Employees Well Being - Research Paper Example

Running Head: EMPLOYEES’ WELL BEING Employees’ Well Being Name Institution Date Contents Contents ii 1.Introduction 1 1.1.Aim of the study 1 1.2.Scope 1 1.3.Methodology 1 1.4.Assumptions 1 1.5.Limitations 2 1.6.Background Information 2 1.6.1.Employee well being 2 1.6.2. Air Bus: Background Information 3 1.7.Plan 3 2. Discussion 3 2.1. Importance employee well being 4 2.2. Planning 4 2.2.1. Statement of the objectives and setting goals 5 2.2.2. Strategy 6 2.2.3 Plans 8 2.3. Organizing function 8 2.3.1. Establishing relationship 9 2.3.2. Employee performance management 10 2.3.3. Trainings 10 3. Conclusion 11 4. Recommendations 11 5. References 12 Executive Summary This report is aimed at identifying the role of planning and organization managerial functions in determining employee well being. Employees can only be considered to be enjoying a healthy working environment if this is evident from their feedback and performance. The literature review conducted indicated that employee performance is to a larger extent determined by effectiveness of managers in their operation. To identify the role of planning and organization in enhancing employee well being, this report looks into the operations of Air Bus Company which is a company that deals with European transportation and has a large number of employees A conclusion is drawn from the finding and recommendations drawn. These recommendations include implementation of mentoring programs, continuous reviews of employee performance and the establishment of outcome oriented measurement tools to determine employee satisfaction. Involvement of employees from the initial stages of setting goals to their implementation greatly contributes to employee well being. 1. Introduction 1.1. Aim of the study The purpose of this paper is to determine how managers in Air Bus Company ensure maintenance of employee wellbeing through the proper planning and organization. 1.2. Scope This report is specifically drawn from Air Bus Company. It only concentrates on the role of managerial planning and organization in determining employee well being in Air Bus. 1.3. Methodology Data was collected through group discussions with employees in the company and personal interviews. Company policies and existing literature concerning the company was also reviewed. 1.4. Assumptions This report assumes that interviewed employees were genuine in giving required responses and that the data from secondary sources was accurate. The assumption is that personal views and attitudes were not represented in the secondary data. Secondary data evaluated is thus assumed to be objective. 1.5. Limitations The report is limited to planning and organizing managerial functions in explaining employee well being in Air Bus company. It does not take into consideration controlling and leadership functions as these are well represented in the company. It views factors resulting from managerial planning and organization as the main determinants of employee well being in Air Bus Company. 1.6. Background Information 1.6.1. Employee well being Employee well being can be defined as the social, psychological and physical health of employees in an organization. The aspect of physical health is determined by energy of the employee and his or her overall health. Psychological health is determined by employee safety, empowerment, control, confidence, optimism, accomplishment, satisfaction and an environment that is stress free (Green, 2006). The social aspect is determined by social connectedness, respect, fairness, equity, existing balance between personal life and work and existing work relations. Employees have always been found to perform best if they have attained high levels of well being. This is because they are more resourceful, focused, resilience, energetic and positive in attaining outlined objectives (Green 2006). However, these characteristics are only brought out when the managers recognize the value of employees in organizational success and employ their planning and organizing skills effectively. 1.6.2. Air Bus: Background Information Air bus is a company dealing with transportation of Europeans. It began as a result of a need expressed by the air forces in the European countries. It provides employment for a very large number of people and serves in countries such as France, Germany, Spain and China as the areas where final assembly of their production takes place (Roger, 1996). The company has been progressing day by day with the sales continuing to increase. Its success has taken determination and a change in the approach strategies for marketing and management (Roger, 1996). The company has faced so many challenges but has been sustained throughout the process due to effective application of planning and organizing perspectives in management. It has been characterized by developments which are as a result of support accorded by the employees. Despite the rising competition in the market especially from Boeing, this organization can maintain her competitive advantage with proper planning and organization. 1.7. Plan This report will open up by first discussing the importance of employee well being in relation to managerial functions organizing and planning. Theoretical perspectives on management will be discussing before bringing out their relationship and application to employee well being. 2. Discussion 2.1. Importance employee well being Employee wellbeing greatly increases productivity in an organization. When employee wellbeing is compromised, the organization is bound to fail especially in meeting set objectives and goals. The level of engagement in any job is determined by the well being of those employees. For instance, Air Bus has been sustained due to the fact that her employees are satisfied and unlike in other organizations, they are not struggling to survive. Neglecting the employees and allowing chances for work burnout would be suicidal to Air Bus. 2.2. Planning Planning involves all decisions made that will have an impact on the future of Air Bus Company. This includes the development of goals and objectives that drive towards the success of the organization (Flannes & Levin, 2005). During the planning process, employee development is a very crucial factor to consider. If the employees fail to develop, they may be dissatisfied with the job. This has been a major cause of employee moving form one job to another. The well being of employees in Air Bus Company can be considered to be compromised if the employees are not satisfied. Having employees move from Air Bus Company to another company such as Boeing which is her greatest competitor would result to the company losing a lot of money in recruiting and training new employees. In addition, these employees will take with them her strategies thus empowering her competitor. Employee well being is achieved through planning for trainings and motivating employees to raise their level of education through proper time management and promotions (Flannes & Levin, 2005). 