...person (manager) to adapt their style to the people that they are attempting to lead. Leaders must have certain qualities in order to be considered effective by people. According to Brian Tracy, “Having a clear vision turns the transactional manager into a transformational leader” (Tracy, 2013). This paper will address three theories based on Fiedler’s Least-Preferred Coworker Theory, Likert’s Leadership Style, and House’s Path-Goal Theory as well as a connection between each theory in relation to working within a team setting or with an individual. LEADERSHIP THEORIES 3 Leadership Theories Feidler’s Least-Preferred Coworker Theory Fred Fiedler pioneered the Least-Preferred Coworker Theory. At its core, this theory speaks to the two types of leaders; one that is relationship oriented and the other that is task oriented. A relationship oriented leader typically will have low rating on the friendliness. The Least-Preferred Coworker Theory (LPC) is based on a scale of 1-8 with 1 being the lowest in friendliness, assistance, and openness. A high LPC score shows that a person tends to be relationship oriented, while a low LPC score is indicative of a task oriented person. According to Fiedler, each type of leadership can be effective based on the type of leader that is needed in the situation given. A task-oriented leader could be someone who is a paramedic facing daily struggles...
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...Traditional Training Methods Raymond Ballou BUS 375: Employee Training Instructor: Charles Orgbon October 16, 2014 Traditional Training Methods There are many different training methods available today for organizations to train their employees. With the advancement of technology many organizations are starting to use more of a computer-based training to train their employees and it is beginning to change training in today’s workplace. However, many companies still prefer to use traditional training methods for employee training. Today, these traditional training methods are thought of to be obsolete and a thing of the past, because they are training methods that do not require the use of new technology, but if presented correctly, traditional training methods can be just as an effective learning tool as the newer technological methods. Traditional training methods have been found successful, and for many years is a useful method used by many organizations. This method requires an experiences trainer to conduct the training and make it effective for the trainees. According to Noe (2010), “Needs assessment, a positive learning environment, and transfer of training are critical for training program effectiveness” (p.259). Traditional training help trainees learn by watching the trainer and then showing the trainer what they have learned. The trainer then gives feedback to the trainee and any questions that the trainees may have at that time can be answered by the trainer...
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...organization affect employee behavior? The formal power structure in the organization consists of the top management staff run by the President & CEO, followed by the Executive Assistant, Senior VP-R&D, and the Chief Operating Officer. The informal power structures would be the employee work force and their ability to generate profits for the company. The power and political organizational structure might affect employee behavior on how strict the company is on its standards and regulations. When the employee is supervised and reviewed on the performance then the employee might feel the responsibility to keep up and do a good work in order to keep the job and generate good reviews. According to Robbins and Judge (2013) organizational structure is defined as how a job tasks which is formally divided, grouped and coordinated. There are six key elements; work specialization, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization, decentralization, and formalization. Riordan Manufacturing operation is based on the effective bureaucratic structure this standardized processes effective in the ability for all 500 employees to be synchronized at the same level regardless of the hierarchy. The manufacturing plants are divided in three different specific manufacturing plants in Georgia they produce plastic parts. In Pontiac, Michigan they specialize in specific parts, and in Hangzhou, China they produce plastic fans. Identify the most appropriate and effective organizational...
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...Assignment #1 Problems and Best Practices in Retention Question 1 What three problems might an organization have with the issue of employee retention? Explain why they could be a problem. There are many reasons an organization may have with the issue of employee retention such as; money, mergers, health benefits, family reasons, etc. The three problems I believe are money, health benefits and work overload caused by a merger. Higher salary is the number one reason why employee looks for change. When employee feels they are not being paid adequately and the differential in pay between new and longer term employees, they are more likely to leave. For instance, an organization average annual pay increase is approx. 4% however employees perceive that the newcomers are paid better. The second problem might an organization have with the issue of employee retention is the benefit programs. Employees feel that they pay too much for health insurance, especially prescription drug programs. An Organization offers their employees the opportunity to choose a benefit package that is best for their family. The employee has an option to choose from high premium low out-of-pocket cost or low premium high out-of pocket cost benefit package. Whichever one an employee decides to choose, their health insurance still cost too much. The third problem would be work overload caused by a merger. Departments being understaffed and the employees feel as if their workloads are too heavy...
