Part 1 of the project Cristina LUCA

MANAGING PEOPLE
6N3945

Leadership, motivation theory and the importance of good working

relationships at all levels in the organisation

Draft 2

Student: CRISTINA LUCA

Tutor: JACKIE LYNCH

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Part 1 of the project Cristina LUCA

Project – Leadership, motivation theory and the importance of good working relationship at
all levels in the organisation

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objectives and is an
interpersonal process based on power/influence.
According to Kotter (2001), leadership is about coping with change – creating a sense of
direction, communicating strategy, energising, inspiring and motivating others.
Motivating other people is about getting them to move in the direction you want them to go in
order to achieve a result. Motivation can be described as goal-directed behaviour (Michael
Armstrong).

1. Explore the impact of different styles of leadership and motivational theory on staff.
Analyse the following case study and answer questions on the impact of each manager’s
leadership and motivation style on employees.

Case study for Managing People 6N3945 – John

John’s leadership style as presented in the case study, is authoritarian, as he has a high concern
for production and low concern for people. An authoritarian leadership style is the one where
the manager is a ‘tells’ and ‘sells’ type, he makes all the decisions and issues instructions which
must be obeyed without question. Quick decisions can be made when speed is required but it
does not encourage initiative and commitment from subordinates. This type of leadership can
decrease motivation to none and increase staff turnover, because they are not consulted, they
do not get feedback and do not feel valued. The communication involved with this style is
mainly downward, from the leader to employees.

On the other hand, John’s authoritarian style might actually help when he employs a new
person (in the induction period), as he can be a very good coach in the beginning, considering
the employee is also very motivated to learn the new skill. As well, his style helps in job
rotation, as he can coach pretty fast.

According to Hertzberg, company policies, work conditions, salary, quality of supervision,

hours of work are not motivators, but John seems to think they are.

A major impact on his staff would be that they will become highly dependent upon him and
they would need constant supervision.

John has a negative approach, considering he is very quickly pointing out the shortfall in
behaviour or performance. Even though in others this is sometimes a leader’s tool to motivate
for performance, in his case this could have a high cost on his employee’s spirit. He thinks that
his approach would lead to higher performance, instead it is very much possible to bring lower
productivity and especially low morale amongst his employees.

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Part 1 of the project Cristina LUCA

According to FE Feidler, John is a psychologically distant manager, primarily task oriented and
sometimes this kind of leaders tend to have the most effective work groups. Their leadership is
quite stable.

He also has a little bit of the Paternalistic approach, because of the fact that is the telling and
selling leader, as he believes that his employees are immature and need to be told what to do.
His approach in leadership is transactional as he gives to get and will always remind others that
he did something for them and that they owe him.

In the end, John’s leadership style will only conduct the behaviour of the team towards
aggression, apathy, negativism, scapegoating.

Case study for Managing People 6N3945 – Jim

According to Fayol, a good manager must be a good leader, a planner, goal orientated, good
communicator and be aware of his role.
Jim, as a leader seems to be neither task nor people oriented and according to Blake and
Mouton’s managerial grid, this would be an impoverished management, as he does not want
to do anything. He tries very hard not to make any decisions, meaning he’s not a good
manager and he doesn’t want to be. Considering he has no qualifications in management and
does not plan to ever get one, suggests that he is a very unmotivated and this can be the
problem with the fact that he has no interest in motivating and leading his own team.

Jim’s style could be a laissez-faire, and as Lewin, Lippett and White say this could lead to
confusion inside the team because of the lack of control, aggression, as almost everyone will
try to point a guilty one when the work is not done and as well, scapegoating.

He is going to pass all his responsibilities to his supervisor who is a good planner, has authority
within the team. This leadership style shows that he has position power and no personal power,
he gets very little respect and his employees have very little motivation to impress him.

According to Blake’s and Mouton managerial grid he is also a Country club manager as he is
pleasant and chatty and this could create an environment that is very relaxed and fun, but
where productivity suffers because there would be a lack of direction. On the other hand he’s
being careful to delegate as many tasks as he can to others and he also has his supervisor to do
his job.

By the way he dresses and addresses people, he shows lack of respect, shows that he does not
respect boundaries, so eventually he will not be respected.

In the end, his results will be disorganization, dissatisfaction and disharmony

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Part 1 of the project Cristina LUCA

2. Explain the importance of Good working relationships and open communication within
teams and at all levels in the organisation

Employee relations are basically about the agreement made between employers and
employees whereby the former undertakes to pay for the work done by the latter.
Fundamentally, many employers simply want employees who will do what they are told
without costing too much. They want engagement and commitment. In contrast, employees
want a say in how much they are rewarded, their terms and conditions of employment and the
way in which their work is organized. They want good working conditions, security of
employment and a healthy and safe working environment.

Elton Mayo proved in the Hawthorne Studies that workers attitude and group relationships are
very important for productivity, and he was a start of a focus on human relations.

According to Michael Armstrong, the purpose of employee relations is to provide for effective
and consistent procedures for rule-making, consistency in dealing with employee relation
issues, fairness, processes that can affect and improve employee behaviour or mechanisms to
resolve differences/disputes. The value-added outcomes that can result from good employee
relations include improved morale and commitment, fewer grievances, increased productivity
and better control of labour costs.

There are several characteristics that make up good, healthy working relationships:
 Trust – This is the foundation of every good relationship. When you trust your team and
colleagues, you form a powerful bond that helps you to work and communicate more
effectively. If you trust the people you work with, you can be open and honest in your
thoughts and actions, and you don't have to waste time and energy "watching your back."
 Mutual Respect – When you respect the people who you work with, you value their input
and ideas, and they value yours. Working together, you can develop solutions based on
your collective insight, wisdom and creativity.
 Mindfulness – This means taking responsibility for your words and actions. Those who are
mindful are careful and attend to what they say, and they don't let their own negative
emotions impact the people around them.
 Welcoming Diversity – People with good relationships not only accept diverse people and
opinions, but they welcome them.
 Open Communication – All good relationships depend on open, honest communication

Chester Barnard said: ‘Communication is the lifeblood of the organisation’. Communication is

very important in the functions of management as it is a two-way process involving the
transmission or exchange of information and the provision of feedback. Communication is
required for planning, co-ordination and control. Effective communication means that the right
person receives the right information in the right way at the right time.

True open communication is where employees are encouraged to share their thoughts and

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concerns, both good and bad, without the worry of retaliation from management when the
feedback is bad.
Managers must be able to communicate with employees and employees must be able to
communicate with managers in order to have a profitable business.

Open communication gives everyone equal participation in the success of the business.
Creating an atmosphere of open communication allows for the flow of energy and creativity. It
establishes an environment where all employees have a good understanding of the goals and
what needs to be done to accomplish those goals.