Introduction
Increased productivity is a major goal for all organizations and companies. This is especially the case in the current economic environment where a lot of competitive forces exist and each business has to look for means to avoid being forced out of the market. The management of an organization is critical in ensuring that the goals of increased productivity are met.
Managers are the individuals who are charged with the important task of organizing the human resources of an organization to ensure growth and development (Pugh & Hickson, 2007). However, these managers have to work through employees so as to accomplish organizational goals. It is therefore in the best interest of the manager to ensure that the employees are successful in their tasks.
Invariably, they act in differing ways in their quest to get increase employee productivity. While some are aggressive and stern, others are caring and set out to command the respect of their employees. Each approach used by the manager has different outcomes since the manner in which managers treat their employees affects the output obtained from them.
This paper will set out to demonstrate that a manager who is considerate and respectful to his employees will get higher productivity than one who engages in aggressive behavior towards his staff. The paper will also suggest leadership styles and other approaches that managers can use to increase employee productivity and therefore aid in the increased profitability of the organization.
Effects of Aggression on Employees
Positive effects
Aggressive behavior by the manager can at times yield in improved employee performance. This is because such behavior will prompt the employees to act in a desirable manner. For example, a manager can make use of negative consequences so as to modify the behavior of his employees to what he/she sees as desirable. This desirable behavior will ideally result in higher productivity for the organization.
Fournies (1999) reveals that punishments work since employees will be keen to decrease the frequency of the behavior that brings about the negative consequence.
People who receive negative consequences become more apprehensive and are therefore more likely to avoid making future mistakes. The manager will also benefit from using punishments since other employees are less likely to engage in the behavior that brought about punishment to their co-worker.
Fournies (1999) asserts that it is sometimes necessary for the manager to be strict and uncompromising with his staff. Such a stance might be necessary when the manager is fulfilling Fayol’s commanding role which is the process of “maintaining activity among the personnel in order to obtain the optimum returns from the employees (Pugh & Hickson, 2007, p.145).
In this role, the best results are achieved if the manager is able to push his staff to work according to set schedules. The manager might find it necessary to be strict and stern so as to obtain the best results. Being stern may also be productive when the manager wishes to express the severity of a situation.
Negative Effects
Using punishments will decrease the frequency of the behavior that is causing the punishment (which is undesirable) to the employees. However, using punishments to modify the behavior of employees may have some negative repercussions. Fournies (1999) demonstrates that punishments may cause employees to react aggressively by holding work back, causing disruptive actions or even sabotaging work performance.
These actions by the employees will be aimed at reducing performance and therefore injuring the boss or his/her reputation. Fournies (1999) suggests that instead of using punishments to modify employee behavior, it would be more beneficial to use positive reinforcement to increase the desirable employee behavior.
Managers who display aggressive, belittling and blaming behavior towards the employees under their command obtain devastating effect. Research indicates that such behavior results in increased job dissatisfaction and it might also lead to high turnover rates among employees. In addition to this, employees engage in deviance behavior which is primarily aimed at hurting the reputation of the aggressive boss.
Donaldson-Feilder, Lewis and Yarker (2011) go on to reveal that aggressive behavior by managers results in a range of psychological outcomes such as anxiety, depression, burnout and somatic health complaints in the employees. Such outcomes further reduce the performance of the employees and therefore reduce the overall productivity of the organization.
Effects of Considerate Treatment
Genuine concern for the employees by the manager will increase the productivity of the workers significantly. Research by Kellerman (2007) demonstrated that when managers showed concern for their staff, the staff reciprocated by increased productivity. The reason for this is that all employees at some point experience levels of stress and even de-motivation as they carry out their work.
When the manager shows concern, the employees feel that he/she can identify with their circumstances. They will therefore be more willing to be guided by such a manager and work hard to achieve the set goals and objectives.
Another considerate treatment that the manager can use to increase employee productivity is to show consideration for work-life balance. Employees suffer from conflicts between work and non-work responsibilities with such conflicts resulting in stress and burnout. Donaldson-Feilder et al. (2011) reveals that stress and overwork are increasing in prevalence among today’s workforce.
Anderson et al. (2002) demonstrates that stress and burnout result in cognitive difficulties and lead to decreased performance of the employees. Work-life balance has therefore gained great significance since this stress and overwork has a negative impact on the productivity of the workers.
Research indicates that provision of work-life practices has the potential of generating positive attitudes by the employees towards the manager and by extension the organization (Donaldson-Feilder et al., 2011).
When employees perceive that the manager is treating them fairly, the social exchange theory explains that they will feel obliged to reciprocate by engaging in behavior that is beneficial to the manager. They will therefore be more willing to increase performance and therefore achieve set organizational goals.
Approaches for increasing production
Managers are tasked with marshalling the organizations’ resources to accomplish some goals and it is therefore imperative that they be able to make sure that their employees have a high degree of motivation in their performance. Motivation is defined by Martocchio (2005) as “the process of arousing, directing and maintaining behavior towards a goal” (p.22).
An important point to consider is that motivations should not only be restricted to monetary benefits. While it is true that money is the core motivating factor for many employees, there are other important aspects that employees look at.
Donaldson-Feilder, et al. (2011) suggests that many employees are also concerned about their professional growth. A manager who considers this will take on a mentoring role to the employee and also ensure that the employees are provided with schedules that improve and encourage growth.
Managers should also engage in regular evaluations of the performance of their employees. These evaluations should be aimed at improving the productivity of individual employees. It is therefore critical for the manager to provide feedback on the evaluations to the staff. Moss and Sanchez (2004) reveal that the manner in which the manager delivers feedback determines whether it will aid or hinder improvement.