2.2.1. Statement of the objectives and setting goals This is a very important part of the planning process for managers. Every member should clearly understand the long term and short term goals of the organization so as to enhance the possibility of being successful. This means that employees in Air Bus must be involved in the planning process so that they can embrace the ideas as well as help in determining the best path towards achieving these goals. Employees may fail to be effective in implementing determined strategies if they are not involved in the planning process. This is because important aspects involving employees may be overlooked in this process. In addition, it has been found out people own ideas more if they have been involved in developing them (Green, 2006). It is therefore crucial that Air Bus involves employees at any level in the planning process. The employees might have ideas that managers do not have. Set goals must be clear so that every employee can understand what is required of them. Failure to articulate organizational goals for Air Bus would ultimately result to employee stress and this would have a negative impact on their performance. In addition, involving employees in goal setting ensures that goals formed are reasonable and attainable (Kerzner, 2003). For instance, Air Bus will not develop goals that will result to employees having to work for long hours, missing lunch breaks and being assigned more tasks than they can handle as this may result to work related stress. Though this may profit the organization by resulting in high profits within a very short time, it is not sustainable. 2.2.2. Strategy Air Bus cannot set goals and settle at that point. She must devise accurate strategies that will ensure that the goals are achieved within a set duration of time. Strategies in this case include all activities and directions taken by Air Bus to ensure her long term sustainability (Robbins et al 2009). To begin with, conducting research on the organizational beliefs, competitors and surrounding environmental conditions is very important. These will have an impact on the well being of employees. For instance, the employees in Air Bus are involved in using some chemical that are very risk. Exploring the risks in the surrounding environment and the work place are very important in determining how these conditions can be improved or how the employees can be prevented from any harm. This may include provision of safe clothing and insurance cover for the employees. The beliefs of the organizations may also be outdated and thus the need to update them with regard to technological and personal development. Research on external environment must also be evaluated to determine whether employees are satisfied in relation to what other organizations are offering. For instance, if employees in other firms competing with Air Bus Company are paid better and have better working condition, the employees in this company will suffer psychologically. This in turn affects their performance resulting to lowered productivity(Kinder et al, 2008). In addition, employees in Air Bus will not be proud to identify with the company and will not own up set goals and objectives. Air Bus must also ensure that designed projects are in line with legal regulations as this will make the employees feel safe and secure while working for her. Through this, it is possible for the organization to identify any threats all opportunities when employees health is taken care of. Currently, Air Bus has planned programs for employee development as a result of past researches. The employees continuously engage in training which improve their skills and confidence when undertaking given tasks. They are involved in determining the training programs to be included in the program every year. Employee appraisals are also conducted to determine any need for training to enhance employee performance. The capacity of employees and need for more workers is also determine. This prevents employees from experiencing work related stress. Budgeting is very essential in the planning process. It ensures that resources are well utilized for the intended purpose. In organization where budgeting is overlooked, employees may suffer from psychological ill health and burn out due to unplanned lay offs resulting from lack of funds to pay employees (Kinder et al, 2008). Downsizing has been found to affect the employee’s productivity, morale and trust. This means that adopted organizational strategies greatly affect employee’s commitment in the future. Employees who survive the downsizing process need to go through a process of healing (Kerzner, 2003). In addition, inadequate budgeting may result to employees not receiving their pay on time. This means that employees may not be in apposition to meet their bills on time resulting bad relationships with landlords and other service providers. Air Bus has maintained a habit of delivering timely payment to her employees which has resulted from adequate budgeting. 2.2.3 Plans After researches have been conducted, plans should be made and implemented on the changes required to ensure that employee well being is maintained. The plans include strategic planning and operational planning. In strategic planning, goals are formulated. Operational planning identifies the means of achieving these goals (Rad & Levin, 2003). Managers must set the time frame required to achieve certain goals and equipment needed by employees to accomplish this. Planning should be an ongoing process because other factors may dictate so. Contingency planning is therefore very important. This means that Air Bus must have a well established planning team that will ensure that this is achieved. Though critics claim that formal planning limits an organization by ensuring that it sticks to set strategies and goals, careful planning remains very crucial to enhancing employee well being (Mankins & Steele, 2006). Managers are required to develop and ensure the implementation of policies that govern the organization as a whole. It is very important that managers in Air Bus consider the well being of employees at any level when developing such policies. This will ensure that the policies do not conflict with employees’ interests. 