Understanding and improving work behaviour management essay

Introduction

Great Managers aren’t born; they are made through hard work. An inspirational manager believes in developing and motivating his employees by consistently follow simple repeatable management functions in order to improve the work behaviour. lt is important that, a manager leads the team, according to acceptable leadership principles. Inspirational manager treats each individual as a valuable person and acknowledges their contributions while ensuring that their needs are satisfied. In order for a successful and inspirational manager to operate efficiently and effectively he must poses the skills and competencies of the new management approach. Successful management is brought about by the relationship between the manager and the staff. In the end, it is the manner in which managers manage their work force that separates ordinary managers from the good and inspirational managers. According to literature, it is also well acknowledged that healthy relationships are based on mutual trust, engagement and commitment. For the benefit of an organization inspirational manager’s essential role should be to build these relationships, so that the set activities are completed with enthusiasm, effectively, on time and willingly. In order to alleviate the complexity of good management practice that leads to successful organization, the following broad functions are considered and will form the basis of this document: The new management approachInspirational managerThe planning functionThe organization functionUnderstanding and improving work behaviourThe control functionAs earlier mentioned, any manager who sincerely follows these simple functions will inspire a more motivated and productive team that achieve its objectives with a minimum of friction and a maximum of harmony.

Personal Information

Fessor Mbango started his technical career in 1997 at Allied Electronics as a trainee Electronics Technician after completing the theoretical part of his National N6 Diploma at Western Province Technical College in Cape Town that was finally awarded in 1999. At Allied Electronics Fessor was involved with the repairs and modification of various domestic electronics appliances. Apart from technical work Fessor was also involved in procurement and stock control of all spares. Between 2000 and 2006, Fessor was employed by NAMDEB in the position of a Control & Instrumentation (C&I) trainee Technician, C&I Technician and Supervisor acting. At the same time Fessor completed another National N6 Diploma in Control and Instrumentation through Pretoria West College of Engineering in Pretoria. Fessor received the entire NAMDEB C&I training program and during his time at NAMDEB Fessor has played a very significant role in co-ordinating and providing an engineering C&I maintenance and project services that benefited the company. He has also represented the department as a Safety Health and Environmental (SHE) Official. Fessor has gained a vast amount of experience in the design, modification and upgrading of Diamond Processing Plant, Maintenance, Calibration, and Installation of Process Instruments, including X-ray Diamond Sorting machines, PLC and SCADA systems. Between 2007 and 2011 Fessor has worked on a contract basis at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) while studying. He completed a National Diploma and Bachelor of Technology, Electrical Engineering including a certificate in Project Management. During this period Fessor has carried out a number of projects that includes the refurbishment of the Institution reticulation network, harmonic analysis on the CPUT network and the establishment of the IEC61850 substation automation Laboratory at CPUT. Fessor obtain his Master’s Degree (Elec. Eng.) at CPUT (2009) and is currently employed by Erongo RED as a Technical Manager: Energy Management and Revenue Protection within the Commercial Services Business Unit.

A new Management Approach

A manager is an employee whom authority has been delegated to direct the work of others and is responsible for the output of that workforce. He is expected to perform leadership role and his behaviour will help motivate employees to work towards approved goals. According to Goethe as sited in (Du Toit, 1998), ” If you treat a man as he is, he will remain as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he could be and should be, he will become what he could be and should be”. It is therefore the responsibility of each manager to follow the management approaches and principles that will suit the environment within which he operates as the workforce without proper management will remain uncoordinated and can accomplish almost nothing. The application of combined management approaches will assist managers to promote job-satisfaction, need-satisfaction and high moral among the subordinates. For this purpose three management approaches has been chosen and will be applied: The first approach is the classical approach which is dated back to the industrial revolution. This is an approach that places confidence on Fayol’s fourteen management principles such as division of work, unity of command, balance between authority and responsibility including the delegation to establish relationships between managers and their subordinates. This approach is based on the discipline of management and the process of management fundamentals (Robbins et al, 2013). The second approach is the behavioural approach. This approach is often referred to as organizational behaviour as it focuses on addressing the human dimension of work. Management principle of the classical approach did not address the employees’ motivation and behaviour. This approach is therefore based on the better understanding of employees’ behaviour at work such as motivation, leading, building trust, teamwork, managing conflict, group dynamics, expectation and improved productivity. The above enable inspirational managers to achieve their goals with a minimum of friction and a maximum of harmony (Robbins et al, 2013). The third approach is the contemporary approach. Unlike early approaches to management that focuses on concerns within the organization, this approached look at what is happening in the external environment outside the organization. This is a modern approach to management and includes the system approach, that view an organization as a system, which is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified whole and the contingency approach that indicates that individual organizations, employees and situations are different and require different way of managing. The above have significantly shaped up modern management thought (Robbins et al, 2013). The main drawback of the above approaches is that they cannot be successfully implemented individually. Since the author is operating within the technical environment (electricity distribution) where safety and down time is a major problem in terms of service delivery and quality of supply, the combination of the above approaches enable the manager to practice the following tasks: Lead the team, according to acceptable leadership principles, while ensuring that all team members are aware of, and aligned to, the organization’s mission, vision and values. Understands and makes known the section’s goals and explains the purpose of operational instructions, policies, procedures and regulations to subordinates. Develops standards, adheres to and promotes Corporate Governance within the Business Unit and throughout the Group. Motivate subordinates and ensure they gain a combination of competence, confidence, Comfort and a sense of ownership as this will urge them to do the right job right the first time. Ensure the implementation of appropriate training programmes, to provide the necessary skills to meet present and future needs. Ensure that a safe and healthy working environment is provided for all employees working in the section. The above tasks will guide subordinates so that they willingly produce the desired quantity and quality of work within a desired time. The above will also promote job-satisfaction, need-satisfaction and high morale among the employees and customers as this is the goals of any inspirational manager.

