Leadership Analysis - Research Paper Example

Introduction Leadership is always directed at striving towards achieving a common goal and leaders are required to ensure that required level of performance is achieved from the followers in order to achieve that common goal. As such the management of the human element is one of key elements to look for and ensure that the employees and their needs are taken care off when an organization expects to generate a certain level of performance from its employees. Garmy Hamel therefore outlined some of the grand challenges which leaders and organizations of today are facing amid increasing competition at the global level. Organizational dynamics are becoming complex and therefore the overall challenges faced by the management and leaders of the organization are also complex and diverse in nature. These grand challenges however, also highlight the overall human element involved in achieving the superior performance as well as manage the modern organizations in most professional manner. What is also significant to understand that increasingly complex organizations at the global level have also created challenges for the firms to manage their expenses while at the same time ensure that employees remain motivated. This has only become possible due to the increasing level of insecurity related with the job and fear of unemployment. Organizations like Wal-Mart has been accused of discriminating on pay issues especially with women and as such the overall impression of such global organizations is not considered as favorable. This paper will therefore attempt to discuss and explore human side of the leadership and provide a leadership and motivation analysis of the issues identified above. The Human side of Management’s Grand Challenges One of the key challenges faced by the organizations is to ensure that organization delivers socially significant goals. This should also be considered along with full embodiment of community and citizenship ideas of the organization. This is one of the key elements related with human side of the management because employees view themselves as a part of the society and expect that the organizations actually deliver by fulfilling socially conducive goals. Employees at organizations like British Petroleum may not be entirely motivated considering the overall risk posed by the activities of the firm to the environment and society as a whole. Reduction of fear and insecurity is another critical important element to be considered because fear and insecurity may not allow employees to become creative and innovative in nature. Besides, this can also force them to resist any change for the betterment of the organization as a whole. Creation of diversity and allowing disagreement is also another element to be considered in order to become effective leader. This should allow the employees to not only feel themselves as part of the organization but also contribute positively towards the achievement of organizational goals. This also could be associated with the unleashing of the human imagination and achievement of desired level of performance through developing holistic performance measures. Leaders of today are also required to share the responsibility of goal setting under which sharing an employee’s voice to be considered as productive rather than a sign of power. Leaders therefore have to ensure that they achieve the desired level of commitment from their employees by giving thorough consideration to the voice of the employees and making them part of the overall process of setting the direction for the firm. This process will allow the leaders to have access to diversified range of creative ideas also. Finally, in order to achieve better performance, it is critical that the management must be able to overcome complacency and allow autonomy to the employees so that decisions can be made at local level. Unemployment and its Impact on Motivation: Motivation can arise at two levels i.e. explicit as well as implicit motivation and organizations can actually design and develop policies to motivate the employees through both ways. Explicit motivation is often achieved through offering different compensations and performance bonus and other benefits to keep the employees interested enough in performing upto the desired level. However, another form of motivation i.e. implicit motivation can be achieved by offering and creating an environment which can motivate the employees itself. Many employees view work as a fun activity and derive pleasure and motivation from simply participating in work. Better organizational environment as well as effective mentor and peer support can actually keep the employees motivated enough even if they are not explicitly rewarded for their efforts. Participative leadership style can be one of the effective methods to continue to motivate the low wage workers. By allowing those to participate and make them feel part of the organization may be enough to ensure that they contribute productively towards the organization and its overall strategic objectives. This can also signal to the low wage workers that the management is actually concerned about them and their needs. Mentorship is another important method through which new low paid workers can be attached with positive and experienced workers. Through mentorship they can be groomed and motivated as they continue to develop their skills and abilities through carefully designed mentorship programs. Successful mentorship therefore can generate the level of curiosity and motivation for the low wage employees to make a transition towards the high paid jobs and contribute more productively for the achievement of organizational objectives. (Koch) By adapting these strategies, leaders of the modern organizations can actually motivate such employees and can also ensure that the overall expenses are within control. Leaders of the modern organization therefore will have to create an environment of trust and sharing where the low wage employees are considered as part of the organization and their input and efforts are recognized. A pat on the back can work wonders for the leaders as compared to the explicit rewards to the employees. Leaders therefore will have to ensure that such environment is created and is created in most efficient manner to allow the low wage workers to become more productive workers. Discrimination and the Human Side of Management Discrimination in pay and incentive structures is also one of the key issues for achieving the same level of performance from the employees. Organizations like Wal-Mart has been accused of discriminating their employees on the pay structure and female employees have become increasingly more victims of the same. (Ackman) Though apparently it may seem that firms like Wal-Mart may not engage in such activities because the billions of dollars they might pay for their alleged involvement. This may purely be a cost and benefit analysis to ensure whether cost savings from pay discrimination are greater enough to justify such practices. The same line of argument therefore can be applied to other organizations which are willing to make this trade off based on the argument that women employees may not be as productive as men. To consider this issue as a cultural problem may be unjustified owing to the fact that many women have proved themselves as effective leaders and managers. Appointment of female CEOs in organizations like The Body Shop, Yahoo and DuPont1 etc suggests that women are equally productive and can bring unique perspective to the business. As such the issue may only be specific to Wal-Mart as there are hardly any other reported incidences of sex discrimination. Considering above, it may not be possible to have high performance work force where such discrimination exist. Conclusion Above discussion suggest that human element in managing the organizations and to become effective leader is one of the key elements. Leaders must give due consideration to issues like motivating low wage workers while at the same time ensuring that no discrimination occurs to employees. Works Cited Ackman, Dan. Wal-Mart And Sex Discrimination By The Numbers. 23 June 2004. 03 May 2011 . Koch, Jennifer. "Tips for motivating a Low-Wage Workforce." Workforce Management (2005): 57-58. Read More