Practitioner Skills for Managers - Essay Example

of the Management of the Concerned 26 June Practitioner Skills for Managers- Reflective Essay There is no denying the fact that professionalism plays an important role at the individual level in the life of a manager. However, it also goes without saying that evincing professionalism at the work place could definitely yield immense positive results. That is why the professionals do command a high acceptance and a premium price in the job markets around the world. There exists a big demand for managers who evince professionalism in their daily work routine. This demand gap in fact speaks a lot about the relevance of professionalism at the work place. Professional managers tend to carry an aura and charisma in their personalities that reflects the attitude and the ability to deliver positive results amidst all the incumbent resource crunches and constraints. It is this attitude to deliver results amidst all odds that facilitates the professional managers with decisive cutting edge proficiency. The mere presence of professional managers within an organization imbues it with the ability to deliver positive results and a decisive growth. Most of the successful organizations owe their success to the hard work of professional managers who make a distinctive attitudinal and practical difference at the work place. To a great extent professionalism is all about numbers. In fact numbers play a major role in the success of any organization. Professionals do command the ability not only to make the numbers work for themselves, but also for the organization they serve. Numbers do aid the task of quantification of resources and effort that go into an organization and professionals do always know how to make the numbers work. To a great extent numbers have to do with data and information. Simply speaking data is a collection of facts that may include within its ambit, values or observations. Data may come as numbers, description of things, observations, measurements, words etc. There are two kinds of data that are qualitative data and quantitative data. Qualitative data mostly comprises of some descriptive information that is it tends to define something. Quantitative data comprises of numerical information and it tends to quantify things. It goes without saying that a progressive and innovative approach towards data collection and processing could go a long way in imbuing the organizations with an unprecedented efficiency and success (Williams 2002). An optimal hold over organizational data helps the organizations to configure efficiency and growth plans that are in tandem with their business goals (Williams 2002). Many a times it happens that the resources lying at the disposal of organizations do not happen to be in consonance with their growth objectives. Herein, a data centered approach towards things helps the organizations to customize their growth plans in accordance with the resources and inputs that they have at their disposal (Williams 2002). A data centered approach towards things also enables the organizations to optimize the resources and assets that they have to usher in growth, efficiency and proficiency (Williams 2002). In the current globalized scenario, the consumer preferences and aspirations happen to fluctuate at a fast pace. A data centered approach towards changing market and economic scenarios helps organizations inculcate a built in flexibility within their frameworks and strategies to respond quickly to the altering business needs (Williams 2002). Data also helps the organizations to exploit the available automation tools and technologies to enhance availability and service levels. Herein, one also cannot ignore the relevance of information. Simply speaking information is a stimulus that carries a meaning within a specific context for its receiver, which may be an individual or an organization. Information constitutes the foundation of contemporary business processes and planning. Information enables the organizations to achieve operational excellence (Williams 2002). In fact information is the decisive factor that aids the day to day survival of the organizations. Access to market information helps the organizations bring in new business models, new products and services. A timely access to the relevant information enables the organizations gain a competitive edge over their competitors (Williams 2002). Hold over information allows the organizations to be more efficient by enabling a level of intimacy with their suppliers and customers (Williams 2002). In the current business scenario which is governed by numbers, it is impossible for the organizations to arrive at apt decisions without getting a hold over the right information. Information systems are the solid foundations on which stand the business organizations and institutions of today. In that context it is also important to mention that communication plays a major role in organizational success. Today communication means the ability to operate amidst diversity and heterogeneous groups (Henderson 1996). However, I feel that one major problem with the contemporary managers is that they envisage communication only in terms of talking and give little heed to the task of listening. Otherwise, listening is as important an aspect in effective communication as talking. To put it in few words, effective listening is about the ability to understand, respond, analyze and respect the meaning inherent in the other person’s non-verbal and verbal messages (Henderson 1996). Effective communication not only streamlines the internal and external business processes, but also ushers in a coherent and conducive environment that bolsters efficiency and productivity (Henderson 1996). I personally remember working under a boss who happened to be a really bad manager. Though this manager was intelligent, he was predominantly of self serving nature, an attribute that prevented the people working under him to rest their confidence and trust in him, thereby giving way to a counterproductive organizational environment and an atmosphere of distrust. Besides, this manager was not flexible and pliable in his approach and pursued a one size fit all approach towards his employees. This ushered in a fractured culture within the organization where the employees felt stifled and stressed, and the whole approach towards things became non-productive. I feel that it is imperative for the managers to be able to cut their approach to be able to suit the changing organizational needs. The one main negative thing about this manager was that he was not forward looking and lacked a vision. This lack of visions eventually seeped down to the lower rungs, thereby making the employees comfortable with the status quo, and nobody being willing to opt for innovation and risk taking. It is my firm belief that the best leaders are always willing to embrace change that keeps the organizations dynamic, growing and fresh. Appraisal processes do play an important and multifaceted role in the organizations in the sense that they help the organizations to facilitate the professional development of the employees, enable the organizations achieve their organizational goals and objectives and contribute immensely to an organizations bottom line (McConnell 2005). Performance appraisal helps the managers to keep the employees motivated, to systematically monitor the employee performance, to keep the staff motivated and to bolster the organizational moral (McConnell 2005). However, I believe that the appraisal programs cease to be optimally effective if they are not based on clear and pragmatic objectives. Appraisal processes also need to be bound by a definite time frame and based on ample and pragmatic inputs for the employees for whom they are meant (McConnell 2005). Appraisal programs enable the managers to extend relevant inputs to the employees. They also help the managers take the timely employee training and skill up gradation decisions. Appraisal processes help the managers take important decisions pertaining to promotions, transfers, layoffs, compensation, career development and HR (McConnell 2005). It goes without saying that in the current times, professionalism is primarily about the ability to manage and process the available data and information and to be able to usher in the requisite horizontal and vertical channels of communication within organizations. Effective leadership backed by a firm vision also plays a crucial role in this. Not to mention that holistic and pragmatic appraisal processes do play an essential role in organizational effectiveness and growth. Reference List Henderson, George 1996, Human Relations Issues in Management, Quorum Books, Westport, CT. McConnell, John H 2005, How to Develop Essential HR Policies and Procedures, AMACOM, New York. Williams, Lloyd C 2002, Creating the Congruent Workplace, Quorum Books, Westport, CT. Read More