The Management of People across Cultures - Example

Introduction to Management xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Instructor xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date The management of the employees at the work place in an organization is an integral part as far as the management process is concerned. The employees are the root source of quality and productivity of the organization. The attaining of the organizations goals, vision as well as the mission is only possible when the employees in an organization have an enduring commitment and work with synergy. Employee engagement is therefore locked to the success of a business since it increases the efficiency or performance of the employee, customer service and satisfaction as well as an increment in the profitability of the organization at large. Engagement enables the alignment of the employee-organisation.the organizations should therefore at all times be able to understand the dynamics of employee engagement and how they can be able to compare informative benchmark to improve the engagement, identify specific and actionable levers which will improve the engagement levels. The organization will thus be able to utilize the shifts in the employee engagement towards achievement of goals of the organization (Pietersen, 2002). The governmental organization faces challenges that are affecting their productivity and satisfaction of their customers. It is to this effect that the paper will quest to provide an identification of the root causes of the problems with the view of offering possible solutions by the identification of the appropriate theories that are aimed at offering the reliable and effective approaches in solving the problem. Empirical studies have identified the relationship between employee and customer satisfaction. Positive changes in the employees have sounding positive effects towards customer satisfaction. For an organization to experience positive employee satisfaction it has to have sound and effective planning, leadership, organizational skills, control and effective communication among the various organs of the organization. This is lacking in the government institution that is on study thus resulting in the low motivation, demoralized employees, dissatisfied and other challenges that have greatly affected the company’s quest to providing reliable and effective services to their clients. To begin with, planning requires the setting of objectives that are aimed at determining the means of how a task is to be accomplished. This involves the setting out of objectives for the organization that have to be achieved in the short or long term. This ensures the employees have a similar direction and aspiration. The objectives in the organization are to be customer oriented and should relay the functions and roles that each employee is to perform. In this case, the manager is to arrange for a SWOT analysis to be conducted that will able to ascertain the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the organization has. This will provide and avenue where the firm through the manager will be able to perform a scenario planning (Pietersen, 2002). The scenario planning is the beginning of managerial action that is aimed at the effecting of effective organization, leadership control and efficient communication among all the organizational organs. The manager will have to follow the five action steps in planning which will include the reviewing and redefining of the organizational objectives as he determines where the organization and all the employees stand in relation to the objectives. The redefining of the objectives will provide the manager with a chance to develop premises that have the organizations future at heart and prioritize the best and develop an implementation plan as well as the adoption of the appropriate evaluation processes and tools that will offer a timely analysis of the organizations progress. It is good to note that the redefined objectives are to be specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable and time tabled. The scenario planning will be able to have the firm and its employees to have focus as well as being flexible as they will be striving towards the attaining of a similar objective (Pietersen, 2002). . The organization will in this process be able to identify the customer’s needs and how to meet them. The flexibility will have the organization develop the appropriate strategies that are able to adapt to the ever dynamic competitive market. The firm will on the other hand have an improved action orientation as it will be in a readiness state as they will be result, priority, advantage and change oriented. The scenario planning will thus have a positive effect on the Generation Y who are dissatisfied with the working for the organization as they feel that there are no career opportunities and finding the work place unfriendly and sometimes boring. The Generation Y will have their objectives reviewed and redefined in order for them to have similar organizational objective that will have each of their roles and functions redefined Paterson, (Janice, 2000). The planning will also offer a chance for the employees to be creative and adopt new strategies that will aim at making their roles more challenging, rewarding and interesting. Scenario planning will enable the Generation X be able have a balance between their home and work life as they will be able prioritizes activities and plan way well in advance. The planning in this case will ensure they meet the organizational goals and have their activities finalized well in advance so as to avoid them being in conflict with the other home life activities. The employees will have the ability to have operational plans that will identify the short term activities that will be able to progress the strategic objectives. In addition, the management is to develop policies that spell out broad guidelines for the actions and decisions. The policies are to be accompanied by procedures that give guidelines to how specific activities in the organization are to be implemented. These will define the event sequences that are recommended for the accomplishment of provided tasks. The organization through the scenario planning will be able to forecast and make plans that will have the future in it. The planning will be an avenue where all the employees and the different organs in the organization will be involved and have their input in the formulating of objectives and the assigning of roles that are aimed at having the interests of all the workers and organizational levels at heart. Thus the planning will ensure joint planning, individual acts in the performance of