Management Theories and Methods Used by Employee-Award-Winning Companies 2013 - Essay Example

?The management theories and methods used by employee-award-winning companies Introduction An organization’s ability to succeed and make significant impacts in the competitive market has significantly changed from being dependent on the strategic market decisions made to the human resource management practices. The ‘people’ factor in an organization is currently given more prominence than any other business strategy and this has seen significant growth and success in many organizations. Employees in an organization plays an integral part in the growth and overall performance of an organization (Adair, 2006). As a result, most organizations have shifted their focus from developing strategies to implementing sound human resource management practices. Motivation of employees has become a key aspect in the management of any organization and most organizations today develop employee motivation plans. Facebook, an American based social media company, has developed proper motivational package and this enabled the company to be awarded the ‘best company to work in’ award of 2013. In this paper, the emerging human resource practices will be discussed in relation to how it has changed business performance and employee motivation. While discussing the theories of management currently employed by the organizations, the paper will analyse the article ‘the best companies to work for in 2013’. Human resource management practices have changed from the previous notions that was money centred to a new one that is based solely on employee motivation and how the people are critical assets for the business (Lawler, 2003). Summary of article Facebook, one of the currently leading social media companies based in the united states adopted a human resource practice that is more people cantered. According to many analyst, the leading social media company developed a culture that is less pushy and one which offers great remuneration packages for the employees of the organizations. In a survey conducted by Glassdoor, Facebook emerged as the best company to work for in the year 2013 as compared to other 50 companies that were included in the survey (Robbins, 2005). For the second time running, the company has scooped the best company to work for award, an indication that the company has been at the forefront in implementing employee friendly and conscious policies. With the current cost of livings being overly high, the success and satisfaction of an employee depends on the package that the company offers at any given time. Companies should seek to motivate their employees through the development of flexible work schedules, provision of leaves and offs without any conditions attached and providing a cool work environment devoid of stressful occurrences (Lawler, 2003). Facebook understands these emerging principles of human resource management and has developed one of the best packages for its employees. The company offers one of the most attractive payment packages to its employee as compared to other companies that participated in the survey. As a company that understands the essence of adding value to the life of the employees, the company also offers other incentives and allowances to its employees. These include the provision of free transportation, provision of home and personal services like dry cleaning and other motivating incentives to parents working for the organization. Facebook seeks to develop a work environment where the employees can do what they love most, get paid favourably for their dream careers and enjoy every single moment of their time at the company (Nohria & Groysberg, 2008). Apart from Facebook that was above the park according to this report, McKinsey and Co also emerged as the second best company to work in, a feat that is attributed to its human resource management approaches. As a major consultant company with offices and subsidiary branches in different parts of the word, the company has strived to implement a recruitment program that seeks employees with great leadership abilities. Personal integrity and innovativeness is also given much prominence during the recruitment exercise and this enabled the company to stay at the top despite the high competition that it is currently facing from other companies. In return for great personal qualities and attributes, the company reward employees favourably and provide a number of growth opportunities for them (Sunita, 2012). This article has provided great insights on the practices of top and award winning companies on best management and human resource approaches in the current business environment. From this analysis, it is evident that the success of any organization has shifted from the profits that the company makes but the quality to offers its employees. Employees play a very critical and central role in the success of any organization and this makes their motivation, remuneration and provision of incentives essential. The deputy president of Facebook confirms that their practices have been geared towards providing a platform for employees to develop personal skills and proper business and technical knowledge needed in the field. In return for their great services, the company has a great package for its employees and this has created a great environment in the company. Employees work without worry about their personal wellbeing as they trust that the organization has the capacity to care for them. This motivation and employee based approach has enabled the company to remain afloat in the social media industry that is considered as one of the most competitive in the 21st century (Lawler, 2003). Employee centred human resource management approaches In the 20th century, organizations focused on the need