Effectively Managing Organizations - Essay Example

Effectively Managing Organizations Priscilla Dawson January ‘09 Effectively Managing Organizations Organizations that constantly endeavor to remain at the top spend time and energy managing their organization and their human resource talent. They are aware that better business results can be obtained when talent is properly managed. Globalization of businesses and subsequent movement of labor across borders has resulted in organizations that have a mixture of people of different cultures. A multicultural workforce always creates challenges and the management has to suitably adapt its management practices and leadership style to the differing viewpoints of a multicultural workforce. The success of an organization depends on how effectively it manages its human resources. The purpose of this paper is to understand how to effectively manage an organization, especially one that has a culturally diverse workforce. With globalization more and more companies are setting up operations in foreign locations. As a result diversity issues have gained greater importance. Diversity issues if not managed at the right time and in the right way may result in loss of time, money and efficiency. It may also create tensions between people of different race, gender, ethnicity, abilities, age, etc. Increase in conflict always lead to loss of productivity. An organization will not be able to attract and retain talented people of different backgrounds. The need of the hour therefore in today’s world of globalization where many organizations have a diverse workforce is to build effective teams that can efficiently manage diversity and resolve conflicts that may arise because of diverse views. Diversity is not just about ethnicity, race and gender as many people think. It is much broader than that. According to Loden and Rosener (1990), diversity includes age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience. These factors affect the performance and success of an organization. They also affect interactions with others. Hence it is necessary that diversity when present in an organization must be managed. Managing diversity is defined as "planning and implementing organizational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized while its potential disadvantages are minimized," by Taylor Cox (1994). Any organization to be effective and to meet customers’ needs has to be flexible and adaptable. Managing diversity effectively is particularly important in today’s competitive world where flexibility and creativity are important tools for managing competitiveness. A heterogeneous group is an added asset to an organization as it promotes creativity and critical thinking. To organizations having a diverse customer base a well managed diverse team can offer services that need to take culture into consideration. Managing diversity helps in maximizing the ability of all employees to achieve organizational goals. Managing diversity is not only about concern for under representation of women and people of color in organizations. It encompasses much more than that. To manage diversity is to transform the organizational culture such that it reflects the values of a diverse workforce. To do this one has to understand and accept managing diversity concepts and recognize that diversity affects every aspect of management. One also needs to be aware of one’s own culture, identity, prejudices and biases. One must also be willing to change ongoing practices that may prove to be barriers. A diversity plan must ensure that the organization supports and encourages diversity and that diversity principles are incorporated into the organization’s business planning, in the selection criteria and its capabilities and accountabilities. The plan must also ensure that the workplace environment does not tolerate discrimination, promotes fairness in employment and that it does not tolerate harassment. To achieve this, an organization must have effective teams. The success and longevity of effective teams in an organization depends on how well organizational leaders can extract from the teams the gains the teams are capable of providing. A leader must know what skills the teams need to possess and must also have knowledge of the processes that are necessary to maintain the teams. Today the statement “doing more with less” is the key statement being used more often than not since many organizations are looking at downsizing and consolidation. Leaders are looking at ways to gain maximum efficiency from teams. Getting the maximum output out of human capital is one of the strategies that leaders have been using to try and gain and maintain advantage over other competitors. Essentially a team is a group of people who interact well. Leaders while building effective teams need to create the conditions necessary to instill loyalty amongst team members and also for the team to identify themselves with the team. To achieve this leaders have to make sure that there is open communication. They should develop trust and a sense of camaraderie. Loyalty, trust, open communication and camaraderie are characteristics that are typically associated with successful teams. Building an effective team is not only putting together a set of people and pushing them to work together. It is very important that every action is taken to let the team be aware of its boundaries and the goal the team members have to achieve is described to them. It must be made clear that the team is collectively responsible and accountable for its actions. It is also necessary that the team members are given the authority to manage their internal processes as well as their co-workers and clients. Team loyalty can be built by rewarding individual performance in the organization. A leader should reward productivity and innovation and downplay the differences in hierarchy that exists between management and non-management employees. All ideology that an organization follows must be implemented on a daily basis. Daily actions that demonstrate trust and interdependence will help in laying a strong and solid foundation for employees to develop loyalty to their organization. The first and most important step an organization has to take to build an effective team is to define in clear terms to the team members its objective. The team should be able to visualize the objective and its results. Each team member must know why the specific issues that the team is entrusted with are important and crucial. Some of the rules to be followed for developing an effective team can be summarized thus: 1) Spell out a compelling mission statement and rally the team around it. It is common knowledge that a team will always join together if given a common purpose. 