Assignment 2: LASA 2: Company Assessment A++++

. 

Executive summary:

Organizations have increasingly made it known to employees that leadership is team building efforts. Organizational philosophy and culture is tilting towards team building efforts, job satisfaction, communication within teams, corporate communications, motivation of employees and stress management techniques. All these have been recognized as very important strategies for building the human asset base of a corporation. A good workplace is one where employees have a sense of well being , feel empowered and share vision. Their motivational levels are high and they are able to perform setting bench marks. Corporates across sectors work on the same plan of high levels of interpersonal communication within teams. The most important skills that leaders impart to their employees are the importance of working in teams. Group dynamics and team work is looked at in the first instance. Leaders who are able to inspire employees to work together as team and allow for team empowerment are considered to be good leaders. It has become very important that unless team spirit is fostered the organization will not be successful and there will be conflict and chaos. The concept of working in Silos is now displaced with working together. In a survey conducted to employees within the organization it was observed that the organization was a well cultured one and eschewed goals of organizational and employee being (Appendix 1) Team environment:

The firm has ensured that the importance of teams is well communicated. Teams have been structured very well ad there is a good representation of all skills in the team. Though the team leader is the senior most member of the team, the culture of working permits the team members to contribute their feedback to the constructive purpose of the team. The structure is typically flat with low levels of hierarchy and this makes for easy approach to problem solving. Team members are empowered to participative decision making process which is a two way channel. Though the team is well structured, the absence of alternate decision making process is not present. In case the team lead is not available then the next person who could take decisions has not been informed. This makes the team a little loose structured. It is important to understand the team hierarchy so the organizational structure of the team has to be well defined and clearly intimated.

Communication

Communication is a very important function of management. Communication here is both top down and bottom up. There are clear cut communication channels and communication is decidedly very formal. The company does have a formal communication channel and uses the email and the intra net for all communication .There are set format for using and addressing emails. Communication is strictly through the email and any issue has to be addressed in the proper manner in the hierarchy so mentioned. This had led to following benefits for the function of the organization.

A. The most important benefit of communicating is that the team will strive for the group vision of the team without detour.

B. The goal of the team is clearly envisioned and communicated to all team members so that everyone in the team knows his tasks and responsibilities..

C. Concerns and key issues can be dealt with at the right time and addressed well.

D. The team members know time lines and objectives and hence plan their work accordingly .( Michael Fielding,2008)

E. Such communication empowers shared vision and group dynamics to come into play (John Nielsen,2008)

F. Communication between teams results is efficiency and productivity .( John Nielsen,2008)

G. Information sharing helps group efforts and learning management can be implemented in teams which move together and communicate well. Ownership and decision making allows for responsibility of work in the organization.

H. Motivated teams give dedicated efforts to organizational well being and contribute effectively to organizational goals .

There should be source for the grapevine or an informal source of communication as this leads to better ideas and constructive feedback. Though the formal channels are the best methods to communicate, the importance of the informal channels cannot be ignored. .

Job satisfaction of the employees:

Satisfaction of employees comes out of job analysis .Are the employees satisfied or is there a lot of complaining, absenteeism, and turnover? What could the company be doing to improve job satisfaction?

The firm has taken great efforts to hire, train, evaluate and compensate workers properly. A proper fit between work and workers is very important in the greatly changing filed of human resources and has become an economic necessity in all organizations. It has been seen that if organizations fail to understand that their staffing requirements are not right, they fail miserably either by over staffing or understaffing.. They are at great risk and so they need to have strategic plans in place job analysis basically a tool by which employees know what they have to do. It is also a process by which jobs are divided to understand each job’s relation to another, the conditions under which jobs and tasks are performed and the personal abilities that are required by workers to perform their jobs satisfactorily. Hence Job analysis covers the entire ambit of human resources right from the time of placing the advertisement till the employee retires every aspect is take care of hence it is a very important task . Unless jobs are related to workers abilities the job becomes ill founded and there is dissatisfaction from both sides .In order to understands how human resources are a very important part of all organizational pervasive functions jobs have to be analyzed designed and defined properly . The analysis becomes all the more important in view of the numerous challenges posed in terms of regulations laws task relatedness and competency mapping Hence job analysis is basic premise to human resources development the firm.

Job analysis has led to job satisfaction. Job attrition is very low and the employees seem to be a motivated lot. This is a certainly a good morale for everyone and management has to strive to keep this spirit. Productivity is very good and employee efficiency is very high.

Motivation: Employees need to be motivated to do their jobs and if so employers can always compromise on best results .Motivation is said to be an important element in human resources strategy because it makes and allows an employee to be as a leader in meeting as well as exceeding the organizational goals. In fact, it is also been said that without an employee force which is de motivated the organization will be a failure and will not be in a secure position. The motivated workforce is one of the important factors that can actually help to improve workplace differences and foster team spirit. Motivation comes from the enjoyment of work done and from the desire to earn more money or achieving a promotion.  It also comes from a sense of satisfaction which is being gained from achieving a successful outcome or if some problem is solved. Having a motivated workforce thus provides a competitive advantage in any organization. The organization always helps in achieving higher productivity due to the better employee performance. Employees are appraised through technology tools of Balanced score cards and 360 degree feedback. There is equity in evaluation and rewards and compensation decided on a uniform policy applicable to enterprise wide employees. The firm has also retirement savings benefits and is planning on profit sharing schemes for employees.

Stress management:

Employee health and well being is possible if the work environment is free of stress. Employees can work in an environment that allows them to work without stress. Women employees have a day care and crèche facility that enables them to leave their children .This relieves them of stress. Employees have a gym and a yoga centre where they can enroll themselves into for easing out their stress. The organization also believes in allowing flexi timings for employees who are really in need of the same. Managers ensure that even the slightest of stress does not fall on the employees and so they encourage employees to work in a stress freed environment by training and developing employees to keep within deadlines and work in conjunction with each other. The psychological and physiological well being of employees very necessary for organizational health. Recognizing this the organization has very importantly made recreation, entertainment and mediation a part of employee culture.

Conclusion:

A good workplace in one which inspires and motivates people to work in a good job culture. Motivated employees, stress free environment and excellent communication protocols are hallmarks of good organization and are known to be great places to work for .

References:

Bratton J., Gold. J (2012) Human Resource Management Theory and Practice, 5th

edition Palgrave Macmillan

John Adair, “Effective Communication: The Most Important Management Skill of All”, 2011.

James S. O'Rourke, "Effective Communication", 2009.

John Nielsen, "Effective Communication Skills: The Foundations for Change", 2008.

Michael Fielding, "Effective Communication In Organisations", 2006

Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice, 6th ed. London: Sage Publications, Inc.137-158p.

Rath, T. & Conchie, B. (2008).Strengths based leadership. New York : Gallup Press

Suzan Collins, "Effective Communication: A Workbook for Social Care Workers", 2009.

Torrington, D., Hall L., Taylor S., Atkinson C.(2011) Human Resource Management,

8th edition, Prentice Hall

Appendix 1

Questionnaire study of organizational culture and well being

Do employees feel empowered?
What kind of leadership do you have in the organization
Is communication both ways?
What kind of comfort do you find in the organization?
Do you believe that rewards and compensation are enough to motivate employees ?
Do you have a learning environment in the office?
Does your manager care for you?
How often do you opt for flexi timings
Are meditation and yoga helpful in easing stress?
How well do you relate to your manger in terms of policy making?

7