Table of Contents
Abstract
The business environment is a highly sensitive and dynamic field that needs highly versatile leaders. There is a need to observe the required criteria for conducting business and management of the same therefore output and productivity of the business needs to be kept as a priority. Leaders need to identify the important aspects that keep the employees motivated to carry out their schedules while the leaders within the organization need to possess the right traits of leadership to ensure success and high performance of the company.
Employees are major contributors to the output of the organization since they are directly involved with production and therefore determine the level of sales. Employee morale is an essential aspect in the workplace; this entails the aspects of job satisfaction, feelings of well-being and the outlook of the employee in the setup of the workplace. Employee morale has a direct impact on the level of productivity of a firm leads to the fact that it is an important element to evaluate and keep in check as part of the management. Leadership qualities within the organization and amongst the key leaders within the management are also an important attribute to consider since it impacts directly on the level of the output of the company (Sekaran, 2006). Therefore, leadership quality in an organization also indirectly contributes to the output and productivity of the companies. Employee morale needs two essential tenets to see an organization rediscover their output levels or better results such as long term and short term employee morale strategies as well as a review of the leadership skills and qualities within the organization.
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Short Term Strategies
Show reasonability and fairness
When the expectation of the employees becomes exceedingly high, they may end up losing their morale and spirit. When the daily output expectations of the employees become exceedingly high, they may end up overloaded with work and eventually view the goals and objectives of the company as unachievable. When the goals set seem unachievable, the employees lose the drive and the desire to achieve them. Too much work may lead to loss of personal time for the employees, thus giving up on their personal needs that now become a major demoralized when it comes to working (Nohria, Groysberg, & Lee, 2008). The employees may subdue to the pressure and fear thus losing their hearts in their daily output. Being a good leader requires that one sets the expected output high, but still incorporate reason to the expected achievements as there is an expected human limit. When the expectations are unrealistic, and the goals and priorities are under constant change, this becomes exhausting to the employees. However, this strategy may be viewed as a long-term type of approach it is a short term strategy as production capacity in some instances may exceed the expected limits and lead to the need for the employees to work longer so as to meet the set objectives.
Keeping of promises
As a leader it is important to make promises that one can keep, this instills an aspect of honesty in the leader of the organization. By being up-front with the employees helps keep the employees motivated, since the employees greatly appreciate honesty, consistency and predictable leaders who will always deliver on their promises and communicate in an open manner. In cases where the leaders are not open and honest towards the employees, the employees end up turning to dishonest and unproductive tendencies towards one another and towards the leaders. In cases where the employees avoid speaking up, it is in cases where they feel there exist certain aspects of dishonesty, and they, therefore, cannot be straightforward about the issues at hand. This falls under the category of short-term strategies because it needs to be implemented for a short while and then it automatically fits into the organization’s portfolio and culture.
Long Term Strategies
Constant Communication
The leaders need to retain constant communications with the employees so as to ensure that employee morale is always on the high. By engaging the employees in constant communication and conversations, this spells as a sign of respect that helps to boost the morale of the employees. Efficient leaders thus ensure that they create opportunities for the employees to discuss. As a leader, there is a need to communicate with the employees on the most preferred modes of communication. Seek the modes that the employees prefer so that there can be constant communication and dialogue with the organization. Modes of communication may include emails or webcasts among other modes such as the electronic media that enable everyone to remain up to date on the expectations and the levels of output (Noe, Hollenbeck, JGerhart, & Wright, 2006). This needs to be a long-term model since it is an implementation that sees through the activities of the organization conducted in the foreseeable future.
Implement Employee Appreciation Programs
Poor appreciation or no appreciation at all leads to decreased morale among the employees. In cases where other employees feel less recognized than the others while their contribution to the company went un-notices and overlooked then this may kill employee motivation. There needs to be the implementation of a rewarding program for the best performance of the different employee departments in the organization and develop it as part of the company’s culture.
Incorporate fun programs
This includes the off-days from the office in the workplace for the employees on certain days of the week where they can engage in fun activities that give the employees a break from the usual office activities. This helps rebuild the employee morale and energy in the workplace as it breaks the boredom of working long hours.
Possible Challenges for incorporating changes in the company
Highly diversified departments
This stands as a challenge for incorporating changes into the organization; this is because the different departments have different schedules to meet and goals when it comes to the production activities. It is difficult to implement strategies for change in the departments as the roles that they fulfill are completely different and therefore different output matrices. Therefore an implementation of a strategy such as awarding the best performing department would be challenging as the output of a department such as safety systems cannot be compared with the facilities department that deals with paperwork.
Different Directors
All the seven departments have different directors; this means that there are seven different philosophies for which each of the directors leads their departments. The different directors have their means of making their departments perform best, and it would be difficult to make them align their philosophies or align them with those of the vice president’s. The main objective of the company may be a universal entity that guides the activities within the company. This However, does not mean that in cases where there are multiple departments, then all the departments strictly follow it; there is a need to modify operations in such a way that fits the required output and the objective of the company despite the manner in which they vary in their respective departments. This shows the challenge that would exist in an attempt to impact the changes.
Important Leadership Traits
Intuitive and Flexible
The leaders from the seven departments need to show aspects of being able to respond quickly to rapid changes. This is because the modern business world has become highly dynamic with rapid changes in expected output (Xenikou & Simosi, 2006). Therefore, there is a need for the leaders to be in a position where they display the ability to reason and be logical in different situations. As a smart leader, there is a need to trust one’s conscience and act out of intuition with confidence. This allows for fast decision making and efficient output of the organization. The reason for picking this trait is that the company is an automotive company that deals with sensitive products that hit highs and lows in an unpredictable manner; therefore this demands that the directors are in a position to apply deductive thinking and make decisions with minimal consultation.
Empathy
This is a trait that ensures there is a good rapport with the staff in the organization, thus ensuring that personal issues would minimally influence the output and the productivity of the company. The company has seven different branches that require the utmost attention because the failure of one department means that the productivity of the entire organization is affected since they are all interdependent. With empathy among all the leaders of the organization means that the company will perform competently and therefore meet productivity objectives.
Direction
This is the trait of having a vision by the leaders and doing more than the normal by setting the necessary steps to achieve the set goals. The company is big with diversified branches and needs leaders with a vision to see the productivity of the company maintained at the highest possible level. This means that the leaders in their respective departments will set goals and identify the means to over-achieve. The company being an automotive one needs to show competence and dynamism to retain its credibility in the market.
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