The Issues Facing the Leader and the Organization - Paper Example

Introduction

Hitman is an associate director of a profit-making agency that deals in the manufacturing of cement. He is considered the overall director of the organization, and all the employees working in the organization receive orders from him. He uses the autocratic leadership style to lead the workers in the organization. In recent days, the organization has started experiencing leadership challenges. The employees complain that the director does not engage them in the decision-making process, this makes them to feel isolated and ignored. The issue has affected their dedication to work and they no longer deliver the tasks assigned. Hitman, an associate director has heard about the complaints but he is unwilling to involve the workers in decision making, He feels that employees should not be consulted when making decisions. As a result, the workers have threatened to quit their positions. The firm is currently experiencing high employee turnover due to the bad relations between the director and the workers. This has affected the level of production, which has drastically gone down.

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Alternatives to Addressing the Organizational Problem or Issue

The issues being experienced in these organizations can be solved based on the leadership theories that provide for inclusivity in the decision-making process. For instance, Hitman should establish good communication with the employees and allow them to participate in the decision-making process. Workers form a valuable resource for the firm; the success of any business starts with understanding the employees and responding to their needs. Laying an effective communication structure for the organization would help the director to relate well with the employees and avoid the conflicts. Communication enables the leader to convey important message or information to the workers prior to decision making so that the employees are briefed about the changes within the organization (Northouse, 2018). Therefore, the firm could be facing these conflicts perhaps because of poor communication. The director should adopt a good communication structure to keep the employees updated about important reforms or decisions likely to be made by the leader. This will help to ease the pressure and conflicts that arise from the workers.

The next approach to resolve the leadership issue in the organization is to listen to the employees' complaints. In this case, Hitman should be ready and willing to interact with the workers and find out what they need. He can achieve this by setting aside time to talk to the workers and organize open discussions with them so that they feel to be part of the organization. The workers need to be allowed to present their onions and ideas concerning critical matters of the organization; highlight issues affecting them and make suggestions. Listening to the workers' complaints and responding to them rebuilds their hopes and trust in the organization (Simon, 2014). This will help to lower the employee turnover as well as overcome the conflicts between the director and the employees.

Finally, the director should change the form of leadership and select the one that gives the workers an opportunity to participate in the decision-making process freely. In this case, an alternative leadership approach to use would be a democratic style, which allows the subordinates to be involved in the decision-making process. However, the director will still hold the final responsibility despite delegating authority to other people in the organization. This alternative would be the best for the firm because the communication structure involved is active upward and downward. It will enable the organization to operate based on fairness, honesty, and competency. This will encourage the workers to remain loyal to the firm because they participate directly in the decision-making process and their views are taken into consideration when making the final decision. Hitman, an associate director can choose from these three alternatives to solve the current issue in his organization.

Implementation and Justification of the Alternative

Changing the leadership style from autocratic to democratic would be the best alternative to implement in this organization. This is because the workers feel isolated and this has affected their performance when assigned to various tasks. Exercising the autocratic leadership style makes the employees feel ignored. Some leaders take advantage of their positions to dictate and mistreat the subordinates; this later triggers misunderstandings between the leader and employees. As a result, conflicts emerge in the organization causing a decrease in the level of production. However, the use of participative leadership will help to increase the employees' productivity; when the workers are engaged and their input appreciated, they feel happier (McColl-Kennedy & Anderson, 2002). This, in turn, helps to improve the workers' morale and performance in the organization. Democratic leadership promote diversity of ideas, foster the workers' competency level, and encourage teamwork. The subordinates feel proud of their organization and always work with a dedicated heart because they feel their work and voice matters increasing their performance. Therefore, Hitman should use the democratic approach in his leadership in order to provide a solution for the current issue affecting the organization.

Means of Evaluation

Evaluating leadership effectiveness can be realized through the attitudes and behavior of the workers. In this case, the outcomes or results should reflect positive attitudes of employees towards the organization. They should behave in well and show commitment to the organization to indicate that they are happy with the leadership. Therefore, these aspects will be used to analyze the effectiveness of the director after adopting the suggested alternative to resolve the current issues in the organization. If the workers show a positive attitude and behaviors, it implies that they have agreed to the reforms, thus positive outcomes. However, if they display negative behaviour and attitude towards the director it means that they are not happy (Simon, 2014).

The Concept of Power in the Scenario

When power is absolutely granted to the leader can cause issues in the organization. This is evident from the scenario presented in this paper. For instance, Hitman considered himself to be bossy and a centered leader because of the power he had in the company. He received the complaints but decided to ignore the workers. The felt that employees should not be consulted when making decisions for the organization. He had the audacity because of the leadership position he held in the organization as well as the power.

The French and Raven's Bases of Power

The French and Raven's bases of power pertinent to the decision-making process in this scenario are expert power. The leader should have the rightful information at hand concerning various situations likely to occur in the organization. This enables the leader to formulate prior solutions when such problems or situations unfold in the organization. Therefore, good decision making should be conducted by first understanding the prevailing situation, provide possible situations, and make a solid judgment. This will enable the subordinates to listen to the leader and well as obey him or her. Therefore, the expert power in necessary in decision making and leaders should exercise it to remain significant in the organization (Raven, 2008).

References

McColl-Kennedy, J. R., & Anderson, R. D. (2002). Impact of leadership style and emotions on subordinate performance. The leadership quarterly, 13(5), 545-559.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Raven, B. H. (2008). The bases of power and the power/interaction model of interpersonal influence. Analyses of social issues and public policy, 8(1), 1-22.

Simon, H. A. (2014). Rational decision making in business organizations. The American economic review, 69(4), 493-513.