Master of Business Administration Assignment Cover Sheet

Student Number

1227055

Module code

12-13S1OBSHR012-6

Assignment No

Module Title

Leading and Managing People (OMAN).

Module Tutor

Janice Johnson

Due Date

13.11.2012

Executive summary:
In todays fast changing business world, managing things and leading human resource is a challenge. Only a qualified and experienced manager can handle both simultaneously and smoothly. Leading people and managing work will defiantly help in the growth of business. There are three key areas of managing and leading people i.e. Vision, strategies and values (Jon Minerich, Olive white Americas, www.bus-ex.com.) A manager has to fulfill a certain basic task that includes planning, Organization, commanding and controlling. Although there is no universal formula what makes a good manager? Some people believe that good managers are born, whereas some people support that good managers are made by institution. But there are general agreement and understanding between both group quality and competency of good manager. Key ingredients of a good manager are intelligence, initiative, self , confidence, assertiveness and determination, communication skill, energy and enthusiasm. HRM is not a new subject, born; its something which exists since the birth of mankind. Todays HRM is a merger of long past history of work and modern work theories. Its a merger of a practical work tool and theories of planning. Modern management practice is an effective amalgam of past theories and modern psychology and the social sciences. (Human resource management, edition 4th, Alan Price) To effectively manage and lead people modern managers are bound to take some proven measures to keep their people happy. Peoples manager has to frequently deal with some tasks on day to day basis, for example: Expansion of organization, new contract, merger or closer of unit. New innovation, come out of stagnation. Also look for emotional dimension. Enhance or constrain activities according to available funds. Stability, supply and retention of needed staff. New working practice, the introduction of new technology. About Staff hired, redeployed, retained, or sacked.

Contents: 1.1 Introduction

Page No. 4

1.2

History

2.1

High Performance Working

3.1

Methodology

3.2

Cultural Diversity In My Organization

3.3

Hierarchy of staff

4.1

Evidence

5.1

Finding and discussion:

6.1

Conclusion

7.1

Recommendations

8.1

References

8.1

Appendix

1.1 Introduction:
High performance working is new approach of management where involvement employees and commitment is greater in order to achieve desired the result. In this type of management tool, a coherent approach to involve staff is applied for a maximum performance based benefits. A high performance working may include activities from HRM by redefining pay, giving incentives, timely appraisal & work force development. It can also be achieved by work organization, team work and by redesigning job profile. Management and its leader ship also plays a important role in HPW by giving employees what they deserve. It is very important for organizations over all development because at the end it is going to give significant gain to the organization. HPW organizations are also defined as many things to many people. (HIPO, Bradley .L.Kirkman) For me, High performance working (HPW) is an idea where people management gives importance to individual autonomy, active involvement, continuous learning & generous reward in order to improve work and benefit. (www.managerspitstop.com). Bringing HPW in our center could be a difficult task because of negative approach of employees, costly involvement and the daunting a process but when we introduce this it may give us certain benefits. By bringing HPW practice and HP workers we can achieve sustainable performance which is good for any business in the long run.

1.2 History:
Our Institute where I work is a Government Organization. Since 1982 our institute has been qualifying Omani allied health staff to enhance the health services in the sultanate of Oman . And teaching paramedical science to local candidates in order to fulfill our national policy. Its very well supported by the Government, both logistically and financially. The institute has a full time team of teachers and managers. The Institute is only organization of its type in the country. It runs four paramedical courses in its own sprawling campus. Students are enrolled annually for various courses according to their grade and choice. Courses are offered in English and on a full time basis. To success fully run the courses there is an experience team of qualified managers, teaching and support staff. The faculty is a mixture of various nationality which shows cultural diversity in my organization. Beside a good number of local staff, we have staff members from the UK, India, Egypt, Africa, & the Philippines. All these people bring together a huge mixture of experience which helps not only in teaching but in smoothly running day to day activity. As an administrator I have to ensure that all this talent is supported by the management. They are given enough freedom to express their feeling, share their experience in order to better achieve our target. Vision: To be the premier provider of allied health care education in the region Mission: Graduate highly competent, motivated, adaptable and committed allied health care professional show, through dedicated team work, can provide varied health services to the community. Strategic Goals: The institute will develop quality educational programmers in the various allied health professions to meet the needs of the health services of Oman and the region, play an active role in providing continuing education for faculty and the allied health professions .seek partnerships

with other higher educational institutions to ensure the highest possible quality within its Programmers. Stay abreast of and, where feasible, utilize the latest development s, in educational and clinical methodologies and technologies, participate in research which will advance knowledge in the educational systems of the institute and in allied health professions in Oman. Values: Ownership of the initiatives , systems and activities of the institute, ambition for progressive professional development ,excellence through creativity ,innovation and hard work commitment, continuous dialogue and quality management , positive and friendly a working environment based on professional discretion ,integrity ,teamwork and mutual respect .

