Case Study: Employability Skills And Performance Of An Organization

Factors affecting organizational performance

Describe about the case study for Employability Skills for The performance of an organization hugely depends upon the way the organization handles the employees in the organization?

The performance of an organization hugely depends upon the way the organization handles the employees in the organization. The performance of the employees depends upon the operations and the functions of the organization. While working in an organization, there are various issues that come in front of the organization. However, it is up to the employers how they handle the issues and try to implement a feeling of well-being in the organization.

Motivation of the employees during the times of problems helps an organization to overcome these challenges and flourish in the industry. Motivations can be intrinsic as well as extrinsic. For intrinsic motivation, the employer needs to back up the employees and make them understand the values of the organization and the reason why the organization and the employees are inter-dependent on each other. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation helps the employees to work when they know that their work will be appreciated with the bonus or and rewards. After the difficult situation is over, the organization needs to compensate the employees who worked for the organization.  In addition to this, communication between the employer and the employees need to be clear and transparent. Once the senior managers communicate properly and respectfully with the junior employees, the junior employees will be clear about the future goals and achievements, they will be able to perform better as they will know their future in the organization. Another factor that helps in the building of the organization is the team management and the co-operation among the team members. The employer should be able to manage the team well and promote good relations among the employees so that the employees coordinate with each other and cooperate with each other. There can be cultural differences among the employees. It is the duty of the team leader to overcome the difference and help the employees to understand the perspectives of the organization as well as the perspective of the fellow employees and work for the betterment of the organization as well as for personal development.

The assignment will look into the team management, factors that help in building a good team, the motivations that will drive the team, the communication process and the factors that are important for the management of a team. Finally, it will present the responsibilities of the team members and the team dynamics in the organization.

Motivational techniques to improve quality of performance

Arcadia Group Ltd has developed certain performance objectives to satisfy the customers from different aspects. They have set certain objectives where the employees will take up the responsibility to deliver good quality products to the customers. They have taken up the responsibility of using high quality fabrics and engage the best tailors so that the clothes that are delivered to the customers do not receive any sort of complaints. Arcadia Group aims to move ahead of the competitors in the market. The retail industry in the market of the United Kingdom is already very strong. Hence, it has taken up the objective of delivering good quality products at an affordable price so that they are able to sustain the customers (Sirota and Klein 2013).

Being in the quality department, I had to look into the quality of the products. I have engaged a team of experts who will have knowledge about the fabrics and the latest designs. The fabric will sustain the customers and the latest design will mainly attract the young generations. To keep Arcadia group updated with the competitors I will keep myself updated with the latest designs that are being implemented in the market (Mone and London 2014). The quality department not only supervises the quality, it also supervises the designs that have become obsolete. Eventually, arcadia group will either remove the old designs or will do changes in the old design to redesign the clothes according to the tastes and preferences of the customers.

While in the process of delivering good quality products and services, I have encountered various problems which acted as barriers. The main problem that I have faced while trying to meet the performance objectives are the costing of the products. The organization has taken the initiative to deliver good quality products at an affordable price (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra 2014). We found it difficult to adjust the cost of the raw materials. Moreover we had to hire experts to get the suggestions regarding the choice of the fabrics as well as tailors who will deliver good quality products (Hewitt 2012). The customers will be attracted to the company who will provide them with good quality products. Hence, it was difficult for us to manage the finances as well as fulfill the performance objectives of the company.

Once the organization will take up any performance objectives for the organization, it is likely that the organization will face challenges to achieve the objectives. However, once the employees will be motivated in the organization, there is a high chance that the organization will be able to overcome the challenges easily. Douglas Mc Gregor in the year, 1960 had given rise to X and Y theory of motivation (McGregor 1960). The way of handling the employees depend upon the theories that the organization will employ. In theory X, the employees are de-motivated, and the employer implements an authoritarian style of leadership to manage the employees. Theory X employs the carrot and stick method of motivating the employees. Once the employees will perform well, they will get a carrot that is reward and when the performance of the employees will not be up to the mark, they will get a stick that is they will be punished (Graves, Sarkis and Zhu 2013). On the contrary, theory Y implements a participative style of leadership. The employees are given chance of promotion and the employees are given new roles so that there is a chance of personal development.

