Interviewing a Manager of SmartBank - Essay Example

Interviewing a Manager Submitted Interviewing a Manager This interview was conducted with the manager of SmartBank, Ltd. He answered some descriptive questions which increased my knowledge about management. I got insight into leadership, management roles and style, and employee development and motivation. To my question about leadership style, the manager answered that his style was ethical leadership. For him, leadership was the supremacy to stimulate people by words, actions and deeds using vision, faith and honesty. According to him, ethical leadership involves fairly inspiring others to follow ethical guidelines which should consist of both bureaucratic (procedural) and substantive (character-based) aspects. The procedural dimension of ethical leadership includes problem-solving and decision-making practice within the circle of ethics. For instance, ethical leadership demands that the leaders, before practicing their decisions, discuss them with parties that are going to be affected by their decisions, so as to make them feel respected. The substantive aspect of ethical leadership includes knowledge, tough standards and guts to pursue ethical directions regardless of opposition. When I asked him if he had faced any ethical conflict in his career, he told me something. Last year, when his company announced vacancies, he was appointed to interview the candidates for selection. Mr. Harrison was obese. He selected him on the seat of disabled persons. Title I of Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 states that all employers, who have at least fifteen employees working under them, must give equal chances of employment to qualified disabled persons (U.S. Department of Justice 2005). When he discussed the matter with the managing director, he said that an obese person was in no way a disabled person. He stated Carrier (2000) who affirmed that “although courts initially were reluctant to recognize obesity as a qualifying disability for purposes of ADA protection, courts are increasingly willing to consider obesity as a disability giving plaintiffs status to raise ADA claims.” Finally, Harrison was selected. To my question about employee development, he answered that he totally believed in the concept. According to him, flourishing employee development programs and strategies guarantee improved employees’ performance, which leads to higher productivity and overall organizational success in the competitive market. Employee development leads to employee motivation and job satisfaction. A growth-oriented workplace culture works on improving small occurrences so that overall growth is guaranteed. Growth relates to each and every employee at the workplace. The development in the quality of existing employees’ skills and the quantity of skilled workers leads to overall organizational growth. When I asked him what his method of employee motivation was, he told me that for him, monetary motivation was the most significant method. Nothing motivated his employees more than pay raises, bonuses, compensations, and little monetary rewards. He considered rewards and benefits as the second most important means of employee motivation. Prizes, parties, or vacations offered to the employees when they meet their deadlines were an excellent means to make them work hard. Appreciation and recognition made them feel valued. Encouragement motivated them to make the best out of their skills. The manager stated that both intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation are important (Morris & Maisto 2010: 261). To my question about how his subordinates viewed him as a supervisor, he told that they believed in him and his management qualities. For them, he was a transformational leader, since he showed such an attitude at the workplace that inspired them to follow his directions. The ultimate goal of his management was to create such teams that worked effectively to produce greater results. According to him, the most important thing is consideration about internal and external communication. To ensure that my employees participate in a vigorous collaborative environment where they interrelate with each other in a better way to share their ideas and information, it is good to improve their communication with their workers, listen to their problems, talk to them, and work out their issues. He told that by doing so, the workers automatically started following him, and the overall organizational culture improved. This is what you call the transformational leadership (Brown & Travino, 2006). When I asked him how he would describe his work style, he said that his work style was collaborative. He believed that the best thing that his organization could give to its employees in order to keep their morale high was an effective communication platform, through which they could interact with their higher officials, their peers, and their subordinates. This added to job satisfaction which, in turn, enabled them to contribute in high productivity and good outcomes. For example, since conflicts arose in his workplace every now and then, it was important for the parties involved to communicate with one another, so that they could negotiate their objectives and better understand one another’s viewpoints without being rational or biased. He believed that proper communication was necessary to resolve conflicts that might happen among employees when job satisfaction decreased. The manager also stated that is important for the managers to deal with shirkers and social loafers, so as to improve the overall organizational behavior. He dealt with them by limiting the group size; holding each individual responsible for his tasks; and, setting such goals that demand each and every worker in the group to perform on an equal basis. If a team member found himself working around a shirking member, his instructions were that he should immediately report that to him, or should tell other team members to discuss the issue with the shirker directly, because a shirker has no right to enjoy the rewards gained by other hardworking members of the team. Hence, for him, confronting a shirking team member was justified in all senses, since it is the ethical responsibility of all team members to keep a check on each other’s performance. When I asked him about his management roles, he stated that out of the three categories of informational, instructional and interpersonal roles, his was the interpersonal category. According to him, this category had three roles: (1) Figurehead role: This role required him to carry out ceremonial activities, like receiving visitors. He also arranged meetings, and welcome and farewell parties. (2) Leader role: Under this role, he was expected to lead and supervise teams, motivate the subordinates, and train the employees. He gave them feedback about their performances, and made constructive criticisms. (3) Liaison role. This role made him maintain associations between all business information, both inside and outside the organization. References Brown, M.E., & Travino, L.K., 2006. Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 6, pp. 595-616. Carrier, W.W., 2000. Is obesity a disability? FindLaw. [Online] Available at [Accessed 21 May 2012] Morris, C.G., & Maisto, A.A, 2010. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Understanding Psychology, 9th edition, Prentice Hall, USA. U.S. Department of Justice, 2005. A Guide to Disability Rights Laws. [Online] Available at [Accessed 21 May 2012] Read More