Concept of Liberalization of the Labor Market - Coursework Example

Running header: LIBERALIZATION OF THE LABOR MARKET Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: LIBERALIZATION OF THE LABOR MARKET INTRODUCTION The essay focuses at explaining the concept of liberalization of the labor market and how it has impacted in companies in the recent days. This is because of the drastic shift and move taken by the businesses in order to align their strategic goals and plans in line with the concept of liberalization. The liberalization of the labor market has over the recent past produced many positive results to the companies. This is due to the advantageous traits it possesses. One of the markets like arrangement is the use of work based incentives (Johansen, 2004). Incentives can be defined as objects which have value in them which encourages an individual to put more effort in whatever activity or job he was doing. They are forms of reward given to the employees in order to increase the effort they put in the work they do. Incentives vary between the organizations which put them into use. Incentives include bonuses given to the customers, job promotions on good and exemplary performances (Fitzgerald, 2002). They can be broadly classified into three main categories which are namely; a. Reward incentives- these are incentives such as gifts, certificates, monetary rewards which are offered to the employees in a bid to encourage them to perform better in their work. b. Compensation incentives- these are incentives which include items such as bonuses and stock offers which are used in bid to encourage the employees c. Recognition incentives- these are incentives which are offered to the employees in actions and deeds. They include praising the employees, thanking the employees, or mentioning their achievements in a company meeting (Bidden, 2009). d. Appreciation incentives- these are incentives which are exampled by celebration events or parties solely planned by the company to encourage the activities of the employees. In our organization, we are reaping the benefits of the application of the incentive schemes. Since the foundation of the organization, we believed that the best performance of the company can be achieved through the empowerment of the employees. We have in all the activities put in place mechanisms which will motivate the employees in our organization. Before we put in place the incentive schemes, most of our operations were very poor. There were very high levels of wastages in the line. There were also poor quality of output produced and less quantity of produce. The resources of the firm were highly under utilized (Audley, 2007). The relationship between the employees and the top level management was very poor and very cold. This was the main reason of underlying the introduction of the incentive schemes by the firm. We began by giving of bonuses for extra units of produce. This was the stepping stone in our achievement of the organization goals and targets. The employees strived in order to produce extra units from those specified in a bid to get the bonuses we were offering. This went well for the organization and we recorded increasing numbers of output with the same number of resources we had used in the earlier periods before the introduction of the incentive schemes. Through the production of extra units of output, there were increased sales and production returns (Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, 2008). We also witnessed maximum utilization of the resources of the company. In the previous periods, there were high rates of resource under utilization but through the putting in place of this program, changes were witnessed. There were however downfalls caused by this incentive. They included the fact that the employees shifted their focus from quality of the output to the improvement of the production units. They were more quantity oriented rather than quality oriented. All the employees wanted to make more units of produce and hence lost their attention from the quality of the output they produced (Society for Judgment and Decision Making, 2006). This resulted to the firm looking for another incentive scheme to counter the downfalls of the first one. Another incentive scheme we introduced in our organization was the award of certificates to the employees who produced the best quality output. This began due to the deterioration of the quality of output as the employees were more concerned with the production of extra units of commodity and hence less concerned with the quality of the output. This was one of the best intervention measures we have made to date (Whitely, 2002). The certificate award resulted to the employees shifting their attention from only the extra quantity of output but to also the quality of the output. Through this scheme, very high quality output was produced. Through the production of high quality output, we witnessed increased levels of sales in our firm. This was very beneficial due to the fact that high quality output and increased levels of output ha san equally high proportion of returns to the company. We also put in place a measure and a policy whereby the employee who produced the highest quality of output and the most in number would receive a cash gift and a token. These resulted to the employees increasing the speed of their work and also simultaneously make the best quality of output. This was a measure we have ourselves to thank to date since the fruits are overwhelming. There is an increase in the number of units produced by a single employee and high quality produce (Cook, 2008). We have also seen decreased levels of wastage in the production line which to us is very beneficial. With time, we started holding celebrations and parties in order to appreciate the efforts of the employees. Through the celebrations, the employees were able to interact with the managers and this gave them a sense of belonging and acceptance. This resulted to increased levels of motivation to them. Over the years, we have also planned for trips where the employees are educated of the best production strategies and techniques. This has fostered the improvement of the relationship they have with the top level management (McGee, 2011). Teamwork among the employees has also been improved and developed. All the departmental functions have been well catered for and there exists very high work ethics among the employees. Through the successful integration of the incentives, there are some benefits that we have gained from them. They include the