What is Management?
Management is a universal phenomenon. It is a very popular
and widely used term. All organizations - business, political, cultural or
social are involved in management because it is the management which helps and
directs the various efforts towards a definite purpose. According to Harold
Koontz, “Management is an art of getting things done through and with the
people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in
which people can perform and individuals and can co-operate towards attainment
of group goals”. According to F.W. Taylor, “Management is an art of knowing
what to do, when to do and see that it is done in the best and cheapest way”.
Management is a purposive activity. It is something that
directs group efforts towards the attainment of certain pre - determined goals.
It is the process of working with and through others to effectively achieve the
goals of the organization, by efficiently using limited resources in the
changing world. Of course, these goals may vary from one enterprise to another.
E.g.: For one enterprise it may be launching of new products by conducting
market surveys and for other it may be profit maximization by minimizing cost.
Management involves creating an internal environment: - It
is the management which puts into use the various factors of production.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of management to create such conditions
which are conducive to maximum efforts so that people are able to perform their
task efficiently and effectively. It includes ensuring availability of raw
materials, determination of wages and salaries, formulation of rules &
regulations etc.
Therefore, we can say that good management includes both
being effective and efficient. Being effective means doing the appropriate task
i.e, fitting the square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes.
Being efficient means doing the task correctly, at least possible cost with
minimum wastage of resources.
Management can be defined in detail in following
categories:
1. Management as a Process
2. Management as an Activity 3.
Management as a Discipline 4. Management
as a Group 5. Management as a
Science 6. Management as an Art 7. Management as a Profession
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Features of Management
Management is an activity concerned with guiding human and
physical resources such that organizational goals can be achieved. Nature of
management can be highlighted as: -
1. Management is Goal-Oriented: The success of any
management activity is accessed by its achievement of the predetermined goals
or objective. Management is a purposeful activity. It is a tool, which helps
use of human & physical resources to fulfill the pre-determined goals. For
example, the goal of an enterprise is maximum consumer satisfaction by
producing quality goods and at reasonable prices. Employing efficient persons
and making better use of scarce resources can achieve this. 2. Management
integrates Human, Physical and Financial Resources: In an organization, human
beings work with non-human resources like machines. Materials, financial
assets, buildings etc. Management integrates human efforts to those resources.
It brings harmony among the human, physical and financial resources. 3.
Management is Continuous: Management is an ongoing process. It involves
continuous handling of problems and issues. It is concerned with identifying
the problem and taking appropriate steps to solve it. E.g. the target of a company
is maximum production. For achieving this target various policies have to be
framed but this is not the end. Marketing and Advertising is also to be done.
For this policies have to be again framed. Hence this is an ongoing process. 4.
Management is all Pervasive: Management is required in all types of
organizations whether it is political, social, cultural or business because it
helps and directs various efforts towards a definite purpose. Thus clubs,
hospitals, political parties, colleges, hospitals, business firms all require
management. When ever more than one person is engaged in working for a common
goal, management is necessary. Whether it is a small business firm, which may
be engaged in trading, or a large firm like Tata Iron & Steel, management is
required everywhere irrespective of size or type of activity. 5. Management is
a Group Activity: Management is very much less concerned with individual’s
efforts. It is more concerned with groups. It involves the use of group effort
to achieve predetermined goal of management of ABC & Co. is good refers to
a group of persons managing the enterprise.
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Objectives of Management
The main objectives of management are:
1. Getting Maximum Results with Minimum Efforts - The main
objective of management is to secure maximum outputs with minimum efforts &
resources. Management is basically concerned with thinking & utilizing
human, material & financial resources in such a manner that would result in
best combination. This combination results in reduction of various costs. 2.
Increasing the Efficiency of factors of Production - Through proper utilization
of various factors of production, their efficiency can be increased to a great
extent which can be obtained by reducing spoilage, wastages and breakage of all
kinds, this in turn leads to saving of time, effort and money which is
essential for the growth & prosperity of the enterprise. 3. Maximum
Prosperity for Employer & Employees - Management ensures smooth and
coordinated functioning of the enterprise. This in turn helps in providing
maximum benefits to the employee in the shape of good working condition,
suitable wage system, incentive plans on the one hand and higher profits to the
employer on the other hand. 4. Human betterment & Social Justice -
Management serves as a tool for the upliftment as well as betterment of the
society. Through increased productivity & employment, management ensures
better standards of living for the society. It provides justice through its
uniform policies.
Importance of Management
1. It helps in Achieving Group Goals - It arranges the
factors of production, assembles and organizes the resources, integrates the
resources in effective manner to achieve goals. It directs group efforts
towards achievement of pre-determined goals. By defining objective of
organization clearly there would be no wastage of time, money and effort.
Management converts disorganized resources of men, machines, money etc. into
useful enterprise. These resources are coordinated, directed and controlled in
such a manner that enterprise work towards attainment of goals. 2. Optimum
Utilization of Resources - Management utilizes all the physical & human
resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management
provides maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible
alternate use in industry from out of various uses. It makes use of experts,
professional and these services leads to use of their skills, knowledge, and
proper utilization and avoids wastage. If employees and machines are producing
its maximum there is no under employment of any resources. 3. Reduces Costs -
It gets maximum results through minimum input by proper planning and by using
minimum input & getting maximum output. Management uses physical, human and
financial resources in such a manner which results in best combination. This
helps in cost reduction. 4. Establishes Sound Organization - No overlapping of
efforts (smooth and coordinated functions). To establish sound organizational
structure is one of the objective of management which is in tune with objective
of organization and for fulfillment of this, it establishes effective authority
& responsibility relationship i.e. who is accountable to whom, who can give
instructions to whom, who are superiors & who are subordinates. Management
fills up various positions with right persons, having right skills, training
and qualification. All jobs should be cleared to everyone.
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5. Establishes Equilibrium - It enables the organization to
survive in changing environment. It keeps in touch with the changing
environment. With the change is external environment; the initial co-ordination
of organization must be changed. So it adapts organization to changing demand
of market / changing needs of societies. It is responsible for growth and
survival of organization. 6. Essentials for Prosperity of Society - Efficient
management leads to better economical production, which helps in turn to
increase the welfare of people. Good management makes a difficult task easier
by avoiding wastage of scarce resource. It improves standard of living. It
increases the profit, which is beneficial to business, and society will get
maximum output at minimum cost by creating employment opportunities which
generate income in hands. Organization comes with new products and researches
beneficial for society.
Functions of Management
Management has been described as a social process involving
responsibility for economical and effective planning & regulation of
operation of an enterprise in the fulfillment of given purposes. It is a
dynamic process consisting of various elements and activities. These activities
are different from operative functions like marketing, finance, purchase etc.
Rather these activities are common to each and every manger irrespective of his
level or status.
Different experts have classified functions of management.
According to George & Jerry, “There are four fundamental functions of
management i.e. planning, organizing, actuating and controlling”. According to
Henry Fayol, “To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, &
to control”. Whereas Luther Gullick has given a keyword ’POSDCORB’ where P
stands for Planning, O for Organizing, S for Staffing, D for Directing, Co for
Co-ordination, R for reporting & B for Budgeting. But the most widely accepted
are functions of management given by KOONTZ and O’DONNEL i.e. Planning,
Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling.
For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate
the function of management but practically these functions are overlapping in
nature i.e. they are highly inseparable. Each function blends into the other
& each affects the performance of others.
1. Planning
It is the basic function of management. It deals with
chalking out a future course of action & deciding in advance the most
appropriate course of actions for achievement of predetermined goals. According
to KOONTZ, “Planning is deciding in advance - what to do, when to do & how
to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to be”. A plan
is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem solving &
decision making. Planning is determination of courses of action to achieve
desired goals. Thus, planning is a systematic thinking about ways & means
for accomplishment of pre-determined goals. Planning is necessary to ensure
proper utilization of human & non-human resources. It is all pervasive, it
is an intellectual activity and it also helps in avoiding confusion,
uncertainties, risks, wastages etc.
2. Organizing
It is the process of bringing together physical, financial
and human resources and developing productive relationship amongst them for
achievement of organizational goals. According to Henry Fayol, “To organize a
business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning i.e. raw material,
tools, capital and personnel’s”. To organize a business
involves determining & providing human and non-human
resources to the organizational structure. Organizing as a process involves:
Identification of activities. Classification of grouping of
activities. Assignment of
duties. Delegation of authority and
creation of responsibility.
Coordinating authority and responsibility relationships. 3. Staffing
It is the function of manning the organization structure and
keeping it manned. Staffing has assumed greater importance in the recent years
due to advancement of technology, increase in size of business, complexity of
human behavior etc. The main purpose o staffing is to put right man on right
job i.e. square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. According
to Kootz & O’Donell, “Managerial function of staffing involves manning the
organization structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal &
development of personnel to fill the roles designed un the structure”. Staffing
involves:
Manpower Planning (estimating man power in terms of
searching, choose the person and giving the right place). Recruitment, selection &
placement. Training & development. Remuneration. Performance appraisal. Promotions & transfer. 4. Directing
It is that part of managerial function which actuates the
organizational methods to work efficiently for achievement of organizational
purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise which sets it in motion
the action of people because planning, organizing and staffing are the mere
preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel aspect of
management which deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising,
motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Direction
has following elements:
Supervision
Motivation Leadership Communication
Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by
their superiors. It is the act of watching & directing work & workers.
Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the
sub-ordinates with zeal to work. Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary
incentives may be used for this purpose.
Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager
guides and influences the work of subordinates in desired direction.
Communications- is the process of passing information,
experience, opinion etc from one person to another. It is a bridge of
understanding.
5. Controlling
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It implies measurement of accomplishment against the
standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of
organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything
occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps
to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann,
“Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being
made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any
deviation”. According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement
& correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure
that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being
accomplished”. Therefore controlling has following steps:
a. Establishment of standard performance. b. Measurement of actual performance. c. Comparison of actual performance with the
standards and finding out deviation if any.
d. Corrective action.
Principles of Management
A principle refers to a fundamental truth. It establishes
cause and effect relationship between two or more variables under given
situation. They serve as a guide to thought & actions. Therefore,
management principles are the statements of fundamental truth based on logic,
which provides guidelines for managerial decision-making and actions. These
principles are derived: -
a. On the basis of observation and analysis i.e. practical
experience of managers. b. By conducting experimental studies.
There are 14 Principles of Management described by Henri
Fayol.
1. Division of Labor a. Henry Fayol has stressed on the
specialization of jobs. b. He
recommended that work of all kinds must be divided & subdivided and
allotted to various persons according to their expertise in a particular
area. c. Subdivision of work makes it
simpler and results in efficiency. d. It
also helps the individual in acquiring speed, accuracy in his performance. e. Specialization leads to efficiency &
economy in spheres of business. 2. Party
of Authority & Responsibility a. Authority & responsibility are
co-existing. b. If authority is given to
a person, he should also be made responsible.
c. In a same way, if anyone is made responsible for any job, he should
also have concerned authority. d.
Authority refers to the right of superiors to get exactness from their
sub-ordinates whereas responsibility means obligation for the performance of
the job assigned. e. There should be a
balance between the two i.e. they must go hand in hand. f. Authority without responsibility leads to
irresponsible behavior whereas responsibility without authority makes the
person ineffective. 3. Principle of One
Boss a. A sub-ordinate should receive orders and be accountable to one and only
one boss at a time. b. In other words, a
sub-ordinate should not receive instructions from more than one person because
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- It undermines authority - Weakens discipline - Divides
loyalty - Creates confusion - Delays and chaos - Escaping responsibilities -
Duplication of work - Overlapping of efforts
c. Therefore, dual sub-ordination should be avoided unless
and until it is absolutely essential. d.
Unity of command provides the enterprise a disciplined, stable & orderly
existence. e. It creates harmonious
relationship between superiors and sub-ordinates. 4. Unity of Direction a. Fayol advocates one
head one plan which means that there should be one plan for a group of
activities having similar objectives. b.
Related activities should be grouped together. There should be one plan of
action for them and they should be under the charge of a particular
manager. c. According to this principle,
efforts of all the members of the organization should be directed towards
common goal. d. Without unity of
direction, unity of action cannot be achieved.
e. In fact, unity of command is not possible without unity of
direction.
Basis Unity of command Unity of direction
Meaning It implies that a sub-ordinate should receive orders
& instructions from only one boss.
It means one head, one plan for a group of activities having
similar objectives.
Nature It is related to the functioning of personnel’s.
It is related to the functioning of departments, or
organization as a whole.
Necessity It is necessary for fixing responsibility of each
subordinates.
It is necessary for sound organization.
Advantage It avoids conflicts, confusion & chaos. It
avoids duplication of efforts and wastage of resources.
Result It leads to better superior sub-ordinate
relationship.
It leads to smooth running of the enterprise.
Therefore it is obvious that they are different from each
other but they are dependent on each other i.e. unity of direction is a
pre-requisite for unity of command. But it does not automatically comes from
the unity of direction.
5. Equity a. Equity means combination of fairness, kindness
& justice. b. The employees should
be treated with kindness & equity if devotion is expected of them. c. It implies that managers should be fair
and impartial while dealing with the subordinates. d. They should give similar treatment to
people of similar position. e. They
should not discriminate with respect to age, caste, sex, religion, relation
etc. f. Equity is essential to create
and maintain cordial relations between the managers and sub-ordinate. g. But equity does not mean total absence of
harshness. h. Fayol was of opinion that,
“at times force and harshness might become necessary for the sake of
equity”. 6. Order a. This principle is
concerned with proper & systematic arrangement of things and people. b. Arrangement of things is called material
order and placement of people is called social order. c. Material order- There should be safe,
appropriate and specific place for every article and every place to be effectively
used for specific activity and commodity.
d. Social order- Selection and appointment of most suitable person on
the suitable job. There should be a specific place for every one and everyone
should have a specific place so that they can easily be contacted whenever need
arises. 7. Discipline a. According to
Fayol, “Discipline means sincerity, obedience, respect of authority &
observance of rules and regulations of the enterprise”. b. This principle applies that subordinate
should respect their superiors and obey their order. c. It is an important requisite for smooth
running of the enterprise. d. Discipline
is not only required on path of subordinates but also on the part of
management. e. Discipline can be enforced
if -
- There are good
superiors at all levels. - There are clear & fair agreements with
workers. - Sanctions (punishments) are judiciously
applied.
8. Initiative a. Workers should be encouraged to take
initiative in the work assigned to them.
b. It means eagerness to initiate actions without being asked to do
so. c. Fayol advised that management
should provide opportunity to its employees to suggest ideas, experiences&
new method of work. d. It helps in
developing an atmosphere of trust and understanding. e. People then enjoy working in the
organization because it adds to their zeal and energy. f. To suggest improvement in formulation
& implementation of place. g. They
can be encouraged with the help of monetary & non-monetary incentives. 9. Fair Remuneration a. The quantum and
method of remuneration to be paid to the workers should be fair, reasonable,
satisfactory & rewarding of the efforts.
b. As far as possible it should accord satisfaction to both employer and
the employees. c. Wages should be
determined on the basis of cost of living, work assigned, financial position of
the business, wage rate prevailing etc.
d. Logical & appropriate wage rates and methods of their
payment reduce tension & differences between workers & management
creates harmonious relationship and pleasing atmosphere of work. e. Fayol also recommended provision of other
benefits such as free education, medical & residential facilities to
workers. 10. Stability of Tenure a.
Fayol emphasized that employees should not be moved frequently from one job
position to another i.e. the period of service in a job should be fixed. b. Therefore employees should be appointed
after keeping in view principles of recruitment & selection but once they
are appointed their services should be served.
c. According to Fayol. “Time is required for an employee to get used to
a new work & succeed to doing it well but if he is removed before that he
will not be able to render worthwhile services”. d. As a result, the time, effort and money
spent on training the worker will go waste.
e. Stability of job creates team spirit and a sense of belongingness
among workers which ultimately increase the quality as well as quantity of
work. 11. Scalar Chain a. Fayol defines
scalar chain as ’The chain of superiors ranging from the ultimate authority to
the lowest”. b. Every orders,
instructions, messages, requests, explanation etc. has to pass through Scalar
chain. c. But, for the sake of
convenience & urgency, this path can be cut shirt and this short cut is
known as Gang Plank. d. A Gang Plank is
a temporary arrangement between two different points to facilitate quick &
easy communication as explained below:
In the figure given, if D has to communicate with G he will
first send the communication upwards with the help of C, B to A and then
downwards with the help of E and F to G which will take quite some time and by
that time, it may not be worth therefore a gang plank has been developed
between the two.
e. Gang Plank clarifies that management principles are not
rigid rather they are very flexible. They can be moulded and modified as per
the requirements of situations 12.