2.1 High Performance Working: High performance working is a relatively new concept in business organization, but it's an easy process which can be introduced in an existing module to improve productivity. It gives importance to individuals and ideas especially where they work together as a team. Organizations which follow HPW are known as High Performance work Organizations (HPWOs). To achieve HPW most important thing is quality strategy, based on innovative ideas. Te HRM team should support by providing exceptionally good candidates at entry level. Highly qualified and well trained people should be hired at even higher salary. Our main focus should be tapping raw talent so that we can mould them as per our own need. Then a plan is developed for systematic personal development where these raw talents can be given coaching and used as future talent. Management should also build a close knit relation with employees by gaining their faith and providing financial benefits. An employee outperforming others is rewarded by giving salary hike or promotion. Further to this the management can also think of giving non financial benefits like extra leave or flexible timing. This will help to maintain employee work, life balance and enjoy his work as well as life. In some case money is not the only motivational force for staff to perform; people also

want to enjoy quality life. They want more holidays, because money cant buy everything and one such thing is Time. So basically HPW is organized work where employee and employer both are happy.

Employees are happy because management will give them opportunity to learn and grow while working, they are also paid a handsome salary. In return worker will give them high throughput, better quality product and the financial benefit as a whole. There is now evidence of a robust link between HPW practices, productivity and Profitability and a range of other performance measures (Ashton and Sung,2002: 10). Now this days companies are giving more importance to the quality of work. Emphasis is given to lifelong learning and equal opportunity through better reconciliation of working life and personal life. HPW is concerned with more than Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices alone. Neither is it simply a new management fad. Instead, it signifies an Underlying change in the way in which production is organized and businesses are Managed (HPW, UKCES). However, there is no significant study on how HPW can bring change in to a service sector or teaching organization, but looking at the advantages in to private companies implementing HPW and getting benefitted, it is a wise idea to try HPW in similar sector or other nave industries. There are also some indications that points out the benefits of HPW and organizational performance as well as the links between worker, satisfaction, skills use and commitment. Some writers have raised concerns about HPW and its performance linkage (HPW, UKCES). Some have raised issues about the idea that HPW offers mutual gain for both parties doubting employers change of heart. Some commentators suggest that the impacts of HPW on organizational Performance could be even greater - but further sector studies need to be Undertaken to establish this (see for example CIPD, 2003; Boselie et al, 2005).

3.1 Methodology: Although in my organization there is a well experienced team of managers who work close together with other staff, but in the last few months, it was observed that the quality of work was down specially some of the new employees are not working up to the expectation. I was opportunity given by the higher authority to look into the matter and take action which is deemed fit. So to begin with I did a small research to know the root cause of trouble. A set of questionnaire is distributed among staff members to understand their issues, without knowing their identity. The staff in our office is broadly classified in two types: The Teaching Staff Administrative staff

Teaching staff includes Senior Tutor and trainers, those who are responsible for teaching students various subjects. Each teacher is responsible for teaching at least one subject. Besides teaching they are also involve in other duties assigned by seniors. They are headed by departmental HODs. Each department has its own HOD who is responsible for its own staff and students. They are also responsible for their staffs concern. They work as a bridge between management and staff & All HODs report to dean of the Institute. At present there are around (70) staff of various nationalities in my organization which brings lots of cultural diversity and its consequences. Although most of the time its good to have people from around the world, but sometimes it could be a challenge if one is not fully prepared to deal with it. Modern managers should be skilled and educated to deal with such situation. They should be trained by anthropologist to deal with various people in order to take best out of them.

3.2 Cultural Diversity In My Organization:

Sr. No. 1 2 3 4 5 Omani British Indian Philippine Egyptian Nationality Number of staff 57 1 9 1 2

Administrative staff in my organization is support staff. They help others teaching staff member by providing their ultimate support. They take care of various administrative issues like issue of manpower, infrastructure or fund. They help teaching staff in solving various issues so that teaching staff can concentrate on their own job and give the best result. They also take care of any problem caused to our students like admission related work, accommodation of students, transportation Etc. There are total (22) administrative staffs in my institute. There are clerical staff member for basic paperwork. There are various managers like manager for accounts, administration. They have been given their individual task to perform. Although they work in different directions, but they work closely and coherently to provide best possible support. They keep in touch with each other to avoid any communication gap. There is a system of work where individuals are given task to perform freely. Their ideas are heard and respected. These Individuals work like a small team to solve issue. There is an administrator who supervises the work of different managers. During the crisis he independently takes decision to tackle it in the best interest of work and employee. The administrator is responsible to report the dean.