to amass as much profits as possible from their operations, regardless of the motivation and wellbeing of their people. These organizations would implement programs that were meant to increase the performance and the profitability of the organization while providing little attention to the role of the employees. Even through this worked during the time, changes in the business and management environment has affected this approach and management and resulted into the development of approaches which are not solely based on the profitability of the organization but the overall wellbeing of the employees. The current business environment is highly dependent on the motivation of the employees and the provision of a proper working environment as opposed to the need to maximize profits. Organization have therefore been forced to make policies and develop employee motivation and personal development incentives like the provision of equal opportunities and growth programs (Cameron, Dutton and Quinn, 2003). According to Amabile and Kramer (2007), organisations today demand more than simple delivery of services as may be captured in their letters of engagement. An employer looks for an employee that can add value in terms of the strategic and creative ideas that they front and implement for the organization. Engagement between an employee and an employer has thus gone beyond the service delivery and terms of engagement approach to a new approach that involves the brain of the employee to a much deeper level. Employees are at the forefront of developing new ideas for the organization, discovering new and more advanced ways of manufacturing and service delivery to the consumers among other as a way of developing a competitive edge for the business (Rosenbloom, 2005). With these kind of roles, the employee has attained a new role in the corporate world and significantly changed from people who are used to enable the smooth implementation of policies developed in the boardroom to those involved in the formulation and implementation of these policies. Such an employee requires an environment where he feels both appreciated and motivated to deliver the best to the organization without pressure or coercion (Lawler, 2003). The change from profit focus to people based has also appreciated an important aspect of employee performance and this affects the performance of the business. Organizations like Facebook that has continued to post massive profits and witness significant growths have developed programs that does not focus on the need to maximize profits but the need to improve the employee work environments. Through these programs, Facebook appreciates the quality of personal life of the employee affects his/her ability to deliver to the organization. Employees are exposed to a number of emotional and perceptive events that results into reactions that can affect their effective service delivery to an organization (Amabile & Kramer, 2007). Employees report to work with their personal life’s emotional burden and troubles and none of these are left out as the employee gets to work. This means that such an employee is faced with a number of personal challenges that may affect his/her productivity in the organization. While old human resource practices would have recommended the retrenchment of such employee, the current human resource practices appreciates the existence of personal challenges that affects service delivery in an organization (Latham, 2007). Facebook has developed programs that enables it to improve the quality of its employees’ lives and this has continued to motivate them. Employees with younger and school going children are provided with a number of incentives to motivate them and reduce the burdens they are faced with. Apart from the problems related with financial burdens, employees are also faced with psychological challenges that results from family or relationship issues. Work stress has been proved by psychologist to reduce the productivity of any employee and most of these arises from personal and job related issues. To mitigate on this challenge, companies like facebook have developed a number of incentives like the provision of outings and family fun day for their employees. This has provided an interactive platform for its employees and enabled them to shift from the personal life challenges they face to how they can improve their productivity at work (Lawler, 2003). Lawler virtuous theory Lawler (2003) highlights the level of interdependence an organisation’s performance and the employee satisfaction and well being is in his spiral virtuous theory. In this theory, the success of an organization operating in the current environment is joined at the hips by the overall wellbeing, motivation and psychological ability of an individual. The success of an organization has shifted from being based on an organisation’s policies, market strength and control and the financial capabilities to being over dependent on the personal wellbeing, satisfaction and motivation of employees. However, the ability of an organization to treat its employees with decorum while showing appreciation for the personal input of each and every one of them is one of the most complex management challenges. It requires a mixture of best management practices and personal leadership attributes that appreciates the role of each and every employee in the organization. Lawler (2003) coined the virtuous spiral of success from the relationship that results into benefits for both employees and employers as a result of sound and proper relationship between the employer and the employee. In this theory, an organization cannot succeed through demonstrating its preoccupation with profits but only through appreciating the inputs of its employees. this appreciation comes in the form of