acts and the provision of support as well as a joint control as they will be able to collectively review the organizational results and discuss their implications.The management of any given organization plays a crucial role in organizing, leading, mediating communication, planning and control. Many theories with regard to these roles have been discussed by theorists and scholars. Organizing is referred to as the process of dividing tasks into manageable components and coordinating outcomes to serve a specific function. It is also defined as the process of consolidating the efforts of all the organizational resources including human resources so as to meet the set goals and objectives. Key benefits of organizing a group, project or organization are; clear outline of who is supposed to do what, defines communication channels, establishes who is in charge of who and enables application of resources to stipulated objectives (Black, 2002). Organizational structure is defined as the way in which several functions of the organization are formally arranged in to meet the goals of the organization. These functions include workflows, relationships, communication channels and tasks. There are four major types of organizational structures which are line structure, line and staff structure, team structure and matrix structure. The line structures are common among small organizations and authority in this kind of structure flows from the top downwards. Line and staff structures are commonly found in mid-sized and large companies whereby top management hires other employees to assist them perform certain tasks. This entails supporting and advising line managers. However, they play are not involved in decision making process. In the matrix structure, employees from different departments form temporary projects to deal with prevailing situations in the organization then return to their departments ones the mission is accomplished (Jennex, 2008). The low levels of motivations by sections of the employees in the organization would be effectively eliminated through participation and involvement as this will be able to aid in the building of commitment to the already drafted plans and strategies. All the workers will thus be motivated as they will be allowed to fully participate as well as being involved in all the planning process steps. The participation will have a great effect in the evaluation and determination of the progress of the organization as all the organs will be evaluated in addition to the identification of alternative plans and the development of premises while paying attention to the future conditions (Bowen, 2004). In order for the organization to effectively address the growing concern of customer satisfaction a detailed analysis of the service delivery system and the operating strategy is to be implemented. This will involve the evident utilization of the customer satisfaction theory which gives clear emphasis in the analysis of the employee satisfaction, retention and productivity as this is the basis for the provision of the organizations external service value that will enhance customer satisfaction and put their loyalty on a firm foundation. This is to ensure the firm attains revenue growth and profitability. This can only be achieved if the organizational management has a sound knowledge of all the organizational activities thus having the organizational control. The organizational control ensures the use of the control process which include; leadership, organizing, controlling and planning (Zohar, 2005). Effective leadership in the organization will ensure that the employees are inspired to effectively utilize their resources whereas the control process ensures that the right thing is done and in the right time and manner. The planning will ensure that all the sets and directions are available in addition to the availing of resources to the employees. The manager is to effectively ensure results through conducting a performance measurement on the employees with the aim of identifying their strengths and weaknesses and identifying the adequate mode through which their capacity can be enhanced. Roles of the employees should be evenly distributed and based on a job description that every employee is to adhere to. This will be effective in the addressing of the challenges addressed by the stressed and overworked employees (Wright, 2001). In addition, the manager is to apply the employee relations theory in the identification of the causes of misunderstanding among the employees. Employees that are bonded together and are and relate well with each other are better players towards the achievement of the formulated organizational objectives as they are pulling towards an even direction thus are able to complement each other. The organization should be able to utilize team building activities that will go a long way in the enhancement of cohesiveness among the team. The cohesiveness of the team should be further enhanced by the development of a team where each member is assigned specific roes that are not duplicated by other team members. The organizations management is to review the job descriptions of all the employees so as to ensure that their roles are all having a necessary and effective contribution and complementing the roles of the other employees as they are to work towards achieving the same organizational objective (Schneider, 2003). The motivational levels could also be enhanced through the application of the Maslow’s theory. The manager is to quest and identify the unmet needs and be able to identify the appropriate approaches in solving them. The theory assumes that people have a sense of direction if only they are committed to the organizational goals. Average employees under proper conditions will not only accept responsibilities but will also seek for responsibilities. According to the theory, imagination, ingenuity and creativity have a role in the solving of work problems that are exhibited by a large number of employees who have low or no motivation. The theory also assumes that the average workers are partially utilized and if the employees are not in agreement with the managers direction then the manager is to use his/her authority and have the work done. The organization has also challenges in the equal distribution of resources and duties as depicted in the employee complaints. The manager is to utilize the equity theory where the workers are to be rewarded based on the efforts they expend in their duties. This can only be achieved if able environments where the employees are able to perceive that the rewards they are given or acquire are equal to their efforts (Judge, 2002). The equity in the distribution