Sub-Ordination of Individual Interest to General Interest a. An organization is
much bigger than the individual it constitutes therefore interest of the undertaking
should prevail in all circumstances. b.
As far as possible, reconciliation should be achieved between individual and
group interests. c. But in case of
conflict, individual must sacrifice for bigger interests. d. In order to achieve this attitude, it is
essential that -
- Employees should be
honest & sincere. - Proper & regular supervision of
work. -
Reconciliation of mutual differences and clashes by mutual agreement.
For example, for change of location of plant, for change of profit sharing
ratio, etc.
13. Espirit De’ Corps (can be achieved through unity of
command) a. It refers to team spirit i.e. harmony in the work groups and mutual
understanding among the members. b.
Spirit De’ Corps inspires workers to work harder.
c. Fayol cautioned the managers against dividing the employees
into competing groups because it might damage the moral of the workers and
interest of the undertaking in the long run.
d. To inculcate Espirit De’ Corps following steps should be undertaken - There should be proper co-ordination of
work at all levels Subordinates
should be encouraged to develop informal relations among themselves. Efforts should be made to create
enthusiasm and keenness among subordinates so that they can work to the maximum
ability. Efficient employees should
be rewarded and those who are not up to the mark should be given a chance to
improve their performance.
Subordinates should be made conscious of that whatever they are doing is of
great importance to the business & society.
e. He also cautioned against the more use of Britain communication to
the subordinates i.e. face to face communication should be developed. The
managers should infuse team spirit & belongingness. There should be no
place for misunderstanding. People then enjoy working in the organization &
offer their best towards the organization.
14. Centralization & De-Centralization a. Centralization means
concentration of authority at the top level. In other words, centralization is
a situation in which top management retains most of the decision making
authority. b. Decentralization means
disposal of decision making authority to all the levels of the organization. In
other words, sharing authority downwards is decentralization. c. According to Fayol, “Degree of
centralization or decentralization depends on no. of factors like size of
business, experience of superiors, dependability & ability of subordinates
etc. d. Anything which increases the
role of subordinate is decentralization & anything which decreases it is
centralization. e. Fayol suggested that
absolute centralization or decentralization is not feasible. An organization
should strike to achieve a lot between the two.
Features of Principles of Management
1. Principles of Management are Universal a. Management
principles are applicable to all kinds of organizations - business & non
business. b. They are applicable to all
levels of management. c. Every
organization must make best possible use by the use of management
principles. d. Therefore, they are
universal or all pervasive. 2.
Principles of Management are Flexible a. Management principles are dynamic
guidelines and not static rules. b.
There is sufficient room for managerial discretion i.e. they can be modified as
per the requirements of the situation.
c. Modification & improvement is a continuous phenomenon in case of
principles of management. 3. Principles
of Management have a Cause & Effect Relationship a. Principles of
management indicate cause and effect relationship between related
variables.
b. They indicate what will be the consequence or result of
certain actions. Therefore, if one is known, the other can be traced. 4. Principles of Management - Aims at
Influencing Human Behavior a. Human behavior is complex and unpredictable. b. Management principles are directed towards
regulating human behavior so that people can give their best to the
organization. c. Management is concerned
with integrating efforts and harmonizing them towards a goal. d. But in certain situations even these
principles fail to understand human behavior.
5. Principles of Management are of Equal Importance a. All management
principles are equally important. b. No
particular principle has greater importance than the other. c. They are all required together for the
achievement of organizational goals.
Scientific Management by Taylor
Fredrick Winslow Taylor ( March 20, 1856 - March 21, 1915)
commonly known as ’Father of Scientific Management’ started his career as an
operator and rose to the position of chief engineer. He conducted various
experiments during this process which forms the basis of scientific management.
It implies application of scientific principles for studying & identifying
management problems.
According to Taylor, “Scientific Management is an art of
knowing exactly what you want your men to do and seeing that they do it in the
best and cheapest way”. In Taylors view, if a work is analysed scientifically
it will be possible to find one best way to do it.
Hence scientific management is a thoughtful, organized, dual
approach towards the job of management against hit or miss or Rule of Thumb.
According to Drucker, “The cost of scientific management is
the organized study of work, the analysis of work into simplest element &
systematic management of worker’s performance of each element”.
Planning Function of Management
Planning means looking ahead and chalking out future courses
of action to be followed. It is a preparatory step. It is a systematic activity
which determines when, how and who is going to perform a specific job. Planning
is a detailed programme regarding future courses of action. It is rightly said
“Well plan is half done”. Therefore planning takes into consideration available
& prospective human and physical resources of the organization so as to get
effective co-ordination, contribution & perfect adjustment. It is the basic
management function which includes formulation of one or more detailed plans to
achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources.
According to Urwick, “Planning is a mental predisposition to
do things in orderly way, to think before acting and to act in the light of
facts rather than guesses”. Planning is deciding best alternative among others
to perform different managerial functions in order to achieve predetermined
goals.
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According to Koontz & O’Donell, “Planning is deciding in
advance what to do, how to do and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap
between where we are to, where we want to go. It makes possible things to occur
which would not otherwise occur”.
Steps in Planning Function
Planning function of management involves following steps:-
1. Establishment of objectives a. Planning requires a
systematic approach. b. Planning starts
with the setting of goals and objectives to be achieved. c. Objectives provide a rationale for
undertaking various activities as well as indicate direction of efforts. d. Moreover objectives focus the attention of
managers on the end results to be achieved.
e. As a matter of fact, objectives provide nucleus to the planning
process. Therefore, objectives should be stated in a clear, precise and
unambiguous language. Otherwise the activities undertaken are bound to be
ineffective. f. As far as possible,
objectives should be stated in quantitative terms. For example, Number of men
working, wages given, units produced, etc. But such an objective cannot be
stated in quantitative terms like performance of quality control manager,
effectiveness of personnel manager. g.
Such goals should be specified in qualitative terms. h. Hence objectives should be practical,
acceptable, workable and achievable. 2.
Establishment of Planning Premises a. Planning premises are the assumptions
about the lively shape of events in future.
b. They serve as a basis of planning.
c. Establishment of planning premises is concerned with determining
where one tends to deviate from the actual plans and causes of such
deviations. d. It is to find out what
obstacles are there in the way of business during the course of operations. e. Establishment of planning premises is
concerned to take such steps that avoids these obstacles to a great
extent. f. Planning premises may be
internal or external. Internal includes capital investment policy, management
labour relations, philosophy of management, etc. Whereas external includes
socio- economic, political and economical changes. g. Internal premises are controllable whereas
external are non- controllable. 3.
Choice of alternative course of action a. When forecast are available and
premises are established, a number of alternative course of actions have to be
considered. b. For this purpose, each
and every alternative will be evaluated by weighing its pros and cons in the
light of resources available and requirements of the organization. c. The merits, demerits as well as the
consequences of each alternative must be examined before the choice is being
made. d. After objective and scientific
evaluation, the best alternative is chosen.
e. The planners should take help of various quantitative techniques to
judge the stability of an alternative.
4. Formulation of derivative plans a. Derivative plans are the sub plans
or secondary plans which help in the achievement of main plan. b. Secondary plans will flow from the basic
plan. These are meant to support and expediate the achievement of basic
plans.
c. These detail plans include policies, procedures, rules,
programmes, budgets, schedules, etc. For example, if profit maximization is the
main aim of the enterprise, derivative plans will include sales maximization,
production maximization, and cost minimization.
d. Derivative plans indicate time schedule and sequence of accomplishing
various tasks. 5. Securing Co-operation
a. After the plans have been determined, it is necessary rather advisable to
take subordinates or those who have to implement these plans into
confidence. b. The purposes behind
taking them into confidence are :- i.
Subordinates may feel motivated since they are involved in decision making
process. ii. The organization may be
able to get valuable suggestions and improvement in formulation as well as
implementation of plans. iii. Also the
employees will be more interested in the execution of these plans. 6. Follow up/Appraisal of plans a. After
choosing a particular course of action, it is put into action. b. After the selected plan is implemented, it
is important to appraise its effectiveness.
c. This is done on the basis of feedback or information received from
departments or persons concerned. d.
This enables the management to correct deviations or modify the plan. e. This step establishes a link between
planning and controlling function. f.
The follow up must go side by side the implementation of plans so that in the
light of observations made, future plans can be made more realistic.
Organizing Function of Management
Organizing is the function of management which follows
planning. It is a function in which the synchronization and combination of
human, physical and financial resources takes place. All the three resources
are important to get results. Therefore, organizational function helps in
achievement of results which in fact is important for the functioning of a
concern. According to Chester Barnard, “Organizing is a function by which the
concern is able to define the role positions, the jobs related and the co- ordination
between authority and responsibility. Hence, a manager always has to organize
in order to get results.
A manager performs organizing function with the help of
following steps:-
Identification of activities - All the activities, which
have to be performed in a concern, have to be identified first. For example,
preparation of accounts, making sales, record keeping, quality control,
inventory control, etc. All these activities have to be grouped and classified
into units.
2. Departmentally organizing the activities - In this step,
the manager tries to combine and group similar and related activities into
units or departments. This organization of dividing the whole concern into
independent units and departments is called departmentation. 3. Classifying the
authority - Once the departments are made, the manager likes to classify the
powers and its extent to the managers. This activity of giving a rank in order
to the managerial positions is called hierarchy. The top management is into
formulation of policies, the middle level management into departmental
supervision and lower level management into supervision of foremen. The
clarification of authority help in bringing
efficiency in the running of a concern. This helps in
achieving efficiency in the running of a concern. This helps in avoiding
wastage of time, money, effort, in avoidance of duplication or overlapping of
efforts and this helps in bringing smoothness in a concern’s working. 4.
Co-ordination between authority and responsibility - Relationships are
established among various groups to enable smooth interaction toward the
achievment of the organizational goal. Each individual is made aware of his
authority and he/she knows whom they have to take orders from and to whom they
are accountable and to whom they have to report. A clear organizational
structure is drawn and all the employees are made aware of it.
Staffing Function of Management
The managerial function of staffing involves manning the
organization structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and
development of the personnels to fill the roles assigned to the
employers/workforce.
According to Theo Haimann, “Staffing pertains to
recruitment, selection, development and compensation of subordinates.”
Nature of Staffing Function
1. Staffing is an important managerial function- Staffing
function is the most important mangerial act along with planning, organizing,
directing and controlling. The operations of these four functions depend upon
the manpower which is available through staffing function. 2. Staffing is a
pervasive activity- As staffing function is carried out by all mangers and in
all types of concerns where business activities are carried out.
3. Staffing is a continuous activity- This is because
staffing function continues throughout the life of an organization due to the
transfers and promotions that take place. 4. The basis of staffing function is
efficient management of personnels- Human resources can be efficiently managed
by a system or proper procedure, that is, recruitment, selection, placement,
training and development, providing remuneration, etc. 5. Staffing helps in
placing right men at the right job. It can be done effectively through proper
recruitment procedures and then finally selecting the most suitable candidate
as per the job requirements. 6. Staffing is performed by all managers depending
upon the nature of business, size of the company, qualifications and skills of
managers,etc. In small companies, the top management generally performs this function.
In medium and small scale enterprise, it is performed especially by the
personnel department of that concern.
Directing Function of Management
DIRECTING is said to be a process in which the managers
instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve
predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process.
Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function
does not take place.
Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work
starts. Direction is said to be consisting of human factors. In simple words,
it can be described as providing guidance to workers is doing work. In field of
management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to
encourage the subordinates to work effectively and efficiently. According to
Human, “Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can be
issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned” Therefore,
Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing
people towards accomplishment of organizational goals.
Direction has got following characteristics:
1. Pervasive Function - Directing is required at all levels
of organization. Every manager provides guidance and inspiration to his
subordinates. 2. Continuous Activity - Direction is a continuous activity as it
continuous throughout the life of organization. 3. Human Factor - Directing
function is related to subordinates and therefore it is related to human
factor. Since human factor is complex and behaviour is unpredictable, direction
function becomes important. 4. Creative Activity - Direction function helps in
converting plans into performance. Without this function, people become
inactive and physical resources are meaningless. 5. Executive Function -
Direction function is carried out by all managers and executives at all levels
throughout the working of an enterprise, a subordinate receives instructions
from his superior only. 6. Delegate Function - Direction is supposed to be a
function dealing with human beings. Human behaviour is unpredictable by nature
and conditioning the people’s behaviour towards the goals of the enterprise is
what the executive does in this function. Therefore, it is termed as having
delicacy in it to tackle human behaviour.
Controlling Function of Management
What is Controlling?
Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs
in confirmities with the plans adopted, instructions issued and principles
established. Controlling ensures that there is effective and efficient
utilization of organizational resources so as to achieve the planned goals.
Controlling measures the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance,
discovers the causes of such deviations and helps in taking corrective actions
According to Brech, “Controlling is a systematic exercise
which is called as a process of checking actual performance against the
standards or plans with a view to ensure adequate progress and also recording
such experience as is gained as a contribution to possible future needs.”
According to Donnell, “Just as a navigator continually takes
reading to ensure whether he is relative to a planned action, so should a business
manager continually take reading to assure himself that his enterprise is on
right course.”
Controlling has got two basic purposes
1. It facilitates co-ordination 2. It helps in planning
Features of Controlling Function
Following are the characteristics of controlling function of
management-
1. Controlling is an end function- A function which comes
once the performances are made in confirmities with plans. 2. Controlling is a
pervasive function- which means it is performed by managers at all levels and
in all type of concerns. 3. Controlling is forward looking- because effective
control is not possible without past being controlled. Controlling always look
to future so that follow-up can be made whenever required. 4. Controlling is a
dynamic process- since controlling requires taking reviewal methods, changes
have to be made wherever possible. 5. Controlling is related with planning-
Planning and Controlling are two inseperable functions of management. Without
planning, controlling is a meaningless exercise and without controlling,
planning is useless. Planning presupposes controlling and controlling succeeds
planning.
What is Motivation?
Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which
means needs, desires, wants or drives within the individuals. It is the process
of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In the work goal
context the psychological factors stimulating the people’s behaviour can be -
desire for money
success recognition job-satisfaction team work, etc
One of the most important functions of management is to
create willingness amongst the employees to perform in the best of their
abilities. Therefore the role of a leader is to arouse interest in performance
of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of three
stages:-
1. A felt need or drive
2. A stimulus in which needs have to be aroused 3. When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction
or accomplishment of goals.
Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological
phenomenon which means needs and wants of the individuals have to be tackled by
framing an incentive plan.
Importance of Motivation
Motivation is a very important for an organization because
of the following benefits it provides:-
1. Puts human resources into action
Every concern requires physical, financial and human
resources to accomplish the goals. It is through motivation that the human
resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by
building willingness in employees to work. This will help the enterprise in
securing best possible utilization of resources.
2. Improves level of efficiency of employees
The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only
depend upon his qualifications and abilities. For getting best of his work
performance, the gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which
helps in improving the level of performance of subordinates. This will result
into-
a. Increase in productivity,
b. Reducing cost of operations, and
c. Improving overall efficiency.
3. Leads to achievement of organizational goals
The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the
following factors take place :-
a. There is best possible utilization of resources, b. There is a co-operative work
environment, c. The employees are
goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner, d. Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and
co-operation takes place simultaneously which can be effectively done through
motivation. 4. Builds friendly
relationship
Motivation is an important factor which brings employees
satisfaction. This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive
plan for the benefit of the employees. This could initiate the following
things:
a. Monetary and non-monetary incentives, b. Promotion opportunities for
employees, c. Disincentives for
inefficient employees.
