Importance of Setting Division of Labour - Coursework Example

INTRODUCTION: In this globalizing world organizations are desperately trying to retain their employees. At the same time workers employed in highly competitive organizations are also struggling to retain their jobs. As a result of this both employers and employees are actively trying to hold on to what they value. Due to this situation issues of employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment have become of insurmountable importance in the business community especially in the hospitality industry. DEFINITION OF TERMS: Employee job satisfaction- employee job satisfaction refers to how content or discontent an individual is at his/her workplace. organizational commitment- organizational commitment refers to the general psychological attachment of the employee to the firm, company or organization he or she is working in. it is closely associated with other work –related attitudes like organizational identification and job satisfaction. There are three main types of organizational commitment. They include the following. Affective commitment; this type of organizational commitment is defined as the degree of the employees positive attachment to the said organization. Employees with a strong affective commitment have a close identification with the firms’ goals and in addition they wish to remain as part of the organization. Secondly there is continuance commitment, this form of commitment is usually driven by the fact that the said employee perceives to be some costs of losing his/her organizational membership. Thirdly there is normative commitment. Normative commitment refers to a situation where the employee remains committed to the firm because they feel obligated to do so. ANALYSIS: The hospitality industry is one of the most sensitive industries in the world. It involves close interaction between the host and guest or in simple terms between the service provider and the consumer of the service. As thus human resources managers in this industry have an uphill task of making sure that the employees do not only have a high degree of job satisfaction but also the employees must have a measurable degree of organizational commitment. As a result of this there are many challenges as well as contradictions associated with organizations needs to achieve these goals. The main challenge that organizations face is determining what to do in order to retain the right kind of people in the organization. This is a major challenge since many companies or organizations do not know the right way to go about it. Many researchers have found out that employees with a strong organizational commitment as well as a high level of job satisfaction tend to be more committed to their employers, creative as well as productive. On the field of challenges it is important to note that some of the challenges also amount to contradictions since the correctionary measures may have the opposite result. It is important to note that many organizations find a very big challenge in finding the right employees. In addition organizations also find it a great challenge to maintain a productive work force. What many organizations fail to realize is that keeping or maintaining a productive workforce all depends on their actions. Many researchers have found out that there are two main ways of ensuring that employees are satisfied. The two main issues are dissatisfiers (hygiene issues) and motivators. Hygiene issues or dissatisfiers do not make employees to have job dissatisfaction but instead minimize chances of employees feeling dissatisfied. On the other hand motivators are those that make employees feel satisfied. Dissatisfiers include the following; interpersonal relations, supervision, working conditions, salaries, as well as administrative and company policies. On the other hand motivators include the following; achievements, promotions, recognition, responsibilities as well as the work itself. On the field of interpersonal relations human resources and development managers of various organizations should try and ensure that there is a great deal of social interaction within the organization. Employees should feel free to talk to each other regardless of the rank or job group level. Regardless of this these managers should ensure that these interactions take place at an appropriate time that does not affect the productivity of the organization. In addition an organization should strife and has a special meeting place for its employees where they can meet and socialize after work. This may be in the form of a sports club, company lunches among others. Supervision on its part also needs to be considered. Noe, 2005, identifies some characteristics that can make an otherwise effective manager to be ineffective and become toxic in the work place. Some of these characteristics include; arrogance, inability to meet business objectives, inability to be a team player, poor conflict management skills, insensitivity, inability to adapt to change, as well as failure of being a team player. As a result supervisors should be chosen wisely in order to avoid the loss of productive employees due to the presence of incompetent supervisors. Salaries on their part are also a very big challenge to organizations. Failure to pay employees a consummate salary may end up being a very costly experience for organizations. Failure to pay employees an acceptable salary can be a very good reason to make employees dissatisfied. This can lead to low productivity within the organization. Syptak, Marshland and Ulmer (1999), recommended that organizations