3.3 Hierarchy of staff

Dean

HOD's

Administrator

Senior Tutors

Trainers

Managers

Clerical staff

4.1 Evidence:
To identify the problem and understand the severity of issue we did one investigation. As questionnaire is a good tool to check and evaluate problems so we prepared a set of questionnaire, and distributed among 20 staff members. They were asked questions which were related to their poor performance and about high performance working. Sample size was moderate and includes both old and new staff member. After collecting questionnaire, datas were arranged and analyzed to look for reason of low performance and how HPW can improve this situation. Following questions were asked and scored them using following meter.

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1 = Agree 2= Not sure 3= Disagree 5.1 Finding and discussion: >Do you think management plays a active role in the development of centre?

Do you think management plays a active role in the development of centre.

AGREE NOT SURE DISAGREE 3% 7%

90%

Most of the employee ( 90%) said that they are not happy the way management is handling issues, especially in order to achieve its vision & mission. Their approach is not well planned and they are not giving importance to individual employee. In my organization there are people from various nationalities and they bring huge experience with them, but unfortunately some of the policies of management dont allow them to work freely. Suggestion of new employees are either not heard or not respected. >Do you think management cares for staff rights?

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Do you think management cares for staff rights?

AGREE NOT SURE 1% 9% DISAGREE

90%

Again 90% of them said they dont think for managers are doing enough to keep employees happy. Some of the expatriate staff members were not given holidays in their national festival/ religious programme. Some even complained that they were not given time concession to attend parents meeting in their childs school or simply to attend a nearby health clinic. Leaves are employees right, and they earn this leaves by working hard. Wherever possible management should arrange & allow its staff to take leave especially during religious ceremonies. >Are you happy with your present grade and salary?

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Are you happy with your present grade and salary

AGREE NOT SURE 0% 5% DISAGREE

95%

95% of the staff members said that they are not happy with their present grade and salary? Their salary is not comparable with relevant industry. Because of this, they feel down, no motivated.

> Does management helps you during personal crisis?

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Does management helps you during personal crisis

Agree Not Sure Disagree 9% 11%

80%

80% of the staff members said that they are happy and agree that when it comes to personal crisis, management provides help to its staff member. Especially if it is an emergency situation with an expatriate staff like arranging visa or emergency withdrawal of passport.

> Do you think your workplace is safe & comfortable?

Do you think your workplace is safe & comfortable?

Agree Not Sure Disagree

40% 60%

0%

When asked about safety and comfort at the workplace, the response was mixed. 40% of staff said that they are happy with safety and comfort level at the Institute, whereas 60 % of the staff
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member were not happy with it. They complained about fire hazard and lack of space. Some staffs have to share office with other colleagues. Female staffs were not happy to share office space. It was hampering their mental peace and they were not able to concentrate on job given. > Does your supervisor/Manager deals with you fairly and transparently?

> Does your supervisor/Manager deals with you fairly and transparently?
Agree Not Sure Disagree

5% 10%

85%

Big number (85%) of staff suggested that there should be a great level of transparency during selection of employee of the year. They complained that in present system best employee is handpicked by managers so employees dont have any role in it. Even bonuses are not distributed evenly. They suggested that there should be a voting system to choose best employee where employees can vote for them.

> Are you ready to work after office hour/ Shift duty if needed?

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you ready to work after office hour/ Shift duty if needed

Agree Not Sure 1% 9% Disagree

90%

90% of employees said that they are ready to come in shift or late stay provided institute gives them extra allowances. However, some of the female member said they cant come for shift duty. >Do you think your opinions are taken into consideration in policy making?

>Do you think your opinions are taken into consideration in policy making?
Agree Not Sure Disagree

23% 5% 72%

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79% of employees said that they are opinions are not taken into consideration in policy making. So they upset to do their work. > Is your institute aim & goal clear, understandable & achievable?

Is your institute aim & goal clear, understandable & achievable

Agree Not Sure Disagree

19% 45%

36%

36% of employee not sure if they know about aim & goal of the institute and 19% they dont know anything about aim &goal .that main the management not clear their aim and goal to the institute staff .That main half of staff dont know about the aim and goal.

Are you ready to take new task/ Challenges?

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> are you ready to take new task/ Challenges?

