The Importance of Personal Leadership - Essay Example

Personal leadership 1.0 Leadership Qualities In a highly competitive market, leadership qualities are important to inculcate and instigate others and us to perform in unison. Motivation to perform remains the biggest prerogative of a leader. In a challenging industrial environment, it is the motivation of fellow employees that makes the difference between success and also-ran. Motivation can come about through encouragement and rewarding. We as human beings always seek returns for our work, and once this is identified, work will fall into place. Rewarding others for their hard work through additional bonuses, promotions and other incentives will help in motivating others around you to perform to your satisfaction. These catalysts act as a booster for greater individual and group benefits. If I had $10 million to spend, I would invite all the employees to a party and acknowledge the contribution of each member of the team in the success of my goal. I would spend a quarter of the money on all the necessities of my employees, which include, housing, educational needs of their children, an all-paid holidays for the most outstanding employees, with a promise to continue the same for the others who missed the opportunity this time around, with a promise to enhance periodic training facilities to those who feel insecure and inefficient. In an organization, it is direction and motivation that remains the biggest challenge. As a leader, the foremost prerogative remains the well-being of his/her subordinates. I would call myself a successful leader only when I see that my employees are happy to work for me. As a leader, my vision would be to see that my team members are rewarded and compensated for their hard work and support. The best methods to boost the morale and efficiency of my team would be to offer them the following: Helping people overcome their limitations to become more successful at work is at the heart of effective management. This is what one has to develop to become a leader of men. Promotion from within will elicit healthy competition among the workforce. Some may say that this could be discriminating, but the fact remains that the company is impartial and recognises the need for its workforce do well and earn more. An employee who feels secure will work for the organisation with sincerity and dedication, so the offer of long-term retention will help immensely. Thus, in order to bring about healthy changes, a leader must focus on pro-labour policies. Some of these are as follows: 1. Employment Security 2. Selectivity in Recruiting: Look for people with an attitude to succeed rather than perform. 3. High wages: This is an area that must be addressed frequently to enhance better performance. 4. Incentive pay: Pay liberally for the hard work. This is a way to the worker’s heart. Incentives in the form of bonus and promotions are mandatory. 5. Employee Ownership: This will only instigate the workers to show more responsibility and support in the management goal. 6. Information Sharing: There is little interaction between top management and middle management. Identify yourself with the workers. Show them that you belong with them, and that they are all one. This will also help in periodic evaluation of individuals and teams for recognition. 7. Participation and Empowerment: As I said, there needs to be equal participation and involvement to bring about a sense of oneness in the company. 8. Teams and Job Redesign: Team work is must for efficiency and better output. This rule must be implemented to cover any weak links in the labour department. 9. Training and Skill Development: This should be continuous so that workers get to stay focused and confident of performing vital multi-faceted roles within the production unit. . 10. Cross-Utilization and Cross-Training: This will help plug any weak link within labour, and production will continue to push smoothly. 11. Symbolic-Egalitarianism: This remains a bane in the industry. More manager-supervisor-labour interactions can help relieve tension and build trust among the workforce. 12. Wage Compression: There must be no compromise on rewarding for hard work. Wage compression is suppression of progress, as labour tends to feel neglected and will show no inclination to work. 13. Promotion from within: As mentioned above, wage and promotions can enhance competition within the workforce and improve productivity. 14. Long-term Perspective: Retention is an important aspect of growth. Recruitment policies should be directed to identifying suitable people for long-term retention, and not stop gap. 15. Measurement of labour Policies and Practices: Policies should be made pro-labour and target-oriented. To balance these takes some beating. Most of the above mentioned points are pro-labour and must be practiced with élan. 2.0 HR Policies Human Resource Management is an evolving and changing concept. Considering the complexity of human resource, the manager must implement policies with a distinct identity, analogical to the organisation’s needs. Every organisation has a unique culture or identity. This culture represents the organisation’s image as seen by the outside world. Most organisations don't consciously try to create this culture. It is inherent to the principle that it pursues, and developed over years of practice by the organisational head. A true organisational culture should be based on: Respect for others A sense of community Work ethics (Fortune Magazine, May 15, 1995) Human Resource (HR), is a planned approach to managing people effectively for performance. It aims to establish a more open, flexible and caring management style so that staff will be motivated, developed and managed in a way that they can give of their best to support the concerned departments. Good HRM practices are