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...Strategy to Life: Aligning your corporate culture with business goals Leaders of high-performance companies understand that a corporate culture that is aligned with its strategic priorities helps the organization achieve business success. The challenge: achieving alignment and sustaining it over the long term. High Performance: As Unique as a Company Itself One of the most striking characteristics of highperformance organizations is the level of harmony between business strategy and organization culture that they manage to achieve and sustain over time. A manufacturer competing chiefly on cost and efficiency, for instance, requires a culture very different from that of a luxury goods retailer for which personalized customer attention is the ultimate differentiator. “High performance” means different things in companies competing on different strategic priorities across industry sectors. In short, the right high-performance environment is one that helps a company achieve a specific set of business requirements. In a high-performance organization, workplace practices must actively influence the employee behaviors needed to execute its strategy and reinforce its market focus. behaviors of leaders are critical in establishing a culture that aligns with the business strategy. But, certainly, this is easier said than done. In fact, many companies’ cultures are not aligned with their business objectives, because their leaders, who by and large focus on the financial and operational...
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...Consulting Paper: An Effective Appraisal System Jessica Kaplaner Introduction There are several performance rating methods used by the official rater when evaluating employees’ performance. Some are more effective than others. Performance rating scales are one of the most effective scales to use when assessing an employee’s performance and are constantly being used to determine employees’ job performance (Cascio, 2013). They’ve been heavily relied on to thoroughly assess and precisely convey job performance specifically through behaviors. These systems are easy to understand by providing specific behavior statements related to employee behavior and the organization’s objective. Context In my current position, I am a full time Analyst with a collateral duty to work on the Cultural Transformation Initiative. This initiative began in 2011 and became a priority of the Secretary of my agency. The initiative is to ensure that all employees have the opportunity to meet their full potential by improving every area that affects employees’ reaching their full potential within the agency such as Human Resources, Civil Rights, Leadership, and Process Improvement. My job as well as other employees who have taken on this collateral duty is to report monthly progress to the Department, provide employees with all agency updates, but most importantly, I am to bring awareness to employees about this initiative and ensure that employees are impacted directly by...
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...special relationship that leaders establish with a small group of their followers B) the personal qualities and characteristics that differentiate leaders from nonleaders C) the way the leader makes decisions D) the extent to which followers are willing and able to accomplish a specific task E) the match between the leader's style and the degree to which the situation gives the leader control Which of the following Big Five personality traits has been identified as the most important trait in effective leaders? A) conscientiousness B) openness C) extraversion D) agreeableness E) emotional stability Emotional intelligence (EI) is critical to effective leadership because one of its core components is ________, which reflects the consideration that leaders must be able to express. A) conscientiousness B) empathy C) optimism D) introversion E) perfectionism Trait theories most accurately predict ________. A) distinguishing features of an effective leader B) differences between an effective and an ineffective leader C) success of a leader D) roles to be played by the leader E) emergence of a leader 1 Copyright © 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. The Ohio State...
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...There are five steps to creating a learning environment in the instructional process. Each step has at least one major barrier that is defined as a fallacy on the employer designing their training programs which doesn’t need to exist. a. The first step to creating a learning environment is to decide what you want to teach. The idea is to make training programs as relevant as possible to the organization (and the needs of said entity). i. One of the biggest barriers of organizations in the first step is the lack of job-applicability of their programs --- a well-done needs analysis will ensure that an organization not only needs the program but also give a good idea of whether the program will be effective or a waste of time and money. ii. The next mistake organizations make is that they fail to set clear, concise instructional objectives. In order for training to be effective, the training has to have a very narrow goal, i.e. we need to teach the employee to perform the task of connecting calls via a switchboard. iii. Once the goal is set, you should then go to a line manager and ask them what knowledge the trainee needs to know when connecting calls via a switchboard as it applies to the organization – too many organizations skip this step and end up teaching employees a different way of doing things. This causes problems in the workplace when they make it back to it, and then they have to unlearn what they learned and start over (which creates inefficiency.) iv. The...
