Two Most Important Problems Affecting the Organization
The two most important problems to solve with minimal resources are communication and motivation (intrinsic). Communication is a vital aspect in any organization but the top management precisely the CEO has not realized it. The company has experienced budget and a short-term hiring freeze. The reasons for the move have not been communicated, and this causes anxiety among employees regarding the actual future of the firm. Also, the CEO indicated that only the top 10% employees would receive raises as it used to be and only if they exceeded the performance expectations but no one knows the performance metrics or criteria to qualify for the top players. The CEO has failed to explain the goals that employees need to attain to qualify among the top 10% of the high performers. Numerous changes are ongoing, but no one is communicating with the workers. Typically, employees are worried because changes tend to impact their jobs negatively. Lack of proper communication causes anxiety among them.
Lack of proper motivation has contributed to the low levels of satisfaction. Skyler, one of the top performers in the organization, complained about lack of recognition for his efforts in the firm. The firm missed the most important aspect that motivation is not only extrinsic, which implies that pecuniary benefits are good but only to a certain extent. While money can be a significant motivating factor for an individual, it may fail to have a similar effect on another. For instance, the company is a great place to work, has reasonable policies, salaries, and benefits above the industry policies but the employees are still unhappy. Reasons are attributed to lack of recognition of worker performance and achievements, inconsistent methods of employee promotions, lack of employee involvement in decision-making, and poor job designs that lead to boredom. If the factors are re-evaluated, the levels of employee satisfaction will increase.
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Theories/Concepts that Would Assist in Solving the Two Problems
The first theory is the participative leadership concept and the second one is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Description of the Theories/Concepts
Participative leadership is one of the theories that the company can employ in empowering and involving the employees in the organization. According to Solomon (2015), this kind of approach encourages teamwork, creativity, and innovation among workers. Unlike the current leadership style in the company where communication is solely top-down with minimal to no consultation with the employees, the participative approach removes the barriers to information transfer. Workers are free to meet with their supervisors to discuss performance goals; the company communicates emerging issues with employees on a constant basis, and operations are fully team oriented. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is also applicable in this case.
The pyramid below describes the needs.
The Maslow’s pyramid above can guide managers in motivating employees. Money is a crucial element of motivation because employees use it to purchase their needs and want such as physiological and safety needs. Workers also use salary as the scorecard to determine the value an organization attaches to their services. However, with time, employees need to feel a sense of belonging to the organization; their esteem needs should be met for them to perform effectively ( Greene, 2010). While the two tiers at the bottom of the pyramid (physiological and safety) focus on extrinsic motivation, those above them (love and belonging as well as esteem) are inclined to intrinsic motivation. The four needs run concurrently, and managers should focus on attaining them to create a highly motivated workforce.
Aligning Theory/Concept to the Problem
The leadership style in an organization has a direct effect on the mode of communication ( Schwartz & Gimbel, 2000) . Currently, the company is utilizing the transactional leadership style, which is based on rewards and punishments as a way of motivating workers. The top management issues directives and orders on performance and expected total surrender from the employees. In this type of leadership, employees cannot find an intrinsic motivator, so employees work under fear and are not excited about the rewards.
However, to alleviate the existing communication problem, the company needs to shift from transactional leadership style to a participative management approach since the latter advocates for constant employee involvement in managing the organization ( Papa et al ., 2008); while the former is purely authoritarian ( Schwartz & Gimbel, 2000) . With the participative style of leadership, the top management will boost group communication, open discussions, and information sharing before the implementation of ideas. Further, constant employee involvement in the decision-making aspects of the company contributes to high levels of motivation because they feel part of the firm ( Rakowski, 2011). Thus, since they recognize the direction of the firm and the effect of the decisions on their jobs, the high levels of anxiety will plummet.
Based on the concepts drawn from the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the high levels of employee dissatisfaction can be lessened by recognizing their efforts besides giving them attractive packages ( Rakowski, 2011). For instance, the firm moved Skyler to a solitary office without consulting him since they thought it would have motivated him. However, it has been one of the leading causes of his poor performance at work. If Skyler had been consulted before the decision was made, maybe he would not be complaining about his current work life in a solitary office.
Action Plan for Managers to Solve the Problem
Currently, the organization is not financially stable; which signifies that the strategies need to have minimal effects on its income statement. Thus, the following action plans would be effective. First, a change of leadership style is paramount. The company should shift from its current mechanistic structure to an organic approach that embraces employee input ( Schwartz & Gimbel, 2000). The manager should liaise with the CEO to set up a meeting for the entire organization so that the changes and their resulting effecting on jobs can be communicated to the employees.
Secondly, managers should discuss with their subordinates on the modes of operation. Before a decision that directly affects the employee is made, there should be room for worker input so that it does not have an adverse effect on their motivation. Greene (2010) asserts that s hared decision-making leads to high-quality decisions and employees feel part of the entity.
Lastly, managers should advocate for an employee-centered leadership and communication style rather than the present one were decisions are made that the top. Papa et al . (2008) opine that t eamwork will lead to creativity and quality decision making; hence higher returns for the firm. Otherwise, the organization is destined to fail if it continuously employs its present management style because dissatisfied employees cannot perform beyond expectations.
References
Greene, R. J. (2010). Rewarding performance: Guiding principles; custom strategies . Routledge.
Papa, M., Daniels, T., Spiker, B. & Foulger, J. (2008). Organizational communication: perspectives and trends . Thousand Oaks California London, England: SAGE Publications.
Rakowski, N. (2011). Maslow's hierarchy of needs model - the difference of the Chinese and the Western pyramid on the example of purchasing luxurious products . München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Schwartz, M. K., & Gimbel, K. G. (Eds.). (2000). Leadership resources: A guide to training and development tools . Center for Creative Leadership.
Solomon, L. (2015). The Top Complaints from employees about their leaders. Harvard Business Review Digital Articles , 2–5.
