Self Assessment Exercises Required for Skills Development - Case Study Example

Self Assessment Exercises Required for Skills Development Abstract This paper will tackle how best to resolve a manager’s challenges particularly in areas such as resource management, internal client relation, relaying or giving information, motivation and employee evaluation. The following situation under each of the five areas for improvement will be tackled by this paper with recommendation on how best to handle the situation from the knowledge obtained from previous researches or works. Resource Management is relatively easy if there are enough resources to go around. However, the challenge is how best to perform efficiently and effectively if the resources are not only scarce but delayed somewhat. The hardest to please are the internal clients of a service provider department within an organization. The challenge is how best to handle situation wherein the request for service is time sensitive and at the same time out of policy. Managers are advocate of management decisions in front of their subordinates in the same breadth, managers are also advocate of their subordinates in front of top management. Managers are often times faced with a situation that calls for secrecy as demanded by management and at the same time transparency as his subordinate deserves. Different people have different desires, motivating employees outside of monetary incentive is part of a manager’s unique capability that needs to be improved on. Giving performance evaluation has several challenges that would include letting go of employees or giving a person a bad appraisal. For a manager who has been managing technical people and information technology resources for more than 25 years situational management still needs to be honed and improved to near perfection. To augment and increase the capacity of a department in order for it to respond with the demands of the company, a manager has to be creative in planning, scheduling and prioritizing the needs of internal clients. Normally resources are never enough to meet the requirements of the company from a department, because of the paradigms that existed since the company started operating. The aim is to maximize all investment to ensure that more profits are realized, however for a company that aims to meet its quality obligation while meeting delivery commitments resources has to be aligned to meet these demands. A good manager needs to know the capacity of the department he is managing, thus an inventory of all the resources including human and the tools they are using needs to be performed. Resource management includes resource inventory and capacity planning. Finding out the minimum capacity of a business unit includes determining the human resource to tool ratio. The minimum capacity of a business unit is the number of installed tools that is in good working condition that is being maintained in a regular basis multiplied by the minimum capacity of the tools in one work cycle. While the maximum capacity of a business unit is defined by the number of hours a tool can be operated less the number of time a tool need to rest in a day times the number of tools. Resource management would also include onsite work place capacity for raw materials and output or finished product. When giving estimates, a manager should always consider providing the minimum capacity of his business unit to ensure that any excess capacity will only be used in case of emergencies like tool maintenance, and breakdown including manpower attrition or tardiness. Resource Management also include capacity planning and job order projection and scheduling. Job orders do not appear out of thin air normally it takes a long process before job order becomes job orders. Networking amongst the other managers particularly the sales and marketing people will allow any line production managers to align his resources base on what is in the pipeline and those that is about to enter the pipeline. Forehand knowledge will allow line production managers to ask for additional resources base on his current rated capacity and actual capacity. Tool maintenance scheduling is an important aspect of resource management that is often neglected. The loss of resources due to tool maintenance or skills enhancement/refinement amongst his subordinates should be taken into consideration in determining available capacity for projection and alignment with what is in the pipeline. It should be noted that an unexpected breakdown in manpower and importantly in tools cost more in the long run. Therefore, business continuity planning is another factor worth considering creating idle excess capacity is not only costly but it creates a false impression of waste. Normally, business continuity plans for excess capacity to respond to certain types of emergencies or disasters that happened only once in the company’s long years of existence. However, there are better strategies for an effective business continuity plan that may not require additional investment that can lead to wastage out of paranoia. One strategy is to conduct a risk assessment within the framework of BS 7799. Business prioritization includes external customer relation management and revenue impact cash flow analysis. Resource management also include prioritization base on the same premise, however buy-in of all the stakeholders should be considered otherwise misunderstanding may result amongst the internal clients. Resource management is an essential skill that needs to be honed by managers to ensure their success in a company if not in an industry. Understanding the capacity of the business unit a manager is in charge with is the first order of business. The second is the inventory of his resources to determine his minimum capacity, rated capacity and his maximum capacity and the difference of each. Anticipating job order thru networking as