In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a
concern, the above steps should be taken by a manager. This would help in:
iv. Effective co-operation which brings stability, v. Industrial dispute and unrest in employees
will reduce, vi. The employees will be
adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance to the change, vii. This will help in providing a smooth and
sound concern in which individual interests will coincide with the
organizational interests, viii. This
will result in profit maximization through increased productivity. 5. Leads to
stability of work force
Stability of workforce is very important from the point of
view of reputation and goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal to
the enterprise only when they have a feeling of participation in the
management. The skills and efficiency of employees will always be of advantage
to employees as well as employees. This will lead to a good public image in the
market which will attract competent and qualified people into a concern. As it
is said, “Old is gold” which suffices with the role of motivation here, the
older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into a concern which
can be of benefit to the enterprise.
From the above discussion, we can say that motivation is an
internal feeling which can be understood only by manager since he is in close
contact with the employees. Needs, wants and desires are inter-related and they
are the driving force to act. These needs can be understood by the manager and
he can frame motivation plans accordingly. We can say that motivation therefore
is a continuous process since motivation process is based on needs which are
unlimited. The process has to be continued throughout.
We can summarize by saying that motivation is important both
to an individual and a business. Motivation is important to an individual
as:
1. Motivation will help him achieve his personal goals. 2. If an individual is motivated, he will have
job satisfaction. 3. Motivation will
help in self-development of individual.
4. An individual would always gain by working with a dynamic team.
Similarly, motivation is important to a business as:
1. The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered
the team is. 2. The more is the team
work and individual employee contribution, more profitable and successful is
the business. 3. During period of
amendments, there will be more adaptability and creativity. 4. Motivation will lead to an optimistic and
challenging attitude at work place.
Staff Motivation - Motivation Tips for Employees
Employees are the building blocks of an organization.
Organizational success depends on the collective efforts of the employees. The
employees will collectively contribute to organizational growth when they are
motivated.
Below mentioned are some tips for motivating the staff /
employees in an organization:
Evaluate yourself- In order to motivate, encourage and
control your staff’s behaviour, it is essential to understand, encourage and
control your own behaviour as a manager. Work upon utilizing your strengths and
opportunities to neutralize and lower the negative impact of your weaknesses
and organizational threats. The manager should adopt the approach “You’re OK -
I’m OK”.
Be familiar with your staff- The manager should be well
acquainted with his staff. The more and the better he knows his staff, the
simpler it is to get them involved in the job as well as in achieving the team
and organizational goals. This will also invite staff’s commitment and loyalty.
A cordial superior-subordinate relationship is a key factor in
job-satisfaction.
Provide the employees certain benefits- Give your staff some
financial and other benefits. Give them bonuses, pay them for overtime, and
give them health and family insurance benefits. Make sure they get breaks from
work. Let them enjoy vacations and holidays.
Participate in new employees induction programme- Induction
proceeds with recruitment advertising. At this point of time, the potential
entrants start creating their own impressions and desires about the job and the
organization. The manner in which the selection is conducted and the consequent
recruitment process will either build or damage the impression about the job
and organization. Thus, the manager must have a say in framing the
advertisement and also in the selection and recruitment process. After the
decision about the candidate is made, the manager must take personal interest
in the selected joinee’s joining date, the family relocation issues, cost of
removal, etc. Being observed by the new recruit and your entire team / staff to
be involved completely, will ensure a persuasive entry in the organization.
Provide feedback to the staff constantly- The staff members
are keen to know how they are performing. Try giving a regular and constructive
feedback to your staff. This will be more acceptable by the staff. Do not base
the feedback on assumptions, but on facts and personal observations. Do not
indulge in favouritism or comparing the employee with some one else. Sit with
your staff on daily or weekly basis and make sure that feedback happens. This
will help in boosting employee’s morale and will thus motivate the staff.
Acknowledge your staff on their achievements- A pat on the
back, some words of praise, and giving a note of credit to the employee / staff
member at personal level with some form of broad publicity can motivate the
staff a lot. Make it a point to mention the staff’s outstanding achievements in
official newsletters or organization’s journal. Not only acknowledge the
employee with highest contribution, but also acknowledge the employee who meets
and over exceeds the targets.
Ensure effective time management- Having control over time
ensures that things are done in right manner. Motivate your staff to have
“closed” times, i.e., few hours when there are no interruptions for the staff
in performing their job role so that they can concentrate on the job, and
“open” times when the staff freely communicate and interact. Plan one to one
sessions of interaction with your staff where they can ask their queries and
also can get your attention and, thereby, they will not feel neglected. This
all will work in long run to motivate the staff.
Have stress management techniques in your organization-
Create an environment in which you and your staff can work within optimum
pressure levels. Ensure an optimistic attitude towards stress in the workplace.
Have training sessions on stress management, and ensure a follow-up with group
meetings on the manner stress can be lowered at work. Give your staff autonomy
in work. Identify the stress symptoms in employees and try to deal with them.
Use counselling technique- The employees’ / staff feelings
towards the work, their peer, their superiors and towards the future can be
effectively dealt through the staff counseling. Counselling provides an
environment, incentive and support which enable the employee to achieve his
identity.
Give the employees learning opportunities- Employees should
consistently learn new skills on the job. It has been well said by someone that
with people hopping jobs more often than required and organizations no longer
giving job security to employees, the young blood employees specifically
realize that continuing learning is the best way to remain employable.
Opportunities
should be given to the employees to develop their skills and
competencies and to make best use of their skills. Link the staff goals with
the organizational goals.
Set an example for your staff / subordinates- Be a role
model for your staff. The staff would learn from what you do and not from what
you say / claim. The way you interact with your clients / customers and how do
you react later after the interaction is over have an impact upon the staff.
The staff more closely observes your non-verbal communication (gestures, body
language). Being unpunctual, wasting the organization’s capital, mismanaging
organization’s physical equipments, asking the staff to do your personal work,
etc. all have a negative impact on the staff. Try setting an example for your
staff to follow.
Smile often- Smiling can have a tremendous effect on
boosting the morale of the staff. A smiling superior creates an optimistic and
motivating work environment. Smiling is an essential component of the body
language of confidence, acceptance and boldness. Smile consistently, naturally
and often, to demonstrate that you feel good and positive about the staff who
works for you. It encourages new ideas and feedback from the staff. The staff
does not feel hesitant and threatened to discuss their views this way.
Listen effectively- Listening attentively is a form of
recognizing and appreciating the person who is talking. Reciprocal / Mutual
listening develops cordial and healthy personal relationships on which the
employee / staff development rests. If the managers do not listen attentively
to the subordinates, the morale of the subordinates lowers down and they do not
feel like sharing their ideas or giving their views. Effective listening by the
manager boosts up the employees’ morale and thus motivates them.
Ensure effective communication- In order to motivate your
staff, indulge in effective communication such as avoid using anger
expressions, utilize questioning techniques to know staff’s mindset and
analysis rather than ordering the staff what to do, base your judgements on
facts and not on assumptions, use relaxed and steady tone of voice, listen
effectively and be positive and helpful in your responses. Share your views
with the staff.
Develop and encourage creativity- The staff should be
encouraged to develop the creativity skills so as to solve organizational
problems. Give them time and resources for developing creativity. Let them hold
constant brainstorming sessions. Invite ideas and suggestions from the staff.
They may turn out to be very productive.
Don’t be rigid. Be flexible- Introduce flexibility in work.
Allow for flexible working hours if possible. Let the employees work at home
occasionally if need arises. Do not be rigid in accepting ideas from your
staff. Stimulate flexible attitudes in the employees who are accountable to you
by asking what changes they would like to bring about if given a chance.
Adopt job enrichment- Job enrichment implies giving room for
a better quality of working life. It means facilitating people to achieve
self-development, fame and success through a more challenging and interesting
job which provides more promotional and advancement opportunities. Give
employees more freedom in job, involve them in decision-making process, show
them loyalty and celebrate their achievements.
Respect your team- Respect not only the employees’ rights to
share and express their views, and to be themselves, but their time too. This
will ensure that the employees respect you and your time. Make the staff feel
that they are respected not just as employees / workers but as individuals too.
Workplace Motivation
“I am in this job because I have no other option.” If this
is what an employee of your company feels, read on to know how this statement
can be changed to something more positive - “I love what I do.”
First things first - whose responsibility is it to ensure
that an employee loves his job? While an employee would say - the employer, the
human resource experts have a different point of view which sounds fair. It’s
both the employer and the employee who should work together to make work fun
for each other.
It is interesting to know here, that employees do not rank
’salary’ as the top factor in determining whether they like their jobs or not.
What is important to them then - the opportunity to do what is ’important’.
Almost all the employees would like to feel part of the big picture and would
want to contribute to the organizational goals in some way or the other. Doing
the mundane, routine work will never excite them - what excites them is - work
that challenges them to use their talent. Right Management Consultants
conducted a survey sometime back and found that 83% of about 500 workers
surveyed were motivated by “challenges at work”.
Also, as per an executive editor of the Harvard Business
Review, while salary and promotions could do a great job of demotivating people
if handled ineffectively, they aren’t so much effective in motivating
people.
So then what needs to be done for effective motivation at
workplace?
Link Rewards directly to Performance- An organization should
adopt a fair reward structure which provides incentive to the most deserving
employee. Have an incentive structure in place doesn’t solve the problem...
what makes it workable is the employees trust in the system and believe that
they will be rewarded if they perform well.
Compliment employees- Even though an employee’s name has not
appeared in the list of people getting incentives, go ahead and compliment that
employee for a job well done - no matter how small. There is nothing more
satisfying to an employee than a pat on his back.
Be transparent- While there may be some strategic decisions
which you might want to share with the employees at a later stage, make sure
employees do not give in to the rumours. Stay in touch with the employees.
Work on your PDP- Every employee is responsible for his /
her own career. He / she should work towards his ’Personal Development Plan’
[PDP] as discussed and agreed by his manager. Find out what are the training
company offers and which is best suited to his development needs. How this will
motivate you - remember training always increase your marketability and enhance
your career.
Participate and Network- Employees - Remember you work for a
company where a one-on-one attention might not be possible. Do not wait for an
invitation to participate in a discussion. If you are a part of a forum, then
you have full right to express your opinion and be a part of the process.
Expressing yourself is a good way of motivating yourself.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
Abraham Maslow is well renowned for proposing the Hierarchy
of Needs Theory in 1943. This theory is a classical depiction of human
motivation. This theory is based on the assumption that there is a hierarchy of
five needs within each individual. The urgency of these needs varies. These five
needs are as follows-
1. Physiological needs- These are the basic needs of air,
water, food, clothing and shelter. In other words, physiological needs are the
needs for basic amenities of life. 2.
Safety needs- Safety needs include physical, environmental and emotional safety
and protection. For instance- Job security, financial security, protection from
animals, family security, health security, etc.
3. Social needs- Social needs include the need for love, affection,
care, belongingness, and friendship. 4.
Esteem needs- Esteem needs are of two types: internal esteem needs (self-
respect, confidence, competence, achievement and freedom) and external esteem
needs (recognition, power, status, attention and admiration). 5. Self-actualization need- This include the
urge to become what you are capable of becoming / what you have the potential
to become. It includes the need for growth and selfcontentment. It also
includes desire for gaining more knowledge, social- service, creativity and
being aesthetic. The self- actualization needs are never fully satiable. As an
individual grows psychologically, opportunities keep cropping up to continue
growing.
According to Maslow, individuals are motivated by
unsatisfied needs. As each of these needs is significantly satisfied, it drives
and forces the next need to emerge. Maslow grouped the five needs into two
categories - Higher-order needs and Lower-order needs. The physiological and
the safety needs constituted the lower-order needs. These lower-order needs are
mainly satisfied externally. The social, esteem, and self-actualization needs
constituted the higher-order needs. These higher-order needs are generally
satisfied internally, i.e., within an individual. Thus, we can conclude that
during boom period, the employees lower-order needs are significantly met.
Implications of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory for
Managers
As far as the physiological needs are concerned, the
managers should give employees appropriate salaries to purchase the basic
necessities of life. Breaks and eating opportunities should be given to
employees. As far as the safety needs are concerned, the managers should
provide the employees job security, safe and hygienic work environment, and
retirement benefits so as to retain them. As far as social needs are
concerned, the management should encourage teamwork and organize social events.
As far as esteem needs are concerned, the managers can
appreciate and reward employees on accomplishing and exceeding their targets.
The management can give the deserved employee higher job rank / position in the
organization. As far as self-actualization needs are concerned, the managers
can give the employees challenging jobs in which the employees’ skills and
competencies are fully utilized. Moreover, growth opportunities can be given to
them so that they can reach the peak.
The managers must identify the need level at which the
employee is existing and then those needs can be utilized as push for
motivation.
Limitations of Maslow’s Theory
It is essential to note that not all employees are
governed by same set of needs. Different individuals may be driven by different
needs at same point of time. It is always the most powerful unsatisfied need
that motivates an individual. The
theory is not empirically supported.
The theory is not applicable in case of starving artist as even if the artist’s
basic needs are not satisfied, he will still strive for recognition and
achievement.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation
In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist
proposed a two-factor theory or the motivatorhygiene theory. According to
Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in satisfaction while there
are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the
opposite of “Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of
“Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction”.
FIGURE: Herzberg’s view of satisfaction and
dissatisfaction
Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-
a. Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors
which are essential for existence of motivation at workplace. These do not lead
to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these factors are absent / if
these factors are non-existant at workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction.
In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which when adequate /
reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and do not make them dissatisfied.
These factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called as
dissatisfiers or maintenance factors as they are required to avoid
dissatisfaction. These factors describe the job
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environment / scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the
physiological needs which the individuals wanted and expected to be fulfilled.
Hygiene factors include: Pay- The pay
or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be equal and
competitive to those in the same industry in the same domain. Company Policies and administrative
policies- The company policies should not be too rigid. They should be fair and
clear. It should include flexible working hours, dress code, breaks, vacation,
etc. Fringe benefits- The employees
should be offered health care plans (mediclaim), benefits for the family
members, employee help programmes, etc.
Physical Working conditions- The working conditions should be safe,
clean and hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and
well-maintained. Status- The
employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and retained. Interpersonal relations-The relationship
of the employees with his peers, superiors and subordinates should be
appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or humiliation element
present. Job Security- The
organization must provide job security to the employees. b. Motivational factors- According to
Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as motivators. The
motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to
work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These
factors are called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the
job. Employees find these factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators
symbolized the psychological needs that were perceived as an additional
benefit. Motivational factors include:
Recognition- The employees should be praised and recognized for their
accomplishments by the managers.
Sense of achievement- The employees must have a sense of achievement. This
depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job. Growth and promotional opportunities-
There must be growth and advancement opportunities in an organization to
motivate the employees to perform well.
Responsibility- The employees must hold themselves responsible for
the work. The managers should give them ownership of the work. They should
minimize control but retain accountability.
Meaningfulness of the work- The work itself should be
meaningful, interesting and challenging for the employee to perform and to get
motivated.
Limitations of Two-Factor Theory
The two-factor theory is not free from limitations:
1. The two-factor theory overlooks situational
variables. 2. Herzberg assumed a
correlation between satisfaction and productivity. But the research conducted
by Herzberg stressed upon satisfaction and ignored productivity. 3. The theory’s reliability is uncertain.
Analysis has to be made by the raters. The raters may spoil the findings by
analyzing same response in different manner.
4. No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used. An employee may
find his job acceptable despite the fact that he may hate/object part of his
job. 5. The two factor theory is not
free from bias as it is based on the natural reaction of employees when they
are enquired the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work. They will
blame dissatisfaction on the external factors such as salary structure, company
policies and peer relationship. Also, the employees will give credit to
themselves for the satisfaction factor at work.
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6. The theory ignores blue-collar workers.
Despite these limitations, Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory is
acceptable broadly.
Implications of Two-Factor Theory
The Two-Factor theory implies that the managers must stress
upon guaranteeing the adequacy of the hygiene factors to avoid employee
dissatisfaction. Also, the managers must make sure that the work is stimulating
and rewarding so that the employees are motivated to work and perform harder
and better. This theory emphasize upon job-enrichment so as to motivate the employees.
