Working With Leading People

Task 1

1.1 Recruitment and selection process

PMC is facing some issues that have resulted in financial losses as well as increasing rate of employee turnover. From senior managers to ground staff, about 100 employees have left company. This situation led to development of opportunities for other individuals. The selection and recruitment process consists of several stages so that efficient and good quality human resources can be acquired (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). This will help the organisation to cope up with the past failures.

• Advertisement is the first stage of selection and recruitment. Candidate’s profiles must be sorted according to probable requirements in PMC. This will reduce excessive work during recruitment. The advertisements must be published in newspapers relevant online platforms for better coverage.
• Third parties must not be involved in this crucial process.
• About 2-3 stages must be kept during interview. This will help in screening maximum capabilities of individuals.
• Communication of clauses and regulations that will be implemented on individuals must be clear. It will develop prospective candidate's mind-set regarding further processing. Ultimately, this information will help person to decide whether to join the organisation or not.
• Employees have to be examined and judged after selection. Their response to induction training and company atmosphere will dictate securing of that position. The recruitment process is incomplete without completion of induction training.
• Reviews must be collected so that further improvements can be done in selection and recruitment.

Documentation required for the process of selection and recruitment is based on job description and person specification which are stated as below:

Job Description: The proposed vacancies are for drivers who are capable to meet daily targets (at least 50 deliveries per day). Company currently has 65 vacant positions. The working hours are flexible and would be discussed once interview process is completed.

Personal Description: Person must have completed his higher secondary schooling along with having at least 3 years of experience in commercial driving. License is essential with proper authorised certifications regarding citizenship of UK.

1.2 Impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations

It is important that governance factors of every organisation are ethical and valid enough to safeguard it from external offensive activities. Right from the beginning of working cycle of an employee in PMC, it should be made clear that there are certain legal complications that are needed to be followed throughout the tenure. Degradation that was faced by PMC in given scenario was due to lack of good quality employees. Dedication towards organisation was minimum at the senior most level (CEO). This led to further consequences which ruined PMC’s image in the eyes of its customers. Hence, legalisation and regulatory considerations are an important part of selection and recruitment process (Zhao and Liden, 2011).

It must be stated clearly that no unethical practises will be entertained inside company's functioning atmosphere. Ethical considerations are declaration of compensation clauses, rewards and incentives. It also includes maintaining transparency as when a company doesn't have hidden motives or exploitation plans then it is ethical and follows the path of sustainable development. All government rules and regulations must be followed so that no violation of rights and duties is experienced (Bratton and Gold, 2012). When all these aspects are considered and adopted then PMC won't face such major consequences in the future.

1.3 Part of selection process

Being a part of this process of recruitment and the HR manager of PMC, I have to take care that cost of enrolment of new people is all recovered through their inputs in development of company. Final stage of recruitment was examined by me. All activities from systematic execution to unbiased selection were screened and evaluated correctly. Since, company has been facing financial crisis and extremely critical conditions internally, it is important that employees that will join are cooperative and concerned. Hence, specific details regarding job and working atmosphere is well delivered. The interviewing panel is skilled and experienced so, they will perform their assigned tasks efficiently (Phillips and Gully, 2015).

1.4 Self contribution

HR manager has a vital role in this hiring procedure. I had managed to perform following tasks:

• I had designed the complete framework for staffing.
• Specific roles and duties were assigned to people so that no chaotic experience would be gathered.
• Advertisements were published in local newspaper and company's digital media platforms so that more accessibility can be obtained.
• Interview questions and panels were selected by myself. I made sure that no special preference is given to any candidate.
• I had performed the filtration process after interviews for gaining better knowledge about prospective individuals.

Task 2

2.1 Skills and attributes needed for leadership

Business organisations depend on efforts and qualities of a leader. Their steps and decisions help in achieving goals and objectives (Lloyd-Walker and Walker, 2011). But before assigning the role of a leader, it is important to recognise certain skills and attributes in a person so that he/she can be qualified as a leader.Passion: Efficient leaders have the most prominent quality as passion. Enthusiasm for work helps in inspiring employees and followers. This also creates a good working environment in company.

• Decision making power: PM Company cannot make proper decisions and has poor leaders. Decisions are an important aspect of every strategy. If these are not taken correctly, end result will be the one that company would face losses. Hence, leaders must be able to take good quality and quick decisions (Murphy and Johnson, 2011).
• Commitment towards work and followers: Follow up of said words is commitment. When a person fulfils his/her pledge and responsibility, then followers develop trust and faith.
• Good communication power: Transfer of complete and correct information at every level of organisation is effective communication that must be a significant attributer of leader.
• Cohesive nature: Team building process must be the purpose of every leadership. Strategies must be in direction of bringing all employees together and not creating individual groups.