implementing employee conscious organizational values and the development of better reward schemes. This makes the employees to develop more personal commitment to the organization and work towards its success through the development of innovative ideas and being part of the organizations strategic implementation (Smith, 2012). This kind of interdependent relationship that is encompassed in the virtuous spiral results into more growth and profitability for the organization. The virtuous spiral coined by Lawler is however achieved if the organization develops a strong competitive advantage that grants it more market control as compared to other market players. A number of organizations have improved their market position and competitive advantage through the implementation of programs that are reminiscent of the virtuous spiral. While most organizations were preoccupied with increasing their market positions and overall profits in the 2980s, Microsoft developed a people centred approach that enabled it to grow and increase its market position. Just like Facebook in 2013, Microsoft was one of the best employers due to the attention it gave its employees which resulted into employee motivation and increased productivity. During this time, a number of software engineers in the united states moved to Microsoft and this further strengthened the position of the company in the country and enabled it increase its presence in other parts of the world. Apart from Microsoft, Lawler (2003) categorizes southwest airlines as one of the organizations that appreciated the significant position played by its employees in the early 90s thus improving its market position and competitive advantage. The company has a comprehensive employee selection process that enables it to attract some of the top minds into the organization and reward them handsomely. This has enabled the company to maintain a well motivated, creative and highly rewarded group of employee which has led to an increase in its productivity and success (Amabile & Kramer, 2007). Other theories Apart from Lawler theory of virtuous spiral, other theories have been advanced to explain how employee motivation directly influences their performance and ability to deliver the expectations of the employer. According to the expectancy theory, the productivity and commitment of an employee is directly related to the expected returns and rewards that the job offers. It is therefore important for employers to package each and every job based on the rewards as this affects the willingness of the employee to offer the best that can improve the position of the company. This theory thus advances the notion that employers should adopt a commission based approach in which employees are rewarded based on the performance and dedication to the organization (Herzberg, 1987). Abraham Maslow also developed the theory of hierarchy of needs in which he explained that the performance of an employee at the workplace is influenced by five factors. These include the personal physical needs, career growth prospects and personal satisfaction that an employee derives from a specific job assignment. When the employer fails to fulfil any of the needs in this hierarchy, the ability of the employee to show commitment and work towards the success of the organization is significantly affected and this reduces the commitment of the employees and the profitability of the organization (Frees & Sonnentag, 2002). Facebook, Google and McKinsey As described in the previous sections of the paper, facebook have implemented one of the most comprehensive employee motivation remuneration scheme that has enabled the company to win the ‘best company to work for award’. McKinsey emerged second in the same survey and this was attributed to the company’s employee reward and motivation schemes. New to this block is search engine giants Google, a company also based in the united states with massive internet presence and control. Google developed an employee leadership structure that motivates its employees through the provision of good working environments characterized with the provision of rewards and incentives (Google, 2009). The company seeks to attract top talented employees and provide the best opportunities for them through proper training and the provision of competitive reward schemes. According to Google (2009), the company seeks to strip off any deterrent that may make it impossible for its employees to achieve the goals of the organizations. It thus provides one of the most competitive reward package to it employees with other benefits which improves the overall living standards of its employees. The employees are provided other services like free gym facility, laundry services among other personal services that reduces the expenses of the employees (Eskildsen & Kristensen, 2003). Conclusion A motivated and highly charged employee carries the key to the ultimate success of an organization in the current competitive and informed business world. The current business environment is characterized with massive competition and desire to improve productivity and market control. However, the success of an organization has been shown to depend on the motivation and attitudes of employees in an organization and how the management work towards improving employee affairs (Kim, 2006). This paper has provided insights into some of the current theories touching on employee motivation and how the employees that have adopted such theories continue to reap the benefits. One of these organizations is facebook, a company that was listed as the best company to work for in 2013. References Adair, J 2006, Leadership and motivation. The fifty-fifty rule and the eight key principles of motivating others, London: Kogan Page. 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