well as capacity planning is another task related to resource management that is often times neglected due to the isolation of business units under one company. Business continuity planning as an aspect of resource management has to make sense in terms of business and acquisition cost thus formal risk assessment should be conducted first. Internal client management involves creating corroborative efforts among all the stakeholders. This is to ensure symmetrical understanding of the business goals and objectives as well as their part in the strategic plans in meeting those goals and objectives. Close coordination between internal clients and service providers benefit the partnership that influences production cost and innovations. Success in internal client relationship management is visible through the amount of time by which coordination happens between decision points and production engagements to resolve production issues. Another indicator of success in internal client relationship management is the turn-around time by which production issues are resolved that involves quality and supply chain management. Establishing and maintaining internal client relationship requires free access to them in formal as well as in an informal setting. While some strategy involve collocating with internal clients the coordinators of the business units itself, this may be a bit excessive. However, regular lunch meetings and regular staff update meetings can also do the work. Single point of contact also helps in alleviating the confusion created by misunderstanding, misinterpretation and assumption building between stakeholders. Building relationship within the organization may seem excessive due to the extra effort demanded from the stakeholders. However the effort will translate to profit by ensuring the quality of products, increased production volume awhile attaining cost efficiency. Internal client relationship involves the ambidexterity of the manager that hones the following skills: appreciation of the macro level perspective; customer centric thinking; sound decision making and innovative thinking. Ambidextrous manager also becomes change agents that inculcate leadership, good communication skills, influencing and collaboration. One of the leading causes of failure in an organization is the inability to communicate with the internal clients. The lack of communication skills often result to misunderstanding and conflicts that eventually lead to push and pull between managers. Mostly managing the expectation of internal clients at the output end of the business unit’s operation is one key factor while maximizing the throughput of the supply end of the operation will ensure continuous production schedule. The value proposition therefore is to maximize the capacity and ensure that the continuous operation of the business unit without any delay from any external factors. The output end of the business unit’s operation would often demand quality and increased production volume. This is congruent with a manager demanding the unabated supply of raw materials from the input end of the business unit. Managing the input end of the business unit is to determine his capacity and make his maximum capacity congruent with the business unit’s maximum capacity and his normal capacity congruent with the normal capacity of the manager’s business unit. Consequently, management of the output end of the business unit, the task of a manager of the business unit is to manage the quality requirements and expectation of the output end. Not to compromise quality close coordination with regards to the quality requirements and interpretation of the quality criteria should be symmetrical with the understanding and interpretation of the production unit, In fine internal client relationship is managing the expectation of the output side and understanding the capacity of the input side of his business unit. However, internal client relationship should not be limited to the management of both ends of the business units. Support departments should also be taken into consideration to assure the efficient operation of the manager’s business units. Close relationship with the accounting department should be established to ensure that checks for the maintenance contractors are not delayed. Close relationship with the Human Resource Department should be smooth to ensure that the benefits and skill level of the employee along the production line are up-to-date. Eliminating obstructions and unexpected complications within a business unit can be cleared or clarified if there is a good relationship amongst all stake holders. Likewise close relationship with the building management will ensure the security of the work place and ensure that the tools are not exposed to the elements. At times a simple air-conditioning problem can be solved by a smooth internal client management. Organizations are made up of people and people have their own idiosyncrasies’ that needs to be managed to ensure the success of the organization. While formal policies and procedures prevent a run-away increase in the unmanageability of the egos of people within the organization management of the self esteem of these people in the organization is still necessary. A manager remains the advocate of his employees in front of top management. In the same breadth the manager is also the advocate and representative of top management in front of his employees. A manager manages resources and people to meet production goals to meet revenue and profit targets. A leader leads people to ensure that organization meet revenue and profit targets. During goal and direction setting managers are privy to information that is not normally available for all the employees except the other managers. Containing the information within the managerial sphere is as important of the operation imperatives of the organization. Information is kept secret