Agree Not Sure Disagree

6%

4%

90%

90% of the staff said that they are ready to take new task / challenges in the institute .They are ready to take new responsibility in the organization.

>Do you think element of challenges exist in your institute

Do you think element of challenges exist in your institute

Agree Not Sure Disagree

15%

25% 60%

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60% of the institute staff agrees that element of challenges exist in the institute .And there are 25% staff member those who are not sure about it and 15% disagree with that .So here it is showing some mix response in this matter maybe due to the management. Line manager is not giving chance to make some changes in their day to day duty.
>Do

you ever think to resign from this institute?

Do you ever think to resign from this institute?

Agree Not Sure Disagree

10% 40%

50%

Less than half (40%) of the staff members said that they never think about resigning the institute. Big numbers of staffs (50%) were unsure when asked the same question. Only 10 % of them replied in yes, if they get better opportunity they may leave the organization.

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6.1 Conclusion: From above the discussed evidence and findings we can conclude that there are a number of issues with staff related to management decisions. High number of staff said they do not see management playing an active role in achieving its own target. Manager is not readily accessible; they dont care for staff thought. They even dont care about basic human rights by denying them basic facility like leave when needed most. Vision and mission was not very clear, was not told to some of the employee. Work responsibility is not defined so most of the employees are not clear about their job responsibilities. Most of them are not happy with salary so they may not be working full throttle as low salary is de motivating them to work. They feel management is not taking any step to increase their salary so there is a rift between employees and management. Secondly, majority of them complained about staff right. They were not given holidays when they wanted it most. As it was a clear cut violation of human rights but management failed to handle this issue also.

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7.1 Key recommendation: Priority Action

1 Salary

Benefit
motivation

Specific Time intervention frame

Restructure pay grades Arrange substitute worker Change manager

Who will Cost do?

Consequence if not done

Low performance Fail to achieve aim Poor management.

Staff right

motivation

Active Better management interaction & coordination

By DGET/MOH To be current analyzed semester by DGs By next Dean/DGET To be semester analyzed by DGs By next DGET/MOH DGET/MOH semester

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8.1 References:
Institute health sciences, student handbook, , Ministry Of Health , 2012 The Challenge of Leadership in High Performance Work Organizations. Kirkman , Bradley L.;Lowe, Kevin B.; Yaung, Dianne P. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies vol. 5 issue 2 1999. p. 3-15 Human resource management, edition 4th, Price A ,Cengage Learning, 2011,UK Ashton, D. N. and Sung, J. (2002) Supporting Workplace Learning for High Performance Working,(International Labour Organisation), 73.. High Performance Management: A Synthesis of Key Literature , UK Commission for Employment and Skills , Evidence Report 4 , August 2009 Organizational Behavior , Bachanan .D & Huczynski .A , 7th Edition ,Pearson ,2010 UK

Purcell and kinnie, 2007 CIPD, 2003; Boselie et al, 2005. www.managerspitstop.com

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9.1 Appendices:

Questionnaire
Name: Dept: To be filled by individual staff only. 1. Do you think the management plays active role in the development of centre? A) Agree B) NOT SURE C) Disagree 2. Do you think management cares for staff rights? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 3. Are you happy with your present grade and salary? A) Agree B) NOT SURE Staff No: Designation:

C) Disagree

C) Disagree

4. Do you think your area of work is relevant to your academic qualification? A) Agree B) NOT SURE C) Disagree 5. Does management helps you in CPD? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 6. Does management helps you during personal crisis? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 7. Do you think your workplace is safe & comfortable? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 8. Do you think your job is secured? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 9.

C) Disagree

C) Disagree

C) Disagree

C) Disagree

Do you think management takes active interest in solving employees issues? A) Agree B) NOT SURE C) Disagree

10. Do you think element of challenges exist in your institute? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 11. Do you ever think to resign from this institute? A) Agree B) NOT SURE

C) Disagree

C) Disagree

12. Does your supervisor/Manager deals with you fairly and transparently? A) Agree B) NOT SURE C) Disagree

13. Is your salary and emoluments comparable to industry? A) Agree B) NOT SURE

C) Disagree

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14. Is your companys aim & goal clear, understandable & achievable? A) Agree B) NOT SURE C) Disagree

15. Are you ready to work after office hour/ Shift duty if needed? A) Agree B) NOT SURE 16. Are you ready to take new task/ Challenges?? A) Agree B) NOT SURE

C) Disagree

C) Disagree

17. Do you think your opinions are taken into consideration in policy making? A) Agree B) NOT SURE C) Disagree 18) Any comment you would like to add..................................................................................................................................................................... ..........................................................................................................................................................................

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