Application Paper

Application Paper

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Application Paper

Introduction

In the tough times of competition nowadays, every organization tries to stay ahead of its competitors, in order to grab the maximum market share and maintain its goodwill in the market. To achieve this purpose, every department of the organization should work in complete cohesion and harmony. No matter what function a department is performing, its individual goals need to be completely in sync with the organizational goals and objectives so that the company can make progress and grow.

An organization acts like a body and various departments in it work like vital organs. All of them are equally important for the smooth and proper functioning of the company, whether its finance department, sales team or the marketing department. In today's dynamic world of business, it is not enough to just keep the customers and stakeholders happy but to keep the employees satisfied as well (Cascio, 2016). There are multiple procedures and practices that are adopted by the managers to keep their employees satisfied and even delighted at the workplace so that they can feel excited to work for the organization, no matter how hard or boring the job is.

Discussion

Managing people is an art; it is a job that is not mastered by all. Moreover, the employees are considered the most important asset of any organization, it is extremely important to keep them happy and satisfied, so that they can work whole-heartedly towards the achievement of the organizational goals. Many companies fail in this practice, and thus, they have to bear grave consequences for it, in the form of negative employee behavior. Employees working in such an organization take their job very casually and do not focus on their professional goals (which are ultimately the goals of the organization). Moreover, these dissatisfied employees exhibit regular absenteeism and such organizations experience high levels of turnover. All these attitudes and behaviors bring damage to the organization in the longer run, in terms of loss of customers, lower levels of profits and a blow to the reputation of the company in the market.

A good manager knows very well how to keep his or her employees happy and engaged in the workplace so that the employee can feel motivated and work with the organization for a longer period of time. These practices are generally known as Employee Management Practices and all the good organizations adopt them, whether working at a local level or whether entertaining the global domain. The current course taught us many important concepts and valuable insights regarding how to manage people at your organization, successfully and effectively. Some of the most helpful or effective Employee Management Practices have been described as follows:

Keep the Lines of Communication Always Open

One of the most important techniques in the practices of human resources, to keep the employees satisfied and retained for a longer period of time, is keeping the lines of communication open and reachable for all. The managers of all the good and successful organization practice it and thus achieve many great heights (Goffin, & Mitchell, 2016). The organizations, where employees are allowed to share their problems and issues openly with the management, achieve much better levels as compared to those companies that do not allow their employees to communicate frankly. This process of communication is not only limited to the sharing of problems, but this notion also refers to the sharing of ideas and opinions as well in an open but respectable and professional manner.

The main essence of keeping the lines of communication open does not mean that the communication should only flow from the employee’s side towards the management, but also from the management’s tables towards the employees. The managers and supervisors should keep sharing the information and the feedback with the employees on a regular basis so that any flaw or lacking in the performance or behavior of the employee can be timely corrected. Moreover, this practice is also very necessary in order to communicate the feedback regarding the overall performance and impart information about the various ongoing processes in the organizations.

In my opinion, a manager or leader should keep this important aspect of communication in mind while devising the strategies and policies for their department, so that the employees can share their problems and issues without any fear. Same should be the procedure adopted in the case of the sharing of information like ideas, concepts, and opinions. The channels of communication should always be kept clear an open and honest and transparent exchange of information should take place.

Regular Rewards and Incentives

One of the other successful and extremely effective approaches is the use of rewards. Rewards are the primary source of motivation for any employee. There are mainly two types of rewards, extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards refer to tangible awards that are in the form of some sort of upheaval in the current situation. Most of the times, such kinds of rewards include monetary rewards like increment in the current salary or bonuses. Intrinsic rewards refer to the types of rewards that cannot be seen or touched but hold great value in lifting up the spirit of the employee. Intrinsic rewards mostly consist of verbal or written appreciation and a little more autonomy to make own decisions.

No matter what kind of reward is being served to the employee, it should be based on the needs and demands of an employee and should justify the level of hard work and p0erformance that he or she has put into the task. The distribution of these rewards should be done on the basis of the idea that the employee becomes more motivated and works wholeheartedly towards the achievement of the departmental as well as the organizational goals (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2017). Two theories of management can prove to be of great use while deciding for the distribution of rewards and incentives among the employees. These theories are Maslow’s Need Hierarchy and Expectancy Theory.

This importance of this approach r practice is also very evident through the material taught in the current course HRCU 600. Being a leader or a manager, I would focus on the need aspect of the employee performance and design the reward policy according to that. I would also keep the various theories if motivation, especially Maslow’s Need hierarchy and Expectancy theory in consideration and provide the benefits according to that.

Be a Leader, Not a Boss

Another very effective method used by many successful business managers is adopting the right kind of leadership style. It a well-known fact that the success of any department or any organization is not the job of a single person. In fact, it is a team effort, and the manager or the head of the department as the captain of the team. The managers try to maintain a sense of balance and harmony in the whole team and keep it bonded together so that the team can work in cohesion towards the achievement of the goals.

In order to achieve all these purposes in an effective and successful manner, the manager should focus on being a leader, not a boss. A leader does not only motivate his or her followers but also guides them in all respects of teamwork (Aga, Noorderhaven, & Vallejo, 2016). A good leader, whether inside or outside the organizational context, does not only issue the order to their subordinates but also sets an example for them by doing the task themselves.

Every business manager who has achieved greatness has implemented these techniques in their life and career. Any manager who uses these practices ultimately becomes people’s favorite and the employees feel pleasure in working for the organization under the supervisor of such a person. In my personal opinion, and what I have learned from the course material is that the nature and personality of the manager matters a lot in this respect. The designing, maintenance, and implementation of effective employee management, so that they can perform well at their current job role and stay in the company for a longer period of time.

Conclusion

In short, it can be concluded that managing people and teams in an effective manner is a very tough task and requires a lot of skill and patience, but with the right kind of practices and procedures, this tough task can be converted into a piece of cake. A manager can increase the effectiveness of these practices by creating a culture of trust and strong cohesion in the team. A manager should focus on being a good leader and a mentor instead of being a boss. In addition to this, a manager should keep all the possible channels of communication open for the employees so that a smooth, clear and transparent flow of information can be ensured from both sides. Effective leadership also demands that the manager or leader should provide feedback on a regular basis so that the employees can get a chance to bring improvement in their behavior and performance and flaws can be catered in a timely manner.

References

Aga, D. A., Noorderhaven, N., & Vallejo, B. (2016). Transformational leadership and project success: The mediating role of team-building. International Journal of Project Management, 34(5), 806-818.

Cascio, W. F. (2016). Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.

Goffin, K., & Mitchell, R. (2016). Innovation management: effective strategy and implementation. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.