of resources will ensure all the workers are allocated equal responsibilities and that they are reflective on the pay and other additional rewards that they are given. The inequities in the organization especially by the baby boomers is as a result of their work not looking better in comparison to the others as it offers no career challenges. The workers are asking for better treatment as it seems the Generation Y is seen to be lazy as compared to the Baby Boomers. The manager is to ensure that the negative consequences which are derived from the equity comparisons are eliminated at all costs when roles, duties and resources are allocated. The manager is to base rewards on merit that are to be decided by the performance appraisals. This is because all the employees are encouraged and motivated if they believe that their efforts are to lead to a productive appraisal (Locke, 2002). Communication on the other hand plays a vital role in any organization. The complaints in the by all the employees in the organization point out the ineffectiveness in the communication strategies that the company employs. The organization needs to define the communication processes that exist in the organization and the conduct a SWOT analysis to identify its weaknesses with the view of adopting approaches that will improve it. The newly adopted communication strategies are to identify the possible approaches in dealing with conflicts and how to negotiate agreements that are successful. The organization is to adopt effective communication where the information sent to the employees is encoded and should be able to relay the intended meaning. The effective communication should be affordable and utilize the available resources. The management will be able to use the communication strategies to evaluate the productiveness of employees as well as the impact of their services to the customers (Judge, 2000). It is vital for the organization to identify the barriers of communication that exist. The organization is to adopt and have effective meetings with all the sections or organs of the organization to be able to have the employees be involved in the decision making of the organizations activities. Both the oral and written channels of communication are to be utilized as they give different information depending on the circumstances. The management is also to instill active listening techniques through the assigning of roles and responsibilities depending on the qualifications and details on the job description. The communication process in the organization is to have feedback as it is the gauge through which the message sender is able to assess its effectiveness. The effective communication will be able to eliminate conflicts that may arise as a result of ambiguities in roles, scarcity of resources, competing objectives and the conflicts that are yet to be resolved as realized in the challenges that have been expressed by the employees of the organization towards each other (Harter, 2002). Unresolved conflicts more often remain latent. The conflict resolution process should be able to identify the root causes of conflict and identify the approaches that will aim at solving problems that will have a win-win resolution for all the employee organs that are in conflict in the organization. The organization should be able to install an information system that will have the employees enhance their capacities while at the same time working. The information system is to have designed approaches to how the goals and objectives of the organization are to be effectively met and the evaluation results for the various organs of the organization. This will be able to have the employees to have set targets towards the achieving the formulated organizational objectives (Jackson, 2002). In addition to the discusses approaches to the solving of the local government’s organization problems that have been mentioned, the organization is to adhere to the visionary leadership principles which involve setting up examples, show a sense of enthusiasm, helping others to performed achievable actions, challenging processes and being able to celebrate achievements. The manager is to have the authority and the ability to do have things done by the junior employees as they ought to be. The best leadership to be applied in the organization would be the reward power and the legitimate power. The former influences the employees to perform duties based on rewards whereas the later influences the employees to perform tasks based on authority. The reward power should however be based on performance appraisal as it will be able to have the employees realize the need to be innovative and to always keep working harder to meet the given tasks (Edwards, 2004). In conclusion, the key attempt of the organization to realize meaningful organizational change it to have a SWOT analysis of all the activities with a view of identifying the gaps and adopting strategies that will achieve the formulated goals. The redefining of the objectives will provide the manager with a chance to develop premises that have the organizations future at heart and prioritize the best and develop an implementation plan as well as the adoption of the appropriate evaluation processes and tools that will offer a timely analysis of the organizations progress. It is good to note that the redefined objectives are to be specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable and time tabled. The scenario planning will be able to have the firm and its employees to have focus as well as being flexible as they will be striving towards the attaining of a similar objective. The low levels of motivations by sections of the employees in the organization would be effectively eliminated through participation and involvement as this will be able to aid in the building of commitment to the already drafted plans and strategies. References Black, J. Stewart & Hal B. Gregersen. (2002). Leading Strategic Change. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002. Bowen, D. E., & Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM-firm performance linkages: The role of "strength" of the HR system. Academy of Management Review, 29, 203-221. Edwards, J. E., & Fisher, B. M. (2004). Evaluating employee survey programs. In J. E. Edwards, J. C. Scott, & N. S. Raju (Eds.), The human resources program-evaluation handbook (pp.365–386). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Harter, J. W., Schmidt, F. 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A multilevel model of safety climate: Cross-level relationships between organization and group-level climates. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 616-628. Read More