Inspirational Manager

A manager without followers is not successful. Followers need to be influenced, persuaded or inspired in order to follow the leader. The most crucial element of management is the ability to inspire subordinates to achieve high performance and success, therefore this is the skills that most managers require. It is therefore that an inspirational Manager has passion, purpose, meaning and listening skills etc., as these help successful manager to be inspirational. In addition, the ability to communicate the above to other individuals helps establish the inspirational culture of an organization as these enable inspiration, motivation and teamwork among the subordinates. The author will therefore use the above role and skills to improve his management style and become an inspirational manager within his area of operation and organization as a whole. The above will be achieved through the following management principles or personalities: Increased enthusiasm – Passion is everything and one cannot inspire others unless you’re inspired yourself. Direct a course of action – Inspiring managers articulate a vision that is simple, concise, bold and achievable. Sell the benefit – Inspiring managers sell the benefit behind reaching their vision. The employees care about their hopes, dreams and ambitions. It is therefore evident that should you help people achieve their dreams then they will walk through walls for you. Paint a picture – Inspiring Managers incorporate clear communication in and outside the workplace. Invite participation – Inspiring Managers solicit feedback, listen and incorporate what they hear. Reinforce optimism – Successful Managers are more optimistic than average. They are always focused on the long-term value. Encourage employees’ potential – When employees recognize your commitment to help them grow as individuals, they will return the gesture with respect, loyalty and commitment. The above will inspire the subordinates to believe and look up to the author as they will feel empowered and equipped with the sense of ownership. The section will be responsible and productive, leaving the manager with enough time to concentrate on the four broad functions that includes Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling.

The Planning Function

Planning is a primary management function or work that managers do to master the future, and achieve certain objectives. It includes defining goals, establishing strategy and developing plans to coordinate activities. (Robbins et al, 2013: 30-31, 128). Planning bridges the gap between where we are and where we want to be and is vital to effective teamwork as the only way to integrate the effort of innovative productive people, is to encourage them to think thoroughly. Planning is further divided into formal and informal planning: Formal planning – specific goals covering a specific time period are defined and written down and specific plans are developed to make sure those goals are met. Informal planning – With this planning, very little if anything is written down. What needs to be accomplished is in the head of one or a few people. This planning is general and lacks continuity. In any working environment or organization decision making exists and managers cannot just forget about or ignore making decision. Decision making is therefore regarded as a function that management perform to reach the conclusions and judgements necessary for people to act (Du Toit, 1989: 14-1). Before making a decision, a manager should diagnose the situation and various way of acting. Decision making is a process and it is therefore recommended that manager should follow the eight steps of the decision making process that start with the identification of the problem and ends with the evaluating the effectiveness of the decision taken (Robbins et al, 2013: 94). The following three perspectives indicate how manager makes decision and are defined as follows: Rational model – The problem is clear and unambiguous, a single well-defined goal is to be achieved, all alternative and consequences are known and the final choice will maximize the payoff. Bounded rationality – Managers makes rational decisions but is limited by their ability to process information and decision maker accept solution that are good enough. Escalation of commitment – An increased commitment to a previous decision despite the evidences that it may have been a poor decision. In order to achieve the section objectives the author is willing to implement the above planning and decision making process as discussed. The author will be in position to identify the goals first, execute the planning process using the steps involved and finally decide on what needs to be done. This will lead to a better utilization of subordinates and resources while ensuring a better control.

