Introduction
The goal of middle management is to implement the organization’s strategy in creating a comfortable working environment and monitoring the working process. Effective leadership may lead to a high rate of employees’ dedication to work and, consequently, result in enhanced employee engagement. This paper features a discussion on the solutions that may improve these issues and addresses the global aspects associated with the topic. It concludes that global management practices may vary significantly but require the same solutions to enhance individuals’ performance.
Improving Employee Engagement
It is evident that a high level of employee engagement contributes to the organization’s performance, improves the quality of its products and services, and enhances customers’ experience. Swinscoe reports that companies with a highly engaged workforce show more than a 20% increase in productivity and profitability, almost 50% decrease in safety incidents, up to 65% lower turnover rate, and about 40% fewer quality issues. It means that enhancing employee engagement is vital for organizations that aim to achieve excellent performance.
To address the problem of low employee engagement, it is necessary to discuss the root causes of it. They may include a lack of motivation, poor relationships with colleagues and employers, inability to affect existing policies, and low level of education. It is evident that middle managers can modify and eliminate the majority of these issues. Notably, possible solutions do not require significant effort and financial investments.
Many solutions can be suggested to enhance employee engagement based on discussed problems. First, it is vital to improving individuals’ motivation by developing a reward system for meeting the organization’s goals and significant milestones. It may also be crucial to collect employees’ opinions on what benefits they would like to have, such as flexible work hours, paid leaves, and retirement plans. Second, to enhance the relationships among employees, middle managers should encourage cooperation and promote communication.
It means that leaders should assign tasks to groups of people rather than single individuals, organize activities that will ensure bonding, and invite workers to participate in discussions about existing problems or policies. It is also vital for middle managers to establish a comfortable environment for the employees where they can share their views with the employers freely.
The inability to affect existing policies may be one of the main issues leading to low employee management. Individuals should feel that their opinions and suggestions matter and that they can promote change. If middle managers do not consider workers’ concerns, employees may have no motivation to improve their performance and the quality of services. To eliminate this problem, leaders should encourage individuals to report on possible challenges associated with their tasks, as well as the limitations of existing policies. This measure will not only result in enhanced employees’ dedication to work, but also potentially improve the organization’s performance and establish good relationships between employers and their staff.
Although a lack of education may not depend on middle managers’ work directly, they can work on the elimination of this issue as well. They may establish regular training programs to ensure that individuals can manage changes in their tasks and policies, as well as encourage employees to discuss challenging issues with their colleagues or managers. Moreover, the organization can provide financial support for the workers that want to receive additional training in the field. This measure will show individuals that the company is willing to invest in the motivated workforce, as well as increase the quality of their performance.
Global Practices in Employee Engagement
To discuss the topic of employee engagement and middle management, it is vital to understand the global trends in the field. Current trends in workers’ engagement show the decrease in the rates, revealing that only about 25% of employees show high dedication to work, which means that the global engagement score is less than 65% (“Trends in Global Employee”). The report by Bloom et al. shows that the US presents the highest average management score, followed by Germany, Japan, and Sweden (15).
At the same time, in African countries, the level of employee engagement and the quality of middle management is the lowest. The study measured leaders’ behaviors that led to an increase in workers’ productivity. The authors conducted a survey among middle managers asking them whether they analyze employees’ behavior and use the collected data to suggest changes in policies. Moreover, the questions concerned reward systems and goal-setting strategies the leaders introduced.
It is necessary to note that global practices for middle management in employee engagement differ. Zhao and Pan report that to ensure effective management, companies consider cultural peculiarities that may include collectivism or individualism, the avoidance of uncertainty, the distance of power, the role of masculinity or femininity, as well as the orientation on long- or short-term goals (216).
For example, in the countries where there is a high level of individualism, like the United States and Canada, employees are likely to be motivated by personal benefits, such as promotion and autonomy. On the contrary, in collectivist countries, such as China and Japan, individuals aim to achieve collective goals and can be stimulated by receiving support from their colleagues. A high level of masculinity, which can be observed in Germany, means that workers are prone to accept traditional social roles in the division of tasks, while in the cultures where femininity is more prevalent, such as Sweden, individuals are motivated by flexible roles (Zhao and Pan 216).