fact that we have been able to retain our best employees in the firm. This has in turn led to improve product development. We have had increased levels of productivity. Due to the development of the reputation of our company, we have also been able to attract and recruit great employees even from our competitors. The high performers have also been rewarded properly. This has even boosted better performance. Through our effective incentive scheme, we have been able to well thank the employees for exceeding the set goals (Barrow, 2006). Teamwork has also been at the forefront in the development of our company. All this can be attributed to work based incentive schemes. However, so as to achieve all this, there are policies which we had to first put in place. They include among others; a. We ensured that the employees well understood all the objectives for the implementation of the incentive schemes. b. We ensured also that the criteria for the achievement of the incentive schemes were clear and easy to understand by the employees (Everett, S&, Hoekman, .2004). c. All the requirements from the employees were well and clearly read out to them and gave reinforcing examples for them to better understand. d. All the objectives we set were time bound. We emphasized the need for the employees to understand this and to hence be timely in their approach. Some of the challenges we have encountered in the implementation of the incentives are include the general acceptance by the employees. At the earlier stages of the incentive programs, some of the employees thought that the use of the incentives was a management trick to make them work more. But after general explanation they accepted and well supported the use of the incentives. Another challenge that existed in the use of incentives was that they led to general workplace separation. This occurred where the employees were more focused on self accomplishment and self attainment of the goals in order to get the incentives and the awards (Fitzgerald, L. et al. 200). Teamwork was not present as all the employees tried their best to increase their individual outputs and the improvement of the quality of the produce. Team work was developed through the putting in place of team goals and team based incentives. This encouraged the use of team work in goal attainment. Another market like arrangement is the use of the dispersed decision making technique. Dispersed decision making refers to a situation where the employers and the managers encourage the employees to take part in the decision making process. This is a situation whereby their views and proportions are taken into account before a decision is arrived at. It encourages high degrees of employee involvement. It is a very beneficial technique due to the fact that the involvement of the employee is considered. It is a strategy which is very motivating to the employees. This is because their opinions are very essential to the business (Flynn, 2090). This leads to the creation of job satisfaction for the employees. It also underlines the commitment of the organization and the management in the fulfillment of the needs of the employees. The organization support is also clearly illustrated in technique. In our firm we have developed a frame work whereby the opinions of the employees have been taken into account. The views they wish to pass to the management are received through a couple of ways which include the use of questionnaires where they give their opinion on certain matters affecting them. They are also able to comment on the performance of the management and the strategies they wish to be implemented. They also give the displeasing things to them about the management which they would like to see abolished and done away with (Harold, 2008). Another way of passing their views is through the use of representatives selected from among them. They act as the intermediaries between the company and the employees. Interactive sessions can also be planned where they are able to air directly to the management and their questions are answered on the same platform. This has been very beneficial to our firm. We have witnessed many benefits attributed to the use of dispersed decision making. Some of them include; a. We are able to identify the problems in the workplace environment affecting the employees. Having knowledge of them enables us to well be able to deal with them. b. Through this strategy, we are able to provide solutions to the problems. Is becomes easier due to the fact that the employees have given us some of the best possible solutions to the problems. c. Planning of implementation of the goals of the organization- a plan which the organization wishes to introduce to the work palace becomes easy to implement due to the existence of interactive and an all party friendly approach to the plan. It hence becomes very effective to the firm (Ho and Chen, 2006). d. Evaluation of the results of the program- the management is able to evaluate the results in an easier way due to the existence of a framework for response receipt. This has been very instrumental in the achievement of the set firm objectives. It has however been affected by some factors associated to it. Some of them include the fact that due to the long length and many views expressed, it becomes a very steady process and hence time consuming to the organization and the employees. Changes proposed may take long before being put to use. The arrangements above can however be ineffective in a business if certain criteria are not observed. The incentives on their part can be ineffective if; a. They are not well communicated to the employees whom they seek to be applied to. This leads to the creation and occurrence of confusion to the employees. b. They are complicated to understand- very complicated incentives cannot be understood by the employees and they will hence see no need of using them and their need in the organization (OECD, 2004). c. Untimely incentives- incentives which do not have a clear time period on which they have to be fulfilled seem vague to the employees. This is because their accomplishment date is unknown and the employees don’t know from what time their accomplishment will be calculated (Hood, 2001). d. Lack of team based incentives- team based incentives is the most effective forms of incentive to use. This is due to the fact that incentives which are not team based lead to the creation of individualism and the absence of teamwork (Scott, 2001). They are ineffective because they cause separations in the work force. This will be