking a step to enhancing cordial relationship. Delegation of duties is very important. These will facilitate a highly productive and warmer workplace that ensures employees recognition and positive sanctioning. The other way certainly is facilitating regular meetings between employees and managers, as well ensuring that communication between the two is promoted. References Balle, J. (2011). Facts on the Relationship between Employee and Manager. Demand Media. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/relationship-between-employee-manager-4879.html. Bernadi, L. (2001). Management by Bullying. Entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/78932945.html. Farnham, D. (2008). Employee Relations in Context. London. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Frankaro, K. (2007). Professional Development: The Consequences of Micro-managing. Contract Management. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TYCIbtwBwkUJ:www.ncmahq.org/files/Articles/ECB0A_CM0707_C01.pdf+micromanagement+of+employees+in+the+work+place&hl=en&gl=ke Gennard, J. and Judge, G. (2006). Employee Relations. London: Chattered Institute of Personnel and Development. Gollan, P (2005). Employee relations the international journal, Volume 27, Issue 3. London: Emerald Group Publishing. Leat, M. (2007). Exploring Employee Relations. Burlington: Elservier. Price, A. (2007). Human Resource Management in a Business Context. London: Thompson Learning. Read More