The job must utilize the employee’s skills and competencies to the maximum.
Focusing on the motivational factors can improve work-quality.
Theory X and Theory Y
In 1960, Douglas McGregor formulated Theory X and Theory Y
suggesting two aspects of human behaviour at work, or in other words, two
different views of individuals (employees): one of which is negative, called as
Theory X and the other is positive, so called as Theory Y. According to
McGregor, the perception of managers on the nature of individuals is based on
various assumptions.
Assumptions of Theory X
An average employee intrinsically does not like work and
tries to escape it whenever possible.
Since the employee does not want to work, he must be persuaded, compelled, or
warned with punishment so as to achieve organizational goals. A close
supervision is required on part of managers. The managers adopt a more
dictatorial style. Many employees
rank job security on top, and they have little or no aspiration/ ambition. Employees generally dislike
responsibilities. Employees resist
change.
An average employee needs formal direction.
Assumptions of Theory Y
Employees can perceive their job as relaxing and normal.
They exercise their physical and mental efforts in an inherent manner in their
jobs. Employees may not require only
threat, external control and coercion to work, but they can use self-direction
and self-control if they are dedicated and sincere to achieve the
organizational objectives. If the job
is rewarding and satisfying, then it will result in employees’ loyalty and
commitment to organization. An
average employee can learn to admit and recognize the responsibility. In fact,
he can even learn to obtain responsibility.
The employees have skills and capabilities. Their logical
capabilities should be fully utilized. In other words, the creativity,
resourcefulness and innovative potentiality of the employees can be utilized to
solve organizational problems.
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Thus, we can say that Theory X presents a pessimistic view
of employees’ nature and behaviour at work, while Theory Y presents an
optimistic view of the employees’ nature and behaviour at work. If correlate it
with Maslow’s theory, we can say that Theory X is based on the assumption that
the employees emphasize on the physiological needs and the safety needs; while
Theory X is based on the assumption that the social needs, esteem needs and the
self-actualization needs dominate the employees.
McGregor views Theory Y to be more valid and reasonable than
Theory X. Thus, he encouraged cordial team relations, responsible and
stimulating jobs, and participation of all in decision-making process.
Implications of Theory X and Theory Y
Quite a few organizations use Theory X today. Theory X
encourages use of tight control and supervision. It implies that employees are
reluctant to organizational changes. Thus, it does not encourage innovation.
Many organizations are using Theory Y techniques. Theory Y implies that the
managers should create and encourage a work environment which provides
opportunities to employees to take initiative and self-direction. Employees
should be given opportunities to contribute to organizational well-being.
Theory Y encourages decentralization of authority, teamwork and participative
decision making in an organization. Theory Y searches and discovers the ways in
which an employee can make significant contributions in an organization. It
harmonizes and matches employees’ needs and aspirations with organizational
needs and aspirations.
What is Leadership
Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct,
guide and influence the behavior and work of others towards accomplishment of
specific goals in a given situation. Leadership is the ability of a manager to
induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.
Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of
others. It is also defined as the capacity to influence a group towards the
realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future visions, and to
motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions.
According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability to
persuade others to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. It is the human
factor which binds a group together and motivates it towards goals.”
Characteristics of Leadership
1. It is a inter-personal process in which a manager is into
influencing and guiding workers towards attainment of goals. 2. It denotes a few qualities to be present
in a person which includes intelligence, maturity and personality. 3. It is a group process. It involves two or
more people interacting with each other.
4. A leader is involved in shaping and moulding the behaviour of the
group towards accomplishment of organizational goals. 5. Leadership is situation bound. There is no
best style of leadership. It all depends upon tackling with the
situations.
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Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which
helps to maximize efficiency and to achieve organizational goals. The following
points justify the importance of leadership in a concern.
1. Initiates action- Leader is a person who starts the work
by communicating the policies and plans to the subordinates from where the work
actually starts. 2. Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role
in the concern’s working. He motivates the employees with economic and
non-economic rewards and thereby gets the work from the subordinates. 3. Providing
guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role for
the subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they
have to perform their work effectively and efficiently. 4. Creating confidence-
Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved through expressing the
work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their role and giving
them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to hear
the employees with regards to their complaints and problems. 5. Building
morale- Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards their work
and getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a
morale booster by achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of
their abilities as they work to achieve goals. 6. Builds work environment-
Management is getting things done from people. An efficient work environment
helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human relations should be kept
into mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with employees and
should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat employees on
humanitarian terms. 7. Co-ordination- Co-ordination can be achieved through
reconciling personal interests with organizational goals. This synchronization
can be achieved through proper and effective coordination which should be
primary motive of a leader.
Qualities of a Leader
A leader has got multidimensional traits in him which makes
him appealing and effective in behavior. The following are the requisites to be
present in a good leader:
1. Physical appearance- A leader must have a pleasing
appearance. Physique and health are very important for a good leader. 2. Vision
and foresight- A leader cannot maintain influence unless he exhibits that he is
forward looking. He has to visualize situations and thereby has to frame
logical programmes. 3. Intelligence- A leader should be intelligent enough to
examine problems and difficult situations. He should be analytical who weighs
pros and cons and then summarizes the situation. Therefore, a positive bent of
mind and mature outlook is very important. 4. Communicative skills- A leader
must be able to communicate the policies and procedures clearly, precisely and
effectively. This can be helpful in persuasion and stimulation. 5. Objective- A
leader has to be having a fair outlook which is free from bias and which does
not reflects his willingness towards a particular individual. He should develop
his own opinion and should base his judgement on facts and logic. 6. Knowledge
of work- A leader should be very precisely knowing the nature of work of his
subordinates because it is then he can win the trust and confidence of his
subordinates. 7. Sense of responsibility- Responsibility and accountability
towards an individual’s work is very important to bring a sense of influence. A
leader must have a sense of responsibility
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towards organizational goals because only then he can get
maximum of capabilities exploited in a real sense. For this, he has to motivate
himself and arouse and urge to give best of his abilities. Only then he can
motivate the subordinates to the best. 8. Self-confidence and will-power-
Confidence in himself is important to earn the confidence of the subordinates.
He should be trustworthy and should handle the situations with full will
power. 9. Humanist-This trait to be
present in a leader is essential because he deals with human beings and is in
personal contact with them. He has to handle the personal problems of his
subordinates with great care and attention. Therefore, treating the human
beings on humanitarian grounds is essential for building a congenial environment.
10. Empathy- It is an old adage “Stepping into the shoes of others”. This is
very important because fair judgement and objectivity comes only then. A leader
should understand the problems and complaints of employees and should also have
a complete view of the needs and aspirations of the employees. This helps in
improving human relations and personal contacts with the employees.
From the above qualities present in a leader, one can
understand the scope of leadership and it’s importance for scope of business. A
leader cannot have all traits at one time. But a few of them helps in achieving
effective results.
Role of a Leader
Following are the main roles of a leader in an organization:
1. Required at all levels- Leadership is a function, which
is important at all levels of management. In the top level, it is important for
getting co-operation in formulation of plans and policies. In the middle and
lower level, it is required for interpretation and execution of plans and
programmes framed by the top management. Leadership can be exercised through
guidance and counseling of the subordinates at the time of execution of plans.
2. Representative of the organization- A leader, i.e., a manager is said to be
the representative of the enterprise. He has to represent the concern at
seminars, conferences, general meetings, etc. His role is to communicate the
rationale of the enterprise to outside public. He is also representative of the
own department which he leads. 3. Integrates and reconciles the personal goals
with organizational goals- A leader through leadership traits helps in
reconciling/ integrating the personal goals of the employees with the
organizational goals. He is trying to co-ordinate the efforts of people towards
a common purpose and thereby achieves objectives. This can be done only if he
can influence and get willing co-operation and urge to accomplish the
objectives. 4. He solicits support- A leader is a manager and besides that he
is a person who entertains and invites support and co- operation of
subordinates. This he can do by his personality, intelligence, maturity and
experience which can provide him positive result. In this regard, a leader has
to invite suggestions and if possible implement them into plans and programmes
of enterprise. This way, he can solicit full support of employees which results
in willingness to work and thereby effectiveness in running of a concern. 5. As
a friend, philosopher and guide- A leader must possess the three dimensional
traits in him. He can be a friend by sharing the feelings, opinions and desires
with the employees. He can be a philosopher by utilizing his intelligence and
experience and thereby guiding the employees as and when time requires. He can
be a guide by supervising and communicating the employees the plans and
policies of top management and secure their co-operation to achieve the goals
of a concern. At times he can also play the role of a counselor by counseling
and a problem-solving approach. He can listen to the problems of the employees
and try to solve them.
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Leadership Styles
All leaders do not possess same attitude or same perspective.
As discussed earlier, few leaders adopt the carrot approach and a few adopt the
stick approach. Thus, all of the leaders do not get the things done in the same
manner. Their style varies. The leadership style varies with the kind of people
the leader interacts and deals with. A perfect/standard leadership style is one
which assists a leader in getting the best out of the people who follow him.
Some of the important leadership styles are as follows:
Autocratic leadership style: In this style of leadership, a
leader has complete command and hold over their employees/team. The team cannot
put forward their views even if they are best for the team’s or organizational
interests. They cannot criticize or question the leader’s way of getting things
done. The leader himself gets the things done. The advantage of this style is
that it leads to speedy decision-making and greater productivity under leader’s
supervision. Drawbacks of this leadership style are that it leads to greater
employee absenteeism and turnover. This leadership style works only when the
leader is the best in performing or when the job is monotonous, unskilled and
routine in nature or where the project is short-term and risky.
The Laissez Faire Leadership Style: Here, the leader totally
trusts their employees/team to perform the job themselves. He just concentrates
on the intellectual/rational aspect of his work and does not focus on the
management aspect of his work. The team/employees are welcomed to share their
views and provide suggestions which are best for organizational interests. This
leadership style works only when the employees are skilled, loyal, experienced
and intellectual.
Democrative/Participative leadership style: The leaders
invite and encourage the team members to play an important role in
decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-making power rests with
the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to
perform, while the employees communicate to the leader their experience and the
suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads
to satisfied, motivated and more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic
work environment and also encourages creativity. This leadership style has the
only drawback that it is time-consuming.
Bureaucratic leadership: Here the leaders strictly adhere to
the organizational rules and policies. Also, they make sure that the
employees/team also strictly follows the rules and procedures. Promotions take
place on the basis of employees’ ability to adhere to organizational rules.
This leadership style gradually develops over time. This leadership style is
more suitable when safe work conditions and quality are required. But this
leadership style discourages creativity and does not make employees
self-contented.
Leadership and Management - Relationship & Differences
Leadership and management are the terms that are often
considered synonymous. It is essential to understand that leadership is an
essential part of effective management. As a crucial component of management,
remarkable leadership behaviour stresses upon building an environment in which
each and every employee develops and excels. Leadership is defined as the
potential to influence and drive the group efforts towards the accomplishment
of goals. This influence may originate from formal sources, such as that
provided by acquisition of managerial position in an organization.
A manager must have traits of a leader, i.e., he must
possess leadership qualities. Leaders develop and begin strategies that build
and sustain competitive advantage. Organizations require robust leadership and
robust management for optimal organizational efficiency.
Differences between Leadership and Management
Leadership differs from management in a sense that:
1. While managers lay down the structure and delegates
authority and responsibility, leaders provides direction by developing the
organizational vision and communicating it to the employees and inspiring them
to achieve it. 2. While management
includes focus on planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling;
leadership is mainly a part of directing function of management. Leaders focus
on listening, building relationships, teamwork, inspiring, motivating and
persuading the followers. 3. While a
leader gets his authority from his followers, a manager gets his authority by
virtue of his position in the organization.
4. While managers follow the organization’s policies and procedure, the
leaders follow their own instinct. 5.
Management is more of science as the managers are exact, planned, standard,
logical and more of mind. Leadership, on the other hand, is an art. In an
organization, if the managers are required, then leaders are a must/essential. 6. While management deals with the technical
dimension in an organization or the job content; leadership deals with the
people aspect in an organization. 7.
While management measures/evaluates people by their name, past records, present
performance; leadership sees and evaluates individuals as having potential for
things that can’t be measured, i.e., it deals with future and the performance
of people if their potential is fully extracted. 8. If management is reactive, leadership is
proactive. 9. Management is based more
on written communication, while leadership is based more on verbal
communication.
The organizations which are over managed and under-led do
not perform upto the benchmark. Leadership accompanied by management sets a new
direction and makes efficient use of resources to achieve it. Both leadership
and management are essential for individual as well as organizational success.
Leader versus Manager
“Leadership and managership are two synonymous terms” is an
incorrect statement. Leadership doesn’t require any managerial position to act
as a leader. On the other hand, a manager can be a true manager only if he has
got the traits of leader in him. By virtue of his position, manager has to
provide leadership to his group. A manager has to perform all five functions to
achieve goals, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, and
Controlling. Leadership is a part of these functions. Leadership as a general
term is not related to managership. A person can be a leader by virtue of
qualities in him. For example: leader of a club, class, welfare association,
social organization, etc. Therefore, it is true to say that, “All managers are
leaders, but all leaders are not managers.”
A leader is one who influences the behavior and work of
others in group efforts towards achievement of specified goals in a given
situation. On the other hand, manager can be a true
manager only if he has got traits of leader in him. Manager
at all levels are expected to be the leaders of work groups so that
subordinates willingly carry instructions and accept their guidance. A person
can be a leader by virtue of all qualities in him.
Leaders and Managers can be compared on the following basis:
Basis Manager Leader
Origin
A person becomes a manager by virtue of his position.
A person becomes a leader on basis of his personal
qualities.
Formal Rights
Manager has got formal rights in an organization because of
his status.
Rights are not available to a leader.
Followers
The subordinates are the followers of managers.
The groups of employees whom the leaders lead are his
followers.
Functions
A manager performs all five functions of management.
Leader influences people to work willingly for group
objectives.
Necessity A manager is very essential to a concern.
A leader is required to create cordial relation between
person working in and for organization.
Stability It is more stable. Leadership is temporary.
Mutual Relationship
All managers are leaders. All leaders are not managers.
Accountability
Manager is accountable for self and subordinates behaviour
and performance.
Leaders have no well defined accountability.
Concern
A manager’s concern is organizational goals.
A leader’s concern is group goals and member’s satisfaction.
Followers
People follow manager by virtue of job description.
People follow them on voluntary basis.
Role continuation
A manager can continue in office till he performs his duties
satisfactorily in congruence with organizational goals.
A leader can maintain his position only through day to day
wishes of followers.
Sanctions
Manager has command over allocation and distribution of
sanctions.
A leader has command over different sanctions and related
task records. These sanctions are essentially of informal nature.
What is an organization?
An organization is nothing but a common platform where
individuals from different backgrounds come together and work as a collective
unit to achieve certain objectives and targets. The word organization derived
from the Greek work “organon” is a set up where people join hands to earn a
living for themselves as well as earn profits for the company. An organization
consists of individuals with different specializations, educational
qualifications and work experiences all working towards a common goal. Here the
people are termed as employees.
The employees are the major assets of an organization and
contribute effectively in its successful functioning. It is essential for the
employees to be loyal towards their organization and strive hard in furthering
its brand image. An organization can’t survive if the employees are not at all
serious about it and treat their work as a burden. The employees must enjoy
whatever they do for them to deliver their level best.
What is culture ?
The attitude, traits and behavioral patterns which govern
the way an individual interacts with others is termed as culture. Culture is
something which one inherits from his ancestors and it helps in distinguishing
one individual from the other.
What is organization culture ?
Every human being has certain personality traits which help
them stand apart from the crowd. No two individuals behave in a similar way. In
the same way organizations have certain values, policies, rules and guidelines
which help them create an image of their own.
Organization culture refers to the beliefs and principles of
a particular organization. The culture followed by the organization has a deep
impact on the employees and their relationship amongst themselves.
Every organization has a unique culture making it different
from the other and giving it a sense of direction. It is essential for the
employees to understand the culture of their workplace to adjust well.
Organization A
In organization A, the employees are not at all disciplined
and are least bothered about the rules and regulations. They reach their office
at their own sweet time and spend their maximum time gossiping and loitering
around.
