Managing People at Main Roads Department - Assignment Example

Running Head: Main Roads Department Main Roads Department Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 3rd September, 2012. Introduction A healthy workplace is seen as an important aspect that organizations need do adopt. In relation to this the Main roads department anticipate to implement some change in the organization so as enhance the safety at the workplace. The change is related to wearing of long sleeved shirt and long trousers when working. This is mainly based on the advice given to them the world health organization. Despite been a good change they have not considered the negative effects that may be attributed to the change, for example based on the cancer council the clothing may lead to the workers been more prone to skin cancer. Question one: Ways the department could have overcome the resistance of the workers to the change Resistance to change is seen as most baffling as well as the most unruly problem that modern day manager are facing. Change is viewed as an inevitable aspect in almost all organizations. The resistance to change is essentially handled in two distinct levels that is; at the individual level and at group level (Dent & Goldberg, 1999). The management in various organizations can use a number of strategies to aid in overcoming resistance in an organization. One of the strategies is through participation and involvement. In reality individuals may not tend to resist any change that may be implemented in the organization if they participated in it. Before making the change, all the individuals who are in one way or another be affected by the change can be brought to the decision making process. Any doubts they have and their objectives need to be considered so as to win their cooperation in the change process (Kelchner & Demand Media, 2012). By the involvement of the employees the organization will be able to overcome the resistance, augment the quality of the decision and obtain commitment of the employees. The other strategy that can be used to overcome the resistance is effective communication. In instances where employees get inaccurate information, they may tend to resist the change been implemented in the organization. Appropriate communication is seen as a better tool in overcoming any form of resistance from the employees. The reasons behind the planned change need to be communicated in a clear and in unambiguous manner. Communications assist a lot in dissipating fear of certain unknown elements. A two way communication should also be maintained so that each of them can know the reactions of each other. All this aspect will assist a lot in persuading the employees in the organization about any change and when they are persuaded they will participate actively in the change. The other way that can be used is facilitation as well as support. The change agents offers facilitation as well as supportive efforts that assist a lot in ensuring there is no resistance to change. In relation to this the management should remove all the physical barriers that may inhibit the change for example they should offer all the training tools and equipments. Leadership also acts as an important aspect in facilitating a change and overcoming the resistance to change. A capable leader is said to underpin an atmosphere of psychological support for the change. In most instance the greater the credibility of the leader who is acting as the change agent, the higher the influence he may have on the employees involved in the change process. An effective leader excretes the needed emotional pressure on those working under him so as to bring about the desired change. The other aspect is related to timing of the impended change. The time when the change is implemented in the organization have a substantial force on resistance. The manager ought to choose the most appropriate time to implement the exchange. For example a change may be implemented after a major improvement in the working conditions of the employees. Question Two: What were the outside drivers of change and who were the change agents in this scenario Outside change driver and change agents play an important and leading role in the implementation of change within organizations. External drivers of change are termed as the forces, things, situation, events and organizations that tend to bring about or propose a change in the organization (Katzell, 1990). According to the case study the outside driver of the change that is been implemented in the department of main roads is the world health organization. Based on the organization Australia is seen as having the greatest figures of skin cancer all over the world. According to the organization around 380,000 individuals are said to be treated of the disease each year and most of the workers are said t work in occupations which have a higher exposure rate of exposure to the sun. The other external working force is the cancer council, according to them almost all organizations ought to adopt ultraviolent radiation protection program as well as a wide-ranging plan and strategy so as to enable the prevention and detection of skin cancer in organizations. Change agents are basically termed as the individuals who bring about the change in the organization (Katzell, 1990). In the case of the department of main roads the change agent are the senior leaders in the organization. All the senior leaders were in support of the change to a safety focused culture within the department. The senior leaders acted as the change agents in that they demonstrated and encouraged the desired safety behavior within the business units that exist in the department. Question Three: What are the functional and dysfunctional effects of organizational culture on people