People Management as a Constant Issue - Essay Example

Managing People Name Institution Managing People Introduction When a manger is struggling to hit the deadline or in making delicate decisions, dealing with people is the last thing the manager wants. It demands the cooperation of the team, no disgruntled employee, no worker who avoids work and no key worker who is tired all day because the kids cried all night. Managing people is manager’s most important and most difficult job. The duty demands the manager to motivate, lead, inspire and most important encourage them. The major challenges facing the manager are to hire, fire, evaluate or sometimes discipline employees. This paper aims at discussing why ‘ people management’ remains a constant issue in modern workplaces, the factors contributing to the challenge of managing people in a workplace and the management theories that assist managers in dealing with key challenges of people management in the organizations. The article helps find the best way to handle people management issues considering simple frame work for dealing with people and the possible motivators. ‘People Management’ a Constant Issue People in an organization could be the keystones and when fired by a manager, it might be removing the glue holding that organization together. These people are the unsung heroes of the company’s success that the organization knowingly or unknowingly depends on. The people have opinions and these people choose to think. By voicing their opinions, they serve as balance and checks for the organizations. All these aspects are changing the world of work resulting in emergence of talent shortages, new labour laws, outsourcing, globalisation, shifting demographics, outsourcing; list of emerging issues is endless. Human resource function of the managers is also changing and the managers are under more pressure to prove and demonstrate results from their policies and workforce practices. It’s important for the managers to recognize the basic link between the organization’s people and the business performance of that organization. Thus ‘people management’ has been the key issue demanding managers to implement people strategies that will go along with supporting the objectives of the organization and the same time increase the transparency and the accountability around people management and reporting. Effectively managing people encourages them to release the full potential and succeed in business. Factors in ‘People Management’ A manager will want to learn how to find, interview, and most probably hire a superior workforce. On top of that, the manager needs to understand, employ and perform those practices that will keep the organization’s people inspired, motivated, developing, and attaining goals under the guidance of the manager. This manager can be the successful individual to make a difference for the organization and in the work life of employees. The factors in managing people will include attracting, training and retaining key personnel with essential skills, abilities and aptitude for the work that is involved. Human capital is thus a major capital investment for any business and it is investing in people. Managers understand the competitive advantage they gain from employing good people. Businesses will compete in several marketplaces for customers and this advantage is achieved by having available human resources to maximise business opportunities in specific customer base. In order to achieve that, an effective manager will pay attentions to the factors and facets of leadership, management, and learning the company. Several factors highly contribute to the whole challenge of managing people in work environments. Considering people as the heroes in the success of the company, proper attention is needed to handle those factors. Respect is a fundamental right. Making the people feel treated with respect will make them respond with dignified actions. Employees will want to feel that they have right to access information as quickly as the managers in the workplace. People in the organization will want to learn new skills, grow their careers and knowledge and also develop their capabilities. It is important to make the developmental opportunities available to every employee as it demonstrates the manager’s commitment to helping them develop their ability and careers. The people in the organization will want to have an impact in the decisions that are made regarding their jobs. This entails employee involvement and employee empowerment that largely help to create engaged employees willing to put forth their discretionary energy for the business and enable the organization in meeting its objectives. Leadership is not wanted by the people in the organization. The sense of being on the right track, going somewhere defined is what the employees want. Existence of these factors in workplace results in soaring of motivation, productivity and happiness. Different Management Theories to deal with ‘People Management’ One of the most important human activities is management. The action of managing has been essential in ensuring the coordination of individual efforts from the time human beings began forming social organizations to achieve and accomplish aims and objectives that could not be accomplished by individuals. This led to a society that continuously relied on the efforts of groups and the emergence of large groups and organizations that led to increase in the importance and complexity of the task of managers. Although some managers in the organizations could have made it in managerial success without having basic theoretical knowledge in management, it is unequivocally emphasized that those managers who took effort to mix their day to day policies with management theory, have had better chances of managing and leading their organizations more effectively and efficiently to achieve both individual and the objectives of