instrumental in achieving departmental objectives and enhance productivity. In the larger interest of a company it is imperative that employees are taught the nuance of the trade. Personnel with positive attitudes and can lend themselves to the causes are what organisations look for. Employees are taught to be positive, deliver quality work, have a sense of humour, and work as a team. Employees should be interested in performing as a team and take joy in team results, rather than individual accomplishments. I, as a leader will strive to put this into practice and see my organisation reap the rewards for team work and harmony. Building a team with members with such exemplary qualities mitigate the work of an organisation and they can build a work force that is prepared for the culture one desire (Corporate Culture, Auxillium West –The HR Manager). The Japanese have for years perfected the art of team work. The management supports their staff wholeheartedly and the workforce functions in unison with company motives and policies. Strong human resource practices are characterised by an equally strong internal labour market, consultative decision making and enterprise unionism. Such practices, individually and collectively, encourage the incorporation of employees into the mainstream of activities. This results in a strong employee-management relationship, leading to employee identification with the firm, and a high commitment to innovative production practices that enhance the firm’s performance. In return the firm or organisation, in recognition of their dedication and hard work, provides job security and rewards (John Benson and Philippe Debroux, HRM in Japanese Enterprises: Trends and Challenges). Many have felt that HR practices are company-biased and shed away from employees. This was true in the earlier decades, but with time and development, organisational heads have come to recognize the importance of its employees in the success of its goal or vision. Greater flexibility and pro-labour attributes result in positive employee-employer relationship. Japanese HRM policies have always harboured on equality and equal opportunity. Their policies remain pro-labour and there is no distinction between the blue- and white-collared jobs, leading to equal participation and better productivity. This is perhaps how HRM practices need to be oriented for the benefit of the employees and the organistion that they work in. Employees are seen as proactive inputs in production processes, capable of development, worthy of trust and collaboration, leading to higher achievements through equal participation and informed choice. Stress is on generating commitment through communication, motivation and leadership. If employees’ commitment yields better economic performance, it leads to greater human development (Monir H. Tayeb, P.6, 2005)1 In the words of Guanzi (551-479 B.C) the ever popular Chinese philosopher, "When planning for one year, there's nothing better than planting grain, When planning for ten years, there's nothing better than planting trees, When planning for a lifetime, there's nothing better than planting men". 3.0 Leadership Considering that Human Resource is an area of specialised service, I as a leader would inculcate the following practices in my organisation to produce better results: What better way to conclude, than to express the role of HRM in the mould of a machine, which churns pedestrians into professionals. Covers Flexible Working: Flexible working hours is a way to enhance production and work among the working class. Women should be given the preference to work during the day, so that they can reach home to their family by evening. In cases where women have to stay back late, ample security would be provided. Discrimination against women will decrease considerably once they work during the day and have ample security. Equal Employment Opportunities: Prohibit discrimination in employment on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religion, marital or family status, sexual orientation and age. Discrimination occurs when: a disabled person is treated less favorably than someone else and the reason for the treatment relates to the person’s disability; and this treatment cannot be justified Discrimination also occurs where There is a failure to make a reasonable adjustment for a disabled person; and that failure cannot be justified. Physically handicapped people may find it hard to climb staircases or move around their work area due to physical obstructions in the way. Unless these are removed or provision is made for their unrestricted movement, these people will not be able to perform their duty. Equal Pay and Equal Values: I would stop discrimination in the contractual area of the terms and conditions between men and women employees. Despite performing the same kind of job, men were being paid more than their women counterparts. This practice will be removed and in its place, equal pay for both sexes will be implemented. 4.0 Conclusion In the event of managing an organisation, it is imperative that the manager (leader) stands by his/her employees and device policies that are favourable to them. This does not mean that the organisation should be avoided. All policies that are made are pro-company, and so there is nothing new that needs to be done on that front. As a leader, it is my responsibility to see that I get the best out of my subordinates that will help me achieve the organisational goal. Thus I would seek changes that are employee-specific. 5.0 References Corporate Culture, Auxillium West –The HR Manager, www.auxillium.com John Benson and Philippe Debroux, HRM in Japanese Enterprises: Trends and Challenges Monir H. Tayeb, International Human Resource Management: A Multinational Company Perspective, Oxford University Press, 2005 Fortune Magazine, May 15, 1995 Read More