Organization B
This organization follows employee friendly policies and it
is mandatory for all to adhere to them. It is important for the employees to
reach their workplace on time and no one is allowed to unnecessarily roam
around or spread rumours.
Which organization do you feel would perform better ? —
Obviously organization B
The employees follow a certain culture in organization B
making it more successful than organization A.
No two organizations can have the same culture. The values
or policies of a non-profit organization would be different from that of a
profit making entity or employees working in a restaurant would follow a
different culture as compared to those associated with education industry or a
manufacturing industry.
Broadly there are two types of organization culture:
Strong Organization Culture: Strong organizational
culture refers to a situation where the employees adjust well, respect the
organization’s policies and adhere to the guidelines. In such a culture people
enjoy working and take every assignment as a new learning and try to gain as
much as they can. They accept their roles and responsibilities willingly.
Weak Organization Culture: In such a culture individuals accept their
responsibilities out of fear of superiors and harsh policies. The employees in
such a situation do things out of compulsion. They just treat their
organization as a mere source of earning money and never get attached to it.
Types of Organization Culture
The practices, principles, policies and values of an
organization form its culture. The culture of an organization decides the way
employees behave amongst themselves as well as the people outside the
organization.
Let us understand the various types of organization culture:
1. Normative Culture: In such a culture, the norms and
procedures of the organization are predefined and the rules and regulations are
set as per the existing guidelines. The employees behave in an ideal way and
strictly adhere to the policies of the organization. No employee dares to break
the rules and sticks to the already laid policies. 2. Pragmatic Culture: In a
pragmatic culture, more emphasis is placed on the clients and the external
parties. Customer satisfaction is the main motive of the employees in a
pragmatic culture. Such organizations treat their clients as Gods and do not
follow any set rules. Every employee strives hard to satisfy his clients to
expect maximum business from their side. 3. Academy Culture: Organizations
following academy culture hire skilled individuals. The roles and
responsibilities are delegated according to the back ground, educational
qualification and work experience of the employees. Organizations following
academy culture are very particular about training the existing employees. They
ensure that various training programmes are being conducted at the workplace to
hone the skills of the employees. The management makes sincere efforts to
upgrade the knowledge of the employees to improve their professional
competence. The employees in an academy culture stick to the organization for a
longer duration and also grow within it. Educational institutions,
universities, hospitals practice such a culture. 4. Baseball team Culture: A
baseball team culture considers the employees as the most treasured possession
of the organization. The employees are the true assets of the organization who
have a major role in its successful functioning. In such a culture, the
individuals always have an upper edge and they do not bother much about their
organization. Advertising agencies, event management companies, financial
institutions follow such a culture. 5. Club Culture: Organizations following a
club culture are very particular about the employees they recruit. The
individuals are hired as per their specialization, educational qualification
and interests. Each one does what he is best at. The high potential employees
are promoted suitably and appraisals are a regular feature of such a culture.
6. Fortress Culture: There are certain organizations where
the employees are not very sure about their career and longevity. Such
organizations follow fortress culture. The employees are terminated if the
organization is not performing well. Individuals suffer the most when the
organization is at a loss. Stock broking industries follow such a culture. 7.
Tough Guy Culture: In a tough guy culture, feedbacks are essential. The
performance of the employees is reviewed from time to time and their work is
thoroughly monitored. Team managers are appointed to discuss queries with the
team members and guide them whenever required. The employees are under constant
watch in such a culture. 8. Bet your company Culture: Organizations, which
follow, bet your company culture take decisions which involve a huge amount of
risk and the consequences are also unforeseen. The principles and policies of
such an organization are formulated to address sensitive issues and it takes
time to get the results. 9. Process Culture: As the name suggests the employees
in such a culture adhere to the processes and procedures of the organization.
Feedbacks and performance reviews do not matter much in such organizations. The
employees abide by the rules and regulations and work according to the
ideologies of the workplace. All government organizations follow such a
culture.
Importance of Organization Culture
A common platform where individuals work in unison to earn
profits as well as a livelihood for themselves is called an organization. A
place where individuals realize the dream of making it big is called an
organization. Every organization has its unique style of working which often
contributes to its culture. The beliefs, ideologies, principles and values of
an organization form its culture. The culture of the workplace controls the way
employees behave amongst themselves as well as with people outside the
organization.
The culture decides the way employees interact at their
workplace. A healthy culture encourages the employees to stay motivated and
loyal towards the management. The culture of the workplace also goes a long
way in promoting healthy competition at the workplace. Employees try their
level best to perform better than their fellow workers and earn recognition and
appreciation of the superiors. It is the culture of the workplace which
actually motivates the employees to perform. Every organization must have set
guidelines for the employees to work accordingly. The culture of an
organization represents certain predefined policies which guide the employees
and give them a sense of direction at the workplace. Every individual is clear
about his roles and responsibilities in the organization and know how to
accomplish the tasks ahead of the deadlines. No two organizations can have
the same work culture. It is the culture of an organization which makes it
distinct from others. The work culture goes a long way in creating the brand
image of the organization. The work culture gives an identity to the
organization. In other words, an organization is known by its culture. The
organization culture brings all the employees on a common platform. The
employees must be treated equally and no one should feel neglected or left out
at the workplace. It is essential for the employees to adjust well in the
organization culture for them to deliver their level best. The work culture
unites the employees who are otherwise from different back grounds, families
and have varied attitudes and mentalities. The culture gives the employees a
sense of unity at the workplace. Certain organizations follow a culture
where all the employees irrespective of their designations have to step into
the office on time. Such a culture encourages the employees
to be punctual which eventually benefits them in the long
run. It is the culture of the organization which makes the individuals a
successful professional. Every employee is clear with his roles and
responsibilities and strives hard to accomplish the tasks within the desired
time frame as per the set guidelines. Implementation of policies is never a
problem in organizations where people follow a set culture. The new employees
also try their level best to understand the work culture and make the
organization a better place to work. The work culture promotes healthy
relationship amongst the employees. No one treats work as a burden and moulds
himself according to the culture. It is the culture of the organization
which extracts the best out of each team member. In a culture where management
is very particular about the reporting system, the employees however busy they
are would send their reports by end of the day. No one has to force anyone to
work. The culture develops a habit in the individuals which makes them
successful at the workplace.
Factors Affecting Organization Culture
Culture represents the beliefs, ideologies, policies,
practices of an organization. It gives the employees a sense of direction and
also controls the way they behave with each other. The work culture brings all
the employees on a common platform and unites them at the workplace.
There are several factors which affect the organization
culture:
The first and the foremost factor affecting culture is
the individual working with the organization. The employees in their own way
contribute to the culture of the workplace. The attitudes, mentalities,
interests, perception and even the thought process of the employees affect the
organization culture.
Example - Organizations which hire individuals from army or
defence background tend to follow a strict culture where all the employees
abide by the set guidelines and policies. The employees are hardly late to
work. It is the mindset of the employees which forms the culture of the place.
Organizations with majority of youngsters encourage healthy competition at the
workplace and employees are always on the toes to perform better than the
fellow workers.
The sex of the employee also affects the organization
culture. Organizations where male employees dominate the female counterparts
follow a culture where late sitting is a normal feature. The male employees are
more aggressive than the females who instead would be caring and softhearted.
The nature of the business also affects the culture of the organization.
Stock broking industries, financial services, banking industry are all
dependent on external factors like demand and supply, market cap, earning per
share and so on. When the market crashes, these industries have no other option
than to terminate the employees and eventually affect the culture of the place.
Market fluctuations lead to unrest, tensions and severely demotivate the
individuals. The management also feels helpless when circumstances can be
controlled by none. Individuals are unsure about their career as well as growth
in such organizations. The culture of the organization is also affected by
its goals and objectives. The strategies and procedures designed to achieve the
targets of the organization also contribute to its culture.
Individuals working with government organizations adhere to
the set guidelines but do not follow a procedure of feedback thus forming its
culture. Fast paced industries like advertising, event management companies
expect the employees to be attentive, aggressive and hyper active.
The clients and the external parties to some extent also
affect the work culture of the place. Organizations catering to UK and US
Clients have no other option but to work in shifts to match their timings, thus
forming the culture. The management and its style of handling the employees
also affect the culture of the workplace. There are certain organizations where
the management allows the employees to take their own decisions and let them
participate in strategy making. In such a culture, employees get attached to
their management and look forward to a long term association with the
organization. The management must respect the employees to avoid a culture
where the employees just work for money and nothing else. They treat the
organization as a mere source of earning money and look for a change in a short
span of time.
Open Door Policy - Meaning and its Advantages
An organization is a setup where individuals from diverse
backgrounds, different educational qualifications, varied mentalities and
temperaments join hands to work towards a common goal. It is the culture of the
workplace which unites all the employees, help them enjoy their work and
deliver their level best.
The values, policies, ideologies and beliefs of an
organization form its culture. The culture of any work place decides the way
employees behave with their fellow workers. The employees are the assets of an
organization who must contribute effectively to achieve the targets within the
desired time frame.
One should not treat his organization as a mere source of
earning money. It is essential for an individual to prioritize his work over
other things. The employees must have a cordial relation with their superiors
and the management for smooth flow of information and better understanding at
workplace. Transparency is essential at all levels in the hierarchy to avoid
conflicts and unnecessary disagreements. No one should feel neglected at work.
Problems arise when queries remain unattended and bosses do not have time for
their team members.
To avoid the above situation, organizations have introduced
a policy named “Open Door Policy”
What is Open Door Policy?
According to open door policy, the doors of the offices of
superiors or the management (including the CEO) must remain open for the
employees to have an easy access in cases of queries. The team members should
have the liberty to walk up to their team leaders and discuss issues with them
on an open forum.
The role of the managing director, chief executive officer
or the chairman is not just to sit in locked cabins the entire day and shout on
the employees; instead they should act as a strong pillar of support for them.
A healthy interaction amongst the employees is essential for a positive
ambience at the workplace. The management must address the employees from time
to time to motivate them and expect the best out of them.
Advantages of an Open Door Policy
Open door policy encourages effective communication
between the employee and the management. The employees do not feel left out at
the workplace as they know there is someone to support them always at the time
of crisis. This way they get attached to the management and are always loyal
towards the organization. There is no room for confusion when the employees
directly interact with their superiors. They feel motivated and strive hard to
live up to the expectations of the management. They never badmouth the
management or their organization. Open door policy encourages healthy
discussion at the workplace. Individuals exchange ideas and come to an
innovative solution benefitting all. The employees are free to discuss their
ideas with the superiors and gain from their talent and mentoring. Gone are
the days when people used to fear their bosses. The “Hitler approach” does not
work in the current scenario. The management must respect the decisions of the
employees to expect the same in return. The management must make the employees
feel indispensable for the organization and should lend a sympathetic ear
whenever required. The open door policy enables the employees to seek their
boss’s help and freely discuss things with them for better clarity. Open door
policy is essential for effective communication, proper feedbacks and better
output. With the help of the open door policy, the employees do not crib
amongst themselves, rather talk to their superiors, clear all their doubts and
look forward towards a long term association with the organization.
Conflict in the workplace
What do we mean by conflict in the workplace?
Conflict happens when personalities clash, when team members
perceive interference from one another, when employees feel unable to progress
due to another’s actions. Conflict involves an ongoing situation, unlike a
dispute, which is a one-off incident. If a dispute goes unresolved, it can
cause a conflict situation. This state of affairs, if left unresolved, can
escalate quickly and create a potentially dangerous workplace situation.
From Dispute to Discomfort, from Conflict to Crisis
Initially a dispute between one or more employees, without
resolution, may cause an uncomfortable working environment, characterised by
gossip and rumour, an awkward atmosphere and noncooperation between team
members. This in turn can lead to further dispute in the form of arguments and
complaints. At this point others may become involved and take sides. Incidents
escalate and tension rises. This is now a conflict situation. The passing of
blame becomes a formal complaint; employees are increasingly non-productive as
all their energy is directed towards the conflict.
Without management intervention the conflict can readily
approach crisis point. There may be strong clashes, highly emotional outbursts,
shock resignations, verbal abuse, even threats of physical violence. At this
point the only option is to ponder…how was this situation allowed to get so out
of hand?
So how do we prevent a crisis situation from happening in
the first place? Dispute Resolution
Managers must get involved as early as possible and attempt
to diffuse and resolve the dispute to the satisfaction of both parties.
Initially managers need to bring both parties together and discuss the
situation. A possible dispute resolution process could be:
Step 1: Bring both parties together It is essential that
both parties perceive this to be in a neutral place.
Step 2: Lay down ground rules Explain that they must not
interrupt each other; each party will get a chance to state their opinion.
Encourage parties to speak in the first person - this removes blame by getting
an individual to focus on their reaction rather than the others action towards
them. E.g. instead of “John really makes me mad when he leaves early”, “I feel
angry when I see John leave early”.
Step 3: Identify the problem/issues Give each party a chance
to outline the incident/issues they have from their point of view. List the
issues that must be resolved. If it was a one off incident, what was the
underlying cause? Prioritise the list according to urgency.
Step 4: Understanding Both Sides Using the list get each
person to explain how he or she feels about each issue/or the incident Get both
sides talking and listening to each other – encouraging both sides to put
forward their points of view, but emphasise the discussion of their feelings in
regard to the matter. Encourage both sides to understand each other’s point of
view. In the case of irresolvable issues, get both parties to agree to
disagree.
Step 5: Move forward Find a resolution for each issue – how
does behavior need to be modified by either or both parties in the future to
prevent a recurrence of dispute? Get both parties to acknowledge the
problem/issues, and agree to move forward. Give both parties a written
transcript of the meeting, and ask them to sign a commitment to future
awareness of the problem/issues.
Step 6: Review the situation 3 months later. Are the issues
resolved? If not do you need a further mediation meeting? Would counseling be
appropriate?
Conflict Resolution
If possible direct negotiation between conflicting parties
with a manager as mediator is the best, most direct way to handle the
situation. However once progressed to a conflict stage involving high emotions
and the complete breakdown of communication between one or more parties it may
be necessary to bring in a higher level manager as arbitrator. Using a similar
stepped process as outlined for dispute resolution, the arbitrator can conduct
conflict resolution meetings with individual parties and negotiate between the
two sides. Both sides must agree to abide by the managers objective ruling
decision/recommendations, and it is wise to have a further appeals process in
place for employees who remain dissatisfied with the outcome. When emotions are
involved it can be difficult to communicate with parties in this kind of
resolution discussion. These are some points to consider about handling difficult
behavior in such a situation:
What is Organization Development?
A set up which brings together individuals from different
backgrounds, varied interests and specializations on a common platform for them
to work as a single unit and achieve certain predefined goals is called an
organization.
An organization must make money for its survival. It is
essential for the employees to deliver their level best and eventually increase
the productivity of the organization.
What is Organization Development ?
Organization Development refers to the various ways and
procedures to increase the productivity and effectiveness of an organization.
Organization Development includes the various techniques
which help the employees as well as the organization adjust to changing
circumstances in a better way.
Why Organization Development ?
The concept of Organization development enables the
organization to achieve the targets and meet the objectives at a much faster
rate. The employees as a result of
organization development respond better to changes in the work culture. Organization development helps the
employees to focus on their jobs and contribute in their best possible
way. Management can handle the
employees in a better way as a result of organization development.
Kurt Lewin is ideally believed to be the father of
Organization development.
When is the Organization Ready for Development ?
1. First Step - Dissatisfied with the current scenario: The
employees are not happy with the current scenario and feel the need for a
change in the processes of the organization. 2. Second Step - Suggesting
Changes: In the second step, employees discuss amongst themselves the various
options which would help the organization do better in the near future. 3.
Third Step - Applying the processes: Various policies and procedures are
applied to help the organization respond to external as well as internal
changes more effectively.
Understanding Organization
A six step model for understanding organization was proposed
by Weisbord:
The goals and objectives of the organization must be clearly
defined. The employees must be aware of their duties and functions in the
organization. The individuals must know what is expected out of them at the
workplace.
It is essential to divide the work amongst the individuals
as per their interests, specialization, experience and educational
qualification. Job mismatch should be avoided as it leads to demotivated
employees. Let the individuals decide what best they can do.