2.3. Organizing function This can be defined as the process by which managers group and define activities to be carried out in the organization. It also involves creation of authority relationships between employees. Allocating human resource ensures accountability and responsibility on the part of employees. One role in the organization function is delegating authority. In air Bus, it is the role of managers to determine the role of each employee in the company. This ensures that employees become responsible in their field of operation (Fisher, 2000). A manger is not self sufficient and can only be effective if there is cooperation from the employees. In this regard, there are managerial ranks established in every sector. When delegating authority, it is essential to consider personal characteristics of the person who is being given the authority. A person that has poor relationships with other employees is likely to be rejected by the other employees thus resulting to work related stress. 2.3.1. Establishing relationship The manager must ensure that there are existing conditions in the working environment enhance existence of good relationships. According to researches, team work has been found to be very effective. The employment environment in any organization has a great impact on the products and services delivered as well as the employees’ productivity (Fisher, 2000). To maximize on productivity and ensure that goods produced are of high quality, both formal and informal employee conditions are maintained including adequate and good communication between the employees and the management, training to maintain competitiveness in the market and continuous evaluation of employee performance. Since the employees are very important stakeholders in the employment environment, they must be well taken care of. In the past, employees were assured of permanent employment, pensions and other job related benefit (Edwards & Fisher 2004). These factors resulted to high performance in the job market. One challenge experienced by the employees is communication barriers. This mainly exists where employees do not respect decisions made by employees. Effective communication has been found to a great contributor to attainment of set goal and objectives. It has been identified as a global area of concern in the employment environment (Marcoullier and Robertson 2007). This has been found to be a world wide problem and Air Bus focuses on establishing effective working communication links. As globalization sweeps the world, Air Bus has remained focused to maintaining good relationships among employees. The company has many group forums where employees can interact in an informal manner and thus developing working relationships. The company has embraced the role of team work in improving productivity as well as promoting employee development. When establishing relationships, managers insist on respect for each other. 2.3.2. Employee performance management This involves conducting performance appraisal and evaluation to determine employee effectiveness in given position. It aids the development of teaching programs that address employee needs. According to Robbins et al (2008), appraisal help in identifying exact training need thus preventing wastage of resources. Feedbacks from the employees are important in determining the success and effectiveness of training conducted in Air Bus. 2.3.3. Trainings Conducting training contributes to the development of employee skills. This is because trainings seek to address existing gaps between what employees know and what they ought to know in order to perfect their performance. Air Bus has well organized training sessions. Different teaching styles are applied during these training to ensure that all employees attain maximum benefits from the training (Warr, 1990). 3. Conclusion Functions of management are very important tools for any company to employ if it is to achieve success in its operations. In the past, it has been evident that poor management is a manger cause of organizational failure. It is thus very important for managers to clearly understand and utilize their managerial skills in maintaining competitive advantage. However, this can only be achieved if the employees in the organization are cooperative and production. Employee productivity is in turn determined by employee satisfaction and growth. Managerial planning and organization are very important if this success is to be achieved. If well applied, these managerial functions result to employee well being thus positively impacting on organizational productivity. 4. Recommendations Continuous review of employee performance to determine any existing gaps and conducting continuous surveys on employee satisfaction. Implementation of outcome-oriented measures to determine any improvements in regard to planning and managerial organizations. Implementation of mentoring programs to promote employee satisfaction in Air Bus. 5. References Robbins, S., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (5th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education. Mankins, M.C. & Steele, R. (2006). Stop making plans start making decisions. Harvard Business Review, 84(1), 76-84. Marcoullier, D. and Robertson, R. (2007). Globalization on Working Conditions, Case Study of Honduras. Washington D,C: World Bank. Edwards, E, & Fisher M (2004). Evaluating, employee survey programs, In J. E. Edwards, J, Scott, C, & Raju, S, Eds. The human resources program-evaluation handbook pp.365–386,Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage. Green, F. (2006). Demanding Work, the Paradox of Job Quality in the Affluent Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Warr, P. (1990). Decision latitude, job demands, and employee well-being. Work and Stress, 4, 285–294. Kinder, A. Hughes, R. & Cooper, L. (2008). Employee well-being support: a workplace resource. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons ltd. Fisher, K. (2000). Leading self-directed work teams, A guide to developing new team leadership skills. New York: McGraw-Hill. Flannes, S. & Levin, G. (2005). Essential people skills for project managers. Vienna: VA, Management Concepts, Inc. Kerzner, H. (2003). Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Rad, F. & Levin, G. (2003). Achieving project management success using virtual teams. Boca Raton: FL, J, Ross Publishing, Inc.   Read More