Managing people in an organization, leading them, dealing with various teams, motivating people to work effectively, and meeting their needs are some of the roles an effective leader performs. Additionally, in an organization, leaders have to understand the needs of all employees and solve any problems or conflicts that may arise. To solve the issues associated with team management, a manager follows effective compliance and helps the people to follow the set compliance. A team is supposed to take proactive approaches to avoid any work conflict among the team members and to address the conflicts affecting the team. The purpose of this paper is to assess the management of people within an organization with which I am familiar, with specific reference to two individual- and group-level aspects of managing people in the organization, namely motivation and teamwork.
Motivation is a term used to describe the process applied to make sure that the employees’ needs and wants are satisfied, and one must be convinced that undertaking a particular activity will gratify their own necessities. Employee motivation is defined by Robbins (2005) as "the willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort's ability to satisfy some individual need” (24). Thus, motivation is a process when applied in the workplace, ensures that employees’ needs and wants are achieved, resulting in satisfaction. It is what is expected and desired by an individual when an action is undertaken, in return for recognizing anticipation of job satisfaction (Kaur, 2013). To engage in the practice of motivating employees, employers are expected to understand the unsatisfied needs of each employee in the team.
The performance of employees and managers determines the quality of work in terms of productivity. Hellriegel and Slocum (2007) posited that “low job satisfaction can result in costly turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, and even poor mental health” (p.55). This is further supported by Kreisman's (2002) observation that the most volatile and valuable asset of any organization is a stable and well-motivated workforce that is productive, competent, and dedicated. Different methods are used to motivate employees in the workplace, including rewards, salary increases, vacations, and bonuses, among others. Rewards are used to attract prospective job applicants, achieve human resource (HR) objectives, and obtain a competitive advantage over competitors (Bratton & Gold, 2007). Rewards are important, especially in the contemporary competitive hybrid sectors, where companies are struggling to have high-caliber employees to improve the quality of work and gain an excellent reputation.
The problem faced by most companies is the inability to understand the needs, expectations, and things that motivate employees in the workplace. Unless a leader identifies what employees need, it is impossible to motivate and promote satisfaction. Hafiza, Shah, Jamsheed, and Zaman (2011) provided several factors that have possible impacts on employee performance and training and development opportunities, worker-employer relationship, working conditions, and procedures and policies for rewarding employees. Motivation is applied after the evaluation of employees’ needs as well as those of teams. For example, training and development can be used to improve the skills and knowledge of employees after establishing the possible needs and wants.
Team working
A good and efficient team in the workplace results in the success of the organization (Chin, 2015). Working in a work environment that is "team-oriented" allows automatic production of better results. Working together in the workplace does not imply the facts that people are united with one another because teamwork has to be present (Chin, 2015). Thus, a united team ensures that organizations can successfully realize the objectives of the organization. Team building and development in a workplace requires competence. As Chin (2015) puts it, good teamwork is achieved the moment a team feels that all its members have the knowledge, skills, and capability required to handle issues faced.
To have successful teamwork in the workplace, it is the role of the leader to ensure team empowerment and freedom among the employees to feel responsible and accountable towards its mission and vision. The primary requirement of an effective and successful team is to make sure that all members in a team are qualified (Fiore, 2008). Additionally, the team members must have the appropriate skills and experience that match to responsibilities and roles of the tasks to be executed. In reference to the professional working team, team members’ skills and experience levels must match their given assignments and duties. Subsequently, each team member can effectively promote the success of the entire group by working as a team (Fiore, 2008). Thus, teamwork is significant to organizations and works together with motivation of the motivation of the employees.
Key Issues and Ideas
The key issues experienced at my workplace relate to low performance and productivity at individual and team levels. According to the HR manager, the level of teamwork in the organization has reduced, and this can be attributed to issues related to teamwork and motivation. Each of the members of the team plays a different role to ensure optimal production and performance in the organization. The member groups are from different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. It was further established that it is not easy working with a diversified workforce because people share different opinions and beliefs. Also, employees have different skills, knowledge, and expertise that ensure that employees realize optimal resources. There seems to have been an issue related to communication problems between the team members and the leader, and this could have affected teamwork in the workplace.
Analysis and Discussion
The team members in the workplace have been enthusiastic about their tasks to realize their end goals(s). In the workplace, each team member has a different set of skills and plays different and exceptional roles in the workplace (Zaccaro, Rittman & Marks, 2001). To promote teamwork, effective interaction is required to ensure that enthusiasm is reached. Subsequently, high levels of collective performance despite various roles and responsibilities could ensure teamwork. The low levels of performance and productivity can be explained by the fact that the team does not work based on limits. Communication is important in teamwork because communication allows members to share their ideas, feelings, and points of view. Communication allows people to exchange information. A conventional channel of communication, such as face-to-face communication, could play a major role in teamwork (Hansen, Hope & Moehler, 2012). For example, when in physical meetings, team members can share information and ensure that all people are on the same level. Additionally, it is the role of the team member to establish ways to solve the consequences of diversity in the workplace and encourage teamwork. After establishing communication deficits, brainstorming can be used to come up with the most suitable approach to the problem.