for various reasons that would include maintaining the status quo to prevent attrition or migration to competitors. To illustrate: A company is about to merge with another company that would result to the redundancy of certain positions. The move will consequently lead to the termination or lay-off of a substantial number of employees from both companies. All details regarding the planned merger was kept in the dark for several months. To impress the new investors production quota should be kept at an all time high in order for the company fetch a higher price or justify the price during the due diligence portion of the deal. The challenge for the manager is to keep the employees motivated during those periods and after making the employees work so hard instead of a reward they will be saddled with the bad news of being terminated. Another challenge for the manager is to keep his personal feeling out of the picture and should remain professional throughout the whole process. The consequence for the first scenario if information are to leak that the manager has intimate knowledge of the merger and the impending termination of some of the employees is the loss of trust and credibility of the manager amongst his people. This will lead to attrition or consequently the departure of some of the good employees for a more stable job environment. The result will further escalate to production reverses and a negative effect to the production schedule. If in-case information are kept secret until the very end or at the point of reckoning in the merger plan the same result will be experienced. The manager would have lost his credibility amongst his employee and the lost of trust of some of his friends. That would put the manager in a precarious situation if he is to assume the same position in the new re-organized company. It is recommended therefore that these kinds of situation should be dealt with in this manner. Company should rotate their managers so that the manager in-charge of production will not be the one in-charge of the production team during the transition time. This will ensure that managers are removed from the backlash of the employees when news is broken out. The replacement manager should be the one to break the news to the team to ensure that animosity is removed from the original manager. It should be considered that the feeling of betrayal is worst between people who has maintained and nurtured trust in their relationship. The manager in the grand scheme of things owes his allegiance and loyalty to top management. So long as the order is within the bounds of ethics and moral and legal context of the law Managers are expected to follow the directions set by top management. To illustrate another scenario in good communication, interpretation of company policies for the employees is either done by the Human Resource Department or the manager in charge. However, there are instances that information is often vague and the messages are not digested fully by the employee. Mis-appreciation of the message results to confusion and even resentment on the part of the employee and demoralization in general amongst the other employees. The scenario includes the explanation of the bonuses or the lack of it in a department. The employees felt that they are entitled to bonuses however, management felt differently. Being the advocate of the top management for the employee, the manager is tasked to explain in detail the policies with regards to bonuses and how they are applied across the company. The manager felt that it was a bad decision and most unfair. This scenario requires that the manager be straightforward and honest about what he feels towards the employees regarding the policy. But he should also be mindful of the fact that the information he is giving out is top management’s stand and not his. The manager should also detail what he is planning to do about it as an advocate of the employees in front of top management. He should also ensure that the sentiments of the employees are herd in relation to the new policy. However, it should be clear that the decision will ultimately be the decision of top management. The manager’s position should also be clear that he is implementing the rules because it his job and it is required of him as a manager. He should also be clear with his employees that the policy was put in place because it is for the good and benefit of all. Motivating employees in order for them to work and extend extra hours is a tricky proposition. It includes satisfying their lower needs according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It also involves providing motivational incentives that the manager normally he does not have control over and example of which is salary increases. Managers are often tasked to motivate people using an array of creative schemes that he on his own has developed over the years. Normally an employees’ source of motivation is his salary, environment, future prospect within the company. Short term sources of motivation are his sense of accomplishment over his competed tasks for the day or even for the week. It should be noted that salary increases as a tangible tool in motivating employees is only effective in the first 6 months after its implementation. Because of economic levelling as employees adjust and settle into their new economic strata as a result of the salary increase. Their lifestyle changes and their taste changes too. Normally the salary increase result to further dislocation in the second 6 months due to over spending. Instead of saving more or providing more tangible material wealth to the employee the salary increase would result to more debt which will again settle down in the second year of implementation. Just when the employee is settling down to last year’s salary increase he needs to adjust his economic condition once again. The regularity of salary increase do more harm