should actively consider consulting salary surveys in order to make sure that their employees are well catered for in terms of salaries. The working conditions or the working environment can also be a very influential factor, which can make employees feel dissatisfied with their work. Thus it is of paramount importance for employees to feel comfortable or cosy at their places of work. It is important to note that if employees are not comfortable there is a high likelihood that they will not be maximally productive. Surprisingly the working environment is one of the easiest things that an organization can provide to its employees. Little things like a clean, well air-conditioned office, a clean desk, up-to date equipment can improve the working conditions of employees and subsequently productivity immensely to prevent unnecessary bruises there is need to Guard or tape furniture corners or edges that are presumed to be sharp. All “pull out" writing drawers or keyboards should always be pushed back in as long as they are not being used at the specific time. On the field of motivators, there is a lot that an organization can do for its employees. Firstly it is important for the organization to let all its employees feel that the work that they do is valuable. The human resources and development managers should let all employees understand that the work or tasks that they perform for the organization are appreciated and that they have a very significant impact on the company’s or the organizations results. Achievement is also a very important motivator to employees. It is of critical importance for employees to be placed in positions that they are adequately qualified. Once this is set then employees are placed in fields where they are sure that they will achieve something for themselves, the organization or both. This makes sure that employees are already aware before-hand what is expected of them. This allows for quick services, feedbacks as well as corrections. Recognition is also a very important motivator that easily leads to job satisfaction. Every employee wishes to be recognized not only for their achievements but also for the time and efforts that they put forward towards the achievement of the organizations goals and objectives. The best way of motivating employees is by giving them positive reinforcements. By giving employees positive reinforcement, then an organization gives the employees an incentive to produce at their highest levels. If this is not there then employees are not motivated to perform maximally. Since companies always want to retain their top performers, then by positively recognizing them goes a long way in ensuring that the employees will stick with the organization for a long time. It is very essential for organizations to entrust their employees with the task of making wise and informed decisions. This is what we call giving employees responsibility. It is of paramount importance for organizations to empower their employees in all sectors to solve company problems wisely and on a timely basis. This makes employees have a feeling of belonging or in other words positively identify with their organizations. Giving responsibility to employees does not necessarily mean giving or piling up more loads of work to employees but instead giving them more meaningful work as well as giving them more authority and freedom. All employees wish to advance their careers in one way or the other. In order to retain employees it is important for employers to offer their employees opportunities to further their careers either in ways of education and training or appropriate promotions. If organizations fail to offer such opportunities to their workers then it will not be surprising to note that the organization will be recruiting new employees every now and then. CONCLUSION: In any organizational setting division of labour is of ultimate importance. When it comes to matters of management all managers have some core duties that they have to accomplish. Among these duties, include the roles of planning, coordinating, and decision-making, controlling, and organizing. In order to achieve all these goals managers needs to be guided by a comprehensive marketing information system. In this respect, a human resources manager needs to know his roles and duties explicitly to carry out his/her tasks without much ado. In addition the human resources manager should be well aware of the ministry of labour’s occupational safety and health administration policies. By being aware of these principles, the human resources manager will be able to address and update the necessary safety requirements from time to time. In order to accelerate workforce effectiveness the human resources manager is also supposed to make decisions that are not always related to safety and security. Among these decisions would be to introduce a conducive work environment, where there are medical facilities, recreation centres either within or outside the premises. To top this up the manager should ensure that employees are not over worked; this could be done through the introduction of shifts, few working hours, and an acceptable remuneration for all workers amongst others. Additionally employees should be entitled to disability allowances, sick offs, vacations or leave in order to make them more motivated. REFERENCES: Barrie, J. 2000. The Top 7 Challenges Human Relations Professionals are facing: Managing Working Relationships. Available at: http://www.workrelationships.com/site/newsletter/issue6.htm Noe, Raymond A. 2005. Employee Training and Development.3rd Ed. McGraw Hill: New York. Read More