and the departments of main roads? Organizational culture is termed as a set of collective behavior that is shared by the individuals working in a certain organization and it is basically formed from the organizational symbols, language, values, norms, vision as well as the beliefs and habits. Organizational culture in an organization is said to have both functional as well as dysfunctional effects on the people and also on the organization (Hartog, 2004). In this case the organizational culture at departments of main roads has both a dysfunctional and functional effect on the employees within the organization and also on the organization itself. There exist numerous functional effects of organizational culture. Organizational culture decides the way the employees working in the organization will make interactions’ with each other. Thus a healthy culture will always promote the employee working in the organization to be motivated and also they will be loyal to the managers in a way. Another functional effect of organization culture is that it tends to promote a healthy competition in the organization. The employee put all their efforts and they tend to compete with each other and they receive recognition and appreciation from the upper level managers. Thus in this aspect culture acts as a motivating factor to the employees to perform in a better way. The other functional effect of organizational culture is based on the fact that organizational culture tends to convene all the employees in a central place or in the same platform. Bo the adoption of a string organizational culture employees are treated equally and none of the employee should feel neglected in any way or feel left out. Organizational cultures also have a functional effect on the employees in that it unites all the employees. Organizational culture unites all the employees working in an organization despite the fact that they come from different backgrounds, attitudes families and mentalities. Thus in this sense organizational culture offers the employees a sense of unity among them (Hartog, 2004). A number of organization have an organizational culture that states that all the employees ought to be in the office at certain time irrespective of the positions they hold in the organization. This culture in one way or another encourages the employees in the organization to be punctual. Organizational culture also in a way affects the productivity of an organization. A better understanding of the organizational culture among the employee leads to them having a better grasp of the goals and they tend to adhere and fulfill the needs of their line managers, customers and those of the fellow employees. Employees tend to have a sense of loyalty to the company. Despite the numerous functional effects of organizational culture on people and the organization, organizational cultures also have dysfunctional effects on the people working in the organization and also on the organization itself. The dysfunctional effects include but are not limited to: employee having a greater support of their relationship with other employees and at time the major duties may be left undone (Morrison, Brown & Smit, 2006). Another dysfunctional effect of organizational culture is the fact that it acts as a barrier to change in an organization. It seems hand to implement changes in an organization with a strong organizational since they may unite against the change been implemented. Culture also acts as a barrier in that the employee may feel that they are been inconvenienced by the change that is been implemented in the organization. Organizational culture also acts as a barrier to diversity. Question Four: Based on the description in the case study, would you consider that the department has a mechanist organizational design or an organic organizational design? In essence organizations are structured form tasks. The main goals of the organization are broken down into small manageable tasks upon which jobs are designed (Mintzberg, 1980). Organizational design is termed as the process through of coming up as well as adjusting the structure of the organization so as to achieve the stated goals. In reality organizational design sets out to come up with an organizational structure as well as processes that fit appropriately with the type of individuals who are working in the organization as well as the type of tasks that are carried out in the organization. Therefore it determines what the organizational processes and structures will be. Based on the case study the department of main roads seems to have a mechanist organizational structure. Mechanist organizational design are more preferred and adopted in the organization that operates in environments that are certain and dynamic. The department is said to be stable and also it is also a bureaucratic organization and the policies within the organization are centralized and the allocation of resources among the various units within the department is also centralized. Another aspect that supports the notion that the organization has a mechanist organization design structure is that fact that, the case study states that the department operates within a hierarchical management structure though at time the department embraces a number of matrix structures and most preciously the ones related to project activities (Robbins & Judge, 2012). Question Five: What would reduction in the autonomy of the workers do for their job satisfaction? Autonomy workers is said to have both positive and negative effects on job satisfaction. Some organizations may choose to let their employee set their own schedules upon which they work. Despite the various forms that workers autonomy may take, when workers feel that they have the freedom the results in most instances