Human Resource Development - Case Study Example

Topic 1 Select an individual who you think is an effective manager. What factors or attributes contribute to this person’s effectiveness as a manager? What sort of training and development might increase such attributes in people aspiring to a management role? Your task is to plan an HRD program to prepare new and aspiring employees for promotion to management positions. Name Institution Executive summary This report provides an outlook into effective management and the skills required for one to be referred to as an effective manager. This report shows that for one to be effective as a manager, he or she has to ensure that they explore various basic duties namely organizing, staffing, directing, planning and controlling. Effectiveness comes from fully utilizing these five basic concepts and duties in such a manner that will provide consistency and attainment of the goals and objectives of the organization. The report depicts an effective manager as a person who has the capacity to recognize and encourage adaptability and innovativeness in various employees, foster team work among various employees, foster personal growth among his employees and through having the capacity to expand their leadership skills and through learning good communication skills. It is evident from this report that the mandate of making the organization attain its roles and objectives lies squarely upon the shoulders of these managers. Contents Contents 4 Introduction 5 Manager defined 6 Roles of managers 6 Traits of effective managers 7 Planning skills 7 Analytical skills 8 Conflict resolution at the workplace 8 A HRD program of becoming an effective manager 8 Effective communication skills 9 Expansion of leadership skills 9 Fostering personal growth among employees 10 Recognize and encourage adaptability and innovativeness among employees 11 Teamwork 11 Conclusion 12 References 13 Introduction The concept of effective management is a concept that is largely valued in many organizations across the globe. Effective management is critical in every organization so that the organization can be able to deliver its goals and objectives. It is the prerogative of the management of the various organizations to ensure that the goals and the objectives of these organizations are accomplished. They are responsible for the formulation of policies and the execution of these policies in the company. When the company fails in its delivery, these people receive all the blame. Effective managers have certain characteristics and traits that distinguish them from other employees in the organization. These traits make them be capable of making decisions that are helpful to the organization and which largely contribute to the attainment of the goals of the organization. Analoui (1995) states that the success that an organization attains is largely because of the decisions and management style of the managers in this organization. Each organization or company is managed in a different format because of the dynamic business environment that each of these companies operate in. A particular system of management in one company may not be as successful when applied to another company. It is therefore important to identify which styles of management could work in a certain setup or company so that the HR department can be in a position to recruit the perfect manager for the position. This paper investigates the various factors that contribute to a person’s effectiveness as a manager. It also illustrates the kind of training and development that increase these attributes among the people who are aspiring to be in a management position in the future through a development of an HRD program. Manager defined Before this paper embarks into the analysis of the skills and attributes that constitute an effective manager, it is vital to offer a definition of manager as a person here. Yau & Sculli (1990) define the manager as being the person who is tasked with the role of controlling or administering an organization or a group of people. Managers form the core of the company. It is through their efforts that various tasks occur. Managers are tasked with ensuring that the goals and objectives that the company has formulated are achieved through following various policies, rules and regulations. They are responsible for the management of resources as well as the personnel in the company to be able to fulfil the goals of the company. Roles of managers In their bid to ensure that the goals and objectives of the organization are fulfilled, managers have various roles that come along with their designations. These roles are discussed in the following paragraphs. Banai & Tulimieri (2013) state that the various basic roles of managers include organizing, staffing, directing, planning and controlling. It is important for the manager to be in a position to seamlessly execute these five basic roles when the demand arises so that the organization can meet its goals and objectives. All the functions that managers perform in an organization in different capacities tend to find a lodging among any of the five basic roles listed in here. It is important for managers to ensure that their traits as professionals are designed in such a manner that what they do will be encaged among the five basic traits listed here that form the role of these managers. Most of the roles highlighted here are roles that involve the manager supporting the employees in one way or the other so that they can achieve their goals too. A manager is seen as the role model of the organization by the other employees. He is the person whom these employees look up to for support and assistance on various matters. He or she is responsible for the supply of leadership and other management skills to the various employees in the organization (Ahmad, 2012). Traits of effective managers There are several traits that make one be termed as an effective manager. These traits run across both personal as well as professional lines. Some of the traits of effective managers have been highlighted in the following sentences. These traits have been developed out of an observation made upon one manager whom can be termed as having been very effective. Planning skills Effective managers have strong planning skills. A manager should be able to know when a particular action is to be taken and create a chain of activities that culminate into the overall attainment of the goals and objectives of the company. Planning involves knowing exactly when a particular step is to be taken for maximum impact and when to refrain from taking the action. A good manager has a strong analytical mind. He or she should be in a position to be able to identify various factors that could contribute in one way or the other to the success or the failure of a particular project. Analytical skills An effective manager should be able to use his analytical mind to be able to identify various factors that may contribute towards the failure of a certain venture and put measures into place to revert the same. Another trait of an effective manager would be the capacity of such a manager to bring out the best in his employees. When a manager has the capacity to motivate his employees to work harder, he is definitely considered