Free Custom «Managing people and organization» Essay Paper

The success of any business today requires proper management skills that have been enhanced by technology and knowledge from the modern corporate world. Therefore, organizations and businesses need to employ managers who not only have knowledge that they have acquired by studying up to a Masters level in Business Administration, but also possess and understanding of how the vital skills and knowledge they have can be applied in the modern world of business. Managing people and organizations therefore require an enhancement in somebody’s skill not only in class but also in the field where there are real business issues. One of areas that require excellent management skills and knowledge regards the improvements that can be made to what is already available in an organization or business. This includes managing the human resources that a business or organization has been endowed with.

The human resources department is one of the core departments in any business or organization. This department determines up to 90% whether an organization will be able to succeed or not in the trade of specialization. Whereas it was assumed in the past that employees needed only to take orders from their bosses and not to questions the morality of the instructions that they were given by their bosses, it was later on realized that such a model of working could only be able to achieve failure rather than success. Therefore, there have been tremendous changes to this department that have transformed to be an exact opposite of what it used to be in the past. It has to the attention of employers that the top-down relationship cannot work and thus the need to adopt a relation that allows both the employers and employees to air their issues of concern when they arise without prejudice. Yet, the question every one is asking today is; what happens to the management structure of human resources that allowed bosses to be bosses and employees to be employees? What happens to an organization that has only known the old system of management since its inception? The answer to these questions is, change.

Change is the only factor that can be able to transform the organizational system of management from an inefficient system to an efficient one. To begin with, the overall change in an organization plays a very important role in the transformation of the organization. The human resource department is the department that is responsible for ensuring that any change in the organization is implemented in accordance with the vision that the organization has. Therefore, for any change to be done in any business or organization, it begins with modification of the approach and perceptions that employees have in their minds towards the organization and the services or products that they deal with as an organization or business.

According to Martin (2006), changing the organizational culture is one of the core areas in a business or organization that aligns it for success (367). Since the corporate world has been changing at a very fast rate, there is a need for businesses and organizations too to change their organizational culture to be able to achieve the mission they have. One area that needs organizational change is the relationship between the employers and the employees. Whereas in the past, employers issued orders the military way, things have changed. The employees need to be listened to also. Some of the organizations in the market that have made a great impact in the society have allowed their employees to air their concerns about the way business is run and ways in which these businesses and organizations can be improved in the first place. Since the employees are the ones that interact closely with various processes in the business or organizations, they are better placed to identify the areas that need changes.

Therefore, there is need for a change in organizational culture, from the military style of operation to an organizational style that encourages dialogue between the employees and their employers. By doing this, the management can be able to identify unique talents that could not have otherwise been identified. An excellent example of how this works is seen in technological firms. The innovations that are made do not occur at the top management. The employer’s work is to manage. Yet everyday, the market is able to see new inventions that have never been seen before. These inventions are as a result of the hard work and innovation abilities of junior employees in the organization. However, it is important to note that this cannot be achieved unless there is collaboration between the employees no matter their position in the business or organization and their employers.

Another organizational culture that needs to be changed or improved is the issue of ownership of the business or organization by the employees. While it is the employers who get the whole profits, it is vital that the employees are helped to understand that the products that are sent to the market are the work of their hands and therefore the need for them to be proud of the business or organization when these products succeeds on the market. On the other hand, the organizational culture must emphasize on the fact that when employees work hard and in an efficient way, the business or organization is able to gain and so are the employees. In other words, the success of the employees in such a business or organizations depends wholly on the success of the business. Therefore, the employees should begin by promoting the products and services that are offered by the organization or business before they are even taken to the market.

The culture of appreciating the efforts of the employees should also be adopted by the organization. This is because, when someone is not appreciated for the work that he/she has done, there is a tendency for that person to reduce effort that he invests in the same work in future. However, studies show that when employees are rewarded for their work, they develop a sense of motivation that compels them to work even harder since they know that their work would be rewarded. Whereas some managers have argued that producing the best quality in terms of products and services is the obligation of the employees, they must realize that without motivation, employees cannot at any moment in time work effectively. Instead, there is a restraint in their capabilities and potentials, something that undermines the quality of products and services that are produced by the business or organization and jeopardizes the position of such a business or organization in the market.

When talking about rewarding employees for their efforts, many employers will immediately think of promotions, pay rise or creation of new positions in the company that offer a higher salary to be taken up by the best employee in the company. Nevertheless, this is not the case. A business or organization’s structure may not give room for creation of new posts in the company. On the other hand, the business’ portfolio may not be in a position to support a pay rise. Yet, employees need to acknowledge the fact that when they perform well in various positions that they have been given in the company, they will be rewarded if they perform well. Therefore, employers can be able reward their employees without necessarily creating new job positions, hiking salaries or using promotions. Instead, they can organize meetings and celebrations whereby the best employee(s) is recognized for his contribution to the business or organization.