the organization. It is important to study management theories as they are the perspectives with which people make sense of their world experiences (Stoner et. al 1995, pp. 31-2). Theory is a systematic grouping of various interdependent concepts (mental images of anything formed by generalization from particulars) and the principles (are generalizations or hypotheses that are tested for accuracy and appear to be true to reflect or explain reality) that as a result give a framework to a significant knowledge area (Stoner, 1995). Psychological Contracts Different management theories are used by managers to help deal with ‘people management’ in work environments. In organizational employment, the theory of Psychological Contracts is an increasingly relevant aspect of the workplace relationship and the wider human behaviour. Among the experts who contributed ideas to the subject were Edgar Schein and Chris Argyris in 1960s when this theory emerged. This theory primarily refers to the relationship between an employer and its employees and it specifically concerns mutual expectations of inputs and outcomes. It is seen from standpoint of employees’ feelings and a full understanding requires both sides understanding. It is balance or fairness as perceived by an employee and it involves the relationship between how the employee is treated by the employer, and the employee input into the job. Unlike many traditional management theories, the Psychological Contract and the ideas surrounding it are still quite fluid and are yet to be fully understood or defined and far from widely applied and understood in organizations. The employment relationship consists of a unique combination of beliefs held by an individual and his employer about what they expect of one another (Michael Armstrong, 2006). This is the basic definition of the theory of Psychological Contract and it has several dimensions that include; series of mutual obligations on both sides which may include intangible factors that are impossible to measure, there is a relationship between the employer on one side and an employee on the other side, the obligations are subject to the perceptions of the two sides, the overall contract has a very changeable nature itself and that the Psychological Contract is almost never written or formalised, making it inherently difficult to manage, and hard for the managers and employees to relate to. It has a purely imaginative framework or understanding and the organizations managers tends to rarely prioritise as more manageable or real issue. Hierarchy of Needs The hierarchy of needs model was developed by Abraham Maslow and the theory remains valid today for understanding human motivation, personal development and management training. The hierarchy of needs concerning employer’s responsibility to provide a workplace environment that encourages and enables employees to fulfil their full unique potential are very relevant today. Each person is motivated by needs having the most basic needs as inborn. According to the hierarchy of needs theory, we must satisfy these needs in turn, starting with the first. These needs include biological and physical needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, self-actualization needs and transcendence needs. Hierarchy of Needs ideas relates directly to present day challenges and opportunities for organizations and employers to provide real meaning, true personal development and purpose for their employees. Successful organization’s managers are those who genuinely understand, care about, enable and encourage their people’s personal growth towards self-actualization. Love and spirituality in Management Love is a strange word to use in the context of organization, business and management. This shouldn’t be the case as love is a normal concept in fields where compassion becomes second in nature. Spirituality is another important alternative and a perspective in its own right as it presents ideas which are central to love as it is applied in organizations and business. In business, both love and spirituality mean genuine humankind compassion with all what it implies. Love in the organizations means the process of making decisions and conducting oneself in a way that cares for the people in that organization and the world they live in. Nowadays, people are seeking more meaning from their work and from their lives. Large numbers of people are now fed up with the usual traditionally selfish character associated with the corporations and business organizations and now the people want to conduct themselves. This growing transparency of organization behaviour in today’s world is creating real accountability for the organizations. Organizational change, Training and Learning Training implies enhancing people with skills. It’s important for the organizations and managers to first think of exploring the ways to align the aims of the business with the life needs of the organization’s people. Valuing integrity and people will result to profits and great business performance. Most managers tend to think that people employed and managed to do a job do what they are actually told to do. This doesn’t make it so as the managers say. There is a different perspective today. This is because people will never align with bad aims, exploitation, executive greed, environmental damage, betrayal, inequality, false and unfulfilled promises and other corrupt actions. It’s important for the managers to re-align and re-assess the aims of the organization, integrity, beliefs, in line with the people of that organization. This will encourage the people to begin getting interested in helping with new ideas, new skills and a change. Integrating Management Theories in dealing with ‘People Management’ Challenges In management theory, the employee attitudes such as faith, trust, commitment, satisfaction and enthusiasm will heavily depend on a balanced and fair Psychological