Workforce Satisfaction - Assignment Example

FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE MANAGEMENT Introduction Section one Classical management theory was first formulated by French industrialist Henri Fayol. Classical management theory considers employee as inert instrument who are assigned several tasks to accomplish. The motivation of the employee is considered important only to the extent to which they lead them to behave in an appropriate manger on the job. The other types of motivations and behavior are therefore considered as non-rational and deviant and are not considered in the discussion of the theory. According to the classical theory of management, there are some logics that determine the efficiency in the function of an organization. These include bureaucratic forms of control, a narrow span of supervision, closely prescribed roles, a clear and formal definition of procedures including the areas of specialization and the hierarchical relationships in the organization. Therefore according to Fayol the managerial function of forecasting and planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling are the most important functions compare to industrial undertakings like technical, commercial, financial, security, accounting and management. Human relation approach is the new development in the concept of organizational communication. It is the new development that has taken the shape of natural progression towards human development. Organization are moving away from the hierarchical past and are coming to a more consultative relationship which allows employee to negotiate and participate in the production process. Unlike in the past where employee were told what to do, the current management emphasize on giving the employees the power to provide insight on any given task. Human relations are therefore more focused on building relationship between the employees and the organization (Chesney 2002, p. 82). Contingency describes the way in which we try to accommodate specific measures in the existing plan in order to change the course of activities. A contingency plan describes a specific situation in which device a plan to cover for the unexpected results or course of things in the overall plan. A contingency plan is also called a back up plan or simple a plan B A system A system can be described as an organized flow of activities. It describes the way in which an organization is coordinated in order to function as one. Describing the organization as a system shows the way in which different parts interact with one another in order to complement the function of the other to achieve the overall goal of the organization. For the organization to function as a system the following must be well coordinated (i) Manager roles A manager has many roles in an organization. One of the most important roles of a manager is communicating between the managers and the staff. A manager therefore acts as the spokesman of the organization. The manager also plays an important role in team building. According to McGregor there are two opposing views that can be used to describe people at work which influences management style. The theory of X represents a traditional view which is composed of giving direction and control which usually demotivates the employee. On the other hand there is theory Y which implies a self directed workforce which takes in the interest of the goals of the organization and integrate them with their own goals. The manager also provides leadership for the organization. In this case management provides or leads the way in which the organization will follow. The manager also delegates some of their duties to other workers in the organization. In this case they assign some of their duties to the junior staff in an organized way (Bedeian 2003, p. 83). (ii) Motivation Motivation involves boosting the morale of the workers in order to perform more. Motivation can either be intrinsic (expressive) or it can be extrinsic (instrumental). The first instance involves doing something for the sake of doing it while the latter involves doing something due to some other reason. According to Maslow, there are different levels of motivation. Maslow presented the hierarchy of needs in which he showed that one cannot be motivated by higher level of needs if the lower levels are not satisfied. The following diagram express Maslow level of needs (iii) Human approach The organization must take a human approach towards the management of the employees. There has to be an organized way in which the employees will be involved in the running of the organization. (iv) Classical management theory The overall management must play its roles efficiently in order to coordinate all the activities of the organization. In this case the management must play the important roles including leading, organization, coordinating, and controlling the functions of the organization. While the traditional management approach has been based on having the management play the above mentioned roles, the approach has been changing and is moving towards human relation approach. In this case the management has realized that the workforce is the most important resource that it has invested in the organization that needs to be well managed. Section two Leadership styles Democratic There are three main leadership styles including democratic, autocratic, and laisez-fare. A democratic kind of leadership is the one in which there a high human relation and some control. It is more participative where leaders work for the people. There is a high empowerment and involvement of delegates through communication and participation A democratic kind of leaders is the one in which the manager and the employee all participate in the decision making process. However the management still maintains the final decision making in the authority. Autocratic In this kind of leadership, the leader has the first and the final say on what is to be done. It is an authoritarian leadership style in which the leader decides without consulting others. However it can be employed when a manager has all the information, there is a short time to make a decision and the employees are all well motivated. This