Work Based Problems and Solutions

Arcadia Group Ltd implements the theory Y to engage the employees and overcome the challenges in the organization. After the implementing Y theory, chances are high that the employees will be able to perform well in the organization (Robbins et al. 2013). Once the employee will feel that the employers are looking after the personal growth of the employees, they will also work hard for the organization and try to deliver products and services in a prompt manner. It might happen that the employees might suggest ways to reduce the cost of the raw materials and increase the revenues (Griffin 2013). In this way, the organization will be able to achieve the performance objectives and stay ahead of the competitors in the market.

When a group of individual is working in one place, conflicts will be a common problem in the organization. Conflicts may occur due to difference in interests as well as differences in the designations (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). However, it is important that the employer of the organization takes proper steps to handle those conflicts in the organization. Experts have identified certain types of conflicts and problems that might arise in the workplace. The different types of problems are:

Lack of resources in the organization

Once the organization will not have enough resources, the work within the organization will be hampered (Moore 2014). The lack of resources can be in the form of human resources, financial resources or raw materials that are required for the organization to functions well. The lack of resources will not only hamper the operations, it will stop the employees to deliver work at the correct time. Eventually, the employees will not feel good about working in the organization.

Intergroup conflict

Intergroup conflict might arise when two groups are given similar work. The competition among the groups will give rise to tough competition which might take the shape of conflict. However, it is the duty of the employers to stop the conflict (Beehr 2014).

Conflict between individuals

Two individuals who are working in the similar post might get into a conflict. The conflict might happen when two individual are assigned similar task and they have to prove themselves successful (Kelly et al. 2014).

Cultural conflict

Cultural conflict happens when an organization operates in different locations. The employer has to employ staffs from the international location. The staffs that are there in the organization might get into conflict with the staffs that are new to the organization. The main conflict will arise when the employer has to decide on the holidays as there will be people from different cultures.

Solutions

The best way to solve the issues in the organization is communication. The team leader can communicate on a daily basis to the team members to understand the problems they are facing in the organization. Once the organization is running through a resource crisis that should also be communicated to the employees wither through meeting or through personalized mails. However problems between the employees could be solved by the departmental heads by discussing the problems with the employees on a regular basis.

There are various types of communicative techniques that can be applied in the organization to solve the issues. However, there is one model of communication that should be applied in all types of communication. Harold Dwight Lasswell gave rise to the Lasswell model which presents a simple mode of communication (Lasswell 1948)

Figure 1: Laswell’s model of Communication

(Source: Lasswell 1948)

 The team elders will talk to the employees face-to-face and on daily basis. The small issues regarding problem with the fellow employees, clash of interest and the problems of cultural differences should be solved in the initial stage.

The big issues like the lack of resources or change in operations in the organization should be delivering by the senior managers wither through a meeting where the employees will be present and the updated should reach the employees through mails (Broadbent 2013).

However, all types of communication should follow the Laswell model, here the communicator should be sure what he or she wants to include in the message content, it is up to the communicator to use the correct method to deliver the message. The receiver should get the message right (Castells 2013). Most importantly, the effect with which the communicator is sending the massage should be proper in case of communication. The tone of the voice and the order of the words can change a normal statement into an order. Hence, the communicator should take into account the effect of the communication on the receiver of the message.

The most important factor in the time management strategy is arrangement of the work. The employees should know to prioritize the work and schedule the time that the employee should give in each work.

Need to carry out the floating task.

The employee should be able to do any work and in anytime.  In this way, the person will be able to save time (Goetsch and Davis 2014). Moreover, it is important that the employee should be flexible to do any kind of work. However, it is important that the employee decide which work should be given a positive reply and which work should be denied. Wasting time for a work that is not possible to carry out is the biggest negative factor in time management.

Relaxation in between work

To complete the work on time, it is important for the employees to relax and exercise in the middle of work. Once the employees are relaxed, they will be able to perform better and complete the work on time.