contract. If the employees regard this contract as unfair or broken, the largely intangible, yet vital ingredients of good organizational performance can evaporate within no time. The positive attitudes thrive if the Psychological Contract is regarded as fair and right by the employees. The employees feelings and attitudes act on two levels; first being the treatment at work and secondly the relationship with the employer as well as their behaviour towards the employer. To integrate this management theory, the manager or employer therefore should focus on helping employees to be happy and feel good as it produces a healthier view of the contract and other consequences. The staff will be generally less inclined to support and cooperate with the management if the less sensible employers will ignore the relevance of employees’ happiness and thus the contract will be viewed more negatively. Managers have a duty and a challenge to give proper explanation and information to the people in an organization. Distorting facts or deceiving people means a manager is neglecting a fundamental responsibility in the hope that people will absorb a problem and it even gets worse when a manager thinks that the people have no right to know or to complain in an organization. This aspect is important in change management and of employer employee relationships generally and it involves trust at a deep level. Best modern managers should learn that at last, sustainable success is built on a compassionate and serious commitment in helping people pursue, identify and reach their own personal potential. The modern manager should recognize that virtually all personal growth is directly transferable to any type of job role. Thus the managers should offer the development support to the people in the organization in any direction whatsoever that staff seeks to grow, in a hobby, special talent, career, or a new experience. Managers need now to care properly for people and the future of the world not just to do business with the aim of making profits and extracting personal gain. It is now necessary for the managers to realise that genuinely caring for the organization’s people is actually a sensible thing that should come to their attention. It is necessary for the organizations to make room for spirituality and love – care for world and the people- alongside their main objectives of making profits. Famous and large corporations got a platform of success from love, spirituality and compassion as well as real ethical principles. Huge Cadbury and Rowntree British Enterprises were founded by Quakers. The organizations were run on far more love and compassionate principles that it would be considered of a normal business today. (The source of these details is Sir Adrian Cadbury's talk on 'Beliefs and Business', 2003.) The challenge for the modern leaders and managers is to develop an interpretation of spirituality and love that will work for that particular organizational situation. The article by Barbara Heyn, a Cincinnati-based consultant, helps to show how love and spirituality can be applied in a practical sense in work and business organizations. According to Barbara, if the manager is open and accepting, people in the organization will feel comfortable around their leader. Fear and anxiety will be eliminated in the work area and an increased sense of humanity and trust will positively impact the bottom line and the people in the organization will work far better as they are happy. The manager should establish a collaborative mind-set, reach out to others, use their intuition, meditate daily, build their confidence, and do the right thing. Managers should focus on facilitating learning and not imposing training. The manager should encourage the person’s development and should give people the choice. The organization should offer opportunities for the people to grow and develop. Conclusion The information in this article is important as it highlights important issues in managing people in today business organizations. Most of the mentioned issues are the important aspects that a manager should consider, but which are not applied in today’s business practices. The study mentions about spirituality and love in the organization which is not common as most manager employee relationship tends to be kept formal. However, the article highlights the importance it has when organization considers being compassionate on people and the world they live in. Psychological Contracts is also vital in enabling an efficient employer employee relationship that in turn results to increased productivity of the individuals in the organization. To sum up, a good manager should have an above average interest in people. It entails laying down the challenges; get people excited about the ideas and getting people to stretch themselves creatively rather than resulting in stressful demands. Good managers see themselves as catalysts who like to accomplish a great deal while at the same time understanding that they can do little if there is no combined efforts of the organization’s people. References Gerard M Blair . (undefined). Managing People. In The Human Factor . Retrieved August 29, 2012, from http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art6.html. Stoner James A. F., Freeman R. Edward, and Gilbert, Jr. Daniel R. (2003) Management (New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India), Sixth Edition. Armstrong, M., & Armstrong, M. (2009). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page. Baines, G. (2007). Meaning Inc: The Rise of the 21st Century Company. S.l: s.n.. Murray, P., Murray, P., Poole, D., & Jones, G. (2006). Contemporary issues in management and organisational behaviour. South Melbourne, Vic: Thomson Learning. Gilbert, M. (2008). The Workplace Revolution. New York: Shaye Areheart Books. gulnaz. (april 22,2011). Management Theory. 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