The employees must share a cordial relationship with each
other. Conflicts and unnecessary misunderstandings lead to a negative ambience
at the workplace. There should be coordination between various departments for
better results. Transparency is a must at all levels. Individuals must discuss
matters among themselves before reaching to final conclusions. The departments
must support each other in their work.
It is important to appreciate the ones who perform well.
Those who do well must be admired in front of all to motivate them and expect
the same from them every time. The management must make the non performers
realize their mistakes and ask them to pull up their socks. They should not be
criticized, instead dealt with patience and care. Give them opportunities but
still if they don’t perform up to the mark, punish them.
Leaders should be more like mentors and must provide a sense
of direction to the employees. They should bind the employees together and extract
the best out of them. The superiors must be a source of inspiration for the
subordinates.
Promote training programs to upgrade the skills of employees
and help them face the challenges and changes in the organization with utmost
determination. Plan your resources well.
What is Organizational Development?
The field of organizational development is intended to apply
the behavioral sciences to organizational effectiveness and performance.
Organizational Development Resources use a variety of planned change
methodologies, the primary mode of which is called Action Research. Consultants
work with an organization as an interrelated system, knowing that one part can
impact the whole. There is a fairly standard process to any OD intervention.
At the beginning of any change effort is the diagnostic
phase, where management and employees are surveyed and interviewed to determine
the current state of the organization, the desired results, and concerns about
upcoming changes. The intervention is developed or fine-tuned based on the
results of the initial diagnosis. Initial change goals may also be refined as a
result of the diagnosis. Planned change is implemented and evaluated; this is
communicated at the beginning of the process, during its implementation, and
celebrated when it is complete. Assessments and surveys are always used at the
beginning of a project; they may also be used during a project to "see if
we're getting it right" and potentially redirect the effort, and at the
end, to evaluate its success. WHAT IS OD?
Beckhard defines Organization Development (OD) as "an
effort, planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase
organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the
organization's processes, using behavioral-science knowledge." In essence,
OD is a planned system of change.
Planned. OD takes a long-range approach to improving
organizational performance and efficiency. It avoids the (usual)
"quick-fix".
Organization-wide. OD focuses on the total system. Managed from the top. To be effective, OD
must have the support of top-management. They have to model it, not just
espouse it. The OD process also needs the buy-in and ownership of workers
throughout the organization. Increase
organization effectiveness and health. OD is tied to the bottom-line. Its goal
is to improve the organization, to make it more efficient and more competitive
by aligning the organization's systems with its people. Planned interventions. After proper
preparation, OD uses activities called interventions to make systemwide,
permanent changes in the organization.
Using behavioral-science knowledge. OD is a discipline that combines
research and experience to understanding people, business systems, and their
interactions.
We usually think of OD only in terms of the interventions
themselves. This article seeks to emphasize that these activities are only the
most visible part of a complex process, and to put some perspective and unity
into the myriad of OD tools that are used in business today. These activities
include Total Quality Management (an evolutionary approach to improving an
organization) and Reengineering (a more revolutionary approach). And there are
dozens of other interventions, such as strategic planning and team building. It
is critical to select the correct intervention(s), and this can only be done
with proper preparation.
WHY DO OD?
Human resources -- our people -- may be a large fraction
of our costs of doing business. They certainly can make the difference between
organizational success and failure. We better know how to manage them. Changing nature of the workplace. Our
workers today want feedback on their performance, a sense of accomplishment,
feelings of value and worth, and commitment to social responsibility. They need
to be more efficient, to improve their time management. And, of course, if we
are to continue doing more work with less people, we need to make our processes
more efficient. Global markets. Our
environments are changing, and our organizations must also change to survive
and prosper. We need to be more responsible to and develop closer partnerships
with our customers. We must change to survive, and we argue that we should
attack the problems, not the symptoms, in a systematic, planned, humane
manner. Accelerated rate of change.
Taking an open-systems approach, we can easily identify the competitions on an
international scale for people, capital, physical resources, and information.
OD IS A PROCESS
Action Research is a process which serves as a model for
most OD interventions. French and Bell (5) describe Action Research as a
"process of systematically collecting research data about an ongoing
system relative to some objective, goal, or need of that system; feeding these
data back into the system; taking actions by altering selected variables within
the system based both on the data and on hypotheses; and evaluating the results
of actions by collecting more data." The steps in Action Research are (6, 7):
1. Entry. This phase consists of marketing, i.e. finding
needs for change within an organization. It is also the time to quickly grasp
the nature of the organization, identify the appropriate decision maker, and
build a trusting relationship. 2.
Start-up and contracting. In this step, we identify critical success factors
and the real issues, link into the organization's culture and processes, and
clarify roles for the consultant(s) and employees. This is also the time to
deal with resistance within the organization. A formal or informal contract
will define the change process. 3.
Assessment and diagnosis. Here we collect data in order to find the
opportunities and problems in the organization (refer to DxVxF>R above.) For
suggestions about what to look for, see the previous article in this series, on
needs assessment (8). This is also the time for the consultant to make a
diagnosis, in order to recommend appropriate interventions. 4. Feedback. This two-way process serves to
tell those what we found out, based on an analysis of the data. Everyone who
contributed information should have an opportunity to learn about the findings
of the assessment process (provided there is no apparent breach of anyone's
confidentiality.) This provides an opportunity for the organization's people to
become involved in the change process, to learn about how different parts of
the organization affect each other, and to participate in selecting appropriate
change interventions. 5. Action planning.
In this step we will distill recommendations from the assessment and feedback,
consider alternative actions and focus our intervention(s) on activities that
have the most leverage to effect positive change in the organization. An
implementation plan will be developed that is based on the assessment data, is
logically organized, results- oriented, measurable and rewarded. We must plan
for a participative decision-making process for the intervention. 6. Intervention. Now, and only now, do we
actually carry out the change process. It is important to follow the action
plan, yet remain flexible enough to modify the process as the organization
changes and as new information emerges.
7. Evaluation. Successful OD must have made meaningful changes in the
performance and efficiency of the people and their organization. We need to
have an evaluation procedure to verify this success, identify needs for new or
continuing OD activities, and improve the OD process itself to help make future
interventions more successful. 8.
Adoption. After steps have been made to change the organization and plans have
been formulated, we follow-up by implementing processes to insure that this
remains an ongoing activity within the organization, that commitments for
action have been obtained, and that they will be carried out. 9. Separation. We must recognize when it is
more productive for the client and consultant to undertake other activities,
and when continued consultation is counterproductive. We also should plan for
future contacts, to monitor the success of this change and possibly to plan for
future change activities.
It would be nice if
real OD followed these steps sequentially. This rarely happens. Instead, the
consultants must be flexible and be ready to change their strategy when
necessary. Often they will have to move back and repeat previous steps in light
of new information, new influences, or because of the changes that have already
been made.
But for successful OD to take place, all of these steps must
be followed. It works best if they are taken in the order described. And, since
learning is really an iterative, not a sequential process, we must be prepared
to re-enter this process when and where appropriate.
If you would like to know more about OD, we highly recommend
the books by Cummings and Worley (9), and by Rothwell, Sullivan and McLean
(10).
Personal Management
Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and
maintaining a satisfied workforce. It is a significant part of management
concerned with employees at work and with their relationship within the
organization.
According to Flippo, “Personnel management is the planning,
organizing, compensation, integration and maintainance of people for the
purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal goals.”
According to Brech, “Personnel Management is that part which
is primarily concerned with human resource of organization.”
Nature of Personnel Management
1. Personnel management includes the function of employment,
development and compensation- These functions are performed primarily by the
personnel management in consultation with other departments. 2. Personnel
management is an extension to general management. It is concerned with
promoting and stimulating competent work force to make their fullest
contribution to the concern. 3. Personnel management exist to advice and assist
the line managers in personnel matters. Therefore, personnel department is a
staff department of an organization. 4. Personnel management lays emphasize on
action rather than making lengthy schedules, plans, work methods. The problems
and grievances of people at work can be solved more effectively through
rationale personnel policies. 5. It is based on human orientation. It tries to
help the workers to develop their potential fully to the concern. 6. It also
motivates the employees through it’s effective incentive plans so that the
employees provide fullest co-operation. 7. Personnel management deals with
human resources of a concern. In context to human resources, it manages both
individual as well as blue- collar workers.
JAIBB Reading Material ORGANIZATION
AND MANAGEMENT
Role of Personnel Manager
Personnel manager is the head of personnel department. He
performs both managerial and operative functions of management. His role can be
summarized as :
1. Personnel manager provides assistance to top management-
The top management are the people who decide and frame the primary policies of
the concern. All kinds of policies related to personnel or workforce can be
framed out effectively by the personnel manager. 2. He advices the line manager
as a staff specialist- Personnel manager acts like a staff advisor and assists
the line managers in dealing with various personnel matters. 3. As a
counsellor,- As a counsellor, personnel manager attends problems and grievances
of employees and guides them. He tries to solve them in best of his capacity.
4. Personnel manager acts as a mediator- He is a linking pin between management
and workers. 5. He acts as a spokesman- Since he is in direct contact with the
employees, he is required to act as representative of organization in
committees appointed by government. He represents company in training
programmes.
Functions of Personnel Management
Following are the four functions of Personnel Management:
1. Manpower Planning 2.
Recruitment 3. Selection 4. Training and Development
Manpower Planning
Manpower Planning which is also called as Human Resource
Planning consists of putting right number of people, right kind of people at
the right place, right time, doing the right things for which they are suited
for the achievement of goals of the organization. Human Resource Planning has
got an important place in the arena of industrialization. Human Resource
Planning has to be a systems approach and is carried out in a set procedure.
The procedure is as follows:
Analyzing the current manpower inventory
Making future manpower forecasts Developing employment programmes
Design training programmes
Steps in Manpower Planning
1. Analysing the current manpower inventory- Before a
manager makes forecast of future manpower, the current manpower status has to
be analysed. For this the following things have to be noted- Type of organization Number of departments Number and quantity of such
departments
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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Employees in these work units Once these factors are registered by a
manager, he goes for the future forecasting.
2. Making future manpower forecasts- Once the factors
affecting the future manpower forecasts are known, planning can be done for the
future manpower requirements in several work units.
The Manpower forecasting techniques commonly employed by the
organizations are as follows:
i. Expert Forecasts: This includes informal decisions,
formal expert surveys and Delphi technique.
ii. Trend Analysis: Manpower needs can be projected through
extrapolation (projecting past trends), indexation (using base year as basis),
and statistical analysis (central tendency measure). iii. Work Load Analysis: It is dependent upon
the nature of work load in a department, in a branch or in a division. iv. Work Force Analysis: Whenever production
and time period has to be analysed, due allowances have to be made for getting
net manpower requirements. v. Other
methods: Several Mathematical models, with the aid of computers are used to
forecast manpower needs, like budget and planning analysis, regression, new
venture analysis. 3. Developing
employment programmes- Once the current inventory is compared with future
forecasts, the employment programmes can be framed and developed accordingly,
which will include recruitment, selection procedures and placement plans. 4.
Design training programmes- These will be based upon extent of diversification,
expansion plans, development programmes,etc. Training programmes depend upon
the extent of improvement in technology and advancement to take place. It is
also done to improve upon the skills, capabilities, knowledge of the
workers.
Importance of Manpower Planning
1. Key to managerial functions- The four managerial
functions, i.e., planning, organizing, directing and controlling are based upon
the manpower. Human resources help in the implementation of all these
managerial activities. Therefore, staffing becomes a key to all managerial
functions. 2. Efficient utilization- Efficient management of personnels becomes
an important function in the industrialization world of today. Seting of large
scale enterprises require management of large scale manpower. It can be
effectively done through staffing function. 3. Motivation- Staffing function
not only includes putting right men on right job, but it also comprises of
motivational programmes, i.e., incentive plans to be framed for further
participation and employment of employees in a concern. Therefore, all types of
incentive plans becomes an integral part of staffing function. 4. Better human
relations- A concern can stabilize itself if human relations develop and are
strong. Human relations become strong trough effective control, clear
communication, effective supervision and leadership in a concern. Staffing
function also looks after training and development of the work force which
leads to co-operation and better human relations. 5. Higher productivity-
Productivity level increases when resources are utilized in best possible
manner. higher productivity is a result of minimum wastage of time, money,
efforts and energies. This is possible through the staffing and it's related
activities ( Performance appraisal, training and development,
remuneration)
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Need of Manpower Planning
Manpower Planning is a two-phased process because manpower
planning not only analyses the current human resources but also makes manpower
forecasts and thereby draw employment programmes. Manpower Planning is
advantageous to firm in following manner:
1. Shortages and surpluses can be identified so that quick
action can be taken wherever required.
2. All the recruitment and selection programmes are based on manpower
planning. 3. It also helps to reduce the
labour cost as excess staff can be identified and thereby overstaffing can be
avoided. 4. It also helps to identify
the available talents in a concern and accordingly training programmes can be
chalked out to develop those talents. 5.
It helps in growth and diversification of business. Through manpower planning,
human resources can be readily available and they can be utilized in best
manner. 6. It helps the organization to
realize the importance of manpower management which ultimately helps in the
stability of a concern.
Recruitment
Recruitment is of 2 types
1. Internal Recruitment - is a recruitment which takes place
within the concern or organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily
available to an organization. Internal sources are primarily three - Transfers,
promotions and Re-employment of exemployees. Re-employment of ex-employees is
one of the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited
and appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when
ex-employees provide unsolicited applications also.
Internal recruitment may lead to increase in employee’s
productivity as their motivation level increases. It also saves time, money and
efforts. But a drawback of internal recruitment is that it refrains the
organization from new blood. Also, not all the manpower requirements can be met
through internal recruitment. Hiring from outside has to be done.
Internal sources are primarily 3:
a. Transfers b.
Promotions (through Internal Job Postings) and
c. Re-employment of ex-employees - Re-employment of ex-employees is one
of the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited and
appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when
ex-employees provide unsolicited applications also.
2. External Recruitment - External sources of recruitment
have to be solicited from outside the organization. External sources are
external to a concern. But it involves lot of time and money. The external
sources of recruitment include - Employment at factory gate, advertisements,
employment exchanges, employment agencies, educational institutes, labour
contractors, recommendations etc. a. Employment at Factory Level - This a
source of external recruitment in which the applications for vacancies are
presented on bulletin boards outside the Factory or at the Gate. This kind of
recruitment is applicable generally where factory workers are to be appointed.
There are people who keep on soliciting jobs from one place to
another. These applicants are called as unsolicited
applicants. These types of workers apply on their own for their job. For this
kind of recruitment workers have a tendency to shift from one factory to
another and therefore they are called as “badli” workers. b. Advertisement - It
is an external source which has got an important place in recruitment
procedure. The biggest advantage of advertisement is that it covers a wide area
of market and scattered applicants can get information from advertisements.
Medium used is Newspapers and Television. c. Employment Exchanges - There are
certain Employment exchanges which are run by government. Most of the
government undertakings and concerns employ people through such exchanges.
Now-a-days recruitment in government agencies has become compulsory through
employment exchange. d. Employment Agencies - There are certain professional
organizations which look towards recruitment and employment of people, i.e.
these private agencies run by private individuals supply required manpower to
needy concerns. e. Educational Institutions - There are certain professional
Institutions which serves as an external source for recruiting fresh graduates
from these institutes. This kind of recruitment done through such educational
institutions, is called as Campus Recruitment. They have special recruitment
cells which helps in providing jobs to fresh candidates. f. Recommendations -
There are certain people who have experience in a particular area. They enjoy
goodwill and a stand in the company. There are certain vacancies which are
filled by recommendations of such people. The biggest drawback of this source
is that the company has to rely totally on such people which can later on prove
to be inefficient. g. Labour Contractors - These are the specialist people who
supply manpower to the Factory or Manufacturing plants. Through these
contractors, workers are appointed on contract basis, i.e. for a particular
time period. Under conditions when these contractors leave the organization,
such people who are appointed have to also leave the concern.