2.2 Instantaneous Leadership styles

PMC is on verge of extinction. Leaders working for the organisation have to embrace certain leadership styles according to the need of situation. Democracy is a governance that involves equal importance and rights given to every individual who resides. Participative or democratic leadership style was applicable when staff members of PMC were facing problems in cooperating with its CEO and managers. This would have helped in better communication and bridging of gap that had occurred between senior level employees and other staffs.

Transformational leadership style could have been applied by leaders during financial crisis. Obligations on company were increasing and people were finding it difficult to continue in the firm. This style involves development of strategies that have long term impact and vision (Vaccaro and et. al., 2012). They build up an environment of togetherness which enhances productivity of both employees and company. Application of autocratic leadership style is in those areas when instant result is required without any external influence. For example, PMC was facing difficulty in managing its administration. This led to irregular checks and monitoring. If autocratic rule was adopted in this situation then certain consequences could have been avoided (Leslie and Canwell, 2010).

2.3 Motivational methods

Major objective presently set for Purple Mail Company (PMC) is to develop an efficient management structure so that company can recover from its losses and gain a better market reputation (Economy, 2016). For achieving this target, following motivational methods can be adopted by PMC:

• Integration: When certain staff members and important senior level executives suddenly left the organisation, other staff members found it difficult to survive. Hence, leader has to act with integrity and work by fulfilment of employee interests levels.
• Becoming a good listener: The most ignored part of a communication is listening. Leader has to listen and address problems and suggestions delivered by the staff. This will encourage them to express their views and thoughts more freely.
• Appropriate and timely pay: Despite of crisis situations, leader must be able to assure staff members that their salary and incentives won't be affected due to losses of PMC. Commitment once made must also be completed so that distrust would not gathered.
• Appreciations: Every working person wants to get appreciated for the quality of service that is being given. It is the moral responsibility of leaders that they appreciate good work and provide suggestions if any improvement is needed (Kouzes and Posner, 2011).

Task 3

3.1 Benefits of team working and their effectiveness

Head of an enterprise cannot look after each and every activity going around. Division of staff members into respective teams helps in better arrangement of business operations (What Are the Benefits of Teamwork in Business?, 2017). Team work instigates many benefits for PMC some of which are stated below:

• Flexibility: PMC can become more flexible through establishment of teams. It will not only help in developing current position in market but also gives time to explore opportunities for business expansion. Inclusion of employees that consists of variable skills in a team, makes completion of a particular task easy. This aspect indulges business foundations to work in teams.
• Increasing innovation: Teamwork gives working individuals their own space. This automatically improves the creativity of them and gives birth to innovation. With new techniques and methodologies, teams try to find out more effective ways of completing a task. Hiring capacity also increases for a company that has separate teams according to required set of skills.
• Morale enhancement: Responsibilities are divided amongst every member of a team. This helps in building trust and faith of workers towards their commander which also boosts their morale. PMC must adopt team work in its foundation so that people will experience more authority in their respective workspace. This indirectly enhances the morale and confidence of employees (Haeckel, 2013).

3.2 Importance of working in a team

Teams consist of two important people that is a leader and a member. Both the roles are significant and perceive attributes like goals, conflicts and difficult situations differently.

Importance of working as a leader: Just like organisations require heads or commanders for achieving goals and objectives, teams also require an instructor or a leader (Chiaburu and et. al., 2014). This individual will help in giving PMC a direction and path to work on. His vision is based on company's vision and targets. Moreover, conflicts and difficult situations are easily handled and sorted. There are situations when team gets demotivated and loses their purpose of working. Leader helps in creating an inspiring and lovable atmosphere for work.

Importance of working as a member: Basic building blocks of a team are its members. They are responsible for executing tasks and conducting other operations on the behalf of leader. They don’t worry much about achieving team targets but are focused on fulfilling their own goals. Their expectations are to get appreciated and rewarded for giving exemplary services. When these are not met, conflicts get arise. Internal conflicts or difficult situations have to be solved by using guided approach of leader (Clutterbuck, 2011).