as one of the effective managers. This is because when employees work harder, they also produce more and an increase in production relates to an increase in the amount of money that is earned as revenue by the company. An effective manager is able to identify hard working employees and motivate them through rewards. He is also able to identify those employees who are not performing as per expectations and find a way to make them reverse this trend. Conflict resolution at the workplace When conflicts arise in the workplace, as they are bound to, it is the duty of the manager to intervene and handle those complaints and conflicts to the satisfaction levels of all the parties involved. Effective managers also advocate for and facilitate the efficient usage of resources. The resources that a company uses for the production of goods and services are designed to promote the overall goals of that company. When these resources are not used efficiently, it becomes hard for the company to achieve its goals and obligations. As an effective manager, efficient use of various resources is a mantra that they hold up high. A HRD program of becoming an effective manager Most employees aspire to become effective managers as they progress in their profession. However, the process of becoming an effective manager is daunting and that is why most of them never get the chance to become one. This portion highlights this process of becoming an effective manager and it shows how normal employees can advance their management skills to the levels of being effective managers in a specific organization. Effective communication skills One of the ways through which employees can become effective managers is through learning good communication skills. Ekundayo et al (2013) states that an effective manager is one who has the capacity to engage himself or herself in excellent communication skills. Most employees respond differently to the way that a certain manager communicates to them. It is important for a manager to be able to know how various employees should be spoken to. Opening up of communication channels between the manager and the employee is a very important step in ensuring that each and every employee in the organization is comfortable. Contino (2004) states that managers should be able to be good listeners as much as being good instructors. Effective managers should be able to welcome and encourage employees to come up with ideas and give their opinion pertaining to various parameters at the workplace. Expansion of leadership skills Another way of becoming an effective manager is through having the capacity to expand their leadership skills. True managers are those who have the ability to aspire, provide direction and instill a sense of responsibility among various employees. They should be persons who lead by example and whom the employees can wholly trust to ensure that their interests as well as the interests of the company are safeguarded. This is achieved through a series of leadership development that makes the employees who work under the manager aspire to one day find themselves in his or her position. Fostering personal growth among employees An effective manager is the one who has the capacity to foster personal growth among his employees. To become an effective manager, it is important to also promote the growth of the various employees who work under you. When employees join an organization, most of them join at the entry position level. However, they work hard in the hope that their hard work will be recognized and rewarded through promotions. Each employee aspires to have positive vertical development and progress in his or her career (Meuse et al 2011). However, with time, some of these employees feel the discomfort and dissatisfaction in that they have been working at the same position for a long time and chances of being promoted to the next level are not forthcoming. They do not feel valuable and hence their net output is decreased. Organizations that do not promote positive advancement of their employees have high turnover ratios. It is the absolute duty of a manager to recognize and reward those people who work hard in the organization. In this way, they will be promoting both the personal development of the individual and consequently the farewell of the company at large. Another way through which managers can foster personal growth of the employees in a company is through offering these employees retraining programs and opportunities. Employees who have the chance to engage in retraining opportunities increase their personal value and consequently add value to the company as a whole. Recognize and encourage adaptability and innovativeness among employees To be an effective manager, it is important to recognize and encourage adaptability and innovativeness in various employees. Great ideas emerge from employees when they are given the chance to brainstorm and voice their mind. When the manager gives an employee the chance to express himself, this employee feel that their contribution is valued and they feel appreciated. This raises the morale of these employees and high morale levels translate to high levels of performance. Encouraging and accepting the culture of adaptability and innovativeness amongst employees is a very instrumental and key concept of the attributes of various effective managers. Teamwork To become an effective manager, one should be able to be in a capacity to foster teamwork among various employees. It is important to note here that the attainment of the goals and objectives of a company largely comes out as a factor of teamwork. When people work together as a team, the accomplishment of various tasks becomes easier. Each person plays his or her own role and collectively, this result into the overall attainment of the goals and objectives of the company. An effective manager delegates duties and sets the team spirit into play. Each person works towards accomplishment of the overall goal through accomplishment of the individual goals. The manager is then capable of influencing people to work harder to hit their targets as individuals so that the overall targets of the company attained. Conclusion The above discussion has given a highlight on the process and persona of an effective manager. Through an identification of an already existent manager, various traits of an effective manager have been established in this discourse. It has been shown here that an effective manager is one who follows the five basic roles of the manager to fulfilment. These roles have been documented here as being organizing, staffing, directing, planning and controlling. Through an indulgement into various facets of these roles, it has been observed that to be an effective manager, there are a number of issues one has to look into. These includes to recognize and encourage adaptability and innovativeness in various employees, to be in a capacity to foster team work among various employees, to foster personal growth among his employees, through having the capacity to expand their leadership skills and through learning good communication skills. References Ahmad, W. (2012). ‘Leader’s Interpersonal Skills and Its Effectiveness at different Levels of Management’. 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