Employee Selection Process
Employee Selection is the process of putting right men on
right job. It is a procedure of matching organizational requirements with the
skills and qualifications of people. Effective selection can be done only when
there is effective matching. By selecting best candidate for the required job,
the organization will get quality performance of employees. Moreover,
organization will face less of absenteeism and employee turnover problems. By
selecting right candidate for the required job, organization will also save
time and money. Proper screening of candidates takes place during selection
procedure. All the potential candidates who apply for the given job are tested.
But selection must be differentiated from recruitment,
though these are two phases of employment process. Recruitment is considered to
be a positive process as it motivates more of candidates to apply for the job.
It creates a pool of applicants. It is just sourcing of data. While selection
is a negative process as the inappropriate candidates are rejected here.
Recruitment precedes selection in staffing process. Selection involves choosing
the best candidate with best abilities, skills and knowledge for the required
job.
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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
The Employee selection Process takes place in following
order-
1. Preliminary Interviews- It is used to eliminate those
candidates who do not meet the minimum eligiblity criteria laid down by the
organization. The skills, academic and family background, competencies and
interests of the candidate are examined during preliminary interview.
Preliminary interviews are less formalized and planned than the final
interviews. The candidates are given a brief up about the company and the job
profile; and it is also examined how much the candidate knows about the
company. Preliminary interviews are also called screening interviews. 2.
Application blanks- The candidates who clear the preliminary interview are
required to fill application blank. It contains data record of the candidates
such as details about age, qualifications, reason for leaving previous job,
experience, etc. 3. Written Tests- Various written tests conducted during
selection procedure are aptitude test, intelligence test, reasoning test,
personality test, etc. These tests are used to objectively assess the potential
candidate. They should not be biased. 4. Employment Interviews- It is a one to
one interaction between the interviewer and the potential candidate. It is used
to find whether the candidate is best suited for the required job or not. But
such interviews consume time and money both. Moreover the competencies of the
candidate cannot be judged. Such interviews may be biased at times. Such
interviews should be conducted properly. No distractions should be there in
room. There should be an honest communication between candidate and
interviewer. 5. Medical examination- Medical tests are conducted to ensure
physical fitness of the potential employee. It will decrease chances of
employee absenteeism. 6. Appointment Letter- A reference check is made about
the candidate selected and then finally he is appointed by giving a formal
appointment letter.
Training of Employees
Training of employees
takes place after orientation takes place. Training is the process of enhancing
the skills, capabilities and knowledge of employees for doing a particular job.
Training process moulds the thinking of employees and leads to quality
performance of employees. It is continuous and never ending in nature.
Importance of Training
Training is crucial for organizational development and
success. It is fruitful to both employers and employees of an organization. An
employee will become more efficient and productive if he is trained well.
Training is given on four basic grounds:
1.
New candidates who join an organization are
given training. This training familiarize them with the organizational mission,
vision, rules and regulations and the working conditions. 2. The existing employees are trained to
refresh and enhance their knowledge. 3.
If any updations and amendments take place in technology, training is given to
cope up with those changes. For instance, purchasing a new equipment, changes
in technique of production, computer implantment. The employees are trained
about use of new equipments and work methods.
4. When promotion and career growth becomes important. Training is given
so that employees are prepared to share the responsibilities of the higher
level job.
The benefits of training can be summed up as:
1. Improves morale of employees- Training helps the employee
to get job security and job satisfaction. The more satisfied the employee is
and the greater is his morale, the more he will contribute to organizational
success and the lesser will be employee absenteeism and turnover. 2. Less supervision- A well trained employee
will be well acquainted with the job and will need less of supervision. Thus,
there will be less wastage of time and efforts.
3. Fewer accidents- Errors are likely to occur if the employees lack
knowledge and skills required for doing a particular job. The more trained an
employee is, the less are the chances of committing accidents in job and the
more proficient the employee becomes. 4.
Chances of promotion- Employees acquire skills and efficiency during training.
They become more eligible for promotion. They become an asset for the
organization. 5. Increased productivity-
Training improves efficiency and productivity of employees. Well-trained
employees show both quantity and quality performance. There is less wastage of
time, money and resources if employees are properly trained.
Ways/Methods of Training
Training is generally imparted in two ways:
1. On the job training- On the job training methods are
those which are given to the employees within the everyday working of a
concern. It is a simple and cost-effective training method. The inproficient as
well as semi- proficient employees can be well trained by using such training
method. The employees are trained in actual working scenario. The motto of such
training is “learning by doing.” Instances of such on-job training methods are
job-rotation, coaching, temporary promotions, etc. 2. Off the job training- Off
the job training methods are those in which training is provided away from the
actual working condition. It is generally used in case of new employees.
Instances of off the job training methods are workshops, seminars, conferences,
etc. Such method is costly and is effective if and only if large number of
employees have to be trained within a short time period. Off the job training
is also called as vestibule training,i.e., the employees are trained in a
separate area( may be a hall, entrance, reception area,etc. known as a
vestibule) where the actual working conditions are duplicated.
Elements of Personnel Management
Following are the elements of Personnel Management:
1. Organization- Organization is said to be the framework of
many activities taking place in view of goals available in a concern. An
organization can be called as a physical framework of various interrelated
activities. Right from manpower planning to employees’ maintainance, all
activities take place within this framework. The nature of the organization is
dependent upon it’s goal. The business concern goal being profit- making.
Clubs, hospitals, schools,etc. their goal being service. The objective of
consultancy being providing sound advice. Therefore, it is organizational
structure on which the achievement of goals of an enterprise depends upon. In
personnel management, a manager has therefore to understand the importance of
organizational structure. 2. Job- The second element, i.e., jobs tell us the
activities to be performed in the organization. It is said that the goals of an
enterprise can be achieved only through the functional department in it.
Therefore, seeing the size of organization today, the nature of activities are
JAIBB Reading Material ORGANIZATION
AND MANAGEMENT
changing. In addition to the three primary departments,
personnel and research department are new additions. Various types of jobs
available are : a. Physical jobs b. Creative jobs c. Proficiency jobs d. Intellectual jobs e. Consultancy jobs f. Technical jobs 3. People- The last and foremost element in
personnel management is people. In a organizational structure, where the main
aim is to achieve the goals, the presence of manpower becomes vital. Therefore,
in order to achieve departmental goals, different kinds of people with
different skills are appointed. People form the most important element because
: a. The organizational structure is meaningless
without it. b. It helps to achieve the
goals of the enterprise. c. It helps in
manning the functional areas. d. It
helps in achieving the functional departmental goals. e. They make a concern operational. f. They give life to a physical
organization.
The different types of people which are generally required
in a concern are :
g. Physically fit people
h. Creative people i.
Intellectuals j. Technical people k. Proficient and skilled people
In personnel management, a personnel manager has to
understand the relationship of the three elements and their importance in
organization. He has to understand basically three relationships:-
i. Relationship between organization and job ii. Relationship between job and people iii. Relationship between people and
organization.
Relationship between organization and job helps making a job
effective and significant. Relationship between job and people makes the job
itself important. Relationship between people and organization gives due
importance to organizational structure and the role of people in it.
Job Analysis - Job Description and Job Specification
Job analysis is primary tool in personnel management. In
this method, a personnel manager tries to gather, synthesize and implement the
information available regarding the workforce in the concern. A personnel
manager has to undertake job analysis so as to put right man on right job.
There are two outcomes of job analysis :
1. Job description 2.
Job specification
The information collected under job analysis is :
1. Nature of jobs required in a concern. 2. Nature/ size of organizational
structure. 3. Type of people required to
fit that structure. 4. The relationship
of the job with other jobs in the concern.
5. Kind of qualifications and academic background required for
jobs. 6. Provision of physical condition
to support the activities of the concern. For example- separate cabins for
managers, special cabins for the supervisors, healthy condition for workers,
adequate store room for store keeper.
Advantages of Job Analysis
1. Job analysis helps the personnel manager at the time of
recruitment and selection of right man on right job. 2. It helps him to understand extent and
scope of training required in that field.
3. It helps in evaluating the job in which the worth of the job has to
be evaluated. 4. In those instances
where smooth work force is required in concern.
5. When he has to avoid overlapping of authority- responsibility
relationship so that distortion in chain of command doesn’t exist. 6. It also helps to chalk out the
compensation plans for the employees. 7.
It also helps the personnel manager to undertake performance appraisal
effectively in a concern.
A personnel manger carries analysis in two ways :
a. Job description b.
Job specification
1. JOB DESCRIPTION is an organized factual statement of job
contents in the form of duties and responsibilities of a specific job. The
preparation of job description is very important before a vacancy is
advertised. It tells in brief the nature and type of job. This type of document
is descriptive in nature and it constitutes all those facts which are related
to a job such as : 1. Title/ Designation of job and location in the
concern. 2. The nature of duties and operations
to be performed in that job. 3. The
nature of authority- responsibility relationships. 4. Necessary qualifications that are required
for job. 5. Relationship of that job
with other jobs in a concern. 6. The
provision of physical and working condition or the work environment required in
performance of that job.
Advantages of Job Description
7. It helps the supervisors in assigning work to the
subordinates so that he can guide and monitor their performances. 8. It helps in recruitment and selection
procedures. 9. It assists in manpower
planning. 10. It is also helpful in
performance appraisal. 11. It is helpful
in job evaluation in order to decide about rate of remuneration for a specific
job. 12. It also helps in chalking out
training and development programmes. 2.
JOB SPECIFICATION is a statement which tells us minimum acceptable human
qualities which helps to perform a job. Job specification translates the job
description into human
qualifications so that a job can be performed in a better
manner. Job specification helps in hiring an appropriate person for an
appropriate position. The contents are : 1. Job title and designation 2. Educational qualifications for that
title 3. Physical and other related
attributes 4. Physique and mental
health 5. Special attributes and abilities 6. Maturity and dependability 7. Relationship of that job with other jobs
in a concern.
Advantages of Job Specification
8. It is helpful in preliminary screening in the selection
procedure. 9. It helps in giving due
justification to each job. 10. It also
helps in designing training and development programmes. 11. It helps the supervisors for counseling
and monitoring performance of employees.
12. It helps in job evaluation.
13. It helps the management to take decisions regarding promotion,
transfers and giving extra benefits to the employees.
From the above advantages, we can justify the importance of
job analysis and it’s related products. Both job description as well as job
specification are important for personnel manager in personnel management
function. Therefore, job analysis is considered to be the primary tool of
personnel management.
Performance Appraisal
Performance Appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the
performance of employees and to understand the abilities of a person for
further growth and development. Performance appraisal is generally done in
systematic ways which are as follows:
1. The supervisors measure the pay of employees and compare
it with targets and plans. 2. The
supervisor analyses the factors behind work performances of employees.
The employers are in position to guide the employees for a
better performance.
Objectives of Performance Appraisal
Performance Appraisal can be done with following objectives
in mind:
1. To maintain records in order to determine compensation
packages, wage structure, salaries raises, etc.
2. To identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees to place right
men on right job. 3. To maintain and
assess the potential present in a person for further growth and development. 4. To provide a feedback to employees
regarding their performance and related status.
5. To provide a feedback to employees regarding their performance and
related status.
6. It serves as a basis for influencing working habits of
the employees. 7. To review and retain
the promotional and other training programmes.
Advantages of Performance Appraisal
It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for
the company which can be justified by following advantages:
1. Promotion: Performance Appraisal helps the supervisors to
chalk out the promotion programmes for efficient employees. In this regards,
inefficient workers can be dismissed or demoted in case. 2. Compensation:
Performance Appraisal helps in chalking out compensation packages for
employees. Merit rating is possible through performance appraisal. Performance
Appraisal tries to give worth to a performance. Compensation packages which
includes bonus, high salary rates, extra benefits, allowances and
pre-requisites are dependent on performance appraisal. The criteria should be
merit rather than seniority. 3. Employees Development: The systematic procedure
of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and
programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of employees so that
new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It also helps in framing
future development programmes. 4. Selection Validation: Performance Appraisal
helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection
procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths
and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can
be made in this regard. 5. Communication: For an organization, effective
communication between employees and employers is very important. Through
performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following
ways: a. Through performance appraisal,
the employers can understand and accept skills of subordinates. b. The subordinates can also understand and
create a trust and confidence in superiors.
c. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management
relationship. d. It develops the spirit
of work and boosts the morale of employees.
All the above factors ensure effective communication.
6. Motivation: Performance appraisal serves as a motivation
tool. Through evaluating performance of employees, a person’s efficiency can be
determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a person for
better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.
Performance Appraisal Tools and Techniques
Following are the tools used by the organizations for
Performance Appraisals of their employees.
1. Ranking 2. Paired
Comparison 3. Forced Distribution 4. Confidential Report 5. Essay Evaluation 6. Critical Incident 7. Checklists
8. Graphic Rating Scale 9.
BARS 10. Forced Choice Method 11. MBO
12. Field Review Technique 13.
Performance Test
We will be discussing the important performance appraisal
tools and techniques in detail.
1. Ranking Method
The ranking system requires the rater to rank his
subordinates on overall performance. This consists in simply putting a man in a
rank order. Under this method, the ranking of an employee in a work group is
done against that of another employee. The relative position of each employee
is tested in terms of his numerical rank. It may also be done by ranking a
person on his job performance against another member of the competitive group.
Advantages of Ranking Method
i. Employees are ranked according to their performance
levels. ii. It is easier to rank the
best and the worst employee.
Limitations of Ranking Method
iii. The “whole man” is compared with another “whole man” in
this method. In practice, it is very difficult to compare individuals
possessing various individual traits.
iv. This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in
his group. It does not test anything about how much better or how much worse an
employee is when compared to another employee.
v. When a large number of employees are working, ranking of individuals
become a difficult issue. vi. There is
no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The
ranking system does not eliminate the possibility of snap judgements. 2. Forced Distribution method
This is a ranking technique where raters are required to
allocate a certain percentage of rates to certain categories (eg: superior,
above average, average) or percentiles (eg: top 10 percent, bottom 20 percent
etc). Both the number of categories and percentage of employees to be allotted
to each category are a function of performance appraisal design and format.
The workers of outstanding merit may be placed at top 10
percent of the scale, the rest may be placed as 20 % good, 40 % outstanding, 20
% fair and 10 % fair.
Advantages of Forced Distribution
i. This method tends to eliminate raters bias ii. By forcing the distribution according to
pre-determined percentages, the problem of making use of different raters with
different scales is avoided.
Limitations of Forced Distribution
iii. The limitation of using this method in salary
administration, however, is that it may lead low morale, low productivity and
high absenteeism.
Employees who feel that they are productive, but find
themselves in lower grade(than expected) feel frustrated and exhibit over a
period of time reluctance to work. 3.
Critical Incident techniques
Under this method, the manager prepares lists of statements
of very effective and ineffective behaviour of an employee. These critical
incidents or events represent the outstanding or poor behaviour of employees or
the job. The manager maintains logs of each employee, whereby he periodically
records critical incidents of the workers behaviour. At the end of the rating
period, these recorded critical incidents are used in the evaluation of the
worker’s performance. Example of a good critical incident of a Customer
Relations Officer is : March 12 - The Officer patiently attended to a customers
complaint. He was very polite and prompt in attending the customers problem.
Advantages of Critical Incident techniques
i. This method provides an objective basis for conducting a
thorough discussion of an employees performance. ii. This method avoids recency bias (most
recent incidents are too much emphasized)
Limitations of Critical Incident techniques
iii. Negative incidents may be more noticeable than positive
incidents. iv. The supervisors have a
tendency to unload a series of complaints about the incidents during an annual
performance review sessions. v. It
results in very close supervision which may not be liked by an employee. vi. The recording of incidents may be a chore
for the manager concerned, who may be too busy or may forget to do it. 4. Checklists and Weighted Checklists
In this system, a large number of statements that describe a
specific job are given. Each statement has a weight or scale value attached to
it. While rating an employee the supervisor checks all those statements that
most closely describe the behaviour of the individual under assessment. The
rating sheet is then scored by averaging the weights of all the statements
checked by the rater. A checklist is constructed for each job by having persons
who are quite familiar with the jobs. These statements are then categorized by
the judges and weights are assigned to the statements in accordance with the
value attached by the judges.