Our organization is a leading retail store in the United Kingdom named, Arcadia Group Ltd. Our organization has been performing in the market of the United Kingdom since the year 2000. However, recently, the organization is facing certain issues where the workers are not able to perform with each other. When the employees are asked regarding the problems, they were reluctant to share their problem with the senior managers. Thus, the immediate seniors like the team leaders started observing the employees by giving those tasks in different clusters (Belbin 2012). Every week the groups were changed with a new set of task. The team leader noticed that employees are not comfortable to work with the employees who belonged from different cultures. They performed well when they were asked to work with employees from the similar background. However, they had great difficulty in communicating with the employees who hailed from different culture (Menz 2012). United Kingdom is a place where people from varying countries come to reside in the country. Hence, Arcadia Group Ltd also has employees from different backgrounds. However, the employees were not able to communicate with each other due to different cultural background. In addition to this, they had clash of interest whenever they had to work in a group. The tasks, which were allocated to the people from the similar background, were carried out successfully. On the contrary, the tasks that were allocated to the employees from different backgrounds failed miserably (Hamel and Breen 2013).

To control the team members, Tuckman’s theory of team management can be applied in this situation. Tuckman’s theory suggests the forming, storming, norming and performing is a well-proven method to bring the team together (Tuckman and Jensen 1977).

Figure 2: Tuckman’s Model of team development

(Source: Tuckman and Jensen 1977)

In the forming stage, the team members are not well coordinated with each other. They do not agree with the actions that the other members are taking and are entirely dependent upon the team leader for the commands. In the storming stage, the team members get to understand the importance of working in team and understand that in a team success and failure is equally divided (Kerzner 2013). At times, certain difficult tasks can be made possible in a team. In this stage, they get to understand the roles and responsibilities. In the norming stage, the team members in this level socialize with the each other and they discuss things outside the work. These actions help them to know each other better and understand the cultural differences. Finally, the performing stage, the employees are expected to perform (Grunig 2013). Once the employees are known to each other, they will work for the betterment of the organization and they need carry out the work in a better manner.

The strategy of Tuckman is expected to serve the organization right. In the organization, the team members are facing problems as far as the team development is concerned. They are having problems with meeting the deadlines as Arcadia Group Ltd has promised the customers that they will deliver good quality products as a lesser price. On the other hand, the employees are having problems as far as cultural differences are concerned (Eden and Ackermann 2013). The employees were not able to work properly with the employees who belonged from a different culture as they had difficulty in commutating with each other. Tuckman’s model will be helpful as it aims at forming the group in a systematic and proper manner. The model explains the four steps distinctively along with the problems that the team members are facing in each stage. The model will be helpful for the leader as that person will be able to manage the team by evaluating each step while the problem at each stage in the organization (Belbin 2012).

Conclusion

The assignment concludes that there are various factors like the motivations, communication, time management and the team management hugely changes the way the team performs in an organization. Arcadia Group Ltd is one of the famous retail stores in the market of the United Kingdom. The organization aims at delivering proper good quality products to the customers but in an affordable price. On the other hand, the organization faces the challenge of costing where the organization had to get good quality raw materials at a high price, hire the experts well as the tailors. Hence, the organization implements the X and Y motivational theory, where Arcadia Group Ltd will incorporate the Y theory. The workers will be given the chance to incorporate their decisions as well as get proper rewards and benefits for their work. In this way, the employees will make extra effort to meet the challenges in the organization.

The write-up looked into the conflicts that can take place in the organization. The conflicts can be caused due to the lack of resources, intergroup conflict and the conflict between individuals. The conflict can be solved by proper communication. It is concluded that the Laswell model of communication is best-suited for the organization. The Laswell says that the communication in the organization should be clear and transparent so that there is no misunderstanding among the employees.

There can be problems of management of the team members. The problems might crop due to the differences in the culture among the employees. The employees perform well when they were given the tasks with the known members.  However, they fail to work when they are given the task with the different cultures. The Tuckman’s model of norming, forming, storming and performing model is best suited to manage team. Tuckman’s model is helpful as it clearly shows the four steps that are quite important for a leader to follow when the person is managing a team. Finally, the presentation shows the contribution of the members in the work and the importance of the team dynamics as it is the equal and intelligent contribution of the team members that will help an organization grow and prosper.

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