Strategic Leadership Project: The Clarif Holdings - Case Study Example

Strategic Leadership Project Introduction The organisational climate of a firm has a significant contribution to the performance of the firm. Clarif Holdings, a car hire outlet is one example of a firm that requires good leadership techniques to enhance its efficiency. Clarif Holdings started with five members of staff, and three borrowed cars. Considering the company is located in the heart of Los Angeles, it was not long until it begun to pick clients. The company had posted its information on the internet by the time it had begun. Picking from zero was not easy for the company. The starting capital was a little problematic to raise. However, as the business kept growing and establishing its roots, it started getting control of its finances. In a span of close to five years, the company had already bought five saloon cars and a mini-lorry. It had also managed to clear almost the entire loan it had acquired to start. Currently, the company is eight years old and has three other branches in New York, which are also running successfully. Findings In the process of growing and trending, the company started facing problems in record keeping and managing staff. The main branch alone has over two hundred vehicles for hire, which spells how big the company has become. The record keeping process of such a company has to be clear and easy to access if it is to keep record of cars that are out and those that are within; failure to which could lead to losses. Keeping track of the staff has been a major challenge for the company. The leadership of the company is either too busy running the business and its franchises or is attending to meetings involving investment plans. This state has led to the negligence of its employees. The negligence has made its staff be poor performers in their work places, since there have been several cases of laxity in the work places (Beatty & Hughes, 2013). There have been cases where clients have missed the vehicles they want to use and gotten assigned those they do not want. There have also been cases where the staff does not keep proper records of payments of clients. Some complain that they are underpaid, considering the company has already grown big and is already making massive profits. The tight schedules assigned to the staff are also a major issue. There may be cases of laxity, but some employees may be in busier departments than others that may also stir conflicts and dissatisfaction among the employees. There are also reported cases of misuse of the company vehicles by the staff. This demonstrates that the administration of the business has not been paying attention the activities of the staff. The business is on the brink of breaking down due to the inattention. This trend is likely to cost the company since the clients may start seeing the poor services and opt to go for other car hire companies. In consideration of all the above factors, the company needs to administer administrative techniques that will monitor the employees and satisfy the clients at the same time. Recommendations Clarif Holdings needs to establish leadership measures that will ensure good relations with the employees, as well as ensure effective working. The car hire business is a business that is very competitive (Sinding, Bøllingtoft & Liz, 2012). This adds to the need for the company to work hard in ensuring its name is not tarnished. Good relations between the management and staff will also ensure the retaining of its staff, and will make it easier to attract more staff. The company needs to establish a leadership strategy that embraces global expansion, good relations with the staff and clients, and one that will counter competitiveness from other companies. The leadership strategy also needs to take into consideration the organisational climate. The organisational climate includes views of the employees on being its member or views on how it operates. A detailed research on the company from its employees, in fact, reveals that they never have direct contact with the management. The company also denies its employees the power of contributing to ideas that may aid the running of the company. Some of the employees even come up with their minor plans of running the daily activities since the management has not offered clear guidelines (Sinding, Bøllingtoft & Liz, 2012). The leadership strategy to be assumed therefore requires that there is more contact between employees and management. The management can start by showing their commitment to the running of the company. If the management or leaders of the company start showing their commitment to the running of the company, the employees are likely to get serious in their places of work (Morrill, 2010). The leaders of the company can show their levels of commitment by assessing the running of the company personally. They could, for instance, assess the state of the vehicles; if there have been any accidents or any cars that need servicing. If the leader of an organisation shows how important his company is to him, the employees are also likely to run it with more care and concern. It will inspire them to be better employees (Sinding, Bøllingtoft & Liz, 2012). The management should also consider introducing performance reviews on each employee. For each department in the company, be it the registration of vehicles that have been hired or returned, or the public relations department, each should have set standards which each employee should work hard to achieve. The best employee should be rewarded. The rewards should be good enough to ensure healthy competition among the staff. The management should also consider involving the staff in its meetings, and most importantly its decision-making processes (Morrill, 2010). The employees are the ones that mainly face the issues on ground. They come together when something is incorrect, or when the company needs to adjust how it runs to meet the needs of the clients. Having this mind, it is vital that the management allows the participation in decision-making processes. The employees may forward ideas that could make significant changes to the organisation, especially in the positive. The management should also consider setting up schedules for its employees. The company should provide good record keeping systems that will allow it to keep proper records f all its employees (Sinding, Bøllingtoft & Liz, 2012). This will also ensure that the schedules of each employee are clearly stated. The schedules should then be assigned to each individual. This is likely to ease the confusion that might have been there. The clients will get solid appointments and are likely to not get disappointments due to unclear schedules. Finally, the company could introduce educative workshops for its employees. This should allow training for the employees of the new business trends. This will ensure they are informed on current techniques of running a company. It will also enable them not to miss out on the upcoming market trends in case one wants to quit the company. The training could be a method of accruing benefits to the staff. It is also an efficient way of drawing employees and retaining the current ones (Beatty & Hughes, 2013). Challenges Despite the dire need to transform the organisation to a better moneymaker, there are several challenges that may come with implementing them. Rewarding the employees is a crucial motivator (Morrill, 2010). Rewards keep the morale to work going. The rewards also have to be good enough to make toiling for the m worth it. While the company is making profits, it also requires funding to care for the cars that may have suffered damage. It also needs to service its vehicles, especially the large ones, such as Lorries. Implementing the rewards policy might be costly. The limitation of funds may be a major setback while getting rewards for the employees (Beatty & Hughes, 2013). Leadership itself has several demands. The inspecting of the company property requires the management to make time out of their busy schedule. This may be another challenge since making time requires them to sacrifice a lot on their schedule. Benefits The leadership strategies to be implemented will have numerous benefits to the firm. Managing the employees will be easier since there will be records of each one of them, together with their schedules. It will be easy to tell which employee is not performing effectively in his place of work. Laxity will significantly reduce since there will be closer monitoring. Involvement of the employees in the decision-making processes will also be beneficial since they will feel more involved in the company. They will have a sense of importance and belonging to the company, which will prompt them to work harder. More to that, the company will enjoy better client response. The satisfaction of the employees will be passed on to the clients, since they will serve them without feeling oppressed. This will definitely boost the profits the company will make (Beatty & Hughes, 2013). Finally, running the company will be easier, since everyone will be inclined towards achieving a common goal. Meeting the needs of the staff will make the management have an easier time managing them, since they will have won the trust of their staff. This is likely to make the Clarif Holding Car Hire Company make more profits (Morrill, 2010). References Sinding, K., Bøllingtoft, A., & Liz P. (2012). Cases on management, leadership and organisations. Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur. Beatty, K. M., & Hughes, R. L. (2013). Becoming a strategic leader: Your role in your organizations enduring success. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass. Morrill, R. L. (2010). Strategic Leadership: Integrating Strategy and Leadership in Colleges and Universities. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Pub. Group. Read More