The success of a team is founded on the level of motivation. Thus, both motivation and teamwork are related, and leaders use leadership skills to ensure the needs of each team member are met. As explained by Jiang (2010), the motivation of team members encourages people to be cooperative and to be productive in the workplace. In the organization, motivation and teamwork were achieved in the group through the allocation of equal opportunities to all members and to utilize their skills and new ones. Subsequently, favorable attitudes towards teamwork were realized. Working in a real team ensured that the people involved shared their goals and common purpose. Additionally, the team members remained mutually accountable for their outcomes regardless of the minority issues faced in the company (Fiore, 2008; Tuckman, 1965). In accordance with the stages Dr. Bruce Tuckman identified in team development, the team was performing, and this was motivated by the fact that team members are knowledgeable and can make necessary decisions without the need of being supervised (Tuckman, 1965). An effective and successful team is achieved when all members in a team are qualified and work together (Fiore, 2008). Different qualification levels could have contributed to the limited teamwork in the organization.
Low motivation in the workplace simply implies that the needs and wants of the employees in the organization have not all been recognized and fulfilled. The issue of low performance and productivity at individual and team levels as a result of motivational issues can be addressed. The performance of staff and managers can be used to determine the quality of employees, as explained by Hellriegel and Slocum (2007). As pointed out by Hellriegel and Slocum (2007), low job satisfaction in the workplace could lead to costly turnover, tardiness, and absenteeism. All these consequences hurt the level of employees’ performance and productivity. Kreisman (2002) further explained that in organizations, a well-motivated and stable workforce is the most valuable and volatile asset. Thus, the employees in the organization could be competent and dedicated, but limited motivation affects performance and productivity. It was noted that all employees have the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to be productive because the three factors are the most significant driving forces to organizational success. Hellriegel and Slocum (2007) recommended that continued commitment and support could be achieved via identification of the most effective ways to means to reward individual and teamwork contributions, dedication, and efforts.
Both teamwork and motivation are interlinked and determine the level of production and performance. Based on this particular case, limited education and training of people in practices at the organization on the technical aspects of their jobs, and effective group participation could reduce job satisfaction and commitment levels. Therefore, education and training could empower organizational groups and result in high-performance teams (Wheelan, 2010). Teamwork is also hindered by poor leadership in the workplace. When transformational leadership is employed, employees can be encouraged to work in teams, and necessary teams are supported to ensure productivity and improved performance. Likewise, motivated leaders tend to motivate their juniors, who in turn, implement a similar approach on team members.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on the analysis and discussion, motivation and teamwork in the workplace are essential in ensuring performance and productivity. Communication by team leaders to members on how to embrace the values of a team and collaboration is important. Rewards motivate team members to work effectively towards the realization of common goals. Employers of the organization can constantly assess the motivation levels of the people and incorporate the most suitable solutions in the workplace. Managing people in an organization, motivating them to work effectively, and promoting teamwork can increase performance and productivity. It is the role of organization leaders to understand the wants and needs of all employees to solve any arising problems.
It is recommended to promote a cultural change at the organization that would comprise a shift to a collaborative, team-based culture. This can be achieved by changing the organization’s plan and its processes by hiring people who embrace teamwork. Also, hiring, appraising, rewarding, and motivating its employees can help the organization improve its performance and productivity. Subsequently, success and profits increase from teamwork can be realized. Teamwork is based on a culture that is founded on "collaboration" among members of a team. Therefore, regardless of the employees’ ethnic and racial backgrounds, people must understand and fully believe that thinking, planning, and shared decisions are better when performed in cooperation than individually (Chin, 2015). To have more successful and valuable teamwork in the workplace, it is the role of the leaders to clearly communicate that teamwork and collaboration are expected in the workplace. In the workplace, the values of effective teamwork should be identified and shared with the employees. To motivate employees, rewards such as paid leaves, bonuses, compensation, and others must be provided, but based on joint teamwork and individual achievement and contribution (Adams, Chain, Giraud, & Stedman, 2012). Transformational leaders can provide meaning by providing a map of pathways and goals for achievement, encouraging creativity from members, and instilling motivation. After the employees have been motivated, the levels of performance can be improved in the workplace.
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