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...1. Determine how innovations in employee benefits can improve the overall competitive compensation strategy of the organization. The current competitive conditions in the business world make it difficult to acquire and retain the top talents. Once the organization is able to identify, it can be unable to offer the right pay and to manage the pay increases to retain top talents. The compensation strategy is the extremely important piece of the overall HR Strategy to keep the company competitive and successful. On the other hand, the compensation strategy is important to keep the personnel budget under the control and to manage the jobs in the right salary (pay) brackets. The compensation strategy differentiates the organization on the job market and builds the attractiveness of the company for the top talents. They love to be hired by the attractive organization; they do not like to be hired by the average company offering the same conditions as any other average organization in the industry. They have the problem to distinguish the employers and they are not able to recognize the excellent organization, when it is not different from the rest. The competitive advantage is the essential part of the mix for the success. The organization has to present itself differently, not just by the presentation, but it should differentiate itself by the different approach toward its employees. The compensation strategy is one of the most successful differentiators. The excellent compensation...
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... 2 Listening Audience! At the root of effective listening is appreciating the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is merely a physiological process; whereas, listening is an interpretive process (Schnell, Jim 1995).We can always learn something from listening to someone. Humans are special in that way, and as listeners, we cannot have that attitude like we know everything. Someone will always have a difference of opinion, it just matters how you will use the information. Some people may think that listening is a waste of time, but in actuality, listening is never a waste of time. The more we pay attention and push ourselves to be active listeners, the better the communication will be with our peers, leaders, employees and customers. It is very important that we understand both how we listen, as well as who is speaking to us in order to become more efficient listeners. There are many different types of listening skills these days. We have to understand how listening works, in order to improve our listening skills and to be a more effective listener. We must be actively engaged when listening, so that we can understand what is being said. We have to make sure that we listen to verbal and non-verbal communication, in order to get the full spectrum of what is being communicated to us. Here are some common listening types: active, inactive, total and partial. Of these four, active and total are the most used and successful. Listening is not easy for some...
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...Determine at least three (3) ways in which Trader Joe’s is able to increase job satisfaction and performance. From the case study, it is very clear that Trader Joe has become successful in creating a decent working environment for the employees in stores. Friendly working environment depends a lot on the willingness and commitment of the employees as well as the leadership style. Trader Joe’s leadership style is employee friendly and thus he is being able to get the full commitment out of the employees. The employees need to feel that the company is giving proper importance to them and it is the responsibility of the organization to develop such a feeling in the mindset of the employees. Trader Joe has set a lot of examples of it. He allows all of his employees to taste the products and also gives them intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. These activities allow the employees to think them as important part of the company and give them the encouragement to give full commitment to repay the organization. Moreover, the employees have some certain demands and needs. (Cribbin, 1972) If the company can fulfill those demands and needs, the employees are happy and committed. Trader Joe knows that very well. The employees are satisfied as their psychological needs are fulfilled with decent salaries. Also their safety needs are fulfilled through pensions. Trader Joe also includes the employees in the company affairs and welcomes their opinions. As a result, each employee thinks himself...
