Affecting_Change

Leadership is the capability to inspire and influence others to work towards accomplishing a goal. In an organization, leaders are occasionally faced with complications when it comes to encouraging workers to adapt to changes within the organization. “In large organizations, the effectiveness of managers depends on influence over superiors and peers as well as influence over subordinates (Yukl, 2006, p. 1).” The significance of a leader being liked and respected not because of the position he or she holds is essential to an organization. The ability to have others follows him or her because they felt that he or she is acting in his or her best interest. One also believes in what he or she is doing when it concerns phenomenal leadership. “Nations, empires, companies, and even sports teams, cannot remain at the top without strong leadership, since the leader’s skill in managing groups can make the difference between success and failure” ( University of Phoenix Simulation, 2010, p. 1). Current Culture “There seems to be wide agreement that organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations” (Ribbons, Judge, 2007, p. 1). The current culture of S&F Online operations revolves around James Arygle, Project Manager. He has created a culture whereas he is in charge of the complete operation and he dislikes anyone that tries to take his authority away. His teamwork is well together and gets the intended results. James and his web development team have continued to run the department in the direction they see as being the right way. The formation of the team has been recognized as centralization. The way decisions are made in any organization runs hand and hand with the existing culture within the organization. This creates a trickle down affect from higher levels employees to the lower level employees in the organization. “The actions of the current top management set the general climate of what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Culture is transmitted to employees in a number of forms, the most potent being stories, rituals, material symbols, and language (Ribbons, Judge, 2007, p.1)” Restructuring Strategy In executing a new restructuring plan for S&F Online employees, one would need to be in search for a change that would better the company to ultimately help in reaching their goals. Creating an extreme or primary foundation change that alters the interaction between diverse mechanisms or fundamentals of an organization will enable the current culture of the organization. One must be in a position to implement a direct leadership approach with proper structuring. These changes will specify a certain level of flexibility throughout the company that will promote creativity, and assist in finding a solution for the online challenges that the company is experiencing. When experiencing change within an organization structure; one should be prepared to have a strategy to make those changes in place. “If a manager makes a significant change in its organization’s strategy; the structure will need to be modified to accommodate and support this change (Ribbons, Judge, 2007, p. 1).” A matrix structure will be created for employees to follow the guidelines set forth. They will be required to follow each section within the matrix with efforts of changing the culture of the organization. Different forms of communication, performance measures, working relationships and other areas will be included in their matrix to ensure that everyone is working together to reach his or her common goal. Improving the Culture At S&F Online we will incorporate a method of training that will “consist of planned programs designed to improve performance at the individual, group and organization levels” (Cascio, 2005, p 1).” New training methods are invented every so often. “While some are well founded in learning theory or models of behavior change; others result from more technological than theoretical developments (Cascio, 2005, p. 1).” In this segment of training we will use different methods to help increase performance. There will be information presentations that will include lectures, conferences, correspondence courses, videos, distant learning, and interactive multimedia. The simulation method contains case method, role playing, behavior modeling, and virtual reality. The last method that will be used will be on-the job training. This includes orientation training, near-the job training, job rotation, and understudy assignments. Depending on the objective at hand one of these different methods will be used. Empowering Employees At S&F Online we value our employees input and their outlook of the company’s direction. We govern employee feedback surveys every quarter of the year to ensure that we are gathering information frequently. Feedback surveys suggest priceless insight into the employee outlook and opinions that can ultimately influence employee retention. Giving or receiving feedback is a sensitive matter and one must approach the subject cautiously based on the individual’s disposition. Depending on a giving situation it is imperative to evaluate every aspect of the problem. There will be people in place to evaluate individual performance, and be precise and objective when unfolding the employee’s performance which needs to be improved. Discussing feedback and the way to handle it will stop confusion and open doors for development. At S&F Online they realize that reevaluating there way our employees are measured. The employees will be provided with a mentor to help guide the employee to meet performance expectations. The mentor will be set in place as an alternative for employees who need farther development. These employees will be required to point out their own area of improvement and to voice their motivation. If the employee motivation is known the mentor has ammunition to help the employee stay on track. The manager will have the employee’s own words to remind them what is important and the reason their job performance is important. This way the employee is working with the mentor to get on track and working toward a common goal. Offering a mentor to employees will show that the company cares about their employees. They want to help in developing the employees professionally but also personally. By displaying this to the employees they will be more likely to be able to overcome obstacles and stay motivated. Happy employees increase productivity and productivity increases profit. The employee will also have the opportunity to give his or her input on management style and other company business. At each quarter of the year the employees will participate in a confidential survey that will provide the company with feedback. This survey will cover areas such as training, workplace environment, management interaction, fairness of performance measurements and more. This will help the company better evaluate the areas that can be improved in, so that corrective measures can take place. There will also be a random pick of employees to have a town hall meeting with the director to voice their opinion without there being an issue of in subornation. Managers will issue feedback in a constructive manner and display respect towards employees at all-time. The feedback must also relate to the issue at hand and suggestion must be made towards a solution. At S&F Online we will have the employees choose from variety of incentives when he or she meets or exceed expectations. The incentives and benefits package is designed to retain and motivate our employees. We want to show our appreciation for the jobs well done. We want to retain our employees, so we want to stay competitive with the current market. Our mission is to continue to be innovative and take this company to unseen levels of achievement. The only way that we can succeed is by our employees performing at high levels. KFF is excited to release this new compensation to reach their ultimate goal. The opportunity for advancement, such as promotions or educational opportunities to increase skills are available. Advancement training will be for those employees’s who have performed at a consistent level and have shown leadership qualities. This training will help develop those individuals for leadership roles. Flexible opportunities are available for dual career parents, there will be an in office daycare for parents with underage children. We will also provide flex spending accounts for employees to pay for childcare expenses; these accounts will be pre-taxed and useful regardless of employee’s gender. Flex scheduling will also be available in order to meet their parent obligations. Diversity would be an area that we focus on through a variety of trainings. We will focus on our employees and make sure that all cultures are appreciated. We will acknowledge all culture holidays are cultural celebrations. There will be no one discriminated against regardless of gender, race and disability. This compensation plan is fair and appropriate because the employee is in control of the way his or her paycheck looks. The employee will be giving the freedom to work as much as they want. This position is for those individuals who are motivated by money. They could access where they are for the month to know what is needed to reach their goals. The employee will be required to go through a series of trainings to ensure that their equipped to perform his or her job. There will also be follow-up trainings once they’re in the fields to keep them up-to-date with changes in the market. This system will work to motivate employees to do their job. They will know and understand what their measured on and work towards that objective.