are impressive. Workers need to be able to make decisions on their own and these will ultimately impact on the job satisfaction of the employees. Job satisfaction is seen as been a major indicator of the behavior and performance of the employees. Thus job satisfaction is seen as been a major predicator of the general wellbeing of the employees. The reduction of autonomy of the workers in the departments would have a number of diverse effects on the job satisfaction. A reduction in the autonomy of workers would lead to a low job satisfaction level in the employees (Reis, 2001). A substantial decrease in the autonomy of workers is said to lead to lower productivity in terms of the workers. This is mainly attributed to the fact that employees will not be willing to work and thus at most times they will work in slow paces and thus there will be a decrease in the products that they manufacture. In most instance when the work been performed is routine work, autonomy is said not to have an impact on the productivity levels of employees but despite this it can in a way increase the satisfaction levels of the employee and this will ultimately lead to positive effects in terms of the organization. When the organizational managers contemplate on decision related to the organization of work within the organization, they ought to consider the effects their decision will have on the autonomy of the employees (Reis, 2001). A number of employees are said to decrease the autonomy of workers and they are doing this by constantly monitoring the behaviors of the workers in the workplace. With the rapid spread of globalization and the constant evolution that is taking place in the workplaces, workers autonomy is seen as an impart fact. That therefore a reduction in workers autonomy will ultimately lead to lower job satisfaction levels. Question Six: How would you have improved the implementation of the policy? A number of issues would have addressed so as to improve the implementation of the policy at Main roads department. One of the aspects that need to be addressed is the fact that the employees are taught of the importance of embracing a safety culture all over the organization (Brooks, 2008). In regard to this the workers need to be consulted by the management in instance where the management feels that they need to implement certain health as well as safety controls in the organization. This is mainly based on the fact that the employees are the ones who are immediately affected by the implementation of the policies in the organization thus when they are consulted the implementation process will take a shorter deadline. Another way to improve the process of implementing the policy s through the full engagement of the employees, by involving the employees the decisions been made would made known to the employee in a advance and if any queries or issue arise they would have been dealt with within the required time limit and thus the implementation of the policy would not have been interfered with (Brooks, 2008). Another way that would enhance the implementation of the policy is fostering of a culture of absolute commitment in the organization. If this culture is fostered in an organization it may lead to the adoption and implementation of the change in an efficient and effective manner and this could in one way lead to the successful implementation of the policy in the organization. Another important aspect that determines the success of implementation of a policy is the resources. Over time it has been noted that organization allocate few resources such as time and money in a policy that is been implemented (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999). Allocation of resources is not as straightforward even for those organizations that seem to be fairing well in matters related to the management of policy change. Managers therefore find it had to balance the running of the business and the implementing changes in the business. It has been found that the failure by organization to offer all the required resources is not only as a result of devastating cost and thus implementation of a policy will not be expensive if the right structures and people are available in the organization. The policy implementation would also be improved by improvement in the planning process. Planning seems to play an important role in the implementation of a policy in an organization. Poor planning may lead to failure of the policy been implemented and may lead to other additional costs been incurred. In respect to this the organization need to integrate the policy been implemented in the organization into their organizational strategy, this will ensure that all the employees and the managers work towards achieving the strategy and thus in a way the strategy implementation process will be effective. Thus the managers’ needs to set a plan and supervisor need to be choose to deal with the implementation process of the policy. From time to time a review needs to be done so as to ensure that the implementation process is on the right track, this will ensure that if certain issues arise in the implementation process the issue will be solved at the appropriate time. References Brooks, I. (2008). Organizational Behaviour, Individuals, Groups and Organization. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Dent, E. B., & Goldberg, S. G. (1999). Challenging ‘‘resistance to change’’. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 35 (1), 25 – 41. Hartog, D. (2004). 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Reengineering the motivation to work, Management Decision, 39(8), 666-675. Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2012). Organizational Behavior Global Edition. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Read More