kind of leadership has a top down approach to the decision making process and the level of communication between the leader and the subject is limited. The leader has a high level of control of the subjects and Laissez faire scenario Laissez faire leadership style which is also know as delegative leadership postulate that the leader should allow the employees to make even the important decision pertaining to the operation of the organization. The leader still remains with the higher responsibility for the decisions that are made but in this case they act to guide the employees in making the decision. However this style may take time for the consultation to take place and therefore it may not be applicable in emergency operations. It is the best kind of leadership which can be used in staff training and to inculcate t the principles of democracy in the staff. This kind of leadership is important in motivating employees since there is less control (Atherson 2005, p. 30). Section three Motivation Motivation is the sum of internal process that makes a person to move towards attainment of a set goal. Therefore it can be said to be a strong desire to achieve a goal which is combined with the energy to work in order to achieve that specific goal. Employee motivation is the sum total of activities which are aimed at raising the moral of the employee. It involves a friendly working environment, rewards, recognition of their achievement and many others (Smith 2004, p. 74). Team building Team building is an aspect of bringing different individual together in order to function as one. It is a coordinated way of achieving organization goal. Team building in organization describes the aspect of bringing employees together so that they can function as one system. The organizations function not as individuals but as a team of individual each playing their specific role towards attainment of the goals. Communication Communication is basically passing of information from one person to the other. It is the pattern of flow of information from the sources to the receiver. Communication is important in any organization as it assists in the coordination of activities. Without proper communication, it would be difficult to foster the spirit of team work since organization members don’t understand each other. Historical background to the organization Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Services is the organization that is entrusted with fire and rescue operations in the UK. It has bee operating for along time now. It covers 1/6 of the UK land mass with more that 126 station. It is well equipped with modern equipment in order to be able to provide rescues services in the UK and it can be deployed to other parts outside the UK with the authority of the government. Introduction to the organization Highlands & Island Fire Board has been playing an important role in the provision of fires and rescue service in the UK. It is well structured in order to provide services at the lower level. It has well structured service delivery structure which is headed by Chief Fire Officer. But there is an overall fire board which is mandated to oversee the overall operation of the body. It also has in place a community fire safety body that works to oversee the implementation of community fire rescue operations. The organization has more the two hundred fire fighters and other rescue officer who are stationed at different stations. This is quit a big number of employees but it has served it well in its operation. The organization mainly offers fire fighting services but it also plays other auxiliary services besides fire fighting. The organization has been emphasizing on a good coordination of its services. In this case it has been applying the classical theories of management. This is evidenced by the fact that it has been concentration of the coordination of services, control of operation by the fire fighting office, delegation of operations to the lower levels that have been established, and proving leadership roles to the junior staff. In order to change the management in the next 10 years, there are a number of steps that will have to be taken in order to align the operation of the organization with the need to train and develop human resource staff. In this the human resource department will have to prepare a human resource development plan that will be integrated in the overall growth strategy for the organization. Section four Compared to UAE, UK has been taking radical measures that are aimed ate ensuring that the country is well prepared for any disasters. It has in place a HR strategy through which it aims at increasing the number of fire fighters and rescuers. This strategy is set our to help the local authority, fire and rescue services to have the right number of skilled employees in order to provide quality service. Conclusion The manager has an important role in the management of the organization. The manager plays four critical roles in the organization. They provide leadership, organization, coordination, delegation of resources. A manager can use different leadership in order to help an organization achieve its goals. They can use democratic leadership, autocratic leadership of laissez-faire styel of leadership. In order to have an effective management of the organization, there is need to apply the right kind of leadership in the organization. There has been changing management in organization and the currently trend has been the change from classical management to human relations approach. This has been due to the realization that human capital is the most important capital in any organization that has to be well managed and trained. International fires rescued management is aimed at providing fire services of larger areas compared to national fire services. The management of the two organizations is also different since international fire rescue operation will be integrating international management approach. Bibliography Atherson, J 2005, Learning and Teaching: motivation, Oxford University Bedeian, A 2003, Management, Dryden Press, New York Chesney, C 2002, Workforce satisfaction, McMillan, London Smith, G 2004, Motivation, Oxford University Read More