2) Each team member must be assigned a clear role without any element of confusion. 3) The team should be given adequate resources. The team should get adequate support in terms of materials, equipment or staff so that they can focus on their tasks. 4) There has to be a strategy or plan in place that encourages diversity of thought. The team has to be involved in every stage of planning to avoid dissent later. 4) Once the team is in place interference from the top should be avoided and the team must be allowed to get on with the job. The managers must ensure that the team remains motivated and are on the right track. 5) Conflicts must be resolved immediately. Issues that are not tackled and are allowed to fester affect the entire team and may lead to reduced productivity and also lower the morale of the team. 6) The management must ensure that there is both positive and constructive feedback. 7) All team members must be given an opportunity to develop their skills, technical or soft skills. Training must be provided in intercultural communication and conflict resolution. 8) Due recognition must be given to the success of a team. It is necessary to acknowledge in the form of communication each member’s role in the completion and success of the project. As mentioned earlier in an organization that has a diverse workforce, cultural differences are bound to lead to conflict. Conflict can be defined as disagreement that arises in individuals or groups with different beliefs, values, attitudes or needs. Conflict may arise even from past rivalries and differences in personalities. Serious conflicts may arise when people believe in different values that are incompatible or when values are not clear. Conflicts arise when an individual’s or a group’s need, emotions or feelings are ignored. People perceive things differently. Again here conflict may arise due to differences in the perception of the causes and consequences of a problem. A conflict can be effectively managed if one understands what the conflict is about. Secondly one has to reach a consensus that takes care of the interests of the individual as well as the society. When a conflict develops in the workplace, negotiation is an important skill that can be used to come to an agreement. Conflicts are mainly based on differences in thinking and perceptions and the conflict may exist mainly in the minds of the people involved in the conflict. So it is extremely important that one identifies and openly discusses these differences without trying to place the blame on others. The feelings and emotions of both sides should be recognized. The conflict must be viewed through the eyes of different partners and the solution must meet the interests of all the people concerned. This can be done by calling all the people for a brainstorming session. To arrive at solutions or possible alternatives one has to establish certain criteria that are legitimate, unbiased and practical. Any conflict in an organization can be managed by taking these steps: 1) Analyze the conflict. The first step one takes when managing a conflict is to analyze the type and nature of the conflict. This can be done by asking questions, holding dialogues, interviews, meetings, etc. 2) Formulate a management strategy. Once the nature of the conflict is understood one has to select an appropriate strategy. Conflict management strategies may be of different kinds such as Collaboration, Compromise, Competition, Accommodation and Avoidance. Collaboration strategy is having high concern for the interest of the group’s interests as well as the interests of other partners. This kind of strategy is generally considered to be the best strategy 3) Set the stage and prepare the ground for negotiation by initiating the process of negotiation, identifying the key players, setting deadlines, assessing what is negotiable, setting ground rules for communication, negotiation and decision making and preparing an agenda of issues 4) Start negotiations. This should involve open discussions, evaluation of options, documentation of agreements and disagreements so that there is no misunderstanding later on, discussion of methods to ensure that all concerned understand and honor commitments. 5) Implement the decisions taken after negotiations. After the negotiation is complete, the group needs to implement the decisions taken. There should be a plan to monitor the progress made after negotiation, to resolve the problems that may crop up and renegotiate terms if required. In conclusion one can say that the need for managing diversity is stronger today. A worker today is not just a worker. He is a global worker. One has to recognize that the workforce is changing according to the environment where it operates. Managing diversity is acknowledging the differences in people and accepting that these differences are important and need to be taken into consideration if an organization has to be managed effectively. Prevention of discrimination in a workplace is a part of good management practice. Diversity when well managed results in significant benefits for an organization. An organization’s ability to attract and retain skilled employees’ increases, its recruitment pool gets enlarged, morale amongst the staff remains high, absenteeism is reduced and communication and relationships between employees becomes positive. All employees get equal opportunities resulting in improved team performances. References 1. Cox Taylor(1994), Cultural Diversity in Organizations, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, USA  2. Loden and Rosener (1990), Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource, McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 1, 1990) Read More