Finally, the organizational culture that also needs to either be changed or improved is the way employees perceive the organization. Throughout the world, businesses and organizations have different ways of managing their employees. However, the styles that are used to manage these employees should incorporate in their systems a chance for employees to raise their confidence and trust in the business or organization that they are working for. For example, there should be no point in time when employees get worried over their job security in the business or organization that they are working for. When the organization or business is able to win the confidence of its employees, this will go along way in enhancing the products of the organization and allow it to create a culture among the employees to defend the organization’s reputation (Martin 252).

Another area in businesses or organizations that need to be improved is the use of technology in management of the employees. The use of IT solutions in managing employees remains to be one of the greatest achievements of the twenty first century. One of the areas that demand the use of IT in managing the human resource department is the employee databases. The details of employees are some of the vital information and data that is kept by any organization. This information and data must be kept in privacy as much as possible to protect the identity of every employee. As a result, there are technological tools that have been introduced in businesses and organizations that facilitate the keeping of privacy of employees.

Whereas in the past businesses and organizations did not lay much emphasis on the privacy of their employees, this has changed. The current world demands that the rights of a person to privacy are sustained. This will ensure that no employee is jeopardized because of the revelation of his private data. On the other hand, the use of IT solutions in managing people in businesses and organizations ensures that there is no information and data that is associated with a particular person is lost. Therefore, whenever the need arises for this information and data to be traced, this will be done with a lot of ease and within a minimum time possible.

There are advantages of using Information Technology resources in businesses and organizations. One advantage is that the business or organization is able to trace and follow up every stage of movement in its activities. This is an element that encourages accountability among employees as it is easy to trace every movement of each employee in the organization. There is also an element of efficiency when technology is used to manage people in organizations. This increases efficiency and it motivates the employees to raise their performance standards. This is because technology is able to bring into the company a new experience that eases the way work is done by improving the working conditions. On the contrary, technology improves the way employees are assigned to different tasks in businesses and organizations. For example, when a company carries out a particular project, it is able to determine the number of people that can be assigned to such a project using technology.

To achieve the above changes, there is need for actions to be taken to deal with various challenges that arises. To begin with, for any meaningful change to be attained in the organizational culture, the management of a business or organization must come together and define a new the vision and missions of the business or organization. This is because it is only through understanding the missions and visions of a business or organization and what they intend to achieve that one can be able to lay out the corporate culture of such a business or organization. After revisiting the visions and missions of the business or organization, strategies can then be laid out on how these visions and missions will be achieved. These strategies are the ones that will be used to define the path that should be taken by the business or organization and the kind of the corporate culture that should be acceptable in this business or organization. For example, the expected behavior and performance of employees while working is clearly defined here.

Finally, implementing the strategies that have been adopted will be the last thing that needs to be done to guarantee that the business or organization is finally on track towards achieving its goals. In some cases, employees will need to be trained on various issues to be in a position to adapt to change that accompanies a new corporate culture. At this particular point in time, some employees may choose to quit because of the new rules and regulations. However, this cannot deter the business or organization from moving ahead with its intended plans. Instead, this is an opportunity to sieve the employee community and get the best out of them who will be able to work towards achieving the stipulated visions and missions.

After having been able to roll out the strategies that are geared towards achieving certain goals in the business or organization, there are various tools that are needed to help this business or organization to achieve its required results. One of them is Information Technology resources. The business or organization will be required to assess various pieces of technology that are available on the market that can be implemented in this organization to help it achieve its missions. There are simple technological devices that may be required by the organization. These include computers, printers, scanners, etc. On the other hand, there are those pieces of technology that are supposed to act as supplements for the other technological devices. These include the software programs that are designed to help the user to accomplish a specific task. The type of organization and the kind of activities that an organization intends to carry out will determine the type of software that they will acquire. Then again, it must be understood that some software programs are very complicated and will require special training of employees for them to be used. For example, database software requires special knowledge that can be acquired through training for them to be used.

On the other hand, it must be kept in mind that there is no change that can be done in any organization, especially concerning its structure, without involving several key people in that business or organization. Therefore, there would be a need for contacts to be made for specific changes in the organization to be initiated. First, the top management of the organization must be contacted and be briefed on changes in the organization or business, especially in regard to human resources that can be made leading to an overall transformation of the whole organization. The top management has to be contacted because they have been mandated with the responsibility of ensuring that the organization is run with an aim of achieving specific goals. On the other hand, without their consent, there is nothing that can be done in the organization. Similarly, departmental leaders must also be made aware of the changes that need to be done for them to inform employees in their respective departments of what they are required to do.

After launching the strategies for change it is important to examine the impact of these changes on the organization. This is referred to as impact analysis. There are several impact that can be seen immediately after the launch of plans to transform a particular area in an organization. One of these impacts is an increased efficiency. Whereas the past of a business or organization may have been characterized wastage of time and resources, mistreatment of employees, there would be evidential changes in the way things are managed in this organization. On the other hand, there is need to check whether every rule and regulation that have been laid down by the organization. This will ensure that there is nothing that goes amiss.