than good in business economics, because of the constant increase in fix salary expenditures in the same manner that they do more harm than good to employees. Therefore, instead of salary increases business economist prefer seasonal bonus. Not only will it help the employee transition between economic classes it will also temper his spending habits. It should be noted that bonus are finite therefore it normally is spent to repair the house buy new appliances and the like. Bonus does not go into the regular income spending that are normally fixed on a month to month basis for fix income earners. Having itemized the challenges given by salary increases the other non-tangible motivational tools are more effective in the long run. Maintaining an ambidextrous culture provide more freedom for each employee to grow at his own phase within the company. An environment that will take away the focus of an individual away from his personal needs because the company is taking care of it will translate a more focus employee to his work. An ambidextrous environment will constantly harness his self esteem since constant affirmation will result from it. A company culture that will harness and cultivate his latent talent for use in the future by providing means for him to study and improve his skills will ensure his loyalty. His sense of accomplishment with regards to the additional knowledge will meet his self-actualization goals. Therefore, motivating employees is not only limited to a regular increase of his salary but rather meeting the requirements of his higher needs. The basic need of the employee has been met as soon as he joined the company when he received his first pay check. The higher needs has to be served in order for him to be motivated. To extend the feeling of euphoria provided by the feeling of accomplishment a simple tool can be explained by the succeeding illustration: Employees normally accomplish something everyday an ingenious way to leverage on this accomplishment is to highlight this fact and objectively grade them in a transparent manner. On a conspicuous place within the office the result for the days accomplishment will be posted and at the end of the week a token of the manager’s appreciation will be given as an award to the deserving employee. The race towards accomplishing more against his co-employees will drive the production number of the whole department if not the whole company. Such a simple scheme will not cost the company any money nor will it require any training at all from all the stakeholders. A healthy competition amongst the leader will have a positive result, However extra focus should be given to outliers that are normally highlighted when production numbers are compared against every employees. Depending on how the outliers are handled the employee score card will have an impact on their performance. The proposition therefore is to coach the employee in order for him to succeed. Encouraging the other employee to help the outliers will encourage team spirit against another team. This is normally done by pitting one team against the other that will then be called the department score card. Employee evaluation with the help of the employee score card will provide a concrete and objective evaluation of the capabilities and capacities of the employee. Normally employee evaluations are subjective and rely heavily on the subjective interpretation and evaluation of a manager. The employee score card will provide a historical data that is transparent to the employee and the manager. This is to ensure that in evaluating the employee, his score will be in accordance with the other employees’ evaluation as well. However it should be noted that employees are not only bounded by their performance in the production floor. Their performance to increase their knowledge and skills should also be considered and given weight since the company stands to benefit for the acquired skill he managed to learn. Extra diligence should also be given to their ambidexterity that helps the company achieve and realize more in terms of profit or savings. The proposed employee evaluation method therefore should include portions where an employees’ contribution is also evaluated. A clear and documented evidence of each portion of the three key result areas should be highlighted and discussed during the evaluation interview. Focus should also be given to a positive and negative coaching that will result to a negative performance. Positive coaching requires encouragement by highlighting the awards that may be attained when the performance is at its best. Negative coaching requires reminders of how a bad performance would result to termination and suspension. The sandwich approach in coaching normally works for the outliers in the organization. This entails highlighting the positive sandwich in-between negative comments about his performance. Feedback mechanism for a healthy exchange of points of view to come up with a cohesive plan agreed upon by both the manager and the employee will be devised. Intervention points should also be considered so as not to interfere with the tasks of the employee and not too lax so as to limit the time to intervene in case of impending failure. Employees are to be accorded respect at all times the underlying reasons for his failure and what motivate the employee should be considered. The purpose of the evaluation is to come up with a solution that will work for the employee. It is not a predicate for dismissing the person in compliance with existing laws. Employees are generally driven by his desire to earn money to work his desire for success is rooted in his motivation but his failure is rooted in his reaction to certain stimulus that maybe beyond his control. During the evaluation it is best to make the atmosphere more relax and conducive for an open discussion. 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