Human Resource and Personnel Management - Assignment Example

Student's Name: Course Name and Number: Instructor's Name: Date Submitted: SECTION A Question 1A. The collapse of Enron Corporation provides a case of organizations that have failed as a result of scandals by their leaders in the recent past. Generally, the manner in which a leader behaves during the conduct of the business has an impact on the organizational performance. Enron Corporation, which was once a very successful Energy Company in the United States, collapsed following a dishonest-corrupt culture. The organizational leaders were using questionable accounting practices in an effort to ensure that its credit rating was maintained. In addition, the leaders misappropriated the company’s resources by rewarding themselves high salaries. Question 2 A In order to improve communication by email, I will do the following; personalizing response emails, reading out the entire conversation before replying, being precise when composing an email message, checking my emails at least thrice a day and responding as appropriate. Question 3A As a group leader, I will do the following in order to counter groupthink; encouraging each member to air their objections, dividing bigger group into smaller ones, encouraging members to seek consultations from experts outside the group, holding second chance meetings to discuss key issues, prioritizing issues among others. Question 4A Employee retention mainly depends on job satisfaction. Managers have the role of retaining their staff members after investing too much finance and time in recruiting and training them. They should, predict the future needs of their workers in order to enhance their loyalty within the firm (De Cieri, et.al.2008). Question 5A French and Raven identified five sources of power namely; legitimate power, coercive power, reward power, referent power and expert power. Positional power sources include; legitimate, reward and coercive power, whereas personal power sources include expert and referent power. The two categories of power show the range and domain. Question 6A Agreeableness may not always be desirable because agreeable people tend to have lower levels of professional success, as opposed to disagreeable individuals. Disagreeable individuals do not focus upon pleasing others. As such, they cannot be manipulated, and the decisions they make might be valuable for the organization. SECTION B Question 1B Question (i). Motivation is an essential aspect of management because it enables organizational leaders to make their employees carry out their duties enthusiastically. Motivation can emanate from within or outside an organization. External motivation is usually derived from the senior leadership team whereas internal motivation emanates from the employees themselves. Workers in an organization react in a negative or positive manner depending on what their leaders do. Employees form the greatest resource in any organization, and therefore, if an organization is to achieve its goals, then there is a need for managers to motivate his or her employees. The understanding of the motivational theory enables a manager to have a clear overview of what motivation entails and also to devise ways in which he or she can influence the employees positively. According to Maslow's theory of motivation, employees' needs can be positioned depending with their importance. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes five categories of human needs, namely, physiological needs (such as food, water and shelter), safety needs (such as health security, financial protection, family security and security from animals), social needs (including the need for love, care, friendship, belongingness and affection), esteem needs, (such as freedom, respect, competence, achievement, confidence, admiration, recognition, status and attention) and need for self actualization. Each classification of needs is necessary as it enables the senior leadership team to make key decisions relating to employees. Maslow’s theory of motivation plays a crucial role in enabling organizational leaders identify the needs of their staff members. Researching employee needs is the first step to enhancing motivation in contemporary workplaces. Research shows that great organizations across the globe have overwhelmingly institutionalized the culture of identifying their employees’ needs. Failing organizations, on the other hand, take a lazy, disinterested approach to identifying their employees’ needs. Once the leaders identify what their employees require, they can come up with ways to satisfy their needs. For instance, the senior managers can meet the esteem needs of the workers by providing them with an opportunity to grow and develop. The Hertzberg’s theory of motivation states that organizational leaders have the role of controlling those aspects which enhances job satisfaction. There are various factors, which influence job satisfaction, as well as dissatisfaction. The de-motivating factors according to this theory include: job status, remuneration, working conditions, a company’s policy among others. Factors which enhance job satisfaction include: leadership attention, praise from managers, providing employees with an opportunity to grow and develop among others. Therefore, managers should try as much as possible to eliminate those aspects that lower employees’ morale in the workplace (Aswathappa, 2005). Question (ii). Both Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theory to the management of motivation plays a crucial role of enhancing employees’ productivity and performance in the workplace. An in-depth understanding of Maslow’s and Herzberg’s motivational theories is critical as it enables organizational leaders to enhance their managerial skills. It is imperative for managers to understand that employee from the greatest resource in any establishment, and therefore, they should be motivated in order to enhance attainment of the set objectives. Any employer who values the well being of their company should fight under all costs to maintain motivated persons. Motivation comes in various forms and could be awarding of prizes to the best working employees, salary increment, paid leaves, leadership attention, and praise among others. Motivated employees pose several benefits to the firm. For instance, they are loyal to the firm and also, perform their duties enthusiastically and effectively. Therefore, the human resource department should comprise of a team of professionals with relevant knowledge on how to handle the employees’ needs, in order to promote their well being. This will in turn give birth to a spirited team working together and in harmony to realize the goals of the establishment (Weiner, 1992). Question 2B. Question (i) According to the path-goal theory of leadership, the effectiveness of a leader is based on his or her impact on subordinates motivation, satisfaction and the ability to carry out their duties effectively. Both Art and Bob appear to be less effective than Carol because they do not influence their subordinates’ perceptions of their work goals, individual goals and paths to objective accomplishment. The path-goal theory emphasizes that an organizational leader’s behaviour should be satisfying or motivating. Thus, the behaviour of a leader should increase subordinates’ goal attainments. In addition, the behavior should clarify the paths to goal attainment. Carol’s leadership is achievement oriented, that is, she sets challenging work goals and expects her workers to perform at their highest level. Art’s