very costly to the organization. On its part, dispersed decision making has some down falls if not well put in place. They include the waste of time which would have rather been used in a better way in the organization. So as to reduce chances of time wastage, a clear schedule should be formulated well specifying the channels of input and output of information to and from the management and the employees. It can also be ineffective if the selection process of the representative of the employees does not occur in a straight forward manner. This can be in effective because they representatives can be biased and hence not fully represent the interests of the other employees. They should therefore be elected in a free fair and a democratic process. The firm should also not try any kind of bias creation in the representatives to the fellow employees. STRATEGIC PLANNING MODEL We seek to set up a firm specializing in the production of ladies garments and wear in the country. We are seeking to follow the strategic planning model in order to assist us to develop our product and reach in the market. Before the setting up of a company takes precedence, an analysis of several factors should take place. A thorough scrutiny of the environment both internal and external should take place (OECD, 2003). This is in order to know the industry trends in the market. This will assist me to know the business strategies being used by the competitors and the government regulations in place. You should also well know the value you firm possess. Some of the values which will be the leading principles in my firm will be integrity, transparency and value to the customer. This assists much in the formulation of the mission and the vision of the organization. The mission and the vision should be as unique as possible and state what the organization entails. It will clearly show that the firm I seek to establish is a goal oriented firm (Productivity Commission, 2006). The vision of the firm will be a statement showing where the company targets to be in the future. It will be ‘‘the leading customer service firm in the globe’’ You should also design the organization you intend to start and include all the aspects you deem to be beneficial to the company. A performance audit should be carried out to know your strengths and weaknesses. Some of the strengths our company will be boasting of are the existence of the leading infrastructure and also strategic location in the market center. Some of the weaknesses we will identify are that by being new to the industry, there is the lack of customer awareness about our firm. We will however pit in place and use all the advertising venues to see to it that our company name becomes a brand name. This is also in order to know the economic aspects of the organization. It also assists in the checking of the efficiency of the departments of the organization. It also checks the effectiveness of the employment strategies adopted. A gap or a niche analysis is also crucial in that it helps in the checking of the presence of business opportunities in the market. This assists in that the company can calculate its prospects of growth and development in the market. It will also tell us of the venues to exploit for the business to grow and develop. After all the above concepts have been considered, an action plan is then prepared. It helps help give a form of direction to the management of our firm (Industry Commission, 2007). It acts as a guide to the business to the attainment of its set objectives. It is the action plan that gives room for the preparation of the contingency report. It shows the chances of business survival and failure. The plan set can later be put in place and the start up of the business takes place. We believe that by strict adherence to this strategic planning model, our business will thrive and reach greater heights in the industry. REFERENCES Johansen, M2004, Promotions & incentives, Croydon, Eng: McLaren Publishers. Fitzgerald, S2002, Decision making, Oxford, Capstone Pub. Bidden, G2009, Decision making, Boston, Harvard Business School. Audley, J 2007, Decision making, London, British Broadcasting Corporation. Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, 2008, Decision making, Chicago, Ill: Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corp. Society for Judgment and Decision Making, 2006, Judgment and decision making. Berwyn, Pa: Society for Judgment and Decision Making. Whitely, P2002, Motivation. Oxford, Capstone Pub. Cook, S2008, The essential guide to employee engagement: Better business performance through staff satisfaction, London, Kogan Page. McGee, R.2011, Employee engagement, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Barrow, C2006, 'The strategy of selective excellence: Redesigning higher education for global competition in a postindustrial society, In: Higher Education, 41, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Netherlands, pp. 447-469. Everett, S&, Hoekman, .M2004, 'International Cooperation and the Reform of Public Procurement Policies' htpp://www.evenett.com/working/EvenettHoekmanProcurementCEPRAugust05.pdf Fitzgerald, L. et al. 2001, Performance Measurement in Service Businesses, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Cambridge. Flynn, N. 2090, Public Sector Management, Harvester Wheat shear, New York, ch. 1. (Dixson 350.F648) Harold, R2008, Resources in Education, Australian Council for Educational Research, Melbourne. Ho, L&, Chen, C2006, 'A Study of Implementing Six-Sigma Quality Management System in Government Agencies for Raising Service Quality,' in Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 167-173. Hood, C2001, 'A Public Management for all Seasons?’ Public Administration, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 3–19. OECD, 2003, Public Management Developments: Survey 2003, Paris, OECD. OECD, 2004, Public Management Developments: Update 2004, OECD, Paris. OECD, 2003, Managing with Market-Type Mechanisms, OECD, Paris. Industry Commission, 2007, Report on Government Service Provision: Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision, Melbourne: Commonwealth of Australia. Productivity Commission, 2006, Stocktaking of Progress in Microeconomic Reform, Balcones, Industry Commission, June, (ISBN 0642253218).http://www.finance.gov.au/ Scott, G.2001, Getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop: the problems with devolved budgets in further education colleges', in The International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 15, No. 4/5, pp. 252-257. Read More