Human resource is one of the most critical factors of production in any organization. Besides providing the need labor, employees also play a crucial role in identifying areas for improvement in their work environment by proposing solutions to address the gaps, hence contribute to the organizational change and growth. Human resource managers’ response to issues raised by employees is fundamental to reducing turnover. Therefore, managers’ ability to access resources, their participation in decision making, and the managerial orientation towards change are crucial characteristics that demonstrate organizational readiness to lead change.
Resources such as the ones required to implement new processes, training employees, or developing new programs are crucial in organizational adaptation to change. Unrestricted access to such resources, enables the managers to devote improvement activities and experiment with new changes. However, as Mcclean, Burris, and Detert, 2012, state, these resources are often unequally distributed in most organization, hence the participation of managers in decision making becomes crucial in addressing issues that will lead to change. This participation gives the managers the platform to raise issues that need to be addressed in their units as well as help them secure the required resources to address them. Managerial proactivity towards identifying opportunities and problems in organizations as well as its proclivity to address the issue indicates readiness to lead change. Not only does overall positive motivation and orientation towards change affect how managers respond to these issues, but it also creates the conducive environment to initiate and implement changes.
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On the other hand, managers’ inability to access crucial resources within a company contributes to increased turnover. Managers’ skill and proactivity are essential in accessing these resources that are unequally distributed in most organizations. If a manager lacks the needed skills and proactivity to acquire these resources, the employees lose faith in him or her and the organization as well. They also conclude that the organization is disinterested in them and their ideas of change which increases their probability of quitting or engaging in counterproductive behaviors that lead to their dismissal (Henderson, Gulati, and Tushman, 2015). Managers’ inability to influence the decision-making process at higher management levels in an organization also increases turnover. It essential that managers get their input considered in higher-level decision making as this gives them the ability to advocate for issues raised by their employees (Henderson, Gulati, and Tushman, 2015). In so doing, the manager gives the employees the feeling that the organization is just when it comes to addressing issues related to their work environment, hence, reduce their likelihood to quit or engage in counter-productive behaviors that may lead to their termination. Also, the unwillingness of the management team to respond to issues raised by workers lead to increased turnover. In almost every organization, employees expect the management team to work in a coordinated manner to identify underlying problems, devise improvement plans and implement them successfully — management teams that do so routinely convince the employees that the managers are willing to address their issues (Mcclean, Burris, and Detert, 2012). On the contrary, if the management team is close-minded and uncommitted towards change, the employees feel the entire organization unresponsive and does not value their ideas for improvement. Often, this creates an unsatisfactory state to which the employees respond to by either quitting or getting terminated intentionally.
In conclusion, managers must be able to acquire the needed resources to address all issues raised by the employees. They should also acquire the right skills and motivation to influence upper management decision-making process as these enables them to advocate for issues raised by the employees. The entire management teams should also be oriented towards change and consider the issues raised by employees and their ideas for improvement. In so doing, organizations will reduce turnover and motivate the employees to over-perform.
References
Henderson, R., Gulati, R., & Tushman, M. (2015). Leading Sustainable Change. Leading Sustainable Change, 2-21. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198704072.003.0001
Mcclean, E. J., Burris, E. R., & Detert, J. R. (2012). When Does Voice Lead to Exit? It Depends on Leadership. Academy of Management Journal,56 (2), 525-548. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0041