The organization Function

An organization is a systematic arrangement of people brought together to accomplish some specific purpose (Robbins et al, 2013: 26). The organization is made up of a structure and can be simply described as a specific structure or framework of established posts in which people carry out certain actions and are so grouped that they can pursue a common goal. This structure has a personality which is called its culture. The organizational culture is defined as the shared values, principles, traditions and way of doing things that influence the way organizational member act. There are links within the organizational structures by means of communication. Communication is therefore defined as a transfer of understanding and meaning from one person to another. The above concept will enable the author to create a happy and encouraging work place where employees want to work through the following: Create the right environment. Develop a pleasant management stylePromote openness and trust. Recognize contributions. Encourage team identity. Empower/enable the employees. Discuss the plan to empower people in my workplace in my group.

Understanding and Improving Work Behaviour

According to (Ivancevich et al, 2008) a group is defined as two or more individuals interacting with each other to accomplish a common goal. The study has analyse the impact the group has on the individual, factors affecting the behaviour of the individual, human relations theory and the factors affecting the behaviour and performance of the individual in the group. According to Mullins (2002) as cited in (Ivancevich et al, 2008), the performance of a group depends on how well its members engage in communication with each other or interacts with each other and also on how the individual learns in the group. The behaviour of the individual in a group are explained through Perception, Attribution, Orientation, Role and branded rationality. As cited is (Ivancevich et al, 2008): Maund (2001: 444) defines perception as the process by which individuals interpret sensory impression so that they can assign meaning to it. According to Luthans (2002: 197) attribution refers to ” how people explains the cause of another’s or their behaviour”. Role is the part played by the individual in caring out their duties (Armstrong 2009). According to Armstrong (2009) the ways individuals understands how complicated the situation they are in and their reaction to the situation limits the way they behave rationally and this is termed branded rationality. Individual performance in the groups are also being affected by the following factors that includes Group norms, Social support, Peer Pressure, Individual Accountability and Conflict as cited in Ivancevich et al (2008). Norms are of great importance to groups in controlling behaviour and in measuring performance. Social support is receiving help from other people when in need of help. Individuals in a group can benefit from the members of the group while members who are not part of the group cannot enjoy such benefits, having friends to talk with, to gain insight from, to listen to during times of need or borrow money from, all this are forms of support. Peer pressure is when other people impose pressure on a person. Peers have influence over others, by listening to other people a person learns from them and they also learn from the individual. Individual accountability can be defined as ” an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s action. Individual accountability is a foundational component as it evaluates an individual core competence, strength and weaknesses. Competition is one of the main causes of conflict in a group, when the members of a group are in competition against each other it can lead to conflicting interest. Some groups encourage competition because they believe that when members of the group compete against each other it will result to successful performance or quick performance but mostly it might lead to conflict. It is therefore believed that no individual can have all the necessary qualities needed for a job but a group of individuals can, and when they come together with their different qualities it can lead to a successful decision making. With the above in mind the author will study each individual under his leadership and formulate a strategy to create teamwork within his section. Organizational culture will also be one of the contributing tools including clear communication. Additional to that will be training and development of the subordinates and ensure that their needs are satisfied too.

The Control Function

When a manager plans, he predetermines a course of action that will enable the team to reach the set objectives. Whether or not he stays on the predetermined course depends on how well he performs the management function of controlling. Control is therefore defined as the management function that involves monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations (Robbins et al, 2013: 370). Manager cannot really know whether their units are performing as they should, until they have evaluated the activities being done and compare the actual performance with the desired standard. On the other hand, the qualities of an effective control system ensure that the activities are completed in ways that lead to the achievement of the organization goals. The effectiveness of a control system is determined by how well it facilitates goals attainment. Hence the more a control system helps managers achieve their organization’s goals, the better it is. Apart from controlling, the term operations management appear as we look at a bigger picture. Operations management refers to the design, operation and control of the transformation process that convert such resources as labour and raw materials into goods and services that are sold to customers. The process of managing these sequences of activities and information along the entire value chain is termed Value chain management (Robbins et al, 2013: 392-397). Since the author is in the metering industry, the above concept will be used to control the meter movements from the time delivered from the factory into the store through commissioning until the day that it is decommissioned. The concept can also be used in to control in terms of revenue that is being collected through the meter and help with the monitoring of customers purchasing behaviour that leads to the process called revenue protection. Overall the concept will allow the author to control and measure the department performance.

Conclusion

In conclusion the assignment is aimed at designing a management model consisting among others, a management approach, and a manager’s profile as well as the fundamental management functions that can be applied to manage an organization more effectively and efficiently at junior or middle management level. The document has taken a close look at the four management functions, their effects and the process involved that leads to inspirational management.

Recommendation

Inspirational manager always figure out how to get great outcomes by setting the appropriate context, rather than by trying to control their subordinates. It is therefore recommended that managers should first master the four main management functions in order to get direction. After mastering the above, the manager must work on his behaviour towards the subordinates and those around him. It is of utmost important for a manager to develop a habit of getting the workforce to follow him and take full responsibility of all aspects delegated by the manager and carry out those responsibilities willingly.