Paper Example on Managing People in Organizations

Introduction

Successful business organizations acknowledge that the biggest part of their growth and competitive advantage comes from the input of the employees in their duties. Research posits that human capital is the most important facet of business success, implying that it should be handled with immense concern. Successful business managers and decision-makers have consequently transitioned from the orthodox employee appraisal processes to the modern and more enterprising performance appraisal processes that align the performance of employees to that of the organization through its mission, visions, and values. Business leaders realized a misalignment of the company with its overall goals, in the event that they do not deploy cascading goals from the executive suite in department s and employees as individuals.

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Running an organization devoid of "clear line of sight" prompts struggles from within, in terms of accountability, and may also result in workforce redundancies. In order to avoid disruptions in the operations of an organization, management teams have learned the significance of developing a platform of passing on goals from one department to another, that ensures that the company's goals are successfully attained and the engagement of employees increased in the process (Binyamin, 2018). In order to achieve the overall goals of the organizations, all the employees must be committed to achieving them, through the performance of their assigned duties. However, there is a number of factors that affect the performance of employees in the organization (Pandita & Bedarkar, 2015). Taking the given excerpt as the case study, this research delves into discussing the factors that may affect the performance e of employees and the advice that can be given to the CEO of Yoghurt Surprise, Georgina. The following are some of the factors that affect employee performance in an organization, as explained below.

Leadership

When leadership comes is put into perspective, the underlying meaning is a process where an individual uses their position or power to influence other individuals of a group of people to achieve a common goal. Of importance to note about leadership is that it is a combination of attitude and behavior of the leader, which results in certain patterns that may positively or negatively the performance of the employees (Binyamin, 2018). There are different types of leadership styles that may be exhibited in an organization. These types may include transformational, transactional, dictatorial, servant, laissez-faire, charismatic, bureaucratic and many other styles of leadership. Research posits that, the style of leadership that manager or a business leader exhibits can influence the commitment of employees in their roles in an organization (Porter & Latham, 2012). For instance, transformational leadership, which involves proper communication and the creation of an environment of stimulation, is associated with positive employee performance. Since it involves the inclusion of employees to think outside their box and exhibit their creativity in their roles, employees would feel more comfortable around this type of leaders. Transactional leadership, however, negatively affects the performance of employees in their duties, as opposed to transformational. Ideally, this type of leadership rewards good performers but punishes bad performers and has a rigid way of passing the command from one stage to another. Employers would feel constrained to be creative in this type of leadership.

Servant leadership, which is regarded as the best of all, prioritizes the needs of the team, has a positive impact on the performance of employees in an organization. This type prefers power-sharing and inclusivity in making important decisions, where all groups in the organization are represented and their views are taken into account. This type of leadership makes the employees the most comfortable and makes them want to make more effort in the performances so that they can own the success of the project they work on (Porter & Latham, 2012). Lastly, laissez-faire leadership, which gives the employees the license to do whatever they think, is best for the company, and which is a tricky one, does not have much effect on the performance of employees. If anything, it may be deduced that it can negatively affect the performance of the organization in the long-term, since the leadership does not care about the results in the market. These examples, therefore, imply that the type of leadership affects employee performance in an organization. If the leadership resonates with the employees, then the performance will be high and vice versa.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is the common behaviors and values, beliefs, assumptions as well as ways of interaction that creates a unique social corporate environment of an organization. Organizational culture is inclusive of the expectations, values, philosophy, as well as the experiences that guide the employees and all members of the organization in the day to day activities, and which is expressed in self-image, interactions, inner working among other indicators (Rachmaliya & Efendy, 2017). The culture of an organization is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, as well as rules and regulations that govern how operations are done within it. Research stipulates that a strong culture in an organization is of paramount importance to the performance of employees since it enhances them to work towards the achievement of the company's goals. Norms and values of an organization highly affect those who are either directly or indirectly involved with the organization. A strong organizational culture will support and develop employee performance by motivating them towards the achievement of the common goal, and by channeling their behaviors towards the achievement of the company's goals (Rachmaliya & Efendy, 2017). It is vital to determine that employees' performance is hugely dependent on the organization's culture in that the values and the beliefs in the organization can act as a motivation or a hindrance e for the employees to work effectively. Also, shared and strongly held values help the management to predict the reactions of the employees to certain strategic options, implying that reducing these values would after the performance significantly.

