Communication and Decision-Making - Assignment Example

? Communication and Decision-Making Communication and Decision-Making Since time immemorial, employers have had to terminate some of their employees. This has been as a result of many issues in the global market today. It is of significance to posit that managers and supervisors are in most cases allocated the task of informing employees of any unavoidable terminations. This is often not taken lightly by the employees facing termination hence managers and supervisors have to devise novel, appropriate, and effective techniques to inform their subordinates of terminations. This paper addresses the five main points that should be used as a basis for conversation with managers and supervisors informing them of terminations. This paper also addresses the kind of decisions I faced as well as the challenges I faced when making the decisions. Why is this happening? In this case study, a total of fourteen individuals will have to be let go. Two of the employees to be let go are from the human resources, eight from production, and four from order processing. There is a reason why termination of these workers jobs has to be done. Over the recent past, the company has been having low profits or revenues as a result of the rising costs of materials and wages. Many operations in the company are reliant on the amount of overall profits of the company. All the departments’ works in cohort and money to maintain and sustain every day’s operations has to be raised in one way or the other. When a company is unable to raise enough revenue or profits to sustain its daily operations, some of jobs have to be terminated. The company has also to pay for the services and tasks conducted by the employees. Letting go some of the employees means that the company will pay less individuals. The rising costs of materials have been as a result of the ever elevating costs of living. Due to the rising costs of materials and wages, workforce reduction has to be done in a bid to enhance efficiency in the company’s operations. It is also of importance to consider the fact an immediate improvement profits for the company is considered a necessary factor to elevate the level of liquidity. How will this impact the areas? Letting go on some of the employees means that the operation costs of the company also reduces. Subsequently, the level of production is also reduced. Though job terminations have an immediate negative effect on the individuals affected, it also has adverse effects to those left behind. Terminating jobs abruptly will affect the level of motivation for the survivors. Studies conducted over the recent past have elucidated the fact that laying down some workers abruptly for whatever reason will eventually force some of the survivors to resign voluntarily and others subsequently leave the company without prior warnings. This is attributed to the fact that employees are not assured of the security of their jobs. It is also true that competition between workers within the company will heighten. This is as a result of workers trying to appease the senior management geared towards securing their jobs (Rogovsky, 2005). How will the department managers plan for this without breaking confidentiality? Terminating jobs has to be done in confidential manner. It is a common rule that as people in management positions, the departmental managers become aware of some organisation’s issues or information that they ought not to share with their subordinates. A meeting has to be conducted with the managers and supervisors in order to plan how the laying off will be conducted. Rumours about layoffs or job terminations reaching the employees are inevitable. Since the departmental managers have already built rapport with their subordinates, some of them will have to ask what is going to happen, or even whether they are among the list to be laid off. Feedback to such questions should be handled with utmost care as giving an indication that there will be a layoff will cause panic among the employees (Rogovsky, 2005). Therefore, all the departmental managers have to deliberate and agree on a common feedback that they can give to their subordinates in case they seek to know what is happening. How will the departments transition after the event? Since each and every employee is negatively affected by layoff, it is important for individuals in management positions to handle things carefully. For a smooth transitioning, incorporation of novel and strong leadership skills are of significance. This is attributed to the fact that layoffs may lead to feelings of apprehension among the survivors, some may show a nonexistence of commitment in their assigned tasks, as well as overall drop in the level of productivity. In order to transition effectively, it will be important to hold meetings with the employees often to plan and schedule activities, encourage workers to relay their concerns and subsequently listen to them, authenticate or otherwise dissipate any chitchats or gossips within the company, and also establish and implement strong interim and immediate objectives (Rogovsky, 2005). Anything else you feel your managers and supervisors would want to know or need to know It is important to affirm to the managers and supervisors to handle employees carefully after the event. They also need to know on the importance and benefits of motivation on overall productivity of the company. Thee senior management is also doing everything within their power to uphold and respect the rights of their employees. In most cases, departmental managers are also affected negatively by layoffs. Laying-off some of the employees from each off the departments will increase or elevate pressure on the part of manager as the department has to perform and meet the company’s objectives and goals with lesser number of employees. It is important to make it clear to the managers that the senior management is aware of this issue and therefore novel strategies and plans of action will be established and implemented to assist each d every department meet their goals. What kind of decision do you face? Being a decision maker in the company, it is my task to inform the managers and supervisors of the oncoming event. In this meeting the only information that I can divulge to them is the number of employees each department will lose. Therefore, the decision I have to make is how to break the news to these managers and supervisors and assure them that their names are not in the list. The kind of information to deliberate with the departmental mangers is also a hard decision to make. This is because it is their task to inform or relay some pieces of the conversation to the employees. Some of them may have developed some attachments with their employees and therefore might find it difficult to break the news to them. Giving too much or too little information to the managers and supervisors may affect the whole process. Therefore, it is important to identify and relay only the appropriate information to them. What are some of the decision-making challenges? Any decision made in the workplace has its own challenges. One of the challenges in this case is deciding how to break the news of the oncoming layoffs to the managers and employees and at the same time maintain the normal functioning of the company. Leakage of any information relating to job terminations in the company may disrupt the normal functioning of the company. Another challenges is thee managers and supervisors lacking the correct information necessary to engage and involve themselves in discussions or deliberations in the meeting. This is why it is important to ensure that all the participants in the meeting are on the same page before the meeting commences. The managers and supervisors will want to know the criteria used to identify the employees to be laid off. In this case, the senior management has already made a list of the employees to be let go. Though some information may find its way to the employees regarding the decision by the senior management to lay off some of the workers, the list will only be released on the day of termination. Making a decision on how to handle such information is a challenge by itself. In a nutshell, terminating employees has never been a simple decision to make. Both those affected by the termination as well as the survivors are affected negatively by such an event. Therefore, layoffs ought to be handled carefully as they can affect productivity and level of engagement within the workplace. Reference Rogovsky, N. (2005). Restructuring for Corporate Success: A Socially Sensitive Approach. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO. Read More