Introduction
‘Tires and Tubes’ used to be a successful company selling quality car tires and tubes, with a history of satisfied customers and good sales. Recently, however, during the annual audit of the company it was discovered that soon after the retirement of the general manager there was a sharp drop in sales, and the number of satisfied customers is going down. Old clients of the business have moved on to better options. MR. X, who is the General Manager of the company, has been here only for four months. He is under tremendous pressure from stakeholders who want him to pick up sales and do something for the betterment of the company.
Mr. X has hired an external business consultant in his desperation in order for him to look into the problems that the organization is currently facing. After a thorough analysis of the structure, the following was discovered.
Statement of the problem
Internally, the employees of the organization don’t seem to have the motivation that previously existed. People don’t trust the new manager and have a cold attitude towards him. Further, the economic crisis is making them feel that they may also be laid off sooner or later since most employees have been hearing about other organizations firing their workers to save their businesses. The feeling of insecurity and the barrier that exists between them and the new manager is a disaster in the making.
The consultant’s report also states that a major part of the business is being lost because of the service department. Employees are not giving away proper information to prospective clients; customers are put on hold for too long, and nobody seems to know whom to go to in order to share their concerns, and the client care complaint box is flooding with messages on how bad the service has gone.
Suggestions
Drastic changes have occurred in the last few years in the position and duties of the leaders of the company or business establishments. Before these changes the role of a leader was quite explicit: the person in charge stood on top of the team and gave direct and precise orders. Nonetheless, nowadays the position of the head has shifted as more and more companies embed the strategy of dividing the employees into teams with almost equal positions within them in order to accomplish their goals. The post of the leading person in the team of the present day is divergent from the standard direction function, as it lies in not directing and ordering the group members but in guiding and coordinating them (Buble 170).
One of the primary roles of the present manager is to assist the team members in receiving new information, to teach the best-known practice concerns, and to intervene in the work process at the right moment. Moreover, the leader needs to learn how to pass on the necessary knowledge, how to give comprehensive advice and how to trust and be trusted.
The central point of the situational-specific approach towards management and leadership is focusing on the control and administration in different situations. From this angle, in order to be an effective leader, the person is expected to adapt his style of leadership to various circumstances. Therefore, there are different factors that affect the style of a manager and his collaboration with his employees.
According to the various researchers, “leadership is composed of both a directive and a supportive dimension”. A leader has to appraise his workers and determine whether they are capable of performing and fulfilling the task in order to evaluate the effects of the leadership. So, to my opinion, the situational-specific factors elect the directedness or support of the leader to meet the shifting requirements of the employees. Moreover, the influence on leadership leads to the leader’s interest in the productive and efficient work, thus altering the level of the development of the workers (Birk 32). As a result, if I were hired as the external consultant and had observed the problems at the ‘Tires and Tubes’ organization, I would strongly recommend to the general manager Mr. X implement the situational-specific approach towards management. A general manager is a leader of his team; that is why he is obliged to listen to the situation of each employee.
If I were a general manager, I would happily share my experience with my teammates. Moreover, I am fairly responsible and organized, so it would not cause any problems or discomfort to guide my coworkers and ensure that the work would be done on time and accurately (Keskes 35). Furthermore, as an external consultant, I would be aware of the fact that it is important for workers to feel valuable and appreciated. So I would advise reconsidering the attitude of the general manager towards the employees in order for them to feel included in making some major decisions, as it would help them to understand that their knowledge and judgment matter.
And the last but not the least: I would do everything in my power of an external consultant to exclude or at least reduce the fear factor between the manager and the employees and advise to establish friendly and trusting atmosphere. The leader should not be harsh and criticizing but helping and passing down the knowledge. Moreover, motivation is a fundamental term while speaking about leadership; moreover, it is claimed to be a foundation of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is a tool of encouragement for employees; they succeed in achieving personal and organizational targets more often (Tebeian 316).
Conclusion
The relations between the manager and the employees are the essence of the exchange theory, which impacts both sides. The capability of the manager is directly related to the constructive feedback from the workers. Some researchers say that “followership is the mirror image of leadership” (Vugt, Hogan and Kaiser 11); furthermore, these two processes cannot be isolated from each other. In the business environment, the difference between a manager and an employee occurs to be rather insignificant. In order to achieve the highest efficiency, the manager would be forced to level down and collaborate with other members of the team; while the employees would need to enhance their work and assert the management. These processes require certain alliance and harmonious work so the company would give the best performance (Landrum and Daily 55). The training and the teamwork could be a solution to the issues mentioned above only if a general manager participates in it along with his employees. This would allow increasing the efficiency of the ‘Tires and Tubes’ organization; preventing the concerns of the employees, and strengthening the credibility of the general manager in the eyes of the workers.
Works Cited
Birk, Susan. “The 10 Most Common Myths about Leadership.” Healthcare Executive 25.6 (2010): 30-38. Print.
Buble, Mario. “The Relationship between Managers’ Leadership Styles and Motivation.” Journal of Contemporary Management Issues 19.1(2014): 161-193. Print.
Keskes, Imen. “Relationship between Leadership Styles and Dimensions of Employee Organizational Commitment: A Critical Review and Discussion of Future Dimensions.” Intangible Capital 10.1 (2014): 26-51. Print.
Landrum, Nancy and Cynthia Daily. “Corporate Accountability: A Path-Goal Perspective.” International Journal of Business Insights & Transformation 4.3 (2012): 50-62. Print.
Tebeian, Adriana. “The Impact of Motivation through Leadership on Group Performance.” Review of International Comparative Management 13.2 (2012): 313-324. Print.
Vugt, Mark, Hogan, Robert and Robert Kaiser. “Leadership, Followership, and Evolution: Some Lessons from the Past.” American Psychologist 63.3 (2008): 182-196. Print.