Advantages of Checklists and Weighted Checklists
i. Most frequently used method in evaluation of the
employees performance.
Limitations of Checklists and Weighted Checklists
ii. This method is very expensive and time consuming iii. Rater may be biased in distinguishing
the positive and negative questions. iv.
It becomes difficult for the manager to assemble, analyze and weigh a number of
statements about the employees characteristics, contributions and
behaviours.
Performance Appraisal Biases
Managers commit mistakes while evaluating employees and
their performance. Biases and judgment errors of various kinds may spoil the
performance appraisal process. Bias here refers to inaccurate distortion of a
measurement. These are:
1. First Impression (primacy effect): Raters form an overall
impression about the ratee on the basis of some particluar characteristics of
the ratee identified by them. The identified qualities and features may not
provide adequate base for appraisal. 2. Halo Effect: The individual’s
performance is completely appraised on the basis of a perceived positive
quality, feature or trait. In other words this is the tendency to rate a man
uniformly high or low in other traits if he is extra-ordinarily high or low in
one particular trait. If a worker has few absences, his supervisor might give
him a high rating in all other areas of work. 3. Horn Effect: The individual’s
performance is completely appraised on the basis of a negative quality or
feature perceived. This results in an overall lower rating than may be
warranted. “He is not formally dressed up in the office. He may be casual at
work too!”. 4. Excessive Stiffness or Lenience: Depending upon the raters own
standards, values and physical and mental makeup at the time of appraisal,
ratees may be rated very strictly or leniently. Some of the managers are likely
to take the line of least resistance and rate people high, whereas others, by
nature, believe in the tyranny of exact assessment, considering more
particularly the drawbacks of the individual and thus making the assessment
excessively severe. The leniency error can render a system ineffective. If
everyone is to be rated high, the system has not done anything to differentiate
among the employees. 5. Central Tendency: Appraisers rate all employees as
average performers. That is, it is an attitude to rate people as neither high
nor low and follow the middle path. For example, a professor, with a view to
play it safe, might give a class grade near the equal to B, regardless of the
differences in individual performances. 6. Personal Biases: The way a
supervisor feels about each of the individuals working under him - whether he
likes or dislikes them - as a tremendous effect on the rating of their
performances. Personal Bias can stem from various sources as a result of
information obtained from colleagues, considerations of faith and thinking,
social and family background and so on. 7. Spillover Effect: The present
performance is evaluated much on the basis of past performance. “The person who
was a good performer in distant past is assured to be okay at present also”. 8.
Recency Effect: Rating is influenced by the most recent behaviour ignoring the
commonly demonstrated behaviours during the entire appraisal period.
Therefore while appraising performances, all the above
biases should be avoided.
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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Job Evaluation
Job evaluation is a process of determining the relative
worth of a job. It is a process which is helpful even for framing compensation
plans by the personnel manager. Job evaluation as a process is advantageous to
a company in many ways:
1. Reduction in inequalities in salary structure - It is
found that people and their motivation is dependent upon how well they are
being paid. Therefore the main objective of job evaluation is to have external
and internal consistency in salary structure so that inequalities in salaries are
reduced. 2. Specialization - Because of division of labour and thereby
specialization, a large number of enterprises have got hundred jobs and many
employees to perform them. Therefore, an attempt should be made to define a job
and thereby fix salaries for it. This is possible only through job evaluation.
3. Helps in selection of employees - The job evaluation information can be
helpful at the time of selection of candidates. The factors that are determined
for job evaluation can be taken into account while selecting the employees. 4.
Harmonious relationship between employees and manager - Through job evaluation,
harmonious and congenial relations can be maintained between employees and
management, so that all kinds of salaries controversies can be minimized. 5.
Standardization - The process of determining the salary differentials for
different jobs become standardized through job evaluation. This helps in
bringing uniformity into salary structure. 6. Relevance of new jobs - Through
job evaluation, one can understand the relative value of new jobs in a concern.
According to Kimball and Kimball,“ Job evaluation represents
an effort to determine the relative value of every job in a plant and to
determine what the fair basic wage for such a job should be.”
Thus, job evaluation is different from performance
appraisal. In job evaluation, worth of a job is calculated while in performance
appraisal, the worth of employee is rated.
Employee Grievance - Effective Ways of Handling Grievance
Grievance may be any genuine or imaginary feeling of
dissatisfaction or injustice which an employee experiences about his job and
it’s nature, about the management policies and procedures. It must be expressed
by the employee and brought to the notice of the management and the organization.
Grievances take the form of collective disputes when they are not resolved.
Also they will then lower the morale and efficiency of the employees.
Unattended grievances result in frustration, dissatisfaction, low productivity,
lack of interest in work, absenteeism, etc. In short, grievance arises when
employees’ expectations are not fulfilled from the organization as a result of
which a feeling of discontentment and dissatisfaction arises. This
dissatisfaction must crop up from employment issues and not from personal
issues.
Grievance may result from the following factors-
a. Improper working conditions such as strict production
standards, unsafe workplace, bad relation with managers, etc. b. Irrational management policies such as
overtime, transfers, demotions, inappropriate salary structure, etc. c. Violation of organizational rules and
practices
The manager should
immediately identify all grievances and must take appropriate steps to
eliminate the causes of such grievances so that the employees remain loyal and
committed to their work. Effective grievance management is an essential part of
personnel management. The managers should adopt the following approach to
manage grievance effectively-
1. Quick action- As soon as the grievance arises, it should
be identified and resolved. Training must be given to the managers to
effectively and timely manage a grievance. This will lower the detrimental
effects of grievance on the employees and their performance. 2. Acknowledging grievance- The manager must
acknowledge the grievance put forward by the employee as manifestation of true
and real feelings of the employees. Acknowledgement by the manager implies that
the manager is eager to look into the complaint impartially and without any
bias. This will create a conducive work environment with instances of grievance
reduced. 3. Gathering facts- The
managers should gather appropriate and sufficient facts explaining the
grievance’s nature. A record of such facts must be maintained so that these can
be used in later stage of grievance redressal.
4. Examining the causes of grievance- The actual cause of grievance
should be identified. Accordingly remedial actions should be taken to prevent
repetition of the grievance. 5.
Decisioning- After identifying the causes of grievance, alternative course of
actions should be thought of to manage the grievance. The effect of each course
of action on the existing and future management policies and procedure should
be analyzed and accordingly decision should be taken by the manager. 6. Execution and review- The manager should
execute the decision quickly, ignoring the fact, that it may or may not hurt
the employees concerned. After implementing the decision, a follow-up must be
there to ensure that the grievance has been resolved completely and
adequately.
An effective grievance procedure ensures an amiable work
environment because it redresses the grievance to mutual satisfaction of both
the employees and the managers. It also helps the management to frame policies
and procedures acceptable to the employees. It becomes an effective medium for
the employees to express t feelings, discontent and dissatisfaction openly and
formally.
Employee Training
Training implies enhancing the skills and knowledge of the
employees for performing a specific job. Training tries to improve employees’
performance in current job and prepares them for future job. The crucial
consequence of training is learning.
Objectives of Employee Training Programmes
1. To prepare employees to meet the varying and challenging
needs of the job and organization 2. To
provide knowledge and skills to new entrants and to help them to perform their
role and job well. 3. To coach employees
for more complex and higher level jobs.
To educate employees new and innovative ways and techniques
of performing job.
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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Benefits of Trained Employees
Training is a significant tool for employee development.
Training has assumed great importance because of exceptional rate of change in
the internal and external organizational environment. The importance/benefits
of trained personnel towards organizational development are as follows-
a. Trained employees do not require tight control and
supervision as they are well aware of how to perform a job. b. Trained employees can show higher
performance by making optimum and best utilization of the materials, tools,
equipments and other resources provided to them. c. Trained employees minimize wastages of
resources in the organization and work both efficiently and effectively. d. Training makes employees more committed to
an organization as the employees are provided with growth, advancement and
learning opportunities. e. Training
develops a line of proficient and skilled managers as it prepares employees for
complex and higher level tasks. f.
Trained employees adjust to the job better and there are fewer rates of
absenteeism and turnover. g. Trained
employees produce quality and quantity output.
h. Trained employees enable the organization to face competition from
rival firms. i. Trained employees can
respond and adapt to the changing technology well. j. Trained employees become more proficient
and, thus, their earning potential increase.
Steps in Employee Training Programme
Training programme involves the following steps:
1. Identifying the training needs- The training needs of
each employee should be identified. Programmes should be developed that are
best suited to their needs. 2. Prepare
the trainer- The trainer must do his home work well. He should know both what
to teach and how to teach. Time management is required by the trainer. Training
should be delivered in such a manner that the trainee should not loose the
interest in the job. 3. Prepare the
trainee- The trainee should remain active during training. He should know that
why is he being trained. He should put across the trainer questions and doubts.
The trainee should be put at ease during the training programme. 4. Explain and demonstrate the operations-
The trainer should explain the logical sequence of the job. The trainee should
perform the job systematically and explain the complete job he is performing.
His mistakes should be rectified and the complex step should be done for him
once. When the trainee demonstrates that he can do the job in right manner, he
is left to himself. Through repetitive practices, the trainee acquires more
skill. 5. Follow up and feedback- The trainee
should be given feedback on how well he performed the job. He should be asked
to give a feedback on the effectiveness of training programme.
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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Difference between Recruitment and Selection
Basis Recruitment Selection
Meaning It is an activity of establishing contact between
employers and applicants.
It is a process of picking up more competent and suitable
employees.
Objective It encourages large number of Candidates for a
job.
It attempts at rejecting unsuitable candidates.
Process It is a simple process. It is a complicated process.
Hurdles The candidates have not to cross over many hurdles.
Many hurdles have to be crossed.
Approach It is a positive approach. It is a negative
approach.
Sequence It proceeds selection. It follows recruitment.
Economy It is an economical method. It is an expensive
method.
Time Consuming
Less time is required. More time is required.
360 Degree Feedback
360 degree feedback
is also known as multi-rater feedback or multi-dimensional feedback or
multi-source feedback. It is a very good means of improving an individual’s
effectiveness (as a leader and as a manager). It is a system by which an individual
gets a comprehensive/collective feedback from his superiors, subordinates,
peers/co-workers, customers and various other members with whom he interacts.
The feedback form is in a questionnaire format, which contains questions that
are significant to both individual as well as organization from performance
aspect. It is filled by anonymous people. The number of people from whom
feedback is taken can range from 6 - 20. The individual’s own feedback is also
taken, i.e., he self-rates himself and then his rating is compared with other
individuals ratings. Self ratings compel the individual to sit down and think
about his own strengths and weaknesses.
The primary aim of a 360 degree feedback is to assist an
individual to identify his strengths and build upon them, to recognize priority
fields of improvement, to encourage communication and people’s participation at
all levels in an organization, to examine the acceptance of any change by the
employees in an organization and to promote self-development in an individual.
It must be noted that the assessment of individual by other people is
subjective. A 360-degree feedback is challenging, promoting and analytical. It
should not be regarded as ultimate and concluding. It is a beginning point.
Self-assessment is an ongoing process.
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ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
360 degree feedback provides a comprehensive view of the
skills and competencies of the individual as a manager or as a leader. The
individual gets a feedback on how other people perceive and assess him as an
employee. 360 degree feedback is beneficial to both an individual as well as
organization. It leads to pooling of information between individual and other
organizational members. It encourages teamwork as there is full involvement of
all the top managers and other individuals in the organization. It stresses
upon internal customer satisfaction. It develops an environment of continuous
learning in an organization. Based on a 360 degree feedback, the individual
goals and the group goals can be correlated to the organizational strategy,
i.e., the individual and the group can synchronize their goals with the
organizational goals.
The feedback must be confidential so as to ensure it’s
reliability and legitimacy. The feedback must be accepted with positivity and
an open-mind. The effectiveness of the feedback must be evaluated and analyzed
on a regular basis.
360 Degree Feedback - Advantages & Pre-requisites
Advantages of 360 Degree Feedback
It is an effective medium for improving customer service
and the inputs quality to the internal customers. It encourages
participation of all and thus makes HR decisions more qualitative. It
pinpoints the favoritism and biases of the supervisors present in conventional
appraisal systems. The employees find 360-degree feedback more acceptable
than the traditional feedback approaches. 360-degree feedback is more
impartial and objective than a one-to-one assessment of employee traits. It
concentrates and stresses upon internal customer satisfaction. It broadens
the scope for employees to get various says for enhancing their job role,
performance, and views. It can act as a supplement and not replacement to
the conventional appraisal system. It can be motivating for the employees
who undervalue themselves. It encourages teamwork. It is more credible as
various people give almost same feedback from various sources. It brings
into limelight the areas of employee development as it confirms the employee
strengths and identifies his weaknesses on which he can work upon. It
creates an environment of trust and loyalty in an organization.
Basics and Pre-requisites of 360 Degree Approach
It is essential that an organization should be prepared for
360 Degree feedback. Not only the organization, but also the candidate (the
employee) should be prepared for accepting it. Following are the essentials of
an organization’s preparedness for the 360 degree approach-
The top level management must be keen to spend their time
and efforts in giving feedback to their subordinates. Status and ego issues
shouldn’t overwhelm in the organization. The subordinates and the peer both
should assess and analyze the top-level managers and the top- level management
should be open to accept their feedback.
Everyone in the organization should take the feedback
considerately and constructively and utilize it for their development.
Ethics and moral values should be predominant in the organization. The
organization should encourage teamwork. There should be self- learning in
the organization, especially for the managers. The personnel department of
the organization should be highly credible. There should be no politics in the
organization. Everyone in the organization should take the feedback
seriously and should make an attempt to benefit from the same. It must be
ensured that the feedback is confidential.
Following are the essentials of analyzing the candidate’s (employee’s)
preparedness for the 360degree approach-
The employee should have an intention to be better.
The employee should be open to accept the feedback and should respect the views
of others. The employee should have a competitive feeling. The employee
should be keen in knowing the viewpoints of others towards him. The employee
should always learn on the job.
Career Development
People are the most important resource an organization can
have. So, it becomes prime responsibility of the organizations to take care of
their employees and give them an opportunity to grow especially to those who
are career conscious and deliver performance. Career in 21st century is
measured by continuous learning of the employees and identity changes in due
course of time rather than changes in age and life stages. Career development
of employees is not a mere responsibility of organizations, rather it is their
obligation to address the ambitions of employees and create such job positions
where they can accommodate their growing ambitions.
Employees are career conscious and they’ll stick to an
organization where they feel that they have an opportunity to showcase their
talent, grow to the maximum possible level and achieve their objectives. When
we talk about growth, it can have different meanings to different people. Some
may look at it as a fat package, some may want to climb up the ladder in the
hierarchy and reach the topmost position while some want to acquire higher
skills and competencies along with their growth as a human being. Some people
may take it as an opportunity to avail some exclusive perks and benefits.
Depending upon one’s own thinking, different people take different actions in
order achieve their objectives.
Given the present situations, if employees want their
organization to give them an opportunity to grow and achieve their ambitions,
they need to be prepared for the future jobs. The main focus of organizations
is on the employability of their people. Therefore, individuals should make sure
that they have skills and competencies plus willingness to perform a specific
job efficiently. Although the organizations can hire employees from outside but
they require portable competencies in order to get the job done. For this, they
will need to impart training to them and develop skills and competencies
according to the job profile. But this is a troublesome process and takes hell
lot of time to prepare the employees for a specific job. In order to avoid this
situation to the maximum
possible extent, organizations take control of the careers
of their already existing employees and foster succession planning to fill the
topmost positions.
Individuals need to develop new and better skills so that
they are fit for promotion and reach to a higher level in the organization.
Organizations likewise need to become proactive in designing and implementing
career development programs for their employees. It is the best thing they can
do to decrease employee turnover. Although it is employees responsibility to
plan their career but in today’s turbulent and terrifically ambiguous world of
work it is the employers’ responsibility to provide them with opportunities
achieve their ambitions. They need to create that environment and culture for
continuous learning and support their employees by motivating and rewarding
them.
Career development is a continuous process where both
employees as well as employers have to put efforts in order to create conducive
environment so that they can achieve their objectives at the same time.
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