style of leadership is directive, and as such, do not consult his subordinates and ask for their suggestions before making a decision. He is repetitive and his subordinates are bored as a result of doing the same things over and over again. He fails to show confidence that his subordinates will meet the company’s goals. Bob’s leadership is people-oriented, that is, he maintains personal relationships with his subordinates. However, his leadership style is less effective because he neglects the company’s goals over socio-emotions. This, in turn leads, to high levels of absenteeism, as well as staff turnover. Question (ii) From the perspective of Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory, the leadership style of Art is task oriented. Art organizes and defines roles of his subordinates. He explains to them the activities to be accomplished, how and when. He reminds his subordinates of the correct procedures to follow while performing their duties. The leadership style of Bob from the perspective of Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory is relationship oriented. Bob maintains personal relationships with his workers. He achieves this by opening up communication channels and providing social and material support to his subordinates. Carol’s leadership style from the perspective of Hersey and Blanchard’s situational theory is achievement oriented. Carol is a friendly and approachable leader who shows great concern for the needs and status of her workers. Question (iii) As a consultant, I would advice Art not to be taking all decisions by himself without consulting his workers. Also, I would recommend that he does not make close supervision of his subordinates, and does not make rigid unilateral decisions. This will create a scope for employees’ initiative and self development. As a consultant, I would advice Bob to be duty conscious, and also, inspire workers to perform their duties effectively in order to avoid chaos and confusion. Regarding the supervision of Carol, I would recommend that she continue to enhance employees’ motivation, morale and satisfaction. Question (iv) The success of organizations in the modern business environment strongly hinges on strong managerial leadership. According to Ohio and Michigan studies for leadership, organizational leaders must clarify strategic intent, build a strong mission that drives both the management and employees, shape organizational culture and manage conflicts in their organizations. Organizational leaders serve as a mentor to the employees. As such, the leaders should be able to challenge the status quo. Leaders should be able to rally employees around a shared vision. Such leaders have the ability of modeling the way i.e. setting example for others to follow. They should inspire subordinates to perform their duties enthusiastically by passionately communicating future goals to them (Daft, 2008). Question 3B Todd Jick’s in his ‘ten commandments for implementing change’ provided organizational leaders with strategies for initiating change in their organizations. The ten commandments according to Todd includes the following; analyzing the firm as well as its need for change, creating a shared vision, separating from the past, creating a sense of urgency, supporting a strong organizational leader’s role, lining up political support, crafting the plan, developing structures, communication, involvement and trustworthy and reinforcement and institutionalizing the change (Dees, Emerson & Economy, 2004). Todd, in his ‘ten commandments for implementing change’ integrates the work of Lewin and Kotter (Force Field Analysis). According to Lewin and Kotter, organizations across the globe undergo significant change management in order to enhance the quality of their services. Organizational leaders have the role of managing planned change in their respective organizations (Cummings & Worley, 2008). Lewin and Kotter, in their studies, argued that leaders should not be comfortable with the status quo. Leaders should therefore, pay attention to change drivers and change restraining forces. Jick has integrated this concept in his work when he argues that leaders should analyze the firm and identify the need for change. According to Todd, being visionary is one of the key characteristic of an organizational leader. The manager should use vision as a rallying point for all subordinates in order to manage change. Generally, a vision explains the expected outcomes, towards which organizational change is expressed. It acts as a platform through which change can be designed, implemented and assessed. The vision enables employees to be committed to changing by providing them with a compelling rationale of the importance of change in the organization (Brown, 2005). According to Todd, the leader should encourage participation in creating the vision in order to achieve maximum support. He should ensure that the vision is inspiring to the staff. Lewin and Kotter also understand that resisting change is a common phenomenon, and therefore, an organizational leader must take steps to minimize such resistance. They stated that staff should be involved in order to prepare them in advance for the proposed changes. This, also enable employees to identify the appropriate measures require to be taken in good time. Creative solutions can thus be developed in order to deal with the anticipated problems. Jick in his ‘ten commandments for implementing change’ stated that the change must be communicated, and employees should be involved. Thus, a leader should be able to explain organizational goals to the employees i.e. he or she should be able to communicate effectively. It is difficult for the subordinates to embrace change if they do not have a clear idea of the planned changes. As such, the leader should be able to bring about an almost fanatical loyalty among her subordinates (Dawson & Andriopoulos, 2009). Lewin and Kotter, in their studies, argued that for organizational change to be effectively managed, leaders must earn the trust of their subordinates (Stanley, 2011). Jick in his ‘ten commandments for implementing change’ has also claimed that trust and respect act as a motivation to leaders to perform exceedingly well. Organizational leaders should be able to keep their promises. As they keep their promises with employees over time, the employees come to trust them, making change management effective (Frazier, 2006). References Aswathappa, K. 2005. Human Resource And Personnel Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Brown, K.2005. Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organizations. London: Routledge. Cummings, T & Worley, C.G.2008. Organization Development & Change. Ed: 9.London: Cengage Learning. Daft, R.L. 2008. The Leadership Experience. Cengage Learning: London: 2008. Dawson, P & Andriopoulos, C.2009. Managing Change, Creativity and Innovation. New York: SAGE Publications Ltd. De Cieri, H et.al.2008. Human resource management in Australia. Ed: 3. Sydney: McGraw-Hill. Dees, J. G., Emerson, J & Economy, P. 2004. Strategic Tools for Social Entrepreneurs: Enhancing the Performance of Your Enterprising Nonprofit. Ed: 2. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Frazier, A.W. 2006. Perceptions of Leadership in Financial Services: An Investigation into the Ethical Components of Transformational Leadership. Michigan: ProQuest. Stanley, D.2011. Clinical Leadership: innovation into action. Banyo Queensland: Australian Catholic University. Weiner, A. 1992. Human motivation: metaphors, theories, and research. Thousand Oaks: SAGE. Read More