Working Environment

The nature of the working environment that surrounds employees has massive effects on their performance. The working environment ranges from the machines for productions, physical resources including power, air conditioning, clean water, considerate pay, and many others. As mentioned already, the physical working related to the workplace occupiers' ability to have a connection with environment in their office (Rachmaliya & Efendy, 2017). The behavioral working environment has issues related to the connection of workplace occupiers and the effect of the environment on the behaviors of the occupiers. A good working environment is associated with high job satisfaction and lower intentions from employees to leave their jobs, since it offers the employees the chance to be creative and resourceful, even beyond their job descriptions (Rachmaliya & Efendy, 2017). A positive working environment has the propensity of making employees feel good about coming to work and delivering their services for the achievement of the company's goals, as it provides the motivation and the enthusiasm to sustain them throughout the day. Employers, therefore, have the responsibility of ensuring that the working environment is as favorable for the employees as possible.

Motivation

Motivation is a fundamental determinant of employee performance, with research positing that poorly motivated workforce can be costly in terms of staff turnover, higher expenses, increased use of management's time and negative morale. Motivation has six vital elements, which include rewards, pay, profit sharing, job enrichment, recognition, and promotion. The management must, therefore, know the things that can stimulate their workforce so that misallocation of resources is avoided, while also leading to job dissatisfaction (Tacho & Singh, 2018). Motivation plays a central figure and is a proactive element in performance in that the highest performing employees need to be motivated; otherwise, they would reduce their performance levels and leave their jobs to other organizations, where they would be well appreciated. In addition, while dealing low performers in an organization, motivation is a prerequisite as well; otherwise, such employees would drag the productivity of the firm even further down and would not leave the organization, since they have nowhere else they can get employment (Sandhu, et al., 2017). A motivated workforce is of paramount importance since a complete participation of all the employees would most certainly drive a company's profitability. A motivated workforce leads to a greater understanding, acceptance, speedy process of making decisions, commitment to the implementation of the goals, as well as understanding the underlying objectives.

Training

The level of training that the employees have can determine the performance levels they exhibit in their workplaces. It is true to assert that relevant training of the employees on how to handle different machinery and other technical roles within their workplaces increases their performance levels. Training enhances the level of skill, knowledge, and competency, which are needed to effectively perform work (Tacho & Singh, 2018). The available literature on the relationship between employee training and their performance posit that the more employees are competent, the higher their performances and vice versa. Effective training programs change employee competences and leads to performance improvement for both the employees as well as for the organization. Most of the managers offer training for their employees to increase the productivity of the organization or their performance, to achieve organizational goals to package the employees to succeed in a turbulent and unpredictable business environment (Tacho & Singh, 2018). The issues discussed above in depth could be some of the reasons why there are performance differences in Yoghurt Surprise and which Georgina needs to address.

One of the ways to address the above reason for the difference in employee performance is by developing corporate goals for the company. Normally, corporate goals are developed prior to the commencement of the fiscal year, with the senior management of an organization present during this strategic session. It is the mission and the vision of an organization that makes the foundation of these goals (Pandita & Bedarkar, 2015). A proper planning should be exhibited in the current era, so that there is a clear definition to the employees what needs to be done, why it is done, and the process to do it through behaviors that reflect the values of the organization (Porter & Latham, 2012). Creation of goals by an organization would increase the efficiency and overall productivity of the firm. The other way of addressing the explained concerns is by aligning goals and establishing high-level metrics for the company. Once the goals have been set, the management should then cascade them to the necessary units and divisions in the organization. In our case study, Georgina needs to have a management team that would help her in cascading these goals down to the employees (Pandita & Bedarkar, 2015). Other than the above measures, Georgina should aim to manage the set goals and performance of the employees. Management of performance is tied to the goals of the company, and unless they have been set, then it is impossible to man...