These differences suggest that global practices in the field of employee engagement vary significantly. For example, in China, middle managers implement work-oriented policies that are inflexible and require individuals to work five days a week in addition to night or weekday overtime (Zhao and Pan 217). It means that in this country, the role of middle managers is to motivate people to participate in the collective effort of developing high-quality products or services.
For Chinese employers, this task may be less challenging than for those of Thailand, due to individuals’ dedication to work dictated by their culture. Moreover, middle managers should consider employees’ living conditions, as this factor is associated with the quality of their performance. Thus, in countries where individuals have higher economic advantages, workers may expect that the organizations should not only cover their basic financial needs but provide other benefits. It means that the role of middle management in these cultures is to ensure that employees show high dedication by developing reward systems and establishing a good working environment. These measures aim to increase the level of employee engagement.
Practices in the Financial Sector
Middle management in the financial sector is a significant factor as this field is associated with changes and rapid development. For leaders, it is vital to ensure that the organization is capable of responding to changing circumstances, new trends, and clients’ needs. It means that middle managers should be ready to promote innovative decisions and develop their leadership skills in the area of employee engagement.
Global practices in the financial sector related to middle management depend on the factors described above, as well as the state of countries’ economies. As working in the financial industry requires employees to perform their tasks with the highest level of efficiency to avoid possible mistakes, employers should provide them with opportunities to enhance their performance. Middle managers should ensure that workers focus on customers’ interests, consider their concerns, and strive to eliminate them.
It is also vital for leaders to provide individuals with the opportunities to use the innovative approach as it may increase their engagement in work. However, in countries with a decreased level of economic development, employees may show a lower level of education and training, which may affect their performance and readiness to implement innovative methods (Van Uden et al. 17).
The differences in global practices in the financial sector may be demonstrated in the examples of Finland and Japan. The Federation of Finnish Financial Services reports that for Finnish society, this industry plays a significant role; it has been stable for the last decade (4). The majority of employees are women, more than 40% of them have worked in the financial sector for more than 20 years (Federation of Finnish Financial Services 4).
These data show that the level of workers’ dedication may be high, which shows that middle management in the country is effective. As for Japan, Yamamoto reports most of the employees are also female; being involved in the country’s financial sector is associated with long work hours (10). The study also shows that many individuals report having mental health problems caused by poor working conditions and inappropriate management practices. It shows that in Japan, middle management in the financial industry may be ineffective and does not consider employees’ needs.
These examples reveal that although there are differences in global management practices that result in increased and decreased levels of employee engagement, the strategies for improvement may be similar for all cultures. In Japan, individuals may feel that they cannot affect changes in the existing policy of long work hours, which results in higher turnover rates and health problems. To resolve this issue, middle managers should encourage employees to share their concerns and suggest the schedules that would improve their performance and reduce their stress levels.
At the same time, it is vital to consider cultural aspects, as leaders should note that individuals may feel uncomfortable discussing their problems, as well as fell concerned about losing their jobs. This fact shows that enhancing employee engagement and dedication may be a challenging task for managers that require the understanding of their needs, possible challenges, and the factors that lead to decreased performance.
Conclusion
The report shows that middle management plays a significant role in employee engagement. The global practices associated with the issue vary and lead to the differences between individuals’ dedication to work and the quality of their performance. The evidence shows that cultural aspects affect the solutions middle managers can implement to ensure improved results. The factors that influence employee engagement may be, however, the same for different countries.
Works Cited
Bloom, Nicholas, et al. The New Empirical Economics of Management. 2014. Web.
Federation of Finnish Financial Services. Work in the Financial Services Sector. 2015. Web.
Swinscoe, Adrian. “How Middle Managers Can Boost Employee Engagement and Customer Experience.” Forbes. 2018. Web.
Trends in Global Employee Engagement: Global Anxiety Erodes Employee Engagement Gains. 2017. Web.
Van Uden, Annelies, et al. Human Capital and Innovation in Developing Countries: A Firm Level Study. 2014. Web.
Yamamoto, Isamu. An Assessment of the Japanese Financial Services Sector. 2015. Web.
Zhao, Binglu, and Ying Pan. “Cross-Cultural Employee Motivation in International Companies.” Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, vol. 5, 2017, pp. 215-222.