3.3 Effectiveness of team in achieving goals

Goals and objectives are formulated to give every team a direction for performing their role (Dalakoura, 2010). PMC has divided its complete business operations into individual operating teams. The effectiveness of teams in achieving goals can be examined and reviewed as follows:

• Teams must perform their tasks smoothly without development of personal conflicts. If parcels are not delivered on time then customers will be dissatisfied by services of PMC. It means that delivery and distribution teams are not effectively working.
• Proper definition of roles and responsibilities also improves the efficacy of teams because every member will become aware about their respective functions and no overlapping will take place.
• When expectations of all team members and leaders are met, then no conflicts or clashes take place. This also results in smooth management.
• Effectiveness is not only judged by speed of achieving goals. It also refers to the use of resources. If a team meets its requirements in stipulated resources then they are effective or efficient (Bratton and Gold, 2012).
• When productivity level of PMC increases then teams become efficient. Their motive must be development and innovation in strategies rather than lame or monotonous functioning. It helps in improving the market image of organisation which will help in beating competition.

Task 4

4.1 Factors involved in planning monitoring and assessment

Monitoring and assessment is important for every business organisation. Especially in case of PMC, it plays a vital role. The below mentioned factors are included when plans are developed regarding monitoring and assessment.

• Performance standards must be set. Before judging employees on any criteria, it is important that some standards are predefined. This will help in creating better assessment and evaluation without being producing a vision of biasses.
• Monitoring can be done through maintenance of proper records. This requires sufficient attainability of resources. If PMC provides proper resources to work then a good screening facility will be available (Rich, Lepine and Crawford, 2010).
• Quality of human resources can be improved with financial resources. It is important that utilisation is effectively done. With timely feedbacks and incentive acquisition reports, it becomes easy to understand the employee who is beneficial for the firm and also the ones who are not.
• Approaches must be clear within minds of evaluators (Haeckel, 2013). Theories and models that can be helpful in improvising such factors can be adopted. This helps in better implementation of strategies with greater efficacy.Strategic development for managing all monitoring factors is important. Steps taken to evaluate working processes of employees must be analysed carefully as wrong decisions may have adverse effects on company.

4.2 Plan for assessing developmental needs of employees

Development needs for employees are felt when a company is not performing according to the set standards. Hence, it is important to create a plan that will help in overcoming this led backing factor of PMC. The proposed plan for assessing these needs is given as below:

• Setting of goals and targets: Before devising any plan, it is important that targets are properly defined. This will give direction and guidelines for working. Moreover, a clear picture will be drawn regarding areas that need to be developed for every individual.
• Setting skills standards: Being a parcel delivery company, communication skills and rapid implementation of task are highly required in a person (Gruman and Saks, 2011). For example, if a driver is unable to meet his daily targets of say 50 deliveries then he is lacking in certain competencies. When certain skill standards are defined then it becomes easy to differentiate and act.
• Training needs: Recognition of required skills help in addressing proper training to individuals. Grooming can be done by imparting good quality training and conversion of weaknesses to strengths.
• Monitoring and Evaluation: This listing of essential activities required in training must be monitored and evaluated. Monitoring helps in getting knowledge of factors that are hindering the process of development (Frederiksen and et. al., 2013).
• Feedbacks/ Suggestions: Improvement and changes are constant. They not only increase the productivity but also help in fighting competition. Feedbacks and suggestions help in designing these strategies that will produce changes. Getting a review or suggestion for a particular strategy helps in producing better and innovative in the future.

4.3 Evaluation of success

Success of assessment process that was executed as per the designed plan depends on factors like pace of developments, time taken for achieving targets and adaptability of individuals for that particular training. For PMC, to be on track, its management standards must be evaluated timely. Regular interactions and feedbacks from clients and workers will help in getting insight of organisation’s functions. New goals and targets must be given by leaders to upgrade the quality of working (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Moreover, it is important that suggested developments are accepted positively by employees and productivity will be increased.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the report that Purple Mail Company faced a critical situation within its internal organisational structure which led to certain conflicting situations. With the help of this report, viability of proper staffing procedure is realised by the HR manager. It also helps in understanding two important aspects of business functioning that is management and leadership. Report has assessed that without activeness of these attributes, it becomes difficult to handle the teams. Proper working of teams and their assessment procedures provide a glance on the importance of monitoring and its procedure. In this way, PMC can bring itself out of crisis and refresh its consumer oriented image. What are the advantages of working with a leader?

References

• Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
• Bolman, L. and Deal, T., 2014. Leadership and management. Christian Youth Work in Theory and Practice: A Handbook. 1. p.245.
• Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Chiaburu, D. S. and et. al., 2014. Relative importance of leader influences for subordinates’ proactive behaviors, prosocial behaviors, and task performance. Journal of Personnel Psychology. 1. pp-
• Clutterbuck, D., 2011. Coaching the team at work. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
• Dalakoura, A., 2010. Differentiating leader and leadership development: A collective framework for leadership development. Journal of Management Development. 29(5). pp.432-441.

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