Assignment 2- Managing People
Understanding and Managing People
Executive Summary
The tall hierarchical structure, autocratic leadership, and weak organisational culture have instigated employee demoralisation and plummeting productivity in YMCA Wirral. The organisation uses an autocratic leadership and disregards engaging employees in decision-making processes and providing career development opportunities. To solve this problem, YMCA Wirral should integrate staff development strategies such as performance evaluation systems and training with staff intervention plans including coaching and mentoring. It should also reinforce employee involvement in setting organisational goals. At the same, it should adopt a flat organisational structure and incorporate the concepts of appreciative inquiry to buttress engagement, motivation, and teamwork.
Since my time as a manager in YMCA Wirral, I conducted different leadership and personality tests to assess whether my competency and leadership skills could salvage the situation facing the organisation. For instance, the Myer-Briggs test results showed that I have the commander personality (extrovert, intuition, thinking, and judging). The Bortner test revealed that I am moderately ambitious and impatient (moderate Type A personality). The leadership test showed my strong inclination towards participative leadership whereas the results from Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid showed that my leadership aim is to motivate and engage employees. Further, my strengths in Belbin’s report showed that I am innovative, achiever and adaptable leader whereas my weaknesses included poor strategic planning, disguised confidence, and lack of interest. Despite my leadership weaknesses, the results of the holistic reports stipulate that my leadership, personality, and cognitive abilities can be instrumental to improve the situation of YMCA Wirral.
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Task 1
Introduction
YMCA Wirral is a small non-profit organisation which employs between 15-20 people. They offer accommodation to individuals susceptible to drugs and alcohol addiction. The organisation uses a tall hierarchical structure with the concentration of power at the top management. Despite being in operation for over 140 years (YMCA Wirral, 2018), the YMCA encounters two overarching workplace challenges namely weak corporate culture and a poor performance management system. For instance, the organisation lacks programs for employee development and supervisory meetings. This situation has instigated employee demoralisation and poor organisational performance. On this aspect, this case study will examine and scrutinise the leadership approaches used by the organisation and strategies for employee retention to preempt the prevailing managerial challenges. It will analyse the organisational culture and staff development strategies used by the company. It will then create a development plan for learning interventions and crystallise the possible solutions that the company should undertake to overcome these challenges. Assignment 2- Managing People
Case Study Report
Approaches to Leadership
YMCA Wirral uses Lewin’s autocratic leadership approach. This implies that organisational executives decide without consulting the subordinates. For instance, the case highlights that the priorities of stakeholders and partners determine the decisions that the organisation will ratify (YMCA Wirral, 2018). This has resulted in conflicts of interest as each group strive to satisfy their personal interests. Employees receive instructions without explanations or having time to question the commands. Belbin (2010) suggests that a tall hierarchical structure inhibits employee engagement in decision-making processes. Personal experience identifies this leadership style has instigated negative feelings among employees. According to Rees and French (2013), they suggest that most authoritarian regimes believe in McGregor’s theory X (See Appendix 1 & 2), which postulates that leaders should control and coerce employees for them to work. This follows from the assumption that an average person is unambitious and dislikes work. Therefore, direction and compulsion will prompt them to increase their productivity (Rees & French, 2013). However, the autocratic leadership has negative implications, manifested through employee disenchantments and plummeting organisational productivity….Show More….