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...AACS1733 Information Technology and Systems ASSIGNMENT 2010/2011 Objective This coursework aims to provide students an opportunity to explore the use of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint so as to enhance their understanding of the application software features in spreadsheet and presentation. Grouping This is a group-based assignment. Student may form a group of minimum 4 students and maximum 5 per group (ACCORDING TO ATTENDANCE LIST NAME SEQUENCE). A group leader is to be selected to ensure equal allocation of tasks among each student in the group before assembling a complete assignment report. Plagiarism All work is to be the result of the student's own individual and group effort. Assignment contents are not allowed to be copied from the Internet or from other students. A student who plagiarizes will receive zero point credit on the assignment. Late Policy The assignment should be submitted on the due date stated below unless there is any legitimate reason as to why it is impossible for the student to complete the assignment. As a general rule, no extension of time will be granted. Assignment received after the due date without legitimate reason will be penalized. Submission date: 6/12/2010 (Monday) (Week 11) Assignment return week: Week 14 Assessment This assignment is worth 40% of the overall course assessment. The marks allocations are divided into 2 categories. The first category is an individual mark which is awarded based on each...
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...Motivation Methods Paper Motivation by definition means to give an incentive for action. Motivation is a large factor in either the success or failure for a company. Unfortunately, motivating people is not an exact science. There is no one way, no worksheet to fill out, or no set formula or calculation. Money may motivate one employee of a company. Someone else may appreciate personal recognition for performing a job well done or may work harder if he or she has a type of equity in the business. Employee motivation comes down to one basic ideal: discovering out what the employees want and finding a way to give it to them or to enable them to earn it. There are many methods of motivating employees in today's global business environment. Still, some strategies are prevalent across organizations striving to improve employee motivation. What employees deem important will be the best place to focus motivation efforts. Employees within the same department of an organization will have different motivators. Many organizations that have flexibility in job design and reward systems have employees with better morale, improved productivity, and increased tenured with the company he or she works for. It is important that owners and managers communicate the company's purpose to their employees so that the employees know their contributions are important and that their contributions are valuable to the company. The communication between the two should take the form of words...
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...Practices in Retention Strayer University HRM534, Employment and Labor Relations 1/23/2011 What three problems might an organization have with the issue of employee retention? Explain why they could be problems. When an organization loses employees, they also lose skills, experience and corporate memory. The magnitude and nature of these losses can be critical problems for and organization. It is no doubt that over the years, the employment relationship has undergone a number of changes that impact attraction, motivation and retention of talented employees. This has brought to the forefront the need to understand the individual/organizational relationship, namely the psychological contract. This is the employee’s interpretations and evaluation of their deal with the organization (Dietz, 2009). Past research has shown that in order for retention management to be effective, the employee’s and the organization’s expectation must be in line. Also job satisfaction, loyalty, and commitment can cause problems in relation to employee retention. Employees are no longer looking to work for one place for the rest of their life and make an average wage. They are always looking for ways to advance in their careers. If these needs are not met by the organizations, this will lead to turnover. Individual employee performance can also lead to problems in retention. Motivation is the key. When employees have insufficient support to get tasks accomplished, their level of motivation...
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...I would like to focus my Research paper on the class topics that centered around Interpersonal Skills, as that is one of the areas I would like to improve on the most in my career development. Before getting into the breakdown of these topics, I will say that I hope to be the head of a major healthcare facility. Ideally this facility would be one that encompasses multiple branches, many divisions, and is inclusive of multiple levels of management and organization. While knowledge for completing these types of tasks can be acquired via school or personal research, one branch of implementation of one’s ideas of what direction to move forward with in your position is communicating these plans to your staff in a manner that is clear, effective, and gets everyone to buy-in in a positive demeanor as well. For these reasons, among other, I think the many aspects of interpersonal skills are what would serve me the best benefit in my own personal career development. Stemming from the description above, communication may be one of the most integral parts of holding an executive position. You can have all of the information and the best ideas in the world, but if you cannot communicate them to anyone else, especially your staff, then they will not be able serve their purpose. In today’s markets, this communication may or may not take place in person, as face-to-face interactions while not extinct, are in decline. As such, whether executives are speaking to individuals that they work...
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