While failures are bound to be observed in employees, this should be seen as learning opportunities. The manager should therefore try to capture and reveal to the employee the lesson behind any failure (Moss & Sanchez, 2004).
The manager should ensure that there are set performance standards which the employees should seek to achieve. Performance evaluations should then be measured by these set standards as opposed to comparing employees’ performances against each other.
Donaldson-Feilder et al. (2011) note that there are times when a manager may feel overwhelmed and fail to control their negative emotions to the team. In such a situation, it is crucial for the manager to be honest and communicate with the employees what happened.
Even more important is that the manager should have the capacity to take responsibility and apologize for their behavior. Apologizing for poor behavior will show employees that the manager is willing to take responsibility for his actions and it will reestablish the perceived integrity of the manager.
Many performance problems are blamed on poor communication between managers and employees. Communication is critical for the success of all relationships and its prominence in organizations cannot be over emphasized. Lack of communication by managers may cause low levels of morale among the staff (Fournies, 1999).
This is especially the case when there are increased levels of uncertainty about what is going on in the organization. Through open and regular communication, the manager can boost the level of confidence that employees have in the organization and therefore foster positive attitudes. Most managers only talk to their employees when they are issuing instructions or when the employees have done something wrong.
This makes it hard for employees to know when they have done a good job since the manager does not provide any feedback at such times. The level of engagement that employees have to the organizations is determined by communication.
Kellerman (2007) demonstrates that managers who communicate to their employees on a frequent basis foster followers who are passionately committed and deeply involved in the organizational affairs. Managers should make use of motivating language so as to increase employee job satisfaction and performance.
Leadership Styles for Increasing Productivity
A leadership approach that would be beneficial for increasing employee performance is transformational leadership. This style is highly favored by many Western nations and the transformational leader looks for “potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower” (Harris & Nelson 2007, p.356).
A manager who practices transformation leadership is able to not only steer the followers towards achieving set goals but also identify with their needs and concerns both at the job and outside. Such a manager is able to show consideration to his followers. This will require the manager to take on the role of a considerate leader that is; one who is able to show concern and respect for his followers.
Donaldson-Feilder et al. (2011) articulate that this kind of leaders is able to look out for the welfare of his staff and express appreciation and support for their efforts.
This leadership behavior is associated with many positive employee outcomes including: higher job satisfaction, reduced burnout and tension and most importantly, increased performance and productivity. In addition to this, research indicates that considerate behavior by managers has been consistently linked with improved employee well-being.
The transactional leadership approach can also assist the manager to obtain superior results from his employees. Harris and Nelson (2007) define this form of leadership as one where the interaction between leaders and subordinates is characterized by a transactional exchange of rewards for services.
The manager is about to offer rewards such as promotions, granting favors, and continued employment in exchange for continued good performance by the employee. This approach helps the manager to get the most out of employees since it clarifies to the staff what is expected of them (Harris & Nelson, 2007).
However, the manager should ensure that the set goals are tangible, verifiable, and measurable. If the manager sets goals that are too aggressive, the employees will be discouraged and may therefore not even try to reach them.
Creating Boundaries
While it is important for the manager to establish a good relationship with the staff, it is important for work boundaries to be set. Without boundaries, the employees may fail to afford the manager the respect that is required for his/her to fulfill his managerial duties effectively.
Donaldson-Feilder (2011) suggests that boundaries can be established by ensuring that employees follow protocol when they wish to bring up issues with the manager. In addition to this, the manager should be afforded the authority that comes with his position with the organization.
In disputes between or among employees, the manager should act as the dispute handler. Conflicts are a reality in all environments where people are working together.
Martocchio (2005) declares that while contentious issues are bound to occur in all organizations, the way in which these conflicts are handled may influence the future success or failure of the organization. A manager who is skilled at conflict resolution will be able to reconcile fighting employees and therefore ensure that disputes do not hamper productivity.
Conclusion
The success of an organization depends on the productivity of its workforce. With this consideration, this paper set out to discuss how managers should treat employees so as to get more productivity from them. This paper has conclusively shown that managers who are aggressive and use punishment to try and increase performance from their employees fail.
Instead, managers who establish relationships with their employees and make use of positive reinforcement are more successful in getting increased productivity. Transformational leadership and transactional leadership have been highlighted as two leadership styles that can be used to increase performance from employees.
The workplace is full of many stressful situations and an understanding and considerate manager will motivate his employees to increase their performance.
The paper has underscored the important role that communication plays in motivating employees. By applying the approaches highlighted in this paper, the manager can increase employee performance and therefore achieve the desirable goal of increased organization productivity.
References
Anderson, S., Coffey, B. & Byerly, R. (2002). Formal organizational initiatives and informal workplace practices: Links to work-life conflict and job-related outcomes. Journal of Management, 28(6), 787-810.
Donaldson-Feilder, E., Lewis, R. & Yarker, J. (2011). Preventing stress in organizations: how to develop positive managers. Boston: John Wiley & Sons.
Fournies, F.F. (1999). Coaching for improved work performance. NY: McGraw-Hill Professional.
Harris, T.E. & Nelson, M. (2007). Applied organizational communication: theory and practice in a global environment. London: Taylor & Francis.
Kellerman, B. (2007). What Every Leader needs to know About Followers. Harvard Business Review, 85(12), 84-91.
Martocchio, J. J. (2005). Research in personnel and human resources management. Washington: Emerald Group Publishing.
Moss, S.E. & Sanchez, J.I. (2004). Are your employees avoiding you? Managerial strategies for closing the feedback gap. Academy of Management Executive, 18 (1), 34-54.
